Betrayal Down Memory Lane

Friendship, Forgiveness, and a Recording (26)

Nadia could faintly hear the sound of a slow, steady beep as she began to wake up. She softly groaned as she slightly turned her head, seeing a cardiac monitor machine.

It was her heartbeat.

Her left arm was in a cast; she felt a heavy bandage wrapped around her head. Every time she inhaled, it was painful. Her left leg was straightened out in a cast as well.

She shut her eyes, shakily sighing, feeling the urge to cry. There was a knock at her door.

"Miss Marie, you have a few visitors, would you like to see them at the moment?" A nurse asked.

Nadia nodded her head slowly.

Amelia and Leo appeared from behind the nurse and Nadia lightly smiled.

Amelia smiled back at her, taking a seat next to Nadia's bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She spoke softly.

"Okay I guess." Nadia's voice was a hushed whisper. "What happened?" She asked.

Amelia sighed, glancing back at Leo. Nadia's eyes looked away from Amelia, landing on Leo who stood away from her hospital bed, holding a bouquet of red roses in his hand.

He cleared his throat, stepping closer to her. "We were on the way to find you and I was driving too fast and I-," Leo began to stutter, not wanting to say what happened. He sighed deeply.

"I hit you with my car." He admitted, taking a moment to pause. "I'm sorry."

Nadia blankly stared at him, a small smile appeared on her lips. She scoffed, lightly laughing. "No, don't be. I probably deserved that."

"Nadia." Amelia sadly furrowed her eyebrows at her.

"No, I did, I did. What I did was selfish and you didn't deserve any of that Leo." Nadia sighed, dwelling on the next thing she was about to say to him.

"So, I understand that once this is all over and you don't wanna be with me anymore," She curled her lips back, fighting back the tears in her eyes. "I can accept that."

Leo looked away from her, blinking rapidly to stop his eyes from watering. He covered his face with his hand, quickly wiping his eyes dry.

Amelia took out her phone. She seemed to search for something and whenever she found it, she placed her phone down on Nadia's bed. Amelia kindly smiled at her. "Listen to this."

"Do you love her?" Nadia's eyes widened at the sound of Amelia's voice. She looked down at her phone. Leo glanced at Amelia with the same amount of shock in Nadia's eyes. He remembered that day.

"Of course I love her."

"No, Leo, I need a real answer, a meaningful one."

"Truth is, Nadia means everything to me. I didn't think much of it at first. She was just a girl I met at a bar. I brought her to my home when she was too drunk to go back to her own and in the morning, I thought that was the end of that. But I asked her to stay and here she is three years later, still by my side."

"I helped her with her recovery and essentially, she helped me too. When I'm with her, my drinking impulses aren't as strong. I tend to have more control over myself."

"And I feel like shit, you know it's only been a few days and I've already woken up hungover."

"It just makes me realize how much of a positive influence she has on me. She's a wonderful person, and she makes me feel like I'm one too. So, when I say I love her, I mean it."

Amelia pressed pause and Nadia suddenly burst into tears, sobbing loudly.

She knew that recording was taken while she was in Vegas with Danny and contradicting Leo's words, she felt like a horrible person.