Aella

XXXIX-Aella

Aella's POV

They secured my ankle, only a fracture, and sent me to a CT Scan to make sure I don't have a concussion. I don't, so I was discharged. They sent Penelope to surgery, so I simply sit and wait. 

My clothes are tattered, and I'm covered in dirt from the road, but I could care less about anything other than Penelope. 

I play the accident over and over in my head. I turned the wheel so her side of the car was hit first. I was taught to never swerve so that the passenger was safer, but I panicked. How could I do that to her?

Matteo and I sit next to each other in silence. Our guards stand near the main door and by the nurses station closest to the room where Penelope will be brought back when she's out of surgery. 

My phone rings in my pocket, and I fucking dread looking at it. I know exactly who it's going to be. 

I take the phone out, and it's exactly who I thought it would be. 

"Hello", I answer softly.

"What the fuck happened?" Penelope's father yells at me. I immediately tear up. 

"A car came into our lane, I was going too fast, I couldn't avoid him." 

"I told you to protect her." Marcello screams at me. "It's been two days."

"I know", my voice cracks. 

"Aella", Penelope's mother's voice suddenly replaces Marcello. "Are you okay?"

I bend over my knees, my elbows propping me up. "No."

"How were you hurt?" Marissa is so different than Marcello. She's so much more gentle than him, thank god.

"It doesn't matter." I start to cry. "I hurt her."

"Aella", Marissa tries. "You did not do this on purpose, Sweetheart. This is not your fault."

"But I was the one driving. I swerved-"

The double doors to my right swing open, and they roll Penelope through. "Ma'am. She's out of surgery. I'll talk later."

I don't wait for an answer. I hit the end button and shove the broken phone into my pocket, standing up.

The nurses wheel Penelope through the door into her room, and the doctor stands in front of me. "She's going to be okay for right now. We fixed what we could. It will take about an hour, maybe longer, for her to wake up. We will monitor her very closely."

Inside the hospital room, nurses hook up IVs and wires to Penelope. Then, they leave, and I'm left with Penelope alone. I stand there and stare at her. She's clean of blood, but her cuts are still fresh, on her face and arms. 

I have never felt more helpless than I do right now. I can't do anything to help the woman I love. I can just stand her and stare at her, and wait for her to hopefully wake up. 

There's a chair that sits next to the door, so I pull it over to sit next to Penelope. I sit, and I once again stare. Both her and I are so helpless in such different ways at this moment. I just want her to wake up so I can apologize and so I know she's going to be alright.

But she might not be. There's always a chance after surgery, or an accident, that they'll never wake up. That's what happened to Luna, one of my older sisters. She got into a car accident and never woke up from her surgery. But Penelope's different. She's stronger, she has more to live for, and more support in her life. 

I grab Penelope's hand. It's so cold, like an ice cube. Her hand is limp, so I simply just hold onto a few of her fingers, warming them up a little bit. 

I once again stare up at her. Now, though, it looks like she's sleeping, and less like she's unconscious. 

"I'm so sorry, Penelope." I whisper, trying so hard to fight back my tears. I've cried too much today. I shouldn't be showing this much emotion. My men will think I am weak. But I just hope that she can hear me. "I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault."

I stare at her as if I'm going to get a response, but I don't. Only her chest moves, with every breath. 

I sit in silence, watching Penelope's breathing, and all of the monitors surrounding her. Her heart beat spikes up and down on the monitor, completely normal. A monitor on the other side of her reads her brain activity, which also looks normal. 

I want to marry this woman, tomorrow if time would allow it. I never originally wanted to fall in love with her. It was simply a game, at least for the first few days, to tease her. I wanted to tease her and see how far I could get. I was bored, and she was hot. But then I got to know her, and I wanted to fall in love, and I did. She's the perfect human being. 

Her heart monitor starts to show something abnormal, beeping faster and faster. I stand to my feet, a sting of pain running through my fractured ankle. "Help her." I yell back at the door. 

Nurses start to rush in, assessing the situation quickly. "Ma'am, you have to leave." The doctor rushes in, calling out a dosage of medicine I don't understand. 

"Aella", Matteo says behind me. He grabs onto my arm, trying to pull me. 

"Get her out", The doctor orders Matteo. I start to resist, but Matteo is larger than me. He grabs both of my arms from behind, locking them in with his. 

"No", I scream, trying to get out of Matteo's grasp. He pulls me out of the room. I fight so hard to get away from him, to stay near Penelope.

As Matteo finally gets me into the hallway, I hear the most dreaded sound I've heard in my life. 

The heartrate monitor goes flat.