ACE

Chapter 74: When I Lost You.

Playlist for this Chapter: Maroon by Taylor Swift, Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift.

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- N I C H O L A S - A C E - K I N G -

- T W O - W E E K S - L A T E R -

The constant ringing of my phone made me grunt in annoyance as I tried to look for it, my hand patting the bed to find it. Whoever was calling at this moment had a death wish.

I pulled the covers over my head when my phone went off again and I groaned in frustration before it turned off and I figured it wasn't anyone important.

It was one of those nights when Jake had to give me sleeping pills— forcefully, might I add— that knocked me out within seconds.

But now my head was pounding as a faint light came in through the windows hinting it was dawn already as my vision became blurry from the lack of sleep.

Dove was still in a coma, no sign of her waking up. Doctors said survival chances dropped and were very slim.

The though itself made my head pound even more as I fisted the sheets in a weak attempt to control my emotions. They were all over the place and it was a nasty sight.

After tossing and turning for a good ten minutes I pushed the covers off of me and huffed in annoyance as I rubbed my temples in an attempt to decrease the headache and stumbled into the bathroom.

I took a quick cold shower and dressed in one of my suits knowing the staff must be up by now and I better get to work to keep my mind off of things.

I did my tie slowly, combing back my hair and putting on my perfume when my eyes fell on the bloody ring and necklace on my dressing table.

I hadn't even touched it since the day of the shooting and kept in my drawer. Somehow, I had taken it out last night and just stared at the two things for no specific reason for hours.

With a heavy sigh, I picked my phone up to turn it back on when my room's door was busted open and in stumbled Jake, Stuart and Matteo all dressed up.

Were they going somewhere?

"What are you doing?" I asked them confused while they looked at me with wild eyes.

"Why the fuck wouldn't you pick up your phone?" Stuart shouted when I winced, touching my head.

"Stop fucking shouting, my head hurts." I grumbled back and closed my eyes tightly, trying to control the pain.

"The hospital's calling Ace, we have to go now!" Jake said as he pulled me by my tie when my eyes widened.

"What happened?" I asked them frantically as we ran down the stairs.

"Doctors called, something's wrong." Matteo said as we stumbled into a car and Jake sped off, driving recklessly.

"Call the hospital, Ace, they called me when they couldn't reach you." Stuart said when I quickly dialled the hospital's number but they didn't pick up.

I called multiple times, my heart hammering in my chest as the worst possible scenarios popped into my head.

No, don't think like that, she'll be fine. 

"They're not picking up." I gritted, clenching the phone with a death grip as we neared the hospital.

"What did they say?" I asked Jake who shook his head.

"We don't know, they said they didn't have time to explain but told us to get there immediately." Jake said and my heart dropped.

Please be okay, my love, please be alright.

"Hang in there, we're almost there." Jake said glancing at my expressions when I nodded absent minded.

The car screeched to a halt in front of the hospital's entrance. We all scrambled out and ran up the stairs all the way to the third floor, the guards on every floor confused at us.

When we reached the floor I ran towards one of Dove's doctors.

"What happened? Is she okay? Where is she?" I asked him, breathless and panting.

"She woke up." Was all he said when I felt like everything fell into place as my world that stopped revolving was now moving again.

"W-What?" I asked, my steps faltered as Jake put a steady hand on my shoulder equally shocked.

"I was checking her vitals when her heart rate suddenly picked up and increased dangerously." The doctor said, relief flooding through me.

"She started moving around and mumbling things and crying, shouting someone's name—Nico—I believe, calling out for help." He said when I drew in a breath.

She was calling out to me.

Fuck, I should have been here.

"Is she...?" I trailed off, my words getting caught in my throat as emotion swelled up inside me when he nodded with a small smile.

"She's awake finally, but we had to make her relax so we injected some medicines into her body and she passed out. I believe it was a panic attack which caused her to wake up." He said.

She's alive.

"Can we see her?" Jake asked and the doctor nodded.

"One at a time, please." The doctor said but before he could say anything else, I was already moving across the hallway and into her room.

And there she was, my angel, laying there peacefully. And she was... awake?

"Dove?" I whispered, careful not to scare her.

My voice came out thick with emotion and then her stunning ice blue eyes flicked to mine and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Those eyes could kill.

"Nico?" She spoke softly, her bottom lip quivering as a lone tear fell down her cheek.

My own tears fell down as I walked over to her and kissed her on her forehead, and then her cheeks, and hands, gripping them tightly in mine.

I pulled away as tears streamed down our faces, the silence around us deafening as I looked into her eyes. We didn't speak, because our eyes spoke volumes when she offered me a faint yet warm smile that made my breath catch.

"You're alive, you're awake, you're really here." I whispered, kissing her tears away. Her own thumb wiped away my tears as a small sob escaped her lips.

"I'm here Nico, I'm right here." She reassured me when I took her hand in mine, our foreheads touching as tears continued to flow down my face and onto hers.

I looked into her stunning eyes, a smile making its way onto face, mirroring hers. She moved a bit to the side, wincing in pain as she did so.

"What are you doing?" I asked her when she patted the space beside her. I understood and smiled softly, taking my shoes off and lay down beside her.

Her head rest on my chest, our hands intertwined as I kissed the top of her forehead and let the steady beeping of the heart monitor lull us both to sleep.

They say hope is the heartbeat of the soul— It was the hope she would be with me that kept my heart beating.

And here we were.