Friction [Book 2]

-developments-

"Yes, Pete, I-I, yes, of course I'll marry you!"

Seeing Ellianah smile was amazing. Her eyes sparkled and glinted, her smile growing, making her skin glow bright. She looked the happiest I had seen her in months and it filled me with a sense of pride and fulfilment, knowing she was truly happy.

Gently, I slid the ring onto her finger. She lifted it up, admiring the new decoration upon her hand. I could tell she loved it. It was the way she stared in awe at the rough-cut diamond in the centre and the silver band encasing her dainty finger.

"I love you, Ellianah."

"I love you too, Pete."

The doctors entered the room, asking me to leave immediately. I complied, pressing my lips onto her forehead for a short moment before she told me I had to go.

"I'll be here when you wake up, okay?"

I left the room once she nodded. I couldn't tell if it was the operation that was making her nervous, or the shock of the proposal. Either way, she was shaking like a leaf and I didn't want to leave her, but I had to. I had to leave my fiancée.

I took a seat in the waiting room and stared at the clock. I thought about the things I'd said to Ellianah and how amazing it will be when I fulfil all those promises for her. There were times when I'd overheard her talking to Gabrielle about weddings. I knew she was waiting for me to propose, I just didn't know how to do it. All Ellianah wanted from the moment she left that care home was to be accepted and loved, and that's all I want to give her.

I sometimes listened to her conversations with the girls. They spoke about dresses and parties and flower arrangements for all their weddings and it made me guilty because I was the only member of the band not married which meant Ellianah had never had her dream wedding unlike the other girls. The proposal was not out of guilt, though. More the total opposite. I had to stop myself from proposing months ago when I found out she was pregnant because of what happened, but I figured that before she went into that operating theatre, that she was going to get married and she was loved eternally by me.

I got myself a cup of coffee and leaned back into the leather padded chair. The hospital was seemingly empty and it felt strange. I had never been in a hospital for a medical reason besides the saga with Ellianah three years ago. It still broke my heart to this day. I always hated hospitals anyway. The only place I loved was the maternity ward because it's where the best moments of my life happened. Although the next best was going to follow another hospital trip at a destination Ellianah was going to pick.

I decided months ago that I would let Ellianah pick everything. I wanted it to be all about her. She was going to pick the place, she was going to pick the planner, the decorations, the entertainment, the flowers, the dresses, everything. I was going to give her everything she's always wanted and nothing was going to stand in my way this time.

Nothing.

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Patiently I waited. I waited in the damp, dark, drowsy hospital ward with a luke-warm cup of poor coffee in my hand. My leg was anxiously bouncing up and down and I ended up throwing the coffee away and pulling out my phone.

Three hours had passed.

I wanted to call someone, to talk so someone, but I couldn't. I didn't want to hear anyone's voice apart from Ellianah's, so I knew she was okay. I needed to see her.

The doctors didn't mention how long to operation took, but I presumed that after the two hour mark, I'd be here for a while. It turned out that I was to speak to someone anyway, as my phone rang displaying the phone number to my parents house. I answered straight away.