Anne with an e- a new version of the story

Chapter 89 - Endless as the stars

GILBERT

The sound of the sea reached Gilbert's ears, but he really didn't hear it, as his heartfelt sobs and the gasps that cut through the air prevented him from paying attention to anything other than the pain in his chest and the pressure in his head that made him want to scream in disbelief at what he had just heard. He looked at the girl in his arms who didn't seem to be in better condition than he was, and he wanted to cry even more for the pain she had endured alone until that moment.

God! They were going to have a child and Anne lost it, and he wasn't even by her side to comfort her. While he slept in his terrible oblivion, Anne suffered the loss of their child without his support. What kind of person was he, who, besides not remembering his fiancée, had condemned her to be alone in such a horrible and traumatizing moment for a woman? It was truly necessary to be very strong to endure something like that. Faced with this thought, Gilbert felt his love for Anne grow even stronger. What an incredible woman she was, for she set aside her suffering to be with him every day in the hospital, like an angel watching over his well-being, when it was she who needed the support he hadn't given her the most.

And at that exact moment, she needed him again, and he couldn't succumb to the despair he felt inside. He needed to give Anne the support she needed to know that she was no longer alone, and that she no longer had to be strong for both of them. He was there to help her share the burden of overcoming the death of a child.

Gilbert controlled his tears, hastily wiping the tears that were still rolling down his face, took a step back, and faced Anne, who kept her head down. She had stopped crying, but she didn't look into his eyes as if she didn't have enough courage to face Gilbert's gaze upon her.

- Love, look at me. - she obeyed, and Gilbert saw the suffering etched on her face. He almost cried again, but he held back just in time. Anne needed someone strong by her side at that moment, and he wouldn't help at all by breaking down in tears like a little boy. So, she spoke, and her words broke his heart to the point of making Gilbert bleed inside.

- Forgive me, Gilbert. You saved my life, but I couldn't save the life of our own son. Anne was sobbing openly, and Gilbert didn't want to believe that she was blaming herself for it. He hurried to hug her and say:

- Anne, you weren't to blame. Things like this happen, and there's nothing to be done except overcome it and move on. - she looked at him, and her expression was serious, almost as if her suffering had doubled. God! How he wished to remove that pain from her face, how he wished to heal her wounded soul with his love. If someone had to be blamed, let it be him then. He had left her alone in the midst of that chaos, and when she visited him in the hospital, he was caught up in his own drama to notice anything. Now he understood the sudden silence into which she would sometimes plunge, and that strange emotion in the depths of her eyes that Gilbert had never been able to decipher. He should have protected Anne, but it was she who had protected him by keeping that secret locked away inside her until it consumed her completely.

Anne ran her fingers through her hair, turned her gaze once again to the sea, which at that moment was tumultuous with waves swelling and crashing on the shore, and Gilbert realized that he felt exactly like that. A confusion of feelings battled within him, and he couldn't exactly define in what proportion he felt each one. The only thought that prevailed was that he had to free Anne from that guilt, he couldn't let that feeling destroy the wonderful creature she was. Her voice came out in a whisper, almost as if she couldn't bear the weight of her own heart.

- How can I move on if I can't forgive myself? I should have known, Gilbert, that inside me there was a child of ours. I didn't take care of myself, I didn't take care of him, and I lost him. her gaze towards him was tormented, Gilbert thought for a second about the right words to say to Anne, but they didn't come, so he pulled her down and made her sit on the towel facing him, and with her face between his hands, Gilbert said: