Sleep State

Chapter 20

- Final Chapter -

Head hung low. Hands clasped tightly. He had resorted to the only thing he could do, pray.

With all his strength and all of his might, he focused on the only thing that had brought light back into his life. The one person who taught him how to feel again. The girl who he feared at the sake of his undoing and poor judgment prior to this point he would never see again. And so, he prayed.

He called on the higher beings to guide him home. He asked for forgiveness. He begged on bended knees for anything, whether it be life or death just to be rid from the prison of his mind. This alternate universe, a layer of his subconscious had proven to be more than he could handle alone. It was time to meet the fork in the road, and he felt it was near, but one last obstacle stood in his way.

It wasn't heaven or hell that held him up on the never ending waiting list. It was her. She would be the one to determine his fate. She would be the one to bring him home if she so pleased. Or she would be the one to let him drift off peacefully into another realm if that was how it was meant to be. His destiny was in her hands and with everything he knew, he hoped Ana would let him come home to her. 

Please let me come home to you, Ana. 

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Every nerve in her body electrified with hatred. She barely knew the strikingly well-kept woman who sat across from her, and yet, Ana knew enough to not trust her. The way she sat with her back straight, breasts pushed out and swayed with careful precision told her she thought very highly of herself. If she carried a physical flaw, it could not be seen to the naked eye. Everything about her was groomed, tight, and accentuated. Nothing about this woman screamed genuine, nice, or sweet. She appeared to her as a devil in disguise. A bitch who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, and bitch she would prove to be.

"I'm sorry. I haven't even introduced myself to you and here I am barging in." The pep in her voice was faked. "My name is Elena Lincoln. I'm, well, the the man who hit you, Christian."

I know who you are, Ana's thoughts snarled in the back of her mind. Thanks to Kate's almost accurate inquiry of the woman, she knew more than she had liked to know about her. She was well aware of her status and who she claimed to belong to. A man who turned her life upside down. A man who had been frequenting her thoughts like an unwanted intruder. Knowing little about her betrayer, she wondered what sort of man he really was in his conscious state. What kind of man wanted forever and ever with a woman like Elena? She cringed. 

Elena's boney fingers lightly grasped her wrist and she tried to wrinkle her face in sorrow. "I just wanted to tell you how deeply sorry I am about all of this." The urge to snatch her wrist away was almost immediate, but she remained still, observant. Her eyes flickered to the large cut diamond on her ring finger. It flared under the fluorescent light and sparkled miraculously. She saw the subtle hint of a smirk as Elena caught sight of her gazing at her beloved jewel. Ana wished he hadn't. 

Slowly, she retracted her hand away and brushed an invisible stray hair from her eyes as she flashed her engagement ring deliberately before her. What gives, bitch?

"I'm sure your parents are very happy to see you awake, as am I." She spoke almost tight-lipped. "I know I can only speak on behalf of my fiancé, but I know he never meant for this to happen. And if he were awake, he would never forgive himself. It's just been so hard not knowing if he will wake up or not, you know. He's been in a coma for so long now, I just want him to snap out of it. "

She wanted the same, but not for Elena's sake. She didn't care what she meant to Christian. All she cared about was him. Wait, she cared about him? This was a new revelation. The uneasy wave of emotions that crashed internally made her shift and she gripped the thin sheets on her bed. What in the world was going on? Christian had hit her. He had almost killed her that resulted in a medically induced coma. The only emotion she should have felt was anger, but instead her heart was half full with hope for the man. Was it wrong of her to feel and think in such a way? Or did it only prove that she was human?