Loving Eros

Chapter 13

Story awoke to the sound of beeping, and a blinding white light. Her head spun frantically as her eyes tried to piece together her surroundings. The room around her was mostly white. White curtains, a few small chairs, a white bed that she was lying in. Was this a... hospital room?

As she glanced over to her side, colors of all kinds popped out to her foggy vision. Flowers, a teddy bear, more flowers. As her consciousness awoke more and more, she realized one of her hands was heavier than the other. She turned her head to the other side. There, in the seat next to her, was a man with pitch black hair and glasses. His hand was rested on hers. There was no doubt who is was.

"Ozzy...?" she muttered.

He opened his eyes. "You're awake now." Before she could piece together what was going on, Ozzy was already up and leaving. "I have to go alert the doctors."

Story found herself without the energy to stop him or speak anymore. Within moments, doctors and nurses came rushing in.

What was going on?

A mix of eye tests, pulse checks, monitor adjustments, and gentle questions about how she was feeling passed by for what seemed like an hour. Her exhaustion didn't pass. Eventually they nurses left, and one doctor remained to talk to a copper-haired woman who stood in the doorway at the end of it all. A noticeably pregnant copper-haired woman.

Story felt so dizzy, she was about to pass out.

Araceli shooed the doctor out of the room and took a seat next to her and gently caressed Story's hair. "Hey," she spoke quietly. "I know this must be very confusing for you, so just take it easy."

Story opened her mouth to speak, then closed her eyes and sighed.

Araceli chuckled. "Here, you rest. I'll speak quietly for you."

Slowly and carefully, she proceeded to tell the worn out Story that after they had gone shopping for Ameline, Story was hit by a car going full speed. Her head had hit the pavement pretty hard, and she'd been in a medically induced coma for several months now. As it turned out, they found out shortly after she was hospitalized that Araceli was pregnant, and was now currently due in two months. They arrested the man who had run her over, but she had mumbled some suspicions of the man's behavior. The longer Story was in a coma, the more things seemed to go wrong. In fact, they were beginning to expect she wasn't going to make it. The previous night, however, her heart rate had grown more steady. Sometimes it went off the fritz, and there were a few cases they almost lost her. No one understood what was going on. All they knew was that Ozzy told them not to let her go yet.

"Boy, am I glad we didn't," Araceli sighed, relieved. "You know, he visited you every day."

Apparently, Ozzy wasn't the only one who visited her daily. Benjamin would come in every day with a fresh rose, and add it to a bouquet that had developed in a vase. Whenever a rose died, he would replace it. Pascal ordered her flowers every once and a while too. The times that Ozzy and Benjamin ran into each other here were probably the most peaceful times they would see each other.

Unfortunately, Scarlett couldn't visit. Araceli explained she'd been in a spiraling loop of depression for six months. A week after Story's accident, they discovered Octavia's body lying in the snow. Scarlett became extraordinarily scarce after the funeral. As Araceli explained this, her voice and expression was grave.

Scarlett still wasn't doing very well. In an unexpected way, Grey had become the one to check on her daily. Araceli communicated her suspicion that it was just a distraction from socializing with Amanda, as not to lie to her. Or worse, let it slip that her adoptive sister was not living with him in secret.