Enchanted

37

Holly had been having anxiety attacks for years and not once had I known what it felt like to be in her shoes. The only thing that could get me that deathly afraid was losing her and up until now, I'd made sure that would never happen.

I'd been scared before, anxious, worried but this new terror was something I'd never had to experience before. This not knowing of whether I'd ruined her life forever was driving me insane.

I wanted to grab each and every nurse and doctor in sight and scream in their faces until one of them just told me. But I couldn't. I didn't want to raise suspicions. The combination of terror and this stupid mildly concerned stranger act I was pulling was tearing me apart.

My chest felt like a balloon pumped to its very limit, stretched so thin it hurt to take a breath. I avoided eye contact with everyone and squeezed my eyes shut, begging myself not to snap. It had been working for eight hours but I could feel myself straining. I had to see her. I had to know.

"Rosalina? "

The deep voice was so sudden that I literally jumped to my feet, veins bursting with adrenaline. The sight of a familiar face amidst all this chaos was more than enough to break me. One minute I was standing and the next, I was on the tiled floor, choking on sobs.

"Fuck, Rosalina, are you okay?"

Apollo was saying something else but I could barely hear him. His voice got lost somewhere in the back of my mind as the insane urge to breathe took focus.

An explosion of pain went off in my chest, an avalanche of the panic and terror I'd been suppressing all day. I couldn't breathe. I heaved but the sobs stole the oxygen from me almost immediately.

I'm going to die, the thought only sent me into more of a panic.

"...Nurse! Rosalina, look at me!"

I glanced up, forcing my eyes open and there was Adonis' brother, his square jaw and grey eyes nothing like Adonis but somehow exactly the same.

Adonis.

My entire body tensed at his name.

"Adonis, Adonis! Where is he? Apollo, where is he?" I screamed suddenly, a completely new wave of panic surging.

I pushed back his hands and fought to my feet, cursing myself for forgetting.

"Rosalina, stop. You were hyperventilating. Let a nurse look at you before-"

Only then did I notice the women in scrubs surrounding us, a wheelchair in front of one of them. I ignored them and turned to Apollo, gripping his arms.

"Did you go to the house like I told you? Did you get him? Stop looking at me like I'm a broken doll and answer the fucking question!"

My voice bounced against the walls but I didn't care. Holly was getting medical help: that was all I could do. But Adonis...who knew what his father had done to him.

He left you.

I dismissed the thought without a second's hesitation. Adonis would ever abandon me. Not after everything.

To my horror, Apollo's face contorted with discomfort. "I got onto a plane as soon as you called me. But...I was too late."

My knees turned to jelly. I tightened my grip on Apollo's arms, unwilling to fall. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Apollo winced and I swear something inside me died. "He's -"

"What's going on here?" the doctor from earlier - the one who had explained Holly's condition, was back.