𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 ~ 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐲-𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen:
He Remembered Everything
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Edward could still hear the screams of his sister bouncing off the walls. He could hear them echoing in his mind. Her screams were haunting him when he tried to sleep at night.

Every time he shut his eyes and tried to calm his mind enough to sleep, the look on her face when he pulled her from the freezing water.

Her pained screams and cries for help as Gilbert tried to stitch her up were agonizing to hear. Mabel cried and begged for him to stop before her body gave out on her and she fell into an unconscious state.

Her eyes shut and the writhing stopped. The screaming stopped. The room became eerily silent as tension rested heavily on the shoulders of everyone standing in the room.

Their maids huddled together, silent tears rolling down their faces. Mabel always was their favorite, after all. Even if they would never say it out loud.

He could still see the blood staining the sheets and her dress when he shut his eyes. Every time he closed his eyes the look on her face plagued him. The panic she clearly felt, the pain, the pleading. Every time he tried to sleep, his sister's death attacked his dreams.

If only he had run faster.

If only he had gotten there sooner.

If only they had gotten her out earlier.

If only this. If only that.

Hundreds upon hundreds of if onlys ran through his head. He wished he had done something faster.

It was beginning to drive Edward mad.

He remembered their father frantically trying to stop the bleeding as he barked orders at each of them. How their mother sobbed as she clutched the dress to her chest, rocking back and forth.

He could still see how pale she looked.. How weak and ice cold to the touch she was. Mabel was struggling to keep her eyes open by the time he told Catherine to go to Charlotte town for a doctor and Anne to go get Gilbert.

Edward remembered the fear in her eyes as she clutched onto his hand, begging him not to let her die. How cold her hand felt. How she looked so close to death already. The tears streaming down her face as she begged their father to help her.

He remembered all of it.

He remembered his mother crying and begging God for her daughter's life to be spared. Edward remembered staring down at his hands, covered in her blood. He remembered shaking as he stumbled back into the wall.

He remembered Anne bursting into the room, Gilbert following behind her.

He remember seeing the brief look fear cross Gilbert's face as he wondered if he would be able to save Mabel. Edward remembered seeing Gilbert doubt himself as he shakily, but quickly, took the medical supplies the maids held.

He remembered seeing Catherine's strong walls crumble as she paced the room. She raked her hands through her brown hair as she muttered prayers to herself.

He remembered how Anne cried, how she hyperventilated and sunk to her knees beside the bed. How she clutched the quilt and sobbed, begging for Gilbert to save her.

Edward remembered having to leave the room, as he was unable to handle the scene, the screams, anymore. He remembered sliding down the wall, staring up at the ceilings and forcing himself to stop crying. He begged his mind to calm, to stop telling him that their was absolutely no way for her to survive this. That she was as good as dead already. That her life had been cast away the moment she fell into that ice cold lake.

He remembered the pure, unadulterated panic that flooded his body when her screams abruptly cut off. He remembered how fast he stood up and opened the door.

He remembered his heart dropping when he saw the state she was in. Her head turned to the side, her eyes were shut, and her chest rose and fell worryingly slow.

~~

Mabel was weak. The blood loss was exponential, the doctor was surprised she survived. The man warned that he was still worried about an infection, and to not let her leave her room.

Edward refused to let her even leave her bed after this. He had the maids clean her wound three times a day.

Mabel thought he was being far too protective over her. She felt just fine, and she told him that. But he didn't budge.

In fact, Catherine was even being protective over her. She would bring home her school books every day, promising to write letters every week after she left for finishing school.

Mabel found that rather odd, seeing as Catherine wasn't typically that nice to her. She thought something was seriously, seriously wrong. Mabel thought that they were hiding something from her, not wanting her to worry in her final days.

Worry she did. She was thankful for each passing breath. With each day she would wake up and thank God above that she survived the night because she believed she was dying.

Then she got better.. for a few days.

Edward remembered seeing her walk down the stairs one day, her skin's color returned to its natural shade. He remembered how she greeted the maids with a smile as she sat down at the table for breakfast.

He remembered how relieved he, Catherine and their parents looked as she happily ate her breakfast. He remembered how he thanked God above that his sister's life was spared.

He remembered how she didn't show up for breakfast the next day. He finished his breakfast and went up to her bedroom to check on her.

He could still remember clearly how dread washed over him with each step closer to her room. He didn't yet know why, but he would.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ Word Count: 1

{ A/n: next chap gonna hurt like a bitch also this was told as a "this already happened" type thing }

{ Edited: No }