Page 119 of Broken Bonds

“Right now, Mr. Danvers is on life support. Ryan, it’s up to you what happens with his life.” Turning to look at my brother, I watched him crumple to the ground with Amber at his side.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Ryan cried as Amber wrapped her arms around him.

“This is all your fault!” I screamed, lashing out at him. If he hadn’t told Ace to leave, he would be okay. He wouldn’t be—I couldn’t say it.

“Celine, honey.” Mom’s gentle touch registered in my mind, but the pain took over.

“Get off me. It’s all his fault that Ace is here, that…” I inhaled a deep breath, my chest rising and falling, “that I didn’t tell him I love him before it was too late. Now, he may never h-hear the w-words,” I sobbed.

“I’m sorry, Celine. I’m so sorry,” Ryan pleaded, looking at me with tears streaking down his face. Amber clung to his arm, her own tears falling.

“I hate you!” I screamed at him, pushing my face into the crisp hospital sheets. I clutched at Ace’s still hand as I cried.

“I’m sorry.” I was so tired of Ryan’s apologies. So, so tired.

My whole body shook as I cried onto Ace’s limp, cold hand. He wasn’t Aidan. He wouldn’t leave. Hepromised. He’d been making plans. He had an apartment. He wasstaying.

“Please don’t leave me. Fight, Ace, please fight for us,” I quietly begged, my words thick with tears.

I couldn’t bear to look at him, so I fell asleep with my wet cheek resting on his hand, praying with every fiber of my body that he would wake up, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if hediedbefore I could tell him just how much I loved him, if hediedthinking he was unloved.

Sometime during the night, I was moved onto a cot right next to Ace. My sleep was consumed by nightmares of a world without Ace, of Aidan’s accident happening over and over.

The next few days passed in a blur. Ryan had to go back to his duty station, and so, two days after Ace was admitted, Ryan left. It was still tense between us, but he hugged me from behind, draping his arms around my neck before placing a quick peck to my head. “Don’t forget to take care of yourself, Celine. He’s going to be okay.”

I nodded numbly. If only he knew that I didn’t care about what happened to me. I couldn’t lose another person. I would never be able to heal from losing Ace.

“I’m sorry,” Ryan whispered. His apologies meant nothing; they wouldn’t wake Ace up. They couldn’t undo the past. Every time he said it, all I felt was anger.

Amber had become my silent companion. Every day, she camped out in the cramped room with me, hiding all our favorite snacks in her giant purse. We didn’t talk. She read magazines or watched TV while I stared at Ace, looking for any sign that he was going to wake up.

After a week, Amber forced me to shower with the help of a nurse because I was still suffering from my injuries. It had been almost three weeks since Julian fucked me up, but I was healing. Slowly but surely. I only wished Ace was awake to see it.

The bruises on my face and neck had faded to an ugly yellow and green, and my eyes were no longer swollen. Each day became a little easier to bear. I was still living on pain pills, needing them to numb my body and my mind. I knew it was dangerous, but without them…

Without them, I felttoo much.

Ace hadn’t even flinched in his comatose state. The only way I knew he was still alive was by watching the steady rise and fall of his chest from the machine forcing his lungs to work. The nurse had taken the bandages off his head, and now, I stared at the road rash scarring his handsome face for hours.

What is he going to think when he wakes up?If he wakes up?

Shaking my head, I averted my attention to the small TV, where Amber was immersed in some show. She was munching happily on popcorn, a blanket draped over her legs. I really loved this girl. She hadn’t left my side except to get me clothes and food. I really didn’t know what I’d do without her.

“Amber?” She snapped her head in my direction instantly.

She swallowed her food. “What’s up?”

“I love you.” A soft smile tilted her lips. “You’re the best sister I could have ever asked for.” Tears shone in her eyes when she launched herself at me, mindful of my healing ribs when she squeezed me.

“I love you so much,” she cried, holding onto me.

A week later, there was still nothing new from Ace. Now, it was just the two of us in this room. Amber went back to class and came by in the afternoons or evenings. Sometimes, Mom would sit with me, but for the most part, it was just Ace and me.

With nothing better to do, I told him everything about Julian and that night. I went over every detail, every hit, punch, kick, and all his belittling words. I finally got it off my chest. Even if he couldn’t hear me, it helped. The relief was instant but short-lived with Ace still unmoving. I wanted a reaction from him. I wanted him to remind me that I was safe, that he would never leave me. Instead, I was met with silence.

“Wake up, Ace! Open your blue eyes and keep your promise this time, please!” Standing, I limped around the room. “You promised me.” I looked at his scabbed face, closed lids, his mouth set in a flat line. “Damn you for being so handsome, even on the verge of death,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

Six weeks after Julian broke my wrist, the cast finally came off, and now, I held both of Ace’s hands when I sat next to his bed, hoping he would feel me. It had been a month since his accident, and the doctors worried me a little more with every passing day,reminding me that I may need to call Ryan and ask him to make a decision.

---