King of My Heart

35. "E-Ethan wasn't there?"

(690 words)

My eyelids felt heavy and my head ached like crazy. I wanted to sit up, but my body felt bulky and tired.

What is happening to me?

I let out a few groans of pain, pressing my lips in a thin line, trying to sit up. When I managed to open my eyes, everything around me seemed to be spinning. One of my hands reached up to hold my pounding head as I once again attempted to lift my body off of whatever surface I was lying on.

An image of Ethan's bleeding body popped into my mind, causing me to jerk upwards, my eyes now wide as saucers, although my vision was still blurry. "E-Ethan." I mumbled, expecting him to be laying right next to me.

As my vision cleared up, I was forced to jump onto my feet. What the hell? How did I get here?

As I took in my surroundings, perplexity possessed as me as I failed to decipher how I was in my bedroom. Hadn't I gone to that hell-hole of a mansion? Heck, I had found that stupid secret passage and my husband inside of it; I had even cauterised his gaping abdominal wound.

How the hell was I back home?

Stumbling towards the table in our room Ethan usually worked at, I gripped its edges to steady myself and my breathing. The events that had occurred in that mansion flowed through my brain as I tried to figure out what the hell happened.

I was holding Ethan. I was telling him everything was gonna be fine. We were waiting for Zayn...

Ethan was trying to tell me something...

What wasn't I aware of?

Why can't I remember what happened afterwards?

Where is my husband now?

A loud knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I stared at it for a minute before clearing my throat and saying, "come in."

The door swiftly opened.

"Zayn?" I uttered, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. He bore a glum expression and seemingly couldn't look me in the eyes. His face was slightly bruised.

I straightened up my posture immediately.

"What the hell is going on? How are we here? Where's Ethan?"

"Ana, I'm sorry... I couldn't find him." He said slowly, hanging his head low.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I shouted at him. "We were in that damned passage! You saw me go in there! Why didn't you come after me?!"

"I was coming after you! But I had to encounter a couple men on the way. By the time I walked into the passage, I saw you there passed out." He explained.

My breathing became erratic upon hearing his words, the familiar light-headed feeling returning as fear overcame me. "E-Ethan wasn't there?"

"No."

"Oh my God." My hands covered my mouth as my body shook in terror.

"Ana, I promise you. I will find him. I'm going to go back there for him with my men. We'll bring him back. I hope he hasn't lost too much blood."

"Please find him." I whispered, my voice shaking.

"You eat something and take care of yourself. I promise I'll find him." He assured and giving me one last sympathetic look, he turned to leave.

As soon as he left, my body limply dropped to the chair behind me. Ethan's chair... Ethan. My eyes brimmed with tears as I held my face in my hands. My love was there, bleeding and in agony. How could I not save him? How could I not succeed in getting him out of there? I promised him...

"No, no. You need to... listen... to me.. you can't.. you..." His words echoed in my brain.

"Anastasia, you.. don't.. know... anything."

What was he trying to tell me? Why the hell did I not listen to him? Was he trying to warn me?

His words circled around my brain as my grip tightened on the arms of the chair I was sitting on, the echoes growing louder and more profound to the point where I thought I'd go insane.

Then it hit me like a lightning bolt.

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We're nearing the end of this book. Only a few more chapters left. Next chapter comes Tuesday!

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