Bloodbond

Chapter 29

I sat by the bedside for a while after Madame Lavoie had left, unsure of what to do with myself. It felt so odd being In Gabriel's prescence now, unconscious or not. To be honest, the change was surreal and I didn't necessarily like it. He may not be conscious at the moment, but he was still the man I loved. Stop being such a baby, stupid!

I'd never been too comfortable in situations like this, but I chose to push past it. I had worried about him so much that I needed to remember I was here with him now and I would figure out a way to fix things.

I moved closer to the bed and took a seat on the edge. Reaching out my hand to gently touch his face again, I felt a rush of love fill my heart. Nothing else but Gabriel mattered to me in this moment. A few tears of mine slipped out and fell onto the blanket before I swiped them away. Leaning in to him, I placed a light kiss on his forehead and another on each of his eyelids.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I never meant for this to happen. I shouldn't have been so concerned with what I wanted. I can't imagine what you must have felt when you heard what  had happened," I laid my head down just under his chin, being careful to avoid any injuries. "Taran and Claire...if only I hadn't been so stupid...," I paused to consider my words.

I was done making dumb mistakes. If I wanted to truly be with Gabriel (which I obviously did), then I would have to understand his world so much more than I did now. No longer would I accept the role of spectator.

I lifted my head up to look at Gabriel's face. It didn't matter that I wasn't completely sure that he could hear me. I knew what I had to say and it just felt right doing it while looking at him.

"I made a mistake, but I will fix it, and when I do, things will change. I want to be a part of your world completely, Gabriel. I love you with everything I have and I will not let you leave me now, do you understand? You can't leave me." I whispered the last part, tears rolling down my cheeks again. It didn't matter that we'd only known each other for a short time; he had made such a significant impact on my life that I just couldn't imagine having to live on without him. This experience was giving me a better idea of what Claire had been going through since Markus' death. My admiration for her ability to soldier on only grew.

After wiping my tears away for the second time, I leaned in to place one last kiss on Gabriel's lips before getting up to walk out. As I pulled the door open, I turned back to look at him one last time. He looked so peaceful. Now, if only he'd just open his eyes.

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 When I got downstairs, I couldn't seem to find anyone. I walked over to the window and saw that the car Daniel, Natasha and I had driven up in was missing. What was going on?

Madame Lavoie was nowhere to be seen either, so I decided to search the house. She had said that she would be downstairs, but I hadn't been able to find her in the kitchen, living room, family room, or the dining room. I was not comfortable searching someone else's house, so I was not appreciating having to do so now. I turned around to search the living room one more time and nearly screamed when I came face to face with Madame Lavoie.

"Jesus! You scared me half to death! Could you maybe make a little noise next time instead of creeping up on me?" I sounded breathless. Well, you would too if someone had just slipped up behind you like that.

She gave a little half smile. "I was just in the back, taking care of a few things," she said.

"Right. What happened to Daniel and Natasha? The car is gone."

"I felt it best if they returned to the house. I assumed that you would rather stay here with Gabriel for the time being."

"You're alright with that?" I asked her.