ESCAPE

Chapter 31

ZAYN

I hadn't left the hospital since I came to see her again.

I couldn't leave her here alone now, knowing that she was almost the mother-no she was the mother of a beautiful baby girl; our Veronica.

I wondered how she would have looked like.

Nova always wanted our child to look like me and have her eyes, But ever since I had learned about Nova's childhood, I always wanted to know what she was like back then, or how she even looked, so I wanted a baby girl who would look just like Nova, just so that I could have an excuse to watch her grow into a beautiful woman, just like her mother.

Nova would have made an awesome mother but I wondered why she took that rash decision, why would she want a baby when she knew her life was on the line?

What made her even think that we could have a baby when she knew her life was always in danger and that I couldn't always be by her side when she needed me.

'I just want some sunshine'

Her voice rang clear in my mind and I shook my head as I recalled how I found her huddled in a ball at the end of the bed, one night when I had come to visit her at her apartment.

Nova had one of the brightest yet darkest minds that I had ever seen in my life.

She was a puzzle which confused me every day but I was determined to solve her no matter what.

'You'll only get lost in the maze, Zayn', she once told me when I was frustrated with her for not telling me what bothered her.

'I refuse to give up on you', I said firmly but she shook her head with a small smile.

'That's what everyone says when they meet me, they see me as a puzzle but then they give up because of all the missing pieces', she said.

'Then I'll make new pieces and I'll make them fit better than the old ones', I pleaded but she shook her head with tears in her eyes.

'You'll only hurt yourself by trying to', was all she said.

One second she would be all smiles but then she would suddenly start to cry and blame herself for even the smallest reason and yet somehow through all of that, she survived.

I twirled my phone and sighed as I remembered Harry's phone call.

I felt bad for not answering properly, but I just wasn't ready in telling anyone yet.

I knew at some point I would have to tell them but that point was not now.

My phone suddenly started to vibrate and I sighed as I saw it was Mum.

'Zayn, come home', came my Mum's gentle voice.

'I can't', I said and looked outside where I saw an old man with a lady who was probably his daughter, who was helping him walk around the hospital garden.

'Jaan, you need to get out of that dreary place', she said with concern in her voice.

My Mum had been telling me the same thing ever since I had decided to not step foot out of the hospital room.

'I can't just leave her alone here', I said and looked at my fiancé's sleeping posture.

With every hour that passed by, I would wish for some kind of miracle in which she would suddenly open her eyes, but that wish was never granted.

'She's not the one alone there', she reminded me and for a second I actually did feel small in that huge room.

My throat ached as the unshed tears threatened to fall any second.