It was three in the morning and the fifteenth day, since Adiva had been in a coma. Zacharias had just closed his eyes to catch some sleep when he heard a whimper. He froze for a second. Then he felt his hand being pulled in a light squeeze, followed by a sob. He snapped his head and saw his wife's tear filled eyes. She was sobbing loudly now. One hand clutching her stomach while the other held his hand.
"What the?" He mumbled, but couldn't believe that his wife was finally awake. And she was crying.
"Adiva?" He quickly sat in front of her and cradled her face. "What happened love?" He searched her eyes desperately. "Are you in any kind of pain? Should I call the doctors?" He inquired.
Gripping the front of his shirt, she shook her head and cried tragically. "My babies...Zacharias. My babies..." She cried hysterically. "He...He..Killed m-my babies...." Zacharias encapsulated her in his arms, realization dawning on him.
"Shh... Relax love... Everything is alright... Cry no more." He tried soothing her, but her hysterics did not cease. Clutching her stomach, she cried in pain.
"I am sorry...I am so sorry. I tried so much to keep them safe, but I lost them. He took my babies from me."
"Shh... Nothing wrong happened love, they are safe..." He tried to explain, but only if she would listen through her painful cries.
While still holding her, Zacharias reached for the glass of water and forced her to drink it. Only when he was convinced that she drank the whole glass, did he gently picked her up in his arms and started walking. She did not question him, nor did she had any strength to. Instead she clung to him tightly. Her tears soaking his shirt.
"It's alright my angel, everything is alright." He carried her towards the cribs. "Look" He cocked his head in the direction of the cribs.
Slowly, she raised her head and a gasp escaped her lips as soon as her eyes lay on the babies sleeping like angels.
"They made it! Zacharias, they really made it." She squealed happily, leaning towards the cribs. "They are so small, but beautiful" She whispered, droplets of tears slipping through her eyes.
"Yes, they are.." He whispered.
"I want to hold them..."
"We will see after the doctors examine you."
"Oh, okay." She relied, her eyes scanning the room that was decorated with balloons. "This is so beautiful.."
"Tina, Ziya and Igor did it."
"My parents are here?"
He nodded.
"Why are there so many machines here?"
"They were born premature and faced complications during their birth. They were kept in an incubator." He informed.
"Come, lets get the doctor to look at you first." He carried her back to the room.
"I want them closer to me..." She cried.
"I will ask them to make the necessary arrangements."
Her room too was filled with flowers and cards of "get well soon" and "we miss you." She was overwhelmed. Zacharias pressed the button beside the bed and waited for the doctors to arrive
"How many days was I out?" She inquired.
"15 days..." Her eyes widened at his solemn reply. "You were in a coma." He heard her sharp intake of breath and lowered his head leaning against her.
"Our babies... They are so small. I wish I could keep them inside my body until they were bigger and stronger." She choked back her tears, but they still filled her eyes and flowed down her face. She held unto him tightly as he cradled her in his arms.
A knock on the door pulled them apart.
"Ah... Mrs Ivanov. Finally you are awake. You did give us quite a scare there...." The team of doctors announced their presence.
After examining her thoroughly, they were happy to announce that she was perfectly alright and good to go, but just for safety precautions, they decided to keep her under observation for another 12 hours before providing the discharge.
A heavy breath of relief escaped his lips at their conviction. He thanked the team and asked the staff to shift the twins into the room occupied by them. One of the nurse helped them in putting the babies in their arms. Adiva held Zmaray while Zacharias held his baby girl Zaina in his arms. It was the most beautiful and surreal feeling in the world.
"Am I allowed to feed them?" Adiva inquired through her tear filled eyes that held hope.
Dr.Martha shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Thank you so much..."
Her joy knew no bounds. She was grinning happily as she cradled their son in her arms, placing feathery kisses all over his face, while he held their daughter. They both were sleeping soundlessly as Adiva took Zaina from Zacharias and started raining kisses all over her face.
Zacharias couldn't help but stare at her in amusement. No one could tell that she had woken up from her coma just an hour ago.
"They are so beautiful Zacharias. I love them so much." She gushed, tracing her finger over their cute faces gazing at them in wonder at the new life they had created.
"Me too love, me too.." He pulled her in a side way embrace.
"Come on now, you need to rest. Let me put them back in their cribs."
She pouted. "I want to hold them a little longer."
"Not now. You need to rest love, you can have them again in the morning..."
She complied reluctantly, as he placed them back in their cribs.
"I thought I was going to lose them.." She whispered silently, but Zacharias heard her.
"They are fighters like their mother." He laid her on the bed and encircled her in his arms.
"I tried my best to keep them safe."
"And you did a great job at that." He kissed her temple.
"Sleep now, you need it" She shook her head.
"No. I already slept a lot. I don't want to sleep anymore." She tilted her head towards him.
"How did you find me?"
He drew in a long breath, his hold tightening on her. "I had placed a tracker into that woman's body and I knew she will be there when they had taken you."
"Oh..." She nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry that I made you go through so much pain.." She lowered her head in chagrin.
"Hey, look at me." He placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head towards him. "I would go through all this a thousand times more, if it means to keep you safe. It was not your fault. You were tricked."
"I know" She nodded guiltily.
"You don't have to feel guilty about that." He raised her chin.
"But you need to promise me something. You will never behave in an impetus manner again. You cannot indulge in emotions and act in precipitation, you get that? Come however delicate the situation might be, you will never behave accordingly without informing me.." His voice held sternness.
She smiled nodding her head. "I promise" Her tone held vehemence.
"Good.."
He pulled her tightly against him as he took a long breath inhaling her scent. She smelled hospital and medicines, instead of her intoxicating rose and sandalwood scent.
He still couldn't believe that she was here with him, talking to him, smiling at him, while training her beautiful eyes on him. His Adiva was finally awake. After fighting a battle with death, she came back to him like a warrior and indeed, she was a warrior. His beautiful angelic warrior that returned to her beloved.
"Zacharias?" She called him in the silence, as they sat together, enjoying each others warmth.
"Hmm?"
"I-I remember everything.." She whispered in the dim lights of the room.
A frown marred his face. Confused, he asked. "What are you talking about? What all do you remember?"
"My nightmares..." His body stiffened at those two words. "They were never just nightmares, but my memories that I have lived through....You knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes.." He answered in equanimity.
She didn't say anything other than a silent nod.
Inhaling a long breath, she continued, as he waited patiently for her to speak. And she told him everything. From how Kabir had kidnapped her and chained her into his basement. How he used to torture her, to how he fucked a girl and killed her in front of her. She was a crying mess by the time she was done with it. Zacharias held her all the time, wanting nothing but to exterminate that fuckers body from the ashes and give him a slow and the most painful death, for causing his wife with so much affliction of pain.
'That's why she is so fucking scared of blood!!' He realized.
"What triggered your memory love?" He inquired cautiously, after her crying ceased.
"He did the same thing that he did to that woman when I was a child. I knew at that time that I would end up the same fate if I don't fight the monster. So after killing that women, he walked towards me with that crazy look. Sullivan and his men had left me alone with that monster..." She replied, before continuing how he dared to approach her and how she hit him and shot him before running away, but not before striking 2-3 guards on her way. Yet, how Sullivan caught her and threw her in the water to die. "Darkness engulfed me, and I don't remember anything after that. I thought I was going to die and I so badly wanted to tell you how much I love you."
"Shh... It's over now love, it's over." He murmured, running his fingers up and down her arm.
Turning in his arms, she faced him and placed her palms on his jaw. "I love you Zacharias...I love you so much, it hurts" She choked. "You are my life, my world, my guardian angel, my night in shining armor, my everything. My words are not enough to explain how much I love you. Thank you for marrying me, for loving me, for being my husband, for always protecting me and most of all, thank you for this two precious gifts that you bestowed me with..." She declared vehemently and placed her lips on him.
His mouth curved into a smile as she kissed him, pouring all her love into the kiss. Zacharias felt alive, as soon as her lips collided with him. It was as if he was walking thirsty on a desert and he had finally quenched his thirst and had tasted heaven. He wanted to bite on that plump lower lip and ravish her mouth, like a caveman he was, but he didn't. He made their kiss slow and soft like a cream. Their tongues rolled, lips molding, until he felt her melt under his touch. She climbed over him and suddenly let out of painful cry. He quickly broke the kiss and laid her back on the bed, her face crunched in pain, her hand flying towards her abdomen.
"Fuck!!" He cursed. "How can I forget? Are you alright? Let me call the doctor.."
She shook her head. "No. It's not that bad. I just felt a pinch like pain." She explained.
"Your stitches might be causing you discomfort. You should avoid putting strain on them. Rest now, we will talk in the morning." He moved to bring the duvet, when she clutched his arm.
"Don't go." She pleaded.
He smiled, placing a kiss on her forehead and caressed her soft hairs. "I am not going anywhere love. I am just getting this duvet for you."
She sighed, as he pulled the duvet over her body. Lying beside her, he raised her head and placed his arm beneath her head. She grinned, carefully turning her body a little towards him and placed her hand on his chest.
"I love you so much.."
"I love you too my love..." He placed kisses all along her jawline. "So much that these words are not enough to express my love for you."
She winded her arms around him tightly. "I thought I would never see you again."
"I would never let that happen. I will always be there to protect you." He crooned his fingers, brushing away her tears.
"What if they come back again?" She inquired worriedly.
He knew she was referring to Kabir and Sullivan. "Never!!" His reply was fierce, deciding to put her mind at ease.
"Are they..."
"Dead." Zacharias declared.
"Oh.."
"Enough of all the talk. Now, sleep."
And she was quick to close her eyes, a content sigh escaped her lips, and moments after, she had fallen into a peaceful slumber.
Zacharias stared at his beautiful angel. He couldn't believe that she was finally awake. That she fought death and came back to him. He always knew his Adiva was a brave woman. She never cared about her life and always risked herself to save others. But he couldn't believe it, that she actually fought against that weasel Kabir, the monster of her nightmares and that too when she was in such a delicate condition.
Sure he had seen that cowered injured and writhing on the floor, but had thought that maybe one of his men or Sullivan might have shot him. Sullivan always ended his pawns after they were put to end for his use. But he never thought that, it was his innocent wife who didn't even know how to use a gun, actually shot him. He couldn't be more proud of her. She was indeed his queen.
Sending a quick text to the family about Adiva's consciousness, he decided to take a nap before the twins would be awake.
The book is about to end. I hope to see more likes and comments...