"I have to see him, Mason. I have to...." These were the words that Madison kept on repeating all through the ride from the beach to the nearby hospital.
The second the car stopped, just behind the ambulance that had conveyed Damien's still unconscious body, Madison fumbled with the now freed car locks and hurriedly stepping out of the car, she rushed towards the nurses and doctors cluttered around the emergency vehicle.
Mason was right behind her, calling out to her and begging her to slow her pace and calm down, but she wasn't listening at all.
Nothing he was saying made any sense. Nothing anybody said made sense. She just had to see Damien.
She had to see him by all means, even if her whole body ached, and she could feel the pain of her battered body racking through her.
"Madison, please stop. Don't go there...." Mason shouted from far behind, but she didn't stop walking until she was standing with the doctors.
She watched as the medical team brought a stretcher and placed Damien's body on it.
Tears poured down her face, and Madison brought her hands to her mouth, covering her lips as she tried to stifle the sobs threatening to spring out.
Her legs were trembling heavily, and she could feel her feet threaten to give way underneath her, but she held herself still.
Mason was now standing by her side, and she could hear police sirens everywhere, but her eyes were fixated on Damien and the stretcher.
She felt her brother try to place his hands on her shoulders, perhaps to console her, but she shrugged his shoulders away, her legs taking a step forward.
"Madison, allow me to touch you. Let me..."
"There's nothing you can do right now, Mason. You've caused me so much pain in the past, and I have no idea why you're even here, but what's with the fake love?" Madison spat out angrily, shooting a scornful gaze at him, her vision blurry as she dragged her face away.
"Madison, please..." Mason began yet again, but his words were lost as she focused all her attention on the now-moving stretcher Damien was on.
A nasal cannula was already attached to his face, and the second the stretcher started to roll away, Madison's feets quickened, and like a crazy person, she ran towards the gurney.
Placing her hands on the stretcher, she began to beg him to wake up, and even though she heard the nurses asking her to leave the stretcher, she paid them no heed and continued to follow them till they got to the operating room.
"Please, Damien... please. Just wake up for me, please. Maddie is talking to you. Your morning rose... the woman you love. You can't go to meet our dead child just yet. She wants us to give birth to many siblings for her. Either by adoption or whatever she wants us to..."
"Madam, please, you have to leave the gurney. We are entering the ER, and it's out of boundary. I'm sorry, ma'am, but..."
"Leave me the fuck alone." Madison raged outrageously, her hair flailing, "This isn't about boundaries! I don't care what you say. All I know is that he has to wake up! I need to see him! I need him back. I need him back...."
"Sorry, ma'am, but we'll be forced to call security on you. You're stopping us from doing our job on time, and we have little time on our side." A woman dressed in white and blue overalls said defiantly, her jaw set too.
"I..." Madison began, her grip on the wheeled stretcher tightening, but her shoulders slumped further when the doctor's words resonated in her head.
'They had little time, and she was stopping them from doing their job.'
Sniffing and trying to act cool, Madison, still holding the stretcher, then said, " Okay, can I follow you...."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but you have to leave us. Security." The female doctor called out again, and this time before she knew what was happening, she felt strong arms around her shoulders, and someone was pulling her away from the stretcher.
"No!" She screamed as the men pulled her away, and as her fingers left the metallic stretcher, Madison shook violently, thrashing and wailing as she fell to the floor hopelessly.
"Madison!" Someone screamed from afar, and at first, she stopped crying and turned to look in the direction of the voice calling out to her.
She could see four familiar figures running toward her from the hospital's large entrance, and squinting her eyes through the wet vision, she instantly recognized them.
It was her mother, and Gina... and her father, and Micheal too.
What the hell was he doing here? What was her father doing here? She wondered, sniffing back tears as a wave of anger filled her.
Some hours ago, she'd seen Mason, and now the one man that had sworn never to look at her was running to her with a worried look on his frail face, and Madison could only clench her fists as they approached.
"Maddie, oh daughter...." Her mother called out yet again the second she came closer, and she stretched her hands out in an embrace, but Madison cut her off.
Getting up on her feet, dusting her hands frantically, her lips quivering, she blurted out angrily, her mood changing suddenly, "What is he doing here? What are they doing here?" She asked, her palms now unclenched as she pointed at her father and then Micheal.
"Sis..."
"Daughter, I'm so sorry. I don't think this is the best place to discuss this, as we don't want to create a scene and...."
Typical of him to care about the scene and his reputation rather than face whatever came his way head-on.
Her face scrunching up in disgust, fresh new tears streaming down her cheeks, Madison blabbered out angrily, yelling at the top of her voice and attracting attention, "I don't care about anyone. All I care about is Damien and the fact that you also took him from me, and... What are you doing here? Get out of here! You're making me feel worse than I already am feeling."
"Daughter, please... We heard what happened, and we came to offer any comfort we could render. I'm so sorry."
"Maddie, you have to calm down, please. You have to be still and...."
This time it was her mother speaking, trying to intervene, but Madison wasn't having any of it.
"Let him get out of here. He isn't fit to be here. Whatever you people heard, well it's true, no need to confirm, just leave and...."
"Maddie, you're bleeding from your arm. It would help if you let the nurse attend to you. Nurse!" Gina spoke up for the first time since she came, and Madison shot daggers at her best friend.
"All of you should fucking leave! Leave because you're of no use to me here at all. Just go."
"Madison, please..." Her mother continued to beg, and she watched as her brothers and father looked at her remorsefully, but she didn't care.
"I just want to see Damien!" She half yelled, taking a step back from them, but her mother followed still.
"Don't come close to me. Don't just...."
"Come, daughter, come. You'll see Damien, and I assure you he'll be fine. I assure you." Her mother said again, this time gently, and Madison saw a tear stream down her face.
"Oh, mother..." She sniffed, and when her mother walked towards her this time, she didn't move back.
"Come here, daughter. Come please..." Her mother begged, and her shoulders dropping yet again, every single strength in her body leaving, Madison rushed into the arms widening out and calling to her, burrowing into the warmth.
She closed her eyes deeply as she continued to cry and blame herself for what happened, even though her mother was trying to let her know that she didn't cause anything.
"It was all my fault, mother. Maybe I should have forgiven Damien and just given him a chance. I know what I've been through is a lot, but mother did you see what he did? He took a bullet for me. A fucking bullet and I...."
"I understand, love. Just calm down. Calm down." Her mother's soothing voice went on and on, and stroking her back, Madison allowed herself to float in her head for a minute.
However, this was the mistake she made because as she fell quiet, no sooner than two minutes later, she felt a prickling sensation in her arm, and she stiffened, letting out a hiss at the same time, "Ouch. What's that mother, what is...."
She struggled in her mother's hold, trying to be freed but the older woman wasn't letting go.
She looked up and saw Gina standing right in front of her and muttering a sorry.
"What are you? What's happening... I..." She was already feeling drowsy, and her eyes began to drop.
She heard some murmurs from behind, and everything became clear to her.
While she was deeply engrossed in the affectionate hug her mother had provided, the crafty older woman had called a nurse to assist and clean Madison.
From behind, they were giving her an injection, and a chill ran down her spine.
"She's probably suffering from shock and post-induced trauma. She'll be fine as long as we sedate and treat her. You don't have to worry about a thing." A strange voice that belonged to none other than the nurse said, and instantly Madison felt her energy renewing a bit
"Leave... leave me... Leave me be. I want to see Damien...." Madison mumbled, albeit drowsily, as her eyes began to close gently, but she didn't stop talking.
Her whole body went limp as the effect of whatever they had just given her began to kick in, and the last thing she saw before darkness overtook her was Damien.
He was standing in a field full of flowers. Hands outstretched as if calling to her from afar, but the second she started to move towards him, he vanished into thin air, and Madison fell to the parched ground and began crying.
A tear falling from her cheeks even in her unconscious state, Madison wept.
.......
Thanks for reading. 💕