Hello lovely people! Don't really know what to say so I'll just get right into it.
I'm so sorry for the lack of updates, but I'm back and really intend on finishing this story!
Song of the chapter is "Daughters" by John Mayer. <3
Picture of Kiara down below!
Chapter 34
Kiara POV
"Keek." I felt a hand jostle my shoulder. Lightly, as if I would break at the slightest touch. "Keek." The hand swept over my back, causing me to stir. My bleary eyes stung as I finally woke up, raised my head and rolled out my neck. I winced at the audible cracks. I had slept slumped over again.
My breath caught in my throat as I opened my eyes to Connor's face. I was so close, I could kiss him on the cheek if I wanted to, like I have numerous times a day. It was always in these moments, the ones where I would just wake up and forget where I was, that my heart always seemed to break all over again. The pain felt fresh every morning, as I remembered that my mate was fighting for his life.
It's been a little over a week since he was rushed to the hospital, dark blood pouring out of his side. A week since I heard his voice filled with pain, since I looked into his green eyes. I'll never forget how they looked wild in that last moment, sort of panicked and confused until the realization of it all hit and they immediately turned defeated. That look scared me so much. It brought tears to my own eyes whenever I thought about it.
"Keek." I finally turned my head away from Connor to see Adrian. He was holding two steaming cups of coffee, holding one of the styrofoam cups out towards me. I took it gratefully and breathed in the smell of the slightly stale java. "Are you sure you don't want to eat something? Or go home and shower? You can come straight back after you get a couple hours of sleep." He was being gentle with me, but I could tell he was brought in by my parents to try and convince me to leave. Adrian was the only one I really talked to these days.
I shook my head. I couldn't leave Connor ... I just couldn't.
"Kiara, I really think you should-" he started again, but we were interrupted by a piercing scream.
"NO! RYAN, NO!" There were more wails and screams, and I almost wanted to cover my ears. I knew what was happening, it was another pack member gone. Another one of our pack fighters whose heart finally gave out from the poisoned bullets. It was another mate screaming in anguish as the love of her whole life was just gone. Ripped away. I felt her pain, I truly did. A tear slid down my cheek as her sobs rang through the whole hospital hallway.
I couldn't help but selfishly think, when would that be me? But I shook the thought away as fast as it came. It wouldn't be me. Connor promised he would fight it. He promised. I carefully brushed the hair away from his eyes with my fingers. I knew he was strong for fighting the poison for this long, but I couldn't help but stare at his chest, to feel a sense of relief every time I saw it go up in down with his labored breathing.
This whole week I'd seen mates scream and sob over the loss of their everything. Adrian, however, hadn't witnessed it like this before. He stared wide-eyed at the doorway, the words from before dying in his throat.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "It's horrible. It's all horrible." His adams apple bobbed up and down as he couldn't tear his eyes away from the hallway.
"I can't leave," I said, my voice hoarse That got him to finally look away from the horror and focus on Connor. Understanding filled his features, and he nodded once.
"I'll stay here with you, then."
"Aid, you don't have to - "
"Stop," he interrupted, silencing me with a serious look in his eyes. "I know you don't want to go home, but you don't have to be alone here, Kiara."
"I'm not alone," I said weakly. Yet, was the word hanging over the both of us. Adrian sighed and sunk into another metal chair. He scooted it beside me and hugged me close. I returned it, but I didn't take my eyes off of Connor.
We spent a few minutes in silence, listening to the comforting stable beeps of the heart monitor.
"I broke up with Isabel the other day," Adrian said.
I turned around to look at him, my eyebrows raised in question.
"I just..." he started. "After everything that's happened. After seeing all of this." He motioned to Connor. "Who am I to reject my mate? I told Isabel everything, and I told her I want to try with Savannah. Not that it's guaranteed she'll even give me a chance after the way I treated her, but I have to try. I can't lose her."
I gave him a small smile. It was the first time I smiled in a week, I realized. "I'm happy for you, Aid," I told him. "Sav will forgive you. You can't stay mad at your mate for too long..." I trailed off, the somber mood coming back to me in full force. I remembered the determination in his features as Connor told me about the whole plan, about how he was meant to kill me and my family. About how he couldn't, because he loved me. Loves. He loves me.
"The last thing I said to Connor was that I was going to destroy him if he ever came back here," Adrian stated, keeping his eyes on Connor's form. "I want to say that I'm sorry."
"You will," I responded. "You'll be able to tell him. And he knows you were just trying to protect me. You didn't see how he looked when he was telling me everything. He... hated himself. For a long time."
"He's lucky to have you, Keek."
I sniffed, the tears finally making their way down my face. "He's not. I can't do anything. He needs a liver, and it's been a week already. What if one doesn't become available before... before he..." I couldn't finish. I buried my head in my hands and let out a choked sob.
Connor POV
"Kiara..." I trailed off as she slumped over and sobbed, Adrian rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. I was torn, because I was so jealous of him for being able to touch her that I wanted to kill him, but I was also grateful that he was there for her. That she had someone to talk to.
I had no sense of time, really, but it was brutal watching her. She wouldn't leave the hospital, which in a selfish way I was glad I was able to never lose sight of her. But I knew she was exhausted.
I was sitting right next to her, rubbing her shoulders and running my hands through her hair. She obviously couldn't feel it, but it felt good just to be close to her.
I was used to seeing my body now. It was still weird as hell, but I got used to the idea of it. Chase and I would spend hours watching our mates, to the point of being so fucking creepy if they knew that we never took our eyes off of them. Then we'd meet up in the hallway or something. We'd make fun of this one male nurse who never seemed to know what he was doing. This one time, we even cheered when he finally got something right.
Speaking of, Chase popped his head into Kiara's hospital room.
"Yo. You got to come see this. Greg is trying to give this infant a shot, and he keeps squirming. It's fucking hilarious."
I chuckled, but I couldn't leave Kiara. Not when she was like this. It just felt wrong to be away from her when she was in pain. "I can't today, man."
"A bad day, huh?" Sometimes Kiara and Lauren would have better days than others. Sometimes we didn't want to leave their sides.
I nodded. "Still no liver."
He hissed through his teeth. "Fuck." I thought he was referring to my liver status, so I turned around to tell him that it was fine. Stable, as of now. But he was staring at his own arm. It was turning faint, as if part of him were disappearing.
"What's happening?" I ran over to him, holding his arm up. It was like it was losing focus or something.
"I don't think I have much time." What?
"What do you mean?" I was panicking now.
He sprinted off to Lauren, and I followed him to the room down the hall. She was sitting in her metal chair, as always. He sunk to his knees and placed his forehead on her growing belly. He wrapped his arms around her and sat there for a moment. I felt like I was intruding on such an intimate moment, but I couldn't look away. I was stock still, watching as Chase whispered reassuring things to his mate. To his unborn child. I watched as his other arm started turning fainter as well. After what seemed like forever, he kissed Lauren's stomach, kissed her all over her face and walked towards me.
He put his hands on my shoulders. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I could barely feel the weight of them. "Look, " he said. "You have to tell Lauren that I love her. I love her so much." His eyes held a peaceful understanding, a wisdom I'll never be able to unsee every time I closed my eyes. "And my daughter. Tell her she's my everything."
Lauren was only a couple months pregnant. "How do you know you're having a daughter?"
He smiled. "I just know."
"You can't leave. They need you." I was beginning to lose sight of him, he was basically see-through.
He nodded in reassurance. "Promise me you'll take care of them both."
"Chase, you can't - "
"Promise me, Connor."
This was all happening so fast. Chase was disappearing, what the fuck is happening?
"I promise." My voice was strong. I let Chase get shot, let him die, but I was going to take care of his family, if I ever woke up in my own body. I had to.
He nodded again, sighed in relief. "Good. Take care of Kiara, too. And take care of yourself, Connor." He clapped me on the back once and started walking away. Towards the white wall.
"Wait!" I called. Almost tripped on my own feet. "Where are you going?"
He turned around and chuckled. "I don't really know, to be honest. But I feel good. Don't you worry about me."
Then he just walked away, straight into the wall, and disappeared. It all hit me at once, that I was alone in this strange place, and I sprinted after him.
"Chase!" I tried to get through the wall, but it was solid. I couldn't get through, and I punched it a couple times to try again. "You can't leave!" I roared.
It was at that moment when I heard Lauren's deafening scream and the erratic beating of the heart monitor.
I started to run inside Chase's room before I looked down and noticed my own fingers were starting to blur.
Oh fuck.
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Hello! Author here, trying to depress you all with another horrifying update. I am honestly so sorry for all the tears I may have caused... lol
Had a lot of writers block recently, and honestly haven't figured out what I want to do with Connor yet. Any suggestions??
Next update should be up soon. Thanks for all the love on this story, don't give up on me!
xx