Chapter 19 Elise's POV. Soon after, Kieran and I were airlifted to the nearest hospital. The moment we landed, medical staff rushed him on a gurney straight to the operating room. I heard doors slamming, and I had forms to sign and fingerprints to press. My head was spinning as I stumbled through it all under the medical staff's guidance. Once everything was done, I could not hold on anymore and collapsed, everything going black as I hit the floor. "Hey, someone get over here! We've got another person down!" a voice shouted. When I came to, it was already the next day, and the nurse filled me in on everything. Kieran's surgery had been a complete success, and he had been moved to a regular room. Unfortunately, the massive blood loss combined with exhaustion had triggered a relapse of an old condition, and no one could say when he might wake up. He could regain consciousness the next day, or he might never wake up at all. My heart sank when I heard that. Regardless of everything else, he had saved my life, and I owed it to him to at least check on him. The moment I pushed open the door to his room, the sharp smell of disinfectant hit me like a wall. I stood frozen in the doorway for what felt like forever before finally walking in and settling into the chair beside Kieran's bed. Right after I woke up, Morgan brought Elliot to apologize to me. The landslide had come so suddenly, and his elderly grandparents had simply forgotten to grab his toy in their rush to evacuate. When the little boy realized what had happened, he panicked and snuck out of the orphanage, never imagining he would nearly cost two people their lives. His grandparents had given him quite the scolding afterward. Morgan also told me that because of this incident, Margaret had ramped up safety education and made Elliot read an apology in front of everyone. It was meant to teach him a lesson that when disaster strikes, nothing would matter more than staying alive. I did not say much. I just handed Elliot back his rescued toy and told him never to do anything so dangerous again before sending him back with Morgan. The whole ordeal was finally over, except for Kieran, who still had not woken up. As I stared at Kieran's sleeping form, I could not quite put my finger on what I was feeling. Before Morgan left, he had told me that he had run into Kieran while carrying Elliot back to the orphanage. Kieran had heard about the search and immediately rushed after us. Since he was not familiar with the mountain village, he had gotten lost several times before finally tracking us down. 1/3 By the time he found Morgan and Elliot, he was soaked through and covered in cuts from falling, but all he could think about was getting to me as fast as possible. Morgan had ended the story with a thoughtful sigh, saying he did not know exactly what my relationship with Kieran was, but it was obvious that the guy loved me. A bitter smile tugged at my lips as I remembered his words. There was no denying that Kieran really did love me, both before and during this landslide disaster. However, it did not erase the fact that he had lain with another woman, fathered her children, and taken vows under the Moon Goddess, all while telling me to wait. I had waited too long. That was why I finally walked away. Even now, I felt like I should have left much sooner. I should have walked away the moment Kieran gave in and slept with Cecelia, instead of softening when he dropped to his knees, crying, slapping himself, and begging me to stay. All that waiting had done was cause me more pain. Thank goodness I finally found the strength to leave and slowly began healing from that toxic relationship. However, Kieran had come looking for me again. He said he was wrong, that he regretted everything. He claimed he had gotten rid of both Cecelia and Tyra and that he wanted to win me back. The thing Kieran never seemed to consider was that while the Donati family might have shipped Cecelia off to fend for herself abroad, Tyra was still very much around. They would have to face each other eventually, and what if he went soft on her again? Besides, just thinking about Tyra brought back all those horrible memories. It was like money pulled from a dung heap. No matter how much it was worth, it would always stink. I could not stand the thought of getting dirty again, nor could I stomach the idea of going through that hell twice. No matter how badly Kieran got hurt trying to save me, I would not go back to him. On the third day of Kieran's coma, Lucian rushed to the mountain village after hearing about the accident. In just three months, the proud, untouchable man now looked completely worn down, with exhaustion etched in the lines around his eyes and a much gentler tone when he spoke to me. For the first time, he bowed his head and apologized. Maybe it was karma finally catching up. The Wolfe family had been hit with several financial crises recently, and now Kieran was lying here unconscious. By the end of our conversation, Lucian was wiping tears from his eyes. He said he was not asking for my forgiveness, just begging 2/3 me not to hold a grudge against Kieran anymore, since all of this mess was really the Elders' fault. Support Share 3/3