85 Chapter 85
85 Chapter 85
Seraphina’s POV
The concern in Damien’s eyes was so profound it made my chest tighten with worry. Whatever had
happened to me, it was clearly far more serious than I had initially thought. The sterile hospital room, the
medical equipment, his haggard appearance-it all pointed to something significant.
“Damien,” I said softly, my voice still rough from disuse, “please tell me what happened. Why am I here?”
He squeezed my hand gently, his thumb tracing circles across my knuckles in a gesture that was both
professional concern and barely contained amazement.
“Seraphina,” Damien began, his voice carefully controlled, “you’ve been unconscious for ten days.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Ten days?” I repeated, my voice rising in disbelief. “That’s impossible. I
feel like I just closed my eyes and had the most peaceful sleep of my life.”
“I know it’s hard to believe,” he said, leaning forward in his chair, never letting go of my hand. “But it’s been
ten full days. We’ve been here, waiting, hoping you’d wake up.”
I stared at him, trying to process this information. Ten days of my life, gone. Ten days where I’d been lying
here, unaware of the world around me, while Damien had clearly been suffering. The stubble on his jaw, the
wrinkled clothes, the exhaustion in his eyes-it all made sense now.
“But I don’t understand,” I said, struggling to sit up more fully despite the weakness in my limbs. “What
caused it?”
Damien paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. “You pushed yourself too far, Sera. Your body couldn’t
handle the strain”
The memories came flooding back then-the makeshift medical tent, the wounded fighters, the desperate need I’d felt to help them all. I remembered the feeling of energy flowing out of me, the growing weakness, the dizziness that had gradually consumed me.
“The soldiers,” I said urgently, gripping Damien’s hand tighter. “Are they all right? Did I manage to-”
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85 Chapter 85
“They’re all fine,” he assured me quickly. “Every single one of them made a full recovery. You saved them all, Sera. But you nearly died in the process.”
The weight of his words settled over me like a heavy nket. I had nearly died. For ten days, I had been teetering on the edge of death while everyone I loved waited and worried.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears beginning to blur my vision. “I’m so sorry for putting you through that. I didn’t
know… I didn’t think…”
“Hey, no.” Damien stood up from his chair and perched on the edge of my hospital bed, his free handing
up to cup my face. “Don’t you dare apologize. You did something incredible, something heroic. Those soldiers
are alive because of you.”
“But you suffered,” I said, studying his haggard appearance. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
A rueful smile crossed his lips. “Sleep wasn’t exactly a priority when the most important person in my world was fighting for her life.”
The tenderness in his voice, the raw emotion barely held in check, made my heart ache. I leaned into his
touch, savoring the warmth of his palm against my cheek.
“I’m here now,” I said softly. “I’m awake, I’m okay.”
“You are,” he agreed, but there was something in his expression-a mixture of relief and nervousness that
suggested there was more he needed to tell me. “But Sera, there’s something else. Something we discovered
while you were unconscious.”
The seriousness in his tone made my stomach clench with anxiety. “What is it?”
He took a deep breath, his silver-blue eyes searching my face as if he were trying to memorize every detail. “The doctors ran extensive tests to figure out why you weren’t waking up. And they found…
He paused, seeming to struggle with how to phrase whatever revtion he was about to share. The doctor
stepped closer, his expression kind but professional.
“Miss Knight,” the doctor said gently, “the reason your body was working so hard to recover, the reason it took so long for you to wake up, is because you weren’t just healing yourself. You were protecting-”
The door to my hospital room burst open with such force that it mmed against the wall, making all three
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85 Chapter 85
of us jump. The sound of running footsteps echoed in the corridor outside, growing rapidly closer.
“Is she awake? Is she really awake?” Ophelia’s voice, high with excitement and relief, preceded her into the
room.
She appeared in the doorway like a whirlwind, her hair disheveled and her eyes bright with unshed tears. Behind her, moving at the fast pace his little legs could manage, was Adrian.
“Mommy!” he cried, his voice filled with pure joy.
The sight of my son-healthy and whole and running toward me-broke something loose in my chest. All the
fear and confusion of the past few minutes dissolved in the face of his radiant smile.
Ophelia reached me first, tears streaming down her face as she carefully wrapped her arms around me,
mindful of the medical equipment.
“Oh my God, Sera,” she sobbed against my shoulder. “We were so scared. We thought… we thought we might
lose you.”
“I’m here,” I whispered, holding her as tightly as I could manage. “I’m okay.”
Adrian had mbered up onto the chair Damien had vacated, his small hands patting my arm as if he needed
to reassure himself that I was real.
“Mommy, you’re really awake!” he said, his silver-blue eyes-so much like his father’s-shining with happiness.
“Are you feeling better? Does anything hurt?”
I reached out to ruffle his dark curls, marveling at how much he seemed to have grown in what felt like no
time at all but had apparently been ten days.
“I feel much better now that I can see you,” I told him honestly. “Were you good for Aunt Ophelia while I was
sleeping?”
“I was very good,” he said solemnly. “I helped take care of you and Daddy, and I talked to you every day so you wouldn’t be lonely.”
My heart clenched at the image of my little boy sitting beside my hospital bed, talking to my unconscious form. “Thank you, sweetheart. I think I could hear you, even while I was sleeping.”
Adrian’s face lit up at this, but then his expression grew more serious, tinged with the kind of mature
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concern that no four-year-old should have to carry.
“Mommy,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper as if he were sharing a very important secret, “are you
feeling okay? Are you strong enough now?”
“I think so,” I said, though I still felt weak and shaky. “Why do you ask?”
His small hand moved to hover over my stomach, not quite touching but close enough that I could feel the
warmth of his palm through the thin hospital gown.
“Because you have to take care of the baby now,” he said matter-of-factly. “The little brother or sister in your
belly. Are they okay? Did they get scared when you were sleeping so much?”
The words hit me like a thunderbolt. I stared down at my son, certain I had misheard him, certain that my
still-foggy mind was ying tricks on me.
“What?” The word came out as barely a whisper.
Adrian looked up at me with those wise, silver-blue eyes, tilting his head in confusion at my reaction. “The
baby, Mommy. In your tummy. Daddy told me we’re going to have a baby brother or sister. Isn’t that
exciting?”
I looked from Adrian to Ophelia, whose tear-streaked face had broken into a tremulous smile, to the doctor
who was nodding encouragingly, and finally to Damien.
“What little brother or sister?” I asked, my voice barely functioning.
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