336 My Baby
Axel’s jaw tightened. “And the one pulling the strings?”
“We found lead, someone who has contact with Natalie Martinez’s personal assistant,” Ethan admitted.
A cold smile flickered across Axel’s face, sharp and humorless. “Good. She is my number one suspect!”
“I’ll keep digging into it and report to you early in the morning” Ethan said. “Get some rest, if you can, Axel…”
“Hmm…” Axel ended the call without another word.
He returned to Evelyn’s side, sitting down once more and reiming her hand, his thumb brushing lightly over her knuckles.
“Eve… My love… I promise you, whoever did this,” Axel murmured, voice low and dangerous, “won’t get a second chance.”
After he gently kissed the back of her hand, Axel leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Several minutes passed in quiet stillness.
He sat beside her bed, head bowed, one hand resting near hers as if afraid she might disappear if he let go. Didn’t take long; exhaustion finally pulled him into a shallow sleep.
Axel didn’t notice when Evelyn’s fingers twitched faintly against the sheets.
A secondter, her eyshes fluttered. Light seeped in slowly, painfully. Evelyn’s first conscious breath felt wrong, shallow and tight, as if her chest were wrapped in invisible wires.
Her body felt stiff, heavy, and uncooperative. Every attempt to move sent unfamiliar aches rippling through her arms, her legs, her ribs.
Pain bloomed in dull waves, not sharp, but deep enough to make her want to curl inward.
336 My Baby
‘What… happened?”
Her thoughts came slowly, swimming through fog.
She tried to turn her head, anxiety tightening her chest.
The room was unfamiliar, far too quiet, far too clean. Soft lights. Beeping machines. The faint scent of antiseptic.
‘Hospital…‘
The realization struck her at once, sending her heart racing.
Her throat burned when she tried to swallow. Dry. Like she had screamed for hours.
Panic bubbled up, but then she saw him, Axel, her husband. He sat beside her bed, slumped awkwardly in the chair, his broad shoulders curved forward, his usually sharp posture gone.
His head was bowed, dark hair slightly disheveled, his face pale with exhaustion. He looked older somehow. Worn.
The sight of him warmed her chest despite the pain.
‘He stayed, she thought weakly. ‘I’m sorry… Hubby, I’m really sorry to make you worry.
Her eyes feel stung.
She tried to call his name. “A… Axel…”
But nothing came out. Not even a whisper.
Her throat refused to cooperate, the sound trapped somewhere deep inside her chest.
She frowned slightly, panic ring again. ‘Why can’t I speak? Why does it hurt everywhere?‘
Memories returned without warning… The road. The headlights. The truck. The scream of metal. The sickening sensation of weightlessness.
Then Axel’s face, frantic and furious, appeared when shey helplessly on the ground. His hands. His voice. The cliff. The cold rush of fear.
After that…nothing.
The memory mmed into her chest, and tears welled up instantly. They slipped down the corners of her eyes, silent and unstoppable.
16:45
238 My Baby
“Thank you, Lord… Thank you… You brought me back from that terrible experience. L… I almost died…
Her breathing swallows, emotion crashing into her all at once. She was alive. She was in the hospital. Axel was here.
Then another thought struck her like a sharp nail.
‘My baby!
Her heart lurched violently. Panic surged through her veins, drowning out everything else.
With effort, she shifted her hand weakly, dragging it over the sheets toward her abdomen.
Her fingers trembled as they hovered there, afraid to touch.
‘Please… please be there…‘
Her chest tightened painfully as fear squeezed her heart.
She didn’t remember pain in her stomach, only her chest, her limbs, but memory was unreliable. She didn’t know what surgeries she had undergone. She didn’t know what had been taken from her.
Her tears fell faster.
That slight movement, that barely audible shift of fabric, was enough.
Axel stirred.
He lifted his head groggily, instinctively turning toward the bed, and then froze.
Evelyn’s eyes were open.
Wide. ssy. Wet with tears.
“Eve…?” His voice cracked instantly.
He was on his feet in a heartbeat, chair scraping softly against the floor as he leaned over her.
“Eve–hey–hey, you’re awake. You’re awake.”
Panic flooded his expression as his gaze swept over her face.
“Does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Your chest? Your arm? Your head?”
18:45
is hands hovered helplessly, unsure where he was allowed to touch
We you dizzy<i>? </i>Nauseous? Mease don’t move too much?
e leaned closer, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, his lips trembling
I’m… She can’t <b>finish </b>her words because the words she formed in her mind leave her throat.
iled, staring at d, holding ho
lyn tried to ut, only a br <ol><li>s. “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. <b>I’m </b>right here. By your side. </li></ol>
wanted to ask <b>him </b>abou Her eyes searched his fa
ir child. But no sound came perately.
Fear twist
Her fin
lifted
weakly around his hand, gr nd again, this <b>time </b>deliber
sture.
Axe
Hi <ol><li>ed. </li></ol>
im as tightly as she could. She sting it over her stomach.
mured, voice going
t is sore. You just
ed onto his.
e begged sile <ol><li>ed. “Don’t…don’t worry about talking </li></ol>
head a hundred times. Different words. Gentler
was stronger. Until she could handle it.
ar in her eyes, the hope trembling on hershes, every
throat.
essly, tears spilling freely now.
ad held it tightly, grounding himself. His jaw clenched. His
336 My Baby
Evelyn understood. She knows only see his expression.
Her breath caught, a soundless sob tearing through her chest. Her fingers tightened around his hand, clutching him as if he were the only thing keeping her from breaking
apart.
“NO-”
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<strong>Olivia Harris</strong> is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.