My knees hurt. It took me a long time to get up from the ground and make my way to bed.
Boom! Thunder roared again before I could reach my bed, and the lamp on the bedside table suddenly went out.
The whole house immediately sank into darkness. Only the sound of thunder mixed with rain outside could be heard.
The house was pitch black. I could not see anything. My body stiffened as I laid low on the floor, the memories bringing me back to that particular night.
My arms and legs were tightly bound. I wanted to move but was unable to.
Fear and grief began to spread within me. In the darkened room, I seemed to hear a baby crying, each cry more miserable than the last.
I wanted to look for him, but no matter what I did, I could not get up from the floor. I did not know what was going on with my mind, but I had actually thought of death.
If I die, I can reunite with my baby. With that thought, I fumbled and stumbled into the living room.
Because of the darkness, everything was flipped and tossed onto the floor, making crackling noises wherever I stepped.
I did not know where Marcus stored the knives, so I could only look for them blindly, but the tool was nowhere to be found.
The baby’s cries rang again. The noise sounded so close to me, yet so far away. I did not think much of it as I hurried to the source.
By the time I regained consciousness, I found myself on the sidewalk, with no memories of how I got there.
It was raining heavily. There were no pedestrians, only cars coming and going on the road. I was freaking out. I had no idea what was wrong with me.
There were many times where I could not control myself. I kept having hallucinations. I kept seeing my baby and hearing his cries.
I wanted to go with him, but whenever I did that, I ended up losing him and getting myself lost as well.
Looking at the cars on the road, I felt desperate. This was the soberest moment, since I fell ill, that suicide was on my mind.
Given my current condition, I would only be a burden to others. Without knowing it, I began walking towards the middle of the road.
I heard the harsh sounds of car horns honking. I looked up and saw a flash of white light ahead. My mind went blank.
Right when the car was about to crash into me, someone suddenly caught my waist and dragged me away.
I fell to the ground. My head was spinning. All I could think of was the baby.
I murmured to myself, “Why did I lose him? How could I lose him?”
Tears began to leak.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. We’ll get him back eventually!” A low, hoarse voice rang in my ears, and I was drawn into a warm embrace.
I froze. When I looked up, I was gazing into Ashton’s eyes, dark as night. As though something had struck my head, I lifted my arms and pushed him away. I stumbled as I got up from the ground.
I ran aimlessly, just wanting to get away from him.
“Scarlett!” Ashton was faster than me. He got hold of me and held me tightly in his arms. He was incredibly strong, and I had no room to struggle.
I was shaking all over, and every cell in my body screamed at me to push him away.
Marcus was not here. There was no one I could turn to for help. My body went stubbornly numb as I let him hold me.
The longer we stayed there, the heavier the rain poured. I was losing strength by the minute, getting increasingly lightheaded.
The next time I woke up, I was in the hospital.
I looked sideways and saw Ashton’s pale, haggard face. Even so, he was still as handsome as ever.
Perhaps he was physically drained, too, for he had fallen asleep on the edge of the bed. I had not seen stubble on his chin in a long while, and he looked even more sloppy with that.
Was he the one who brought me here?
That thought gave me a headache. I fumbled to get out of bed. I might have moved too much, for he was soon roused awake.
When he saw me attempting to get off the bed, he got up and forced me back down. Eyes darkened, he said, “Take a good rest. The doctor will come over for an infusion shortly!”
I knitted my brows and frowned, my heart surging with irritability and restlessness. I shoved aside the arm he had placed on my shoulder and barked at him, my emotions unstable, “Ashton, I want you to stay away from me. As far as possible. Do you hear me?”
When I was with Marcus, I could keep my mood swings in check, but that was not the case with Ashton. I would take his association with Rebecca to the extremes, revealing the misery and hatred that I had buried so deeply within me.
When Ashton saw how furious I suddenly was, he seemed lost for a moment, but only for a moment. He soon composed himself and tried to calm me down. “Alright. Take it easy. I’ll be leaving now. But you have to get your infusion and take your medicine later.”
“Ash! I’m done with my checkup!” Rebecca’s voice rang from outside the ward.
In just a second, she entered my ward with her medical records in hand. When she saw me, her lips curled upwards, and very gently, she said, “Oh, Scarlett, you’re awake. Are you feeling better?”
I did not want to see her, especially her bulging belly, the image of which cut into me like a sharp knife. I felt a stabbing pain every time I see it.
The agony of that night drifted into my mind, filling my heart with hatred. I gritted my teeth. The depression was killing me. I picked up a random object from the bedside cabinet and, without checking what it was, I threw it at Rebecca.
The scare made Rebecca’s face turn pale, but Ashton reacted quickly and took the blow in her stead. The object struck him on the back.
I gritted my teeth, still boiling with resentment. The despair in my heart took over like water bursting out of the riverbank. I wanted them dead. That was all I thought about. Anyone who had hurt me must die. I wanted them to be buried along with my baby.
