Chapter 129
Her throat was parched. That was the first feeling and thought that came to mind as Elara began to regain consciousness, and she swallowed her saliva to wet it a little.
The events before she was put under anesthesia rushed to her head like a movie reel that ran back to back.
Her brows furrowed, and she took a deep breath, making the heart monitor move a little irregularly.
Daniel, eyes closed, leaning against the bed, sat up straight and looked at Elara, hope evident in his eyes, his fingers pulling Elara’s hand into his.
“Elara, are you awake?” Daniel asked.
Elara blinked her eyes open, wincing slightly at the pain that jolted through her body, a mixture of confusion and vulnerability washing over her.
“Y-yeah,” She stuttered before looking at the glass of water, and the man quickly poured some water for her.
“Here,” he offered, and Elara drank the water in little sips.
Her gaze moved to the man’s concerned face, and her lips stretched into a smile.
The blood on his clothes was the sign that the man hadn’t left her side since they arrived at the hospital, spreading warmth in her chest.
“You must be tired,” She whispered.
Daniel narrowed his brows at her.
“You are the one on the hospital bed and have come out of such a hard situation, not the other way around,” Daniel said softly, brushing his knuckles on her cheeks before tucking her hair behind her ears, his voice filled with concern and tenderness.
Elara’s eyes twinkled, not with sadness, but with reality.
“Maybe I have forgotten what it feels like to be loved and cared for,” she said.
Daniel nodded.
“And I have every intention to make you remember again, make you realise that you deserve all the happiness in this world and beyond,” He leaned forward and placed his lips on her forehead.
Elara closed her eyes, her heart skipping a beat.
The heart monitor started beeping fast as her heartbeat quickened, and it immediately sent an alert to the nurse at the end of the corridor.
The nurse rushed to the room, and Antonio and Alen, who were seated outside, immediately stood on alert.
“What’s wrong?” Antonio asked, panicked.
“Her vitals are alarming,” the nurse commented before she entered the room, at the same time, Daniel pulled back.
“You are awake,” the nurse said as she approached and did a quick check-up.
“Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? Breathless or uneasy? Anxious, probably?” The nurse asked.
When Elara denied everything and told the nurse she was feeling fine, the nurse looked at the monitor in confusion.
“Is that so? Is this malfunctioning them? If everything is alright, why was your heartbeat so erratic?” The nurse asked.
“Are you not confident in your own equipment? If that’s the case, we will transfer her somewhere else,” Antonio said.
The nurse bit her bottom lip before she remembered something.
Her gaze shifted to Daniel. “What’s your relationship with the patient?” She asked.
Daniel looked at Elara briefly before answering, “I am her future husband p>
The nurse sighed.
“That explains the fast heartbeats right after she woke up,” The nurse chuckled before she shook her head at them and left after asking her to eat something before her next dose of medicine.
Elara’s cheeks turned red, making her cover her face with her hands.
“God, this is embarrassing,” she muttered under her breath.
Antonio looked at everyone, confused, still not sure exactly what had happened.
Alen sighed and pulled the man out of the room.
“Hey, but what really happened p>
“What happened is that my boss made your boss’s heart beat fast and the monitor recorded it,” Alen cut off Antonio mid-sentence. The latter felt heat rising to his cheeks when he realised he was practically asking them to reveal their intimate moment.
These two really were unbelievable.
He was about to ask Alen how he always knew what was happening when he saw two men in uniform walking towards them, with Andrew following closely behind.
Andrew nodded at him and stood before the door, and Antonio wanted to stop him, but when he saw the officer standing behind him, it was clear they were here for the statements. But what was he doing with them?
“Is Miss Elara awake?” The officers asked, and Alen nodded.
“She regained her consciousness just a few minutes ago,” Alen answered, and that was all they needed before they knocked on the door and entered.
Daniel, who was helping Elara sit properly and adjusting her bed, turned to the people who had arrived.
His gaze shifted to Andrew, whose cheeks were still a little swollen from his punch earlier.
“What brings you here, officer?” Daniel asked.
Elara leaned to the side to look at the people, since Daniel was practically blocking half her view, and her gaze met Andrew’s.
The man looked at the cuts on her face and how battered she looked, and quickly rushed to the bed.
“Elara, how are you?” Andrew asked, quickly grabbing her hand in his.
Daniel looked at Elara’s hand in the man’s hand and wanted to do nothing more than to pull her away from his reach and hide her behind himself, but knew better than to not react before the cops.
“What are you doing here?” Elara asked, least moved by the concern in his eyes.
Andrew looked at her rough expression and at how her eyes held no warmth for him. It won’t be wrong to say that his heart shattered a little at that moment, but he shook his head and forced the smile back on his face.
“What do you mean by why am I here? You are my wife. I was worried about you,” Andrew said.
He looked at her rigid body, the swollen mark below her eyes, the cut on her lips, the cuts on her hands, and his lips trembled a little.
He wanted nothing more than to pull her and hug her, but for some reason, deep in his heart, he knew he had lost that chance long ago.
“We are here to take your statement, if that’s okay with you,” The officer said, catching their attention, and Elara nodded.
“It’s okay. I am feeling much better and can narrate everything,” Elara said.
She then told the cops everything, from how she got kidnapped and what led to it to what she saw when she opened her eyes, to what extent Sean tortured her, what exactly he did, and how he wanted to rape her before Daniel’s team reached there and saved her.
The more Andrew heard her story, the more surprised he felt.
“Sean?” He asked, shocked.
Elara ignored his statement as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Sean ran away before they could catch him. I want nothing more than for him to get arrested, but with his influence, I know I won’t get any justice. That was the reason we withdrew the case,” she said.
The officer who was jotting down her statement paused.
“Y-you want us to write this in the reason?” He asked.
Elara nodded without hesitation.
“But if you hadn’t withdrawn, we were already looking into—” Officer Harry started to explain, and Daniel scoffed.
“You would’ve saved her, probably when she would’ve already died. That bastard, a friend of Mr. Lloyd, who was so concerned about his wife out of the blue when he left no chance to humiliate her himself, wanted her dead,” Daniel said.
Andrew opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out.
He knew Sean could be toxic, but to this extent? His fists were clenched by his side.
“Elara, I had no idea he would pull something like this,” Andrew whispered, ashamed.
Elara smiled softly.
“It’s okay. You never know. I just get hurt out of nowhere. You never knew Carla would send goons to hurt me, Beatrice would try to drag my name through the mud, or Sean would harass me. It’s okay, really,” Elara said.
Andrew looked up and looked at the genuine tears in her eyes before standing.
“I won’t let him go without paying back for what he did to you,” Andrew said before he left the room.
Elara’s strong facade crumbled in a second, and Daniel placed his hand on her shoulders comfortingly.
“I am here with you,” he whispered, and Elara nodded.
The officers left shortly, apologizing for their inability to save her in time.
Once everyone left, Elara looked at Daniel with raised brows.
“What did you do with him for real?” She asked.
Daniel didn’t answer immediately. He just smiled before looking into the distance.