Erin McAfee

Have you ever felt the need to vomit because your head was spinning with anticipation, nervousness, and uneasiness? 

Well, I'm feeling that now while I am in the car with Mason en route to the hospital where Zac is being confined.

I have a feeling that I will be like this even if I see him already.

"Erin, just breath, okay. Breath." I heard Mason's soft voice beside me. 

"Is Zac okay, Mason?" I asked for the hundredth time. I've been asking him this same question since I saw him waiting for me at the airport. 

That night, when I blacked out, I immediately regained my consciousness then quickly booked myself a flight home and called Mason to ask him the full details of the accident. 

He said that Zac got ran over by an unidentified car seconds after he went out of the NGC building. 

I asked him how did he know that it was Justin, the one that apparently holds intense grudge on Zac. He said that when that Justin knew that Zac came to Amsterdam, he thought that Zac and I already got back together. He also told me that he, Justin, was following me since I left.

My God, just by hearing this, I got goosebumps. 

Anyway, when he thought that we were already together, he didn't like it because he wanted Zac to be miserable as he was these past few months. But it won't happen when he and I patched things up. That's why he told Mason that he will do everything to make Zac's life miserable even if he has to use dirty and extreme ways. 

Although they still don't have a proof that that Justin was behind all this, Mason called me to notify me what happened because I was the only one whom he told him about. 

"The last time I spoke to Olivia, she said that he's out of danger already but the doctor told them that Zac is in a light coma." I broke down when I heard the last part. 

Oh my God... Coma. That means he's still not okay. Please God, let him live his life. He doesn't deserve this and please don't take him away from me yet. Please. 

"But Erin, please don't tell anything to Olivia first..." I looked at him like he grew two heads. 

"Are you nuts? This has already happened and you still didn't want to tell her that---"

"No. At least not right now. I will have my men look first for a solid proof or evidence that Justin was behind all of this. If we move on impulse, he will do something much more than this. Remember, he is STEPS away ahead from us --- he controls the game. The best way was to act oblivious and show him that everyone believed that this was just a mere accident." he explained. 

Mason has a point though but til when? Up until when should we act oblivious with everything. 

"Fine, I will only give you three days to find proof. If after the deadline you won't present anything, I will tell everything I know of to the Norths." I said an ultimatum. 

He sighed and hesitantly agreed. 

As we arrived at the hospital, I quickly ran to his room and saw Jowee comforting Olivia outside Zac's room. 

As I neared them, my legs became jelly and my heart pounded a thousand times more. Seeing Olivia cry like that tells me that I need to brace myself of Zac's state. Oh dear, I don't think I can see him in that kind of state, weak, vulnerable, and fighting for his life, but I have to be strong for him.

He didn't want this, me being weak because of him. No. Instead, he wanted me to be strong for him, for myself.

However, I couldn't seem to move my legs from where I was standing. Suddenly, I felt two strong arms held my arms and assisted me to walk. I already knew it was Mason so I acknowledged his help. 

"Jowee, he just told me that he will treat me to dinner that night. Why did it have to happen? I was waiting for him in the lobby to get his car and then, there were screaming and running. The next thing I know, I saw Zac lying on the ground. How did it happen so fast?" Olivia cried harder on Jowee's shoulder which made me cry even more. 

"He'll be fine, Olivia. You're brother will be okay." Jowee said. 

Instantly, an image of Zac with a mischievous smile plastered on his face flashed my eyes and then suddenly there's a super bright light emerged, and when it dimmed, Zac was on the ground.

I wept again and that caught Olivia's attention. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Erin! Oh my Gosh, you're here!" Livy hugged me tightly and cried. 

"Yes. I-I heard from Mason what happened. A-are you okay? How's Zac? Can I see him?" I fired those questions away without caring if she understood all of it.

Surprisingly though, she understood all of it despite my erratic cries.

"The doctor said he's out of danger now but they still can't say the overall state of Zac because he's in a light coma. Erin, everything happened so fast! One moment he was annoying me by ruffling my hair and then the next, he's lying on the ground." Livy said while crying. Jowee patted her back as I enveloped her into a hug.

After about a minute, we pulled away from each other.

"C-can I see him?" I asked her and she nodded. She pointed her forehead to direction of Zac's room and nodded at her.

I may stopped crying but on the inside, I'm hyperventilating. I don't think I'll be ready to see him in that kind of state but I have to see him. With that thought in mind, I opened the door with a heavy heart.

There I saw him lying in bed like a withered vegetable. There's a gauze pad wrapped around his head, and an oxygen tube in his nose.

Seeing this made me bawl my eyes more. Even though I gave myself countless of pep talks, nothing will ever prep me to see the one I love lying lifeless on a hospital bed.

I sat on the chair beside his table and held his hand gently.

"My love, I'm here already, so wake up please. Please. You said you will do everything for my forgiveness, then I want you to wake up. I promise, once you wake up, I will give you the chance you begged for. Love, please, wake up." I cried and hugged him.

"You said you don't want me to be lonely or sad because of you, then you should wake up, Zac. You promised me that you won't hurt me again. You should wake up my love so we can start all over. Please, Zac. Please." I cried harder and kissed his cheek.

I was hugging him for so long until I felt a hand on my back.

"You know, Erin, he really regret what he did to you. I don't know if he had already told you the reason why he did those things but trust me, he didn't do it intentionally. He has reasons and issues that he himself can only explain to you." Livy sat beside me and place her hand atop Zac's left thigh.

"But trust me, stupid as it may sound, he loves you so much. So much that he's willing to let you go and be happy with someone else. For years, Erin, he values your happiness that's why he never made a move to ask you out. He thought that there will be a possibility that what happened to mom and dad's relationship might happen to both of you. He's scared to leave you permanently, Erin. He didn't want you to cry and be sad about him."

"You know, Zac had already made clear to himself that he won't fall in love, but you came... The romantic love that he thought he'd thrown away unexpectedly emerged when he saw you. He tried to stay away but the more he he tried, the pull towards you got more and more intense, to the point that he succumbed to those feelings." Olivia smiled and held my hand that was currently holding Zac's left hand.

"You healed him, Erin. You saved him from himself. You helped him get back to his feet... He's stronger than before. He can now fight off the demons he created because of you. The beautiful moments he had with you made him forget the dark side he was living. The void inside him was effortlessly filled in by you and that, I'm deeply thankful to you. Your love had helped my brother heal."

"But I pushed him away, Livy. I--" she shook her head and smiled at me.

"That's normal, Erin, because he wanted you to do that. He wanted you to hate him. However, when he realized that he's causing you the one thing he didn't want you to feel, that's when he tried to fix the root cause --- that is, to get to the bottom of his fears."

"You know, when you left, he was devastated and he hated himself. But when he realized that the cycle will start again, he forced himself to change for the betterment. He changed his schedules, he bonds with me and dad more, he goes out a lot with Neil and Sky more, and most of all, he schedules sessions with a therapist twice a week to understand himself more. You see, he didn't do this for you, he did this for himself to be better for you. That's why I planned for him to go to Scheveningen."

"I know it wasn't my place to meddle in but both of you were suffering. You needed to hear his explanation whilst he needed to explain himself to you. I did that for you two to have closure of what had transpired between you two. Now, it is up to the both of you if you will end your book or you will write another chapter alongside each other." Olivia stood up, caressed my left cheek then kissed Zac's forehead.

"Nick's here to pick me up. I will come here early in the morning. You should go home too, Erin. You need to rest." She smiled at me sadly but I shook my head.

"I'll stay here with him." She nodded and went out of the room.

After she went out, my tears fell again uncontrollably.

I looked at Zac and hugged him again. He endured a lot... It's hard for him to improve himself but he tried for me. He really loves me. He's willing to change because of me.

I promise to you, Zac, I will never leave you again. Once you wake up, we will start another chapter in our book.

***
I woke up from the gentle grip on my hand. I looked up from the bed and there I saw Zac looking at me in confusion.

I secretly pinched my thigh hard to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. When I groaned, Zac widened his eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"A-are you okay? Is it... Is it really you, Erin?" He shut his eyes and blinked it several times after. That's when it hit me.

Zachary's awake!

I stood up and threw myself at him then hugged him tightly.

"Oh my God, you're awake. You're already awake, Zac." I pulled away from him and cupped his face with both of my hands.

The confusion in his face was still evident as he tried to smile.

"Uhmm. Yeah. W-what happened? Why am I in a hospital?" He asked again in a hoarse tone.

I poured water in the glass and placed a straw in it them offered it to him. He then sipped half of the water.

"Are you okay? What are you feeling?" I asked him and he furrowed his brows.

"I-I feel dizzy." He held his head and his eyes widened when he touched the gauze wrapped around his head.

He looked at me questioningly and asked again, "What happened to me?"

I took a deep breath then held his hand.

"You got ran over by a car two days ago." I said quietly. Shock and disbelief was clear in his eyes.

"Huh? Two days ago? What? I... I don't remember." He scanned his body and looked at me.

"Two days ago? Y-you were in Scheveningen... How? I don't understand." He held both his head with both of his hands, an indication that he's trying to remember everything.

This is bad. He shouldn't force himself.

"Zac, come on. Look at me, please, love, look at me. Don't force yourself, it's not good for you. Wait. Let me call the doctor." I held his hand with my left hand and pushed the button atop his bed to call a nurse or a doctor.

Thirty seconds later, a male doctor came with a very worried Olivia and a confused Niccolo behind him.

"Erin, what hap--- brother? You're awake now?" From worry to surprise then settled to relief has etched Livy's face.

"Yes, I am." She quickly ran to Zac and hugged him when he heard him spoke.

"Thank God! Oh my God." She kissed his cheek and hugged him again briefly.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Doctor Deven, you can check up on him. I'm sorry." She apologized quickly when she saw the Doctor looking at them.

The doctor just smiled at her then he proceed to check Zac.

His diagnosis was Zac's unbelievably and miraculously okay but he shouldn't force himself so it won't stress him out.

After that, he went out of the room leaving us four.

"So, brother, I brought you a chicken soup and a bread. Lorna cooked and baked these so you need to finish it all up." Olivia took the mobile table and unloaded the food on the table.

"Livy, can you tell me what happened? I don't understand... I recalled that we were going to have dinner and---"

"And when you got out of the building, a car hit you and ran away. We are still investigating who hit you. I got Markus look into it too. Good thing there's not much people around that night or else you will be in the news." Olivia said seriously then gave me the spoon.

I looked at it in confusion but then she forced me to hold it and spoke.

"Please help my brother eat. I need to go as I still have a meeting with Markus. Don't worry brother, I will handle this. Just focus on regaining your strength and don't worry about me." Then she looked at me and continued, "Please take care of my brother, Erin. Oh, and I brought you also food and clothes. Nick and I have to go, right babe?"

Nick kissed her temple and nodded.

"Don't push yourself, Zac. We'll take care of everything and don't worry about Olivia, I'm here to protect her." He said and nodded at him and me.

"Now, we have to go. Call me if you need anything, okay?" Livy spoke and then they left.

Now, it's us two in this huge room. The atmosphere became awkward instantly. It's like I became shy all of a sudden. I tried to peek at him through my peripheral and then I saw him staring at me.

I cleared my throat and busied myself to prepare the already prepared food on the table. I could feel him staring at me with all my moves.

"You heard your sister, you have to finish all of these." I spoke to ease the awkwardness in the room.

I discreetly took a deep breath before I took a spoonful of soup from the tupperware and feed him. He then complied and ate the soup.

All throughout the feeding, he was staring at me like he was studying me.
It's uncomfortable but I don't care, I'm here to take care of him.

After he ate and drank his medicine, I helped him get comfortable on his bed. I was about to leave his side to take a bath but he held my hand.

I looked at him and he apologised.

"I'm sorry but can you stay here beside me? Please. Just this time." He begged and I smiled at him, I sat on the bed and caressed his face.

"I won't leave you, Zac." I kissed his cheek and stood up to get the paper bag that has my clothes.

After I took a bath, I saw him reading something on his iPad. He was so engrossed in it that he failed to feel my presence. I peeked at the screen and there I saw he's searching for himself being ran over by a car.

So far, nothing came up.

"Zac, you shouldn't be forcing yourself."

He looked at me in confusion and shook his head.

"I don't understand... Why can't I remember a thing? I can't even remember the moments before I got hit by a car. All I could remember was that I blacked out. That's all." He explained and I sighed.

"That's because you hit your head. The brain tends to forget the trauma, so please don't force yourself to remember anything. It's not good for you." I took the iPad from him and put it on the table beside the bed.

"Who hit me? I mean, how did he manage to escape? If it was outside NGC, then there were lots of guards who can chase him... How? I mean... I don't understand. This isn't look like an accident to me. It was as if planned. I mean the news... Not even a single news about a hit and run in NGC was reported. I don't want to think about anything but I feel like someone is behind this. But the question is, who?" He thought out loud.

I'm contemplating if I should tell everything that I know of to Zac since I know that he won't stop looking for answers especially that danger is lurking around him and his family indirectly.

Fine.

I'll tell him.

This is the only way I can protect him, by telling him everything I know.

Hello, loves!

Ugh. I accidentally unpublished the whole book because of my carelessness. :(

I'm sorry if I flooded your notification with the re-uploaded chapters. Huhuh. But can I also request to please re-votes for the chapters as well? Huhu. I'm really really sorry. :(

Anyway, did you like this chapter? Please vote and comment.

As always, thank you and keep safe.

xo,
kimmypatata