Chapter 6

Her condition is critical and we need a family member to sign. Also, an elderly woman brought in with her has been declared dead after attempts to revive her. A family member is needed for arrangements..."

Damon couldn't hear the rest.

It was like a thunderclap had detonated above his head, cutting through every rational thought.

Who had a miscarriage?

Who was declared dead?

...

He suddenly remembered Declan's words — Evelyn was covered in blood, her mother had collapsed.

She really had been pregnant?

When had it happened?

Why had she never told him?

A single frame flashed in his mind.

That hand... that mole.

The gurney that had gone past in the hall was—

"Damon, what's wrong?" Chloe reached for his hand. "Are we—"

The phone slipped out of his locked fingers.

Before Chloe could react, Damon had already spun around and was running toward the emergency room like a man gone mad.

Ceremony, choice, duty, being reasonable.

Every bit of calculating weighed out in his head turned to ash in that instant.

There was only one thought, one that threatened to swallow him whole—

their child.

He had killed their child.

He remembered her lunging at him and gripping his hand when he walked out. Had she been trying to tell him then?

Was she begging him to stay, not just for the ceremony, but for the child?

And he had pried her fingers open and called her "cold" and "heartless."

Damon stumbled to a stop at the emergency room doors.

He grabbed a nurse hurrying past, and his voice came out sharp:

"Evelyn! The patient brought in just now, miscarriage, severe bleeding — Evelyn. Where is she? Is the surgery over? How is she?"

The nurse flinched at the look on his face and the force of his grip. "You mean Miss Evelyn? The surgery's over. They saved her. She's out of danger for now. She was just moved to the ICU for observation."

Out of danger.

The four words started his heart beating again.

His legs nearly gave out. He almost dropped to his knees. "Where's the ICU? I need to see her. I'm her mate."

"You can't visit the ICU right now. Wait until she's stable and moved to a regular room..."

The nurse didn't finish. A figure charged in from the side and grabbed Damon by the collar.

Evelyn's uncle was all grief and rage. "Damon! You bastard! You dare show up? You drove my sister to her death! You did this to Evie! Get out! Get out!"

Damon didn't fight back, just begged, desperate: "Let me see her... I'm her mate..."

"You don't deserve to be," her uncle ground out through his teeth. "When you walked out on her at the ceremony, did it even cross your mind you were her mate? If anything happens to Evie, I'll take you with me."

The nurses and other families gathered around, murmuring.

Damon had never been so disgraced in his life, never brought so low.

He let them push him, curse him, and only kept repeating, "Just one look. I just need to see that she's alive. Please."

In the middle of it, someone who looked like a senior doctor came up, grave. "Who's family for Evelyn?"

"I am!" Damon and the uncle spoke at once.

The doctor looked them over. "Come with me."

They followed him to a quiet consultation room.

The doctor's tone was heavy. "The miscarriage and hemorrhage did severe damage to her body. She'll need a long recovery. And..."

"We've noticed that her mental state is abnormal."

Damon's chest tightened. "How abnormal?"

"After she came to, her memory... there's something wrong with it."

The doctor chose his words carefully. "She's clearly avoiding and blurring out the events of today."

"Instead, she keeps asking how the ceremony photos came out, whether the venue has been picked. Her tone is... cheerful. Full of anticipation."

"Our preliminary finding is that she's been through a shock severe enough that she's 'forgotten,' selectively, the most painful part of her recent memory."

Her uncle's eyes went wide. "What does that mean? Evie... she doesn't remember what happened today? Doesn't remember her mom..."

The doctor nodded.

"At least for now, it seems her memory has settled on an earlier, relatively peaceful, relatively happy stage."

"For a body and mind this fragile, that may be a form of protection."

"Please, all of you, go along with her. Don't do anything that might make her remember the painful things. Otherwise she could collapse emotionally, and it could turn into something more serious."

Damon listened. His mind churned.

Amnesia?

She'd forgotten the betrayal, the humiliation, the blood and death of the ceremony?

Her memory was back to... before the ceremony planning?

Back to when they were still planning a future together, picking out the gown, debating the details?

A feeling he couldn't name rose in his chest.

There was the pain of his mate's condition, a pain like being wrung out. And, shamefully, a thread of relief.

If she'd forgotten...

If everything could be treated as if it hadn't happened...

If he still had a chance to make up for it all with a clean start...

"Doctor, we understand. We'll be careful." Damon's voice was rough. "Is she... can she see anyone yet?"

"A short visit is fine. Stay calm. Say things that will put her at ease."

In the transition room next to the ICU,

Damon saw her right away: Evelyn, face paper-white, connected to different machines.

Tears came without warning.

He walked up to the bed and gently took her hand.

Her long lashes trembled, then slowly lifted.

Damon saw a look he'd almost been sure he'd never see again—

her eyes held a tired softness, the dependence of seeing someone she loved.

"...Damon?"