On one side, I feel like I could jump for the fucking stars, pick them like a fucking bouquet of flowers then offer them as a gift to the love of my life but on the other, I’m just fucking livid…
“Uh, can everyone please leave the room,” the doctor says seriously as the nurses move around to usher people out.
“What, no!” Nathan says and the moment he speaks, Mia flinches again. Noticeably.
All eyes fall on her.
I see the Detectives glance at Nathan now, having also noticed Mia’s reaction to his voice.
“He clearly scared her!” Nathan yells, pointing at me.
“Mr. Montague!” the doctor snaps, but Nathan ignores him, too stunned with Mia’s obvious amnesia to watch his reaction and who’s watching him.
“She knows him!” he shouts, then pushes past everyone and stands next to Mia’s bed and literally shoves his fucking face over her, intimidating her. I watch her shrink in the bed, scooting toward me. “Don’t you Mia? This is the bastard that kidnapped and did this to you, isn’t he?”
I watch with so much anger as Mia starts trembling in the bed.
“Now is not the time for any questioning,” one of the detectives says. “I’m sure we can come back later after the doctors give us the go ahead.”
“No! Answer me now, Mia! Look at him!” Mia doesn’t look at me at all, she just shrinks in the bed some more, looking at Nathan, terrified. “Isn’t he the one? Tell them!”
“Mr. Montague, please step away from that bed,” the other detectives states seriously as the atmosphere in the room shifts.
In the blink of an eye, Nathan is being ushered away from Mia’s hospital bed.
“Wait, what?” Nathan stutters, realizing now that he just fucking screwed up!
“Clearly, Miss Montague needs time,” the doctor is saying, eyeing Nathan who’s now red faced. “Also, did you notice the young lady’s reaction to Mr. Montague? It was unsettling, detective.”
Well, then.
“Either way,” the doctor goes on. “You all need to leave so we can do our initial post-coma assessment.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Nathan the bastard says, pushing past the detective to step closer to Mia’s bed in a threatening move that makes Mia jump, then her lips begin quivering in obvious fear and distress.
Mia might have forgotten but the look of pure stress on her face as she avoids looking at Nathan, it fucking enrages me!
“What did you do to her?” I demand, like I don’t know. “Why is Mia looking at you like that?”
“It’s because of you, you piece of shit!” Nathan snaps. “Detective, this boy is the culprit! You need to arrest him! He’s the one who did this to my daughter! I want justice!”
“Justice? Please,” Dad mutters behind me.
“That’s speculation, Mr. Montague, now please step outside and we can talk.”
“Speculation? This boy kidnapped my daughter and took her to God only knows where and then he attempted the same thing and now look at my daughter!”
Nathan’s reptilian gaze falls on me. I narrow my gaze on him. Why is he this jumpy? The asshole looks uneasy, as if Mia’s amnesia is a bad thing for him.
Hurriedly, he looks at Mia and attempts to control his voice, but it’s shaky and high-pitched with panic. “Now that you’re awake, princess—”
“Where is mom?” Mia demands, cutting him off, apprehension in her voice. “Did you beat her up again?”
Holy fucking shit.
The detectives turn back to look at Mia.
She’s now crying in the bed, looking so small and so terrified, my jaw clenches, but Mia doesn’t look away from the asshole who sold her. In fact, she has this determined glint in her aquamarine eyes, swirling together with the confusion and fear.
She looks like a girl on a mission.
“Did you break her jaw again?” she croaks sadly.
“What… what are you talking about?” Nathan stutters. “I didn’t… she…” he looks around and notices that everyone is watching him. “I didn’t break anyone’s jaw. Obviously, her memory has been affected! Isn’t that right, doctor?”
The shift in the room is instant. The doctor is scowling at Nathan, then he looks at Mia, with a calm, neutral expression.
“Mia, do you know this man?” he questions, pointing at Nathan.
For a moment, there’s silence, everyone staring at Mia, waiting for her answer. Then… she nods.
“Who is he?”
Mia opens her mouth to say something, her eyes not shifting from Nathan looks like he’s going to fucking shit himself. It’s then that the sonofabitch decides to act smart.
“I’m your father, yes!” Nathan quickly says. “And you’re my princess.”
Mia shakes her head, and visibly shifts in the bed, moving closer to Nicky who immediately pulls her in closer, her narrowed gaze set on Nathan who dramatically reels back in shock at Mia’s words, but the fool catches himself when he realizes everyone is watching.
“No, I’m not,” she says, her voice stronger than before. “I’m not your princess because you hurt mom, and you tried to sell me.”
FUCK!
Does she remember? What’s going on? Or did this asshole try to sell of Mia before? I mean, why else would she say that?
“Excuse me? Can you repeat that, Mia?” one of the detectives asks gently.
“Repeat… why should she repeat?” Nathan stutters nervously, then he notices how Mia is trembling and chooses to raise his fucking voice at her. “She isn’t saying anything that’s true!”
Mia clamps her mouth shut, alarming fear in her eyes, she looks down, avoiding Nathan’s crazed gaze.
“Control yourself, Mr. Montague!” the detective says to him, now standing closer, watches him closely with a suspicious gaze.
I see Nicky’s face grow pale, standing stock still as she holds Mia. “Sweetheart, we don’t have to do this now.”
“No, we have to!” Mia cries now. “He’s a bad man.”
“Mia, can you explain what you mean?” the other detective asks softly. “How did he try to sell you?”
For a second, Mia is silent and then she starts to speak, a haunted look in her eyes.
“I came back from school one afternoon and my mother was screaming and crying. I could hear plates and glasses shattering from a room.”
“Stop lying!”
“No, I’m not lying I want my mom!” Mia cries like a little girl, tears streaming down her face as she makes herself curl into a small, shivering mess under the thin sheets. But it’s the torment in her voice that rings clear in the room. “I remember mommy was sick. She was begging you for money to go to the hospital, but you refused, calling her mean, vulgar names and you were beating her to so bad, especially when she accused you of losing her money somewhere.”
There’s a loud fucking silence in the room.
No one utters a word, but all I want to do is hold Mia in my arms. It’s killing me that I fucking can’t.
“Mia, sweetheart,” Nicky starts, her voice raw and shaky. “You’ve just woken up, baby girl. Maybe you need to let the doctors examine you first, before talking to—”