DARIUS<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles went white. Vivienne trembled against my chest in the passenger seat, her bandaged arm cradled carefully between us. Every red light felt like torture, every second stolen from getting her help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could Sera do this?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question burned in my mind as I watched Vivienne\u2019s pale face. She was a pianist\u2014her hands were everything. And she was dying. How could my wife be so cruel, so heartless? Just because Vivienne played piano at her birthday party? The jealousy was pathetic!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought she was smarter than this!\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched as another thought hit me. Sera could go to prison for this. Assault charges. Did she even think about Luna before she lost control? Our four-year-old daughter would grow up with a mother behind bars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hospital\u2019s emergency room doors slid open with a sharp hiss. I carried Vivienne inside, her blood seeping through the makeshift bandage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp! She\u2019s lost a lot of blood!\u201d I called out, my voice desperate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A nurse rushed over with a wheelchair, and I gently placed Vivienne into it. Her fingers found mine, squeezing weakly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStay with me,\u201d she whispered. \u201cPlease.\u201d She shook, but her soft blue eyes never left mine. I couldn\u2019t bring myself to stay away, just like five years ago, I was at the mercy of those eyes. Despite the warning bells in my head, reminding me that I shouldn\u2019t get too close, I knew I couldn\u2019t leave her, not now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I followed them into the treatment room, watching as the doctor peeled away the bloody cloth. My stomach dropped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wound ran from her wrist almost to her elbow\u2014a vicious, deep gash that made my heart sink even further. Blood welled up and streamed down immediately as the air hit it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t some accident from falling into glass. This looked deliberate. Violent. The kind of cut someone makes when they want to cause serious damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands shook as the full reality hit me. Sera had really tried to hurt her. Badly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss, you\u2019re very lucky,\u201d the doctor said, cleaning the wound with gentle precision. \u201cA few millimeters deeper and we\u2019d be looking at tendon damage. Your hand function could have been permanently affected,\u201d The doctor explained, his eyes examining every inch of the injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne\u2019s face went ashen. \u201cMy piano playing\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShould be fine with proper healing,\u201d the doctor assured her. \u201cBut you\u2019ll need to be careful for several weeks,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me when he said the last sentence, as though he expected it to be my responsibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And he was right. This was my fault, for not putting Sera in her place sooner!\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled a breath I didn\u2019t realize I\u2019d been holding. Thank God. If Sera had destroyed Vivienne\u2019s ability to play in her final months\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the doctor finished stitching and bandaging the wound, I helped Vivienne out of the emergency room. She moved slowly, carefully, like she was afraid of breaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you feel? Any dizziness? Nausea?\u201d I asked, searching her face for signs of shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shook her head, but I could see the trauma in her eyes. \u201cI\u2019m okay. Just shaken,\u201d She admits, eyes avoiding mine all of a sudden.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVivienne, I\u2019m so sorry this happened. I should have protected you better,\u201d I apologized, guilt gnawing at my gut as I regarded her weakened state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her smile was sad and tired. \u201cIt\u2019s not your fault. It\u2019s mine, for wanting you despite knowing you belong to another\u2026for thinking I deserve to be loved by you\u2026\u201d Her voice broke, a single tear slid down her cheek as the guilt in her eyes mirrored mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, taking her uninjured hand in mine, trying not to show how much her words affected me yet, I was just a man who couldn\u2019t bear to watch a woman cry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t say that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne sighed, the sound deep and exhausted, \u201cYour wife knows it, she doesn\u2019t want me in your life and you don\u2019t want me either,\u201d More tears fell down her cheek, \u201cThen why am I still here? Why are you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSera will pay for what she did to you,\u201d My voice came out harsher than I intended, my growing anger dripping off every word before I could control it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re dying, for God\u2019s sake. You deserve to spend your remaining time with people who care about you,\u201d I held her gently, \u201cAnd despite everything, I care about you, Viv,\u201d I uttered in a softer voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen be with me, Darius, love me as you used to\u2026\u201d She pleaded, her voice dangerously close to desperate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vivienne was never like this, she was always a proud and confident woman, softer in my arms but never like this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She seemed so weak now, so uncertain due to her illness and her eyes\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wished for nothing more than to take the pain out of those eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot leave my wife and child, Vivienne.\u201d The words felt bitter on my tongue. \u201cSera\u2019s jealousy is out of control. And I will make sure she gets punished accordingly,\u201d I was unable to keep the irritation out from my words, the thought of my wife made my insides spark as though there were live wires in me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d seen this pattern before. When I had been cold to Sera and she felt threatened, she clung to Luna like a life raft. It was unhealthy\u2014a four-year-old shouldn\u2019t be her mother\u2019s emotional support system. That\u2019s why I\u2019d started having Luna spend more time with me and the nanny. She needed stability, not her mother\u2019s anxiety.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now that Luna was drawn to Vivienne, Sera had completely snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She almost killed a person for fucks sake! Something has to be done!\u00a0<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed. Lucy\u2019s name flashed on the screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Blackwood? Luna insisted on coming to visit Vivienne. We\u2019re in the lobby.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sent her our location, and within minutes, I saw Lucy walking toward us with Luna\u2019s small hand in hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna\u2019s face lit up when she spotted us, but her expression fell when she saw Vivienne\u2019s bandaged arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it hurt really bad?\u201d she asked, standing on her tiptoes to get a better look. \u201cJust a little,\u201d Vivienne said softly. \u201cBut I might not be able to teach you piano for a while.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna\u2019s bottom lip jutted out, her little face scrunching with worry. Then I watched her clutch something to her chest\u2014her favorite stuffed rabbit, the one she\u2019d named Sunshine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tried to lift it up to show Vivienne, but she was too short to reach properly. I crouched down and scooped Luna into my arms. \u201cWhat are you trying to do, sweetheart?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to give Sunshine to Vivienne,\u201d Luna said seriously. \u201cShe sleeps with me when I have bad dreams. Maybe she can take away Vivienne\u2019s hurt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My chest tightened. This was her most treasured possession\u2014the toy she couldn\u2019t sleep without. The fact that she wanted to give it to Vivienne showed how much she\u2019d grown to care for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure, baby? This is your special rabbit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna nodded firmly and held out the stuffed animal. Vivienne accepted it with tears in her eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, little star. I\u2019ll take very good care of her.\u201d Vivienne smiled, her eyes lighting up for the first time since we came to the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLuna, won\u2019t your mama be upset that you came to see me?\u201d Vivienne asked gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna shook her head. \u201cMama brought me here. She\u2019s downstairs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart stuttered. Sera was here? In the hospital?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I found myself scanning the hallway, looking for her familiar figure. Why was I nervous? Maybe because I knew she\u2019d be angry about Luna visiting Vivienne. But that wasn\u2019t her decision to make. Luna and I had every right to choose our own friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A flash of movement behind one of the support pillars caught my eye, but before I could focus on it, Luna\u2019s voice pulled my attention back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy?\u201d Her innocent blue eyes looked up at me with complete trust. \u201cWhen are you going to marry Vivienne?\u201d<\/p>\n
Souls Remember What Matters \u2014 Corey Gibson 4 004 \u2013 Marry Vivienne DARIUS \u00a0 My hands gripped the steering wheel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-day-i-signed-the-papers-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}