Taking back my life

Eliana called, “Nath,” pushing the door open, balancing the Chinese takeout she’d picked up on her way. The thought of the cozy evening they’d spend together filled her mind. Feeding him food and laying in his arms afterwards. “Baibyyyyy!!” she screamed in excitement. Her eyes glistened with so much happiness. Her fiancé should’ve been there working on his computer, hungry and tired like he said. Instead, silence answered her first. Eliana climbed up the stairs and moved towards his room. “Don't stop…” a woman's voice moaned loudly. “Right here…?” a masculine voice asked. The words came out on a groan, heavy with need. Since when did Eliana start hearing things? she thought. How is this voice so similar to Nath's? “Yes… right there” the woman’s words spilled out between ragged moans. “I’ll give you the world, baby. Anything you want.” Her reply dissolved into a moan, his name stretched into breathless syllables. “Ohh… Nath…” At that point Eliana's head sparked, like she had been electrocuted. The hairs on her skin rose, her chest heaved with terror. Her body started shaking in no time, and she had to lean on the stair rail for support. Rage filled her whole body. The bag slipped from her hand before she realised she had let go. Two cartons hit the sleek marble floor, one bounced open and the fried rice spilled in a mess her head couldn’t register. The other toppled onto its side, sauce leaking in a slow, sticky pool. “Nath!” The word cracked as it left Eliana’s lips, unsteady and jagged with shock. Her eyes fell on the white heels by the entrance of the room. The same room in which he had taken her virginity. How could he do this to her? After what seemed like forever, he finally stepped out tying a towel loosely on his waist, drops of sweat trickling down his chest. Her love for his chest wasn’t just about the strength in it, but the way it used to shelter her. A fortress she trusted more than her own walls. Now it disgusted her more than anything else. “Baby.. I.. the thing is…” he said with streaks of guilt over his face. “The thing is what?” Eliana cut in, as hot tears ran down her cheeks. Her stomach twisted in knots. “Enough with the crying, we both know I don't enjoy s*x with you. You’ve done your part… you’ve been the perfect fiancée, and now it’s enough.” “You say what—” she raised her hands to slap him, but in a millisecond, a force slammed into her. The other woman had stepped out of the room just in time, shoving her hard. Eliana’s body went flying backward. The world spun. Her feet slipped through the air instead of the ground. Then her body came crashing down the stairs. Once, twice, again and again. Wood cracked against her spine, her shoulder, her skull. She couldn’t catch herself; she was nothing but a ragdoll thrown down a jagged slope. Each thud stole her breath until she hit the bottom, sprawled and gasping, her tongue burned with the acrid taste of blood. “What have you done?” Nath said, in that sweet soft voice she thought was meant for her alone. “I didn’t mean to,” the woman stammered, panic sharp in her voice. She sounded very familiar but pain clouded Eliana’s reasoning and she couldn't make out who it was. Then she added, “Isn’t that what we want? What good is her presence anyway?” This time her tone shifted, curling smug around the words. Eliana lay crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, every inch of her hurting. Her ribs seared with each breath, sharp and shallow, and a dull throb spread through her skull. She tried to move, but pain pinned her down like a trap. God, please… The prayer trembled inside her, more thought than sound. This can’t be the end. Don’t let me die here, not like this. The world blurred at the edges, black creeping in, and all she could do was cling to the hope that someone or something would keep her alive. At that moment Nath said, “Okay ok regardless we'd have to call an ambulance.” Now they were starting to speak in hush tones. Finally, heaven heard Eliana’s plea. “An ambulance? You want me to go to jail?” the woman whispered, her voice trembling, as if saying it aloud might summon the sirens. “No, you won't. She slipped down the stairs, that's it. Now you go hide, go, go, go.” His voice cracked, fear pouring through every word. The sirens blared, sharp and ceaseless, cutting through the fog in her head. Her body jerked with every bump of the stretcher. Each wave of pain hit harder than the last. Voices shouted over her: paramedics, urgent, commanding, but their words blurred, slipping in and out like water. She caught Nath’s voice once, low and steady, almost rehearsed. “She slipped, yes she slipped.” He was trying to sound composed, too composed, and for a moment she wanted to scream that it wasn’t true. But her throat felt tight, sealed shut, and her lips could barely open. Darkness pressed down like a weight, muffling everything around her, but faint threads of sound still slipped through. The doctor’s voice reached her fogged at the edges, like she was drifting in and out of a dream she couldn’t wake from. “…very slim chances… less than ten percent…” The words seeped into her ears, the doctor’s tone grave. She tried to stir, to lift even a finger, but her body stayed unresponsive. Another voice, more firm and closer this time. “Should we keep the oxygen going?” A pause. Then Nath’s reply, low, steady, too steady. “…cut it off.” “Ten percent? That’s nothing,” he scoffed. “Why waste the machines? Just… cut the oxygen.” Cut… the oxygen? The words sliced through Eliana's haze, sharper than needles in her veins. “Sir,” the doctor replied carefully, “with due respect” “No respect needed.” His tone turned flat, a blade against skin. “Do it. I’ll sign whatever papers you need. She slipped down the stairs. It was an accident. Now let her go in peace no need to torture her soul.” Eliana's heart stuttered, struggling against the wires and tubes that tethered her. An accident? No. She remembered the shove. The white heels gleaming in the doorway. If Eliana could have gasped, she would have. Her lungs burned for air, and a silent scream echoed inside her. She wanted to beg, to call his name, to ask why? But nothing left her lips. The darkness closed in tighter, and all she could do was pray that som ehow, God heard her when Nath’s silhouette loomed over her, as she realized she was completely at his mercy.