Taking back my life

Chapter 2

Nath straightened, lips forming into something that resembled a smile. He pulled out his phone and, without hesitation, dialed.

“Baby,” he said when the line picked up, his tone shifting into that syrupy affection she realized had never belonged to her alone. “Good news. The doctor says she has less than a ten percent chance of making it. I don’t think she’ll last the night.”

His voice carried a lightness, almost glee, as though the news of her fading heartbeat were a gift instead of a tragedy. Eliana wanted to scream, to ask how the man she had built her whole world around could speak of her life like it was nothing more than a bad investment

On the other end came muffled giggles and the voice that had haunted her hours ago, the all too familiar moans that had gutted her in that bedroom.

Eliana held on to the only thing that she had left, her memories. Faces blurred before her. The laughter of her college friends, bright and free.

The girls whom they had stayed up all night together, sharing notes, trading stories about deadlines and promotions. One night in particular, cheap pizza boxes stacked on the dorm floor, laughter spilling until her ribs hurt, her best friend declaring that Eliana would rise in the corporate world one day. That memory felt like sunlight. And yet she had let Nath convince her that those very voices were poison.

One by one, Nath had convinced her that they were “bad influences.” That they only distracted her from building their perfect life.

“If you really loved me,” he said

“You’d stay home. You’d dress the way I like. Friends are a waste of time, Eliana. You only need me.”

And she believed him. Goodness gracious, she had believed him. Step by step she cut them off. At first skipping their calls, then blocking their numbers altogether.

Eliana didn't say good bye but lived as though they were dead. All those cheering voices, the bright bursts of laughter faded, one after the other. Until all that was left was Nath's voice resounding in her chest.

Her dream job also followed the same path. The office work she had fought so hard to get, the projects, the thrill of deadlines, the satisfaction of seeing her ideas come to life.

Eliana could still picture the office’s quiet hum at night, the aroma of burnt coffee clinging to the air, her fingers flying across the keyboard as the world outside went dark. There had been pride in the way her manager once clapped her on the shoulder, telling her she had a sharp mind, that she was going places. That glow had carried her through long hours until Nath made her feel small, foolish, for wanting more than him.

“Do you want to bury yourself in spreadsheets and late nights at the office, or do you want to be the woman worthy of my ring?”

Slowly he manipulated her into dependency without her realising it.

The ring that tiny circle of gold had become a shackle, forged by every choice she didn’t really want to make, every ambition she’d buried just to keep his love.

Eliana saw herself in a pink dress Nath had chosen, standing in front of a mirror and hating the stranger staring back. She saw her friends’ messages left unread, her phone buzzing until silence became permanent. She saw the moment she handed in her resignation letter, her boss’s eyes full of disappointment as he wished her “happiness.”

And then Eliana saw herself the night Nath proposed, the soft candlelight, the way her hands shook as he slid the ring onto her finger. She had smiled so wide her cheeks ached, convinced she was being crowned with forever. Thinking she had finally earned the love she had suffered so much for.

“What a fool I’ve been…”

Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes now, sliding into her hair as the machines kept humming. Each drop was a silent admission, an apology to the girl she used to be.

And through it all, one image she couldn't let go of; the white heels.

They shone in her mind just like that night; pointed and glossy. The woman who wore them shoved her into this nightmare. Those shoes burned into her memory, louder than her own scream as she fell down the stairs.

And lying there, caught between life and death, Eliana thought if only she could get another chance, she’d spin her life in a different direction. “Please, God, just one more chance,” her heart whispered. “I won’t trade my light for his shadow ever again. I’ll live for me this time.”

The world blinked in and out of focus. One second she was staring at the white ceiling, the next, everything was dark. She felt herself slipping, sinking like her body didn’t belong to her anymore. Memories drifted away, fragile and sharp, like broken stars swallowed in black water.

The darkness pressed in tight, heavy, like it didn’t want to let her go.

Then warmth.

Warmth seeped into her icy fingers, steadying the frantic beat of her heart. It was nothing like Nath’s careless touch the way he used to hold her hand loosely, distracted, as if it were an afterthought.

This grip was firm, deliberate, as if whoever it was believed she was worth holding on to. For the first time in a long time, she felt the faintest spark of safety.

“Eliana…”

The voice was rough, with low urgency. And under all of it, there was something she hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever.

Care, real, honest care.

“Stay with me. Please stay alive.”

The words broke through the darkness, a plea tethering her soul back to her body. They wrapped around the part of her that had been slipping away.

She clung to it, to the warmth, to the impossible hope that maybe she wasn’t as alone as she thought.

Somewhere deep inside, her heart responded with a single beat, fragile but defiant

. The machines kept beeping.

And for a second, the dark paused.