CHAPTER 3 - FRACTURES OF THE PAST
1668 Words
The quiet buzz of the hospital hallway filled Elena’s ears as she walked out of the elevator. The aroma of disinfectant remained, strong and icy, as if attempting to eradicate every sign of life that had gone through. She gripped a paper cup of coffee she hadn’t touched, her hands quivering despite the warmth.
It has been three days since Alexander woke up. Three days since he’d stared at her with blank eyes.
Her reflection on the glass walls of the hallway surprised her. She looked pale, weary, older somehow. Two years of anguish had already chiselled its lines onto her face; now bewilderment and dread accentuated them.
The nurse at the desk smiled kindly. “Mrs King, he’s awake. But the doctor suggested that you keep your stay brief.”
Elena nodded. “Thank you.”
Her heart pumped faster with each step approaching his chamber. She hesitated outside the door, holding the doorknob. The repetitive beep of the cardiac monitor sounded too serene, too steady, like nothing had ever occurred.
When she eventually pulled the door open, the air felt different. Brighter, but cooler.
Alexander was sitting straight, reading something on a tablet. He looked better, stronger, the bruises on his cheeks disappearing into faint shadows. But his eyes… they were the same storm-grey, following her as she entered, wary and inscrutable.
“Elena,” he whispered gently, her name flowing off his tongue like a word he wasn’t sure he was permitted to speak.
She swallowed. “You remember my name.”
A hint of a grin graced his lips. “I never forgot it. The doctor claimed repetition helped activate recognition.”
Her heart dropped. “So you’re just practising?”
His eyes didn’t waver. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s because it feels… familiar.”
For a tiny second, something warm sparked in his face. Then it evaporated, replaced by the guarded coldness that had always come with the millionaire mask.
She put the untouched coffee on the bedside table. “You always hated hospital coffee.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Did I?”
“Yes.” She faked a grin. “You said it tasted like regret in a cup.”
That received the smallest trace of enjoyment from him. “Sounds like something I’d say.”
For a minute, quiet descended between them, thick, weighty, personal. The type of stillness that used to occur after late-night disputes and silent apologies.
He eventually shattered it. “Victoria told me we’d separated before the accident.”
Elena’s chest clenched. “Victoria lied.”
He c****d his head, eyeing her intently. “She said you left after I found out you’d been hiding something from me. Something serious.”
Her voice caught. “And you believed her?”
He paused. “I don’t know what to believe. You talk with agony, she speaks with certainty.”
Elena glanced aside, blinking hard. “She’s good at that. Certainty. Especially when it’s constructed on lies.”
His voice softened. “Then tell me the truth.”
Her lips opened, but the words knotted in her throat. The fact that the collision wasn’t an accident, that someone had wanted him dead, that she’d recovered the letter he penned before the night everything went black.
But the dread that someone may be eavesdropping kept her mute.
“Not yet,” she muttered. “Not here.”
His brows wrinkled slightly. “Then where?”
Before she could speak, a tiny noise stopped them, the subtle click of the door opening. A nurse arrived, bringing a tray of medicine.
“Excuse me, Mr King,” she replied gently, placing down the tray. “It’s time for your afternoon dosage.”
Alexander nodded distractedly, studying Elena instead. The nurse poured water into a glass and gave him two tablets.
But as she turned to go, something grabbed Elena’s attention. The nurse’s ID badge was flipped backwards.
Elena frowned. “Excuse me,” she said hurriedly. “You’re new?”
The nurse hesitated for half a second too long before smiling. “Just covering for a colleague.”
Elena nodded slowly, but her instincts prickled. She’d spent years at Alexander’s side; she’d learned to read people, their posture, their tone. Something about this lady seemed incorrect.
After the nurse left, Elena moved closer to the tray. The label on the pill container seemed smeared, almost as if someone had attempted to wipe it clean.
“What are these?” she inquired gently.
Alexander shrugged. “Painkillers, I think. The doctor says these help me sleep.”
Elena’s stomach twisted. “You shouldn’t take anything unless Dr Miles gives it to you directly.”
He frowned. “Elena, it’s just medication.”
“No,” she answered firmly, dropping her voice. “Not when someone already tried to kill you once.”
His eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
She froze. The words had spilt out before she could stop them.
“Elena.” His voice sharpened. “What do you mean by ‘tried to kill me’?”
She breathed gently, selecting her words with care. “I don’t think your accident was random. There were things occurring before that night, individuals you didn’t trust, weird calls, threats”
“Who?” he interrupted.
Her silence screamed louder than words.
“Elena,” he pushed. “You think Victoria had something to do with it?”
Her gaze moved toward the door. “Please, not here.”
The tension between them vibrated in the air, electric and delicate. His eyes softened a little. “You’re scared.”
She attempted to deny it, but her shaking palms betrayed her. “I’m scared of losing you again,” she muttered.
For the first time since he’d woken up, his countenance broke. The feeling that flashed over his face wasn’t bewilderment or disbelief; it was something deeper. Recognition.
He leaned out, his hand hovering inches from hers. “I don’t remember everything,” he mumbled, “but when I look at you… It seems like something I’ve lost.”
Her heart thudded violently. “Then hold on to that,” she whispered. “Because that’s real.”
Their fingertips brushed in a momentary contact, yet it lit fire to the space between them.
Then a voice disrupted the moment.
“Mr King,” began Victoria Hale, her tone silky and composed, as she glided into the room in her high heels and fitted suit. “I see you’re receiving visitors.”
Elena stiffened quickly.
Victoria’s grin didn’t reach her eyes. “Elena. How kind of you to visit. Again.”
Elena folded her arms. “He’s my husband. I don’t need permission.”
Victoria’s stare went chilly. “Legally, that may be true, but given his condition, I’m sure the doctors will agree excessive emotional stress isn’t good for his recovery.”
“Funny,” Elena replied gently, “you were never concerned about his health before.”
Alexander gazed between them, tension rising like static. “Both of you stop. I need answers, not another war.”
Victoria lowered her voice instantly, coming closer to his bed. “Alex, you’ve been through enough. Don’t let her fill your brain with things that never happened.”
Elena’s jaw constricted. “You mean like the truth?”
Victoria ignored her and brushed a hand over Alexander’s shoulder, a move too familiar, too rehearsed. “Rest, darling. I’ll handle the board meeting tonight. Everything is in control.”
Elena noticed it, then the flash in Alexander’s face. Doubt.
He glanced from one lady to the other. “Victoria says we were engaged once,” he added gently. “Before I met you.”
Elena nodded stiffly. “Yes. You broke it off.”
Victoria offered a brief, bitter chuckle. “Is that what you told her? He terminated things because of you?”
Elena’s voice shook, but she kept firm. “He chose me, Victoria. You never forgave him for that.”
The air between them transformed to glass-thin, breakable, deadly.
Then Alexander said, his voice calm yet powerful. “Enough.”
The word silenced them both.
He turned to Victoria first. “You said Elena left me before the crash.”
“That’s right,” Victoria responded effortlessly.
Then to Elena. “You said she’s lying.”
“I am,” Elena said without hesitation.
He slumped back against the cushion, inhaling gently. “I want proof. Both of you.”
Neither lady spoke.
Finally, Victoria smiled slightly. “Be careful, Alex. Not everyone around you wants you to remember.” She turned toward the door, her shoes tapping fiercely on the tile. “Some memories are better left buried.”
When she was gone, the room went quiet again.
Elena met his gaze. “She’s manipulating you.”
He didn’t answer quickly. He only gazed at the closed door, the line of his jaw hardening. “She’s hiding something.”
“Then let me help you find out what.”
He turned back to her. “And you?”
She blinked. “What about me?”
His gaze darkened, probing hers. “Are you hiding something, too, Elena?”
The question sliced through her. She opened her lips, but no words came out.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice low and piercing. “Because I’m starting to think someone wanted me dead. And I don’t know whether I should trust you… or her.”
The heart monitor beeped quietly, following the beat of her pulse.
Elena forced a shuddering breath. “You can trust me, Alexander.”
But even as she said it, she wasn’t sure which one of them she was attempting to persuade.
Outside the window, the sky darkened, thunder rumbling in the distance.
Inside, the guy she loved languished between the two sides of a broken past, one that refused to remain buried.
And for the first time since he’d opened his eyes, Alexander King started to question everything.
- Writer
