The chains of the past that bind us

Chapter 9: The Accident

The past two days, Cole has been avoiding me, and he won't even look at me. I suppose it is nice for Chloe since she has been able to spend more time with him. While I've been spending more time with Liam.

"Good morning Alessandria. Coffee?" Liam asks while holding up the coffee pot.

"Oh no thanks. I already have some." As I sip from my coffee mug, I notice Cole reading that same book in the living room. I guess this is what I've been wanting, but it's not like Cole to give up just like that. Then he kept that pendant all this time, so why?

"Alessandria! I've come up with the colors for my wedding!" She comes up from behind me and shoves a magazine in my face.

"Jesus Chloe! You can't just sneak up on me like that!" I rub my eyes in frustration.

"Just look!" She squeals.

"I'm sorry what am I looking for again?" I ask while teasing her.

"The color! This beautiful turquoise and white theme! That's what I want for my wedding!" As I look at the price tag for this turquoise and white wedding venue, is $96,000.

"I mean it is beautiful, but are you sure you want to be spending $96,000 on just the wedding venue? What does Cole think?" I ask while looking over at him.

"Oh that's right I need to get my fiancé's opinion as well!" Then she walks over to Cole and sits on his lap. He doesn't even stop reading his book, he just turns it to the side.

"Baby what do you think? Is turquoise and white a good pair for our wedding." It isn't likely that he will agree to it. When we used to talk about our wedding, he always wanted it to be Turquoise, royal blue, and Silver. It might remind him too much of the past, and reject the idea.

"I think it's a perfect idea. If that'll make you happy, then you'll get whatever you want." He replies without hesitation or even stopping in his book.

"The price is $96,000 Cole! Surely that's a lot of money for a wedding venue?" I yelled as I slam the magazine on the kitchen counter.

"Maybe for you Alessandria, but I'm wealthy enough to give Chloe what she wants." He snaps back while turning the page in his book. I don't know why but he just infuriates me!

"Fine. Do whatever you want I'm going out to the city for a bit." I get up and walk upstairs to grab my keys.

"Are you sure that you want to go by yourself Alessandria? Let me go with you." Liam asks.

"No it's fine. I'm just going to go do a little shopping that's all." Then Liam tries to follow me to the door.

"Are you sure? I don't want anything to happen to you." He pleads with me.

"Alessandria is a big girl. I'm pretty sure she can handle going to do a little shopping by herself." Cole replies while flipping another page.

"Yes. I'm completely fine as Cole said I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I couldn't say the same thing as Cole though." Before he could even reply, I slam the door and head to the city.

Cole's POV:

I suppose I deserve that. I knew she'd snap like that with her strong will and all. I just cannot be around her right now. I want her to hate me even more, because after this trip I'm going to let her be happy with Liam. She won't have to worry about me bothering her anymore.

"Is everything okay between you and Alessandria?" Chloe asks while hugging me on my lap.

"Yes. Why would you ask such a question?" I reply while hugging her back.

"It's nothing I just sensed a little tension that's all." Chloe replies. "Well I'm going to get into the shower and after that maybe we can go out on a date."

"That'd be nice. Well hurry up then and I'll get ready as well." She hurries off to head upstairs and I finally put my book down.

"You didn't have to be that hard on her." Liam glares at me.

"How about you go run after her then. Since you're her knight and shining armor." I reply sarcastically.

"I know I asked you to leave her alone but..." Suddenly he steps up to me and grips my collar. "I will not let you hurt her or disrespect her." I grip his wrist and twist it until he lets go of my collar.

"Do not threaten me Liam. Remember the only reason that you even have this chance with her, is because I treat her the way I am now." I get closer to him and whisper in his ear. "You asked for this." I shove him away while grabbing my jackets and keys.

"I'm ready babe!" As Chloe runs downstairs, she leaps into my arms.

"Alright then let's go, before it gets too late." By the time we leave it's about 2:45pm and we arrive to toward around 3:15pm. As we are shopping around I cannot seem to see Alessandria anywhere. It's not like I'm looking for her, but still I hope she's alright.

Chloe ends up bringing me to different florists, wedding shops, and we eventually end up at the cake shop. As I look at my watch, I notice the time is well past 6:30 at this point, and the sun has set. Where the hell are you Alessandria?

"Baby are you alright? You've hardly tried the red velvet cake they brought out." Chloe brings me back to reality and I shake my head.

"Yea I'm fine. I'm sorry my head was elsewhere for a moment, but I'm alright now. So let's try this cake." I shouldn't focus on Alessandria, she isn't my concern anymore. Besides I'm sure that she's fine.

Alessandria's POV:

*One hour earlier*

Jesus the more I walk around this city, I keep getting lost. They have changed this city since I've been here last. As I'm walking, I realize the sun has already set and I see a child crying.

"Are you alright sweetie?" I ask the little girl.

"I lost my mommy...I can't find my mommy! I want my mommy!" I hold her close to me in a warm embrace, as she cries in my arms.

"Where did you last see her? We can go searching." I ask her while patting her head softly.

"I-I don't know!" She sniffles.

"Well let's go searching for her together." I give her a gentle smile and I hold her hand. We walk together and search for her mother. She reminds me of myself when I was younger. As we walk on the sidewalk next to the street, she suddenly lets go of my hand.

"Mommy!" She suddenly starts to run in the street and I chase after her.

"Wait-!" Suddenly a suv truck honks its horn, and I push her out of the way. Then everything goes dark.

Cole's POV:

As we are finishing the red velvet cake and going over wedding ideas, I check my watch and it's now 7:30pm. Suddenly I get a call from an unknown phone number.

"Hello? This is Cole speaking."

"Hello, this is Emilie from St. Jamerson Hospital, am I speaking to Cole Andrews?" She asks.

"Yes. How can I help you?" I notion to Chloe to give me a moment. I wonder why they'd be calling me?

"Mrs. Alessandria Collins has been in an accident. She just arrived at the hospital, and she still has you listed as an emergency contact. Would you be able to come up to the hospital, and fill out some paperwork?" Suddenly everything else she said just faded out and I see red. Then I drop my phone and start running to the hospital.

"Cole? Cole!" I hear Chloe shouting my name but I don't care. I knew it was weird that I haven't heard from her since earlier! Dammit Alessandria! Don't you die on me!

*45 minutes of running later*

I rush into the emergency room doors, and loosen my tie on my suit.

"Huff...Huff...Alessandria Collins! What room is she in?" She tries to look up the room, while I put my hands on my knees and catch my breath.

"Room 213. It's straight through those doors and up the elevator, and it'll be the seventh door on the right." I quickly start rushing to her. As I get to her room, I don't hesitate and I bust the door in.

"Jesus what the hell Cole!" As she's yelling at me, I can see some scratches and bruises on her, but nothing more than that. The overwhelming feeling of knowing that she's okay, makes me lose control and I hug her tightly.

"W-Wait Cole!? What's wrong?" I can't help my hands shaking.

"What happened? Why didn't you call me?" I ask her while pulling her closer.

"It's fine Cole. I'm fine. It's nothing to fuss over. Where is Chloe?" She asks. f**k. I left her at that cake shop by herself. When I reach for my phone, I realize I also dropped that as soon as I heard the news.

"At...the cake shop...by herself." Suddenly she pushes me off of her and she stares to rub her head in frustration.

"You left your fiancé by herself! Did you at least tell her where you were going!?!" She asks and I can't bring myself to answer. "Good god Cole! How are you going to explain yourself out of this one!?!" She yells at me.

"Well what about you! What happened to you?" I glare and yell back at her.

"I was helping a child Cole. She lost her mom and when she spotted her, she ran into incoming traffic. I didn't want her to get hurt, so I pushed her out of the way."

"Dammit Alessandria...you scared the hell out of me! Please don't do that!" I pleaded with her.

"I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! Besides nothing happened, so it's fine!" Then I grab her shoulders and make her look at me.

"I almost lost you! Do you have any idea what I'd go through if I lost you dammit?" As I pull her into another embrace, my hands won't stop shaking.

Alessandria's POV:

His hands are shaking. He won't budge from his grip on me either. I didn't know that I had worried him this much. I've never seen him this shaken up before, so I wrap his arms around him.

"Thank you...for coming to check on me." I give him a warm smile and he kisses me gently. This wasn't a seductive kiss, this was more passionate. In this kiss you could feel how much he loved me, or at least that's what I got from it.

"Wait...how did you know I was in the hospital?"

"Oh I'm still listed as your emergency contact."

"s**t I completely forgot to change that..." As I shake my head, he brings me in for a kiss once again. I don't fight him on it either. I guess you could call it a thank you.

"Call Liam." Suddenly he rolls his eyes, and his face turns into a frown.

"Why do I have to call him? I'm here now, is me being here not enough?" In the past it would've been enough for Cole just to be here, but it's different now. He's Chloe's fiancé and I can't hurt her. I also cannot forgive him for how he betrayed me.

"I'm sorry Cole, even though I am happy that you're here for me, we both know that it won't last. Liam is probably worried about me, and Chloe is probably worried about you too. So take the phone and call Liam." He hesitantly takes the phone and steps out of the door to call him. I wish things could be different.

I look outside my window and I see the full moon. It's so beautiful the way it shines. I really do wish I could've enjoyed this trip under different circumstances. When Cole comes back in, he holds my hand, and kisses it softly.

"He said he will be on the way now and he will get Chloe. They will probably be here in like 35 minutes."

"Thank you." I take a sigh of relief and close my eyes.

"Alessandria? Alessandria are you okay?" He starts to freak out shaking my shoulders.

"I'm fine, so please stop shaking me! I'm not dying. I just wanted to get some rest." Then he sighs and he starts to laugh.

"You just love freaking me out don't you?" He wipes a tear from his eye.

"Is the infamous ice cold Cole Andrews crying?" I tease.

"Shut up. Obviously you're feeling better already." I glance over at him.

"Yes, I told you it wasn't that bad." I chuckle.

"Also since when have I become cold hearted?" He asks.

"Seriously? Are you really asking me that?" I ask while laughing.

"Yes! I've always been kind to you."

"Other than this morning. Since last night you've been avoiding me, and you couldn't even look at me in the eyes." Suddenly the room becomes quiet once again.

"Isn't that what you've been wanting from me?"

"What? When did I say that?"

"Multiple times. You've asked me multiple times that you want nothing to do with me, and that you want me to leave you alone. You've told me to focus on Chloe and my marriage. So when I saw you and Liam on the beach yesterday, I decided to let you be happy and leave you alone." Suddenly everything became so clear to me. I didn't know that he saw Liam and I. Now I understand why he was being distant.

"You...were doing it for me?" I ask.

"Yes Alessandria. I told you I've never lied to you when I said that I love you, and I never want to hurt you. If you truly want me to leave you alone, then that's what I will do. Even if it'll kill me to let you go, I will do it to make you happy." As I look down at his hand, I can't seem to give a response to that. I decided instead of giving a response, I grab his hand and kiss it.

Cole's POV:

Her sudden kiss of my hand, I blushed and tried to cover it up.

"Alessandria?" Then I noticed, she has finally dozed off to sleep. I love this girl. No matter how much I try to push her away, I always end up coming back to her. I rest my head on her lap and I quickly drift off to sleep as well.

Chloe's POV:

Liam and I rush into the emergency room, and grab the information to Alessandria's room. I cannot believe she is in the hospital! I hope that she's alright! Cole didn't give us very much detail on her condition. As we rush into her room, we see Alessandria asleep, and Cole sleeping right next to her.

"Oh my god...I'm so glad that she's alright!" I whisper to Liam.

"I wonder what happened to her. I hope that she's alright." Liam replies.

"Should I wake her up to check on her?" I ask.

"No let her rest. We should check on her when she wakes up." I notice Cole sleeping next to her bedside. I start to feel jealous of her.

"Liam may I talk to you for a moment?" I ask. As he nods yes, we step out into the hallway and sit in the corridor.

"Do you think Cole has feelings for Alessandria?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Things have been weird lately and I just wanted to see if you have had any suspicions." Suddenly his mood starts to change and he grasps a hold of my hand.

"There's nothing to be worried about. I would just voice your concerns to Cole when you wake up, and I'm sure he will clear up this misunderstanding." Then he stands up and reaches his hand out to me.

"Now let's go. It'd be nice for Alessandria to wake up and see her friends there supporting her." As I smile, I grab his hand, and blush slightly. I never knew Liam was such a gentleman. We waited patiently as she returned to consciousness. When she wakes up, I run into her arms and hug her tightly.

"Alessandria! I'm so glad that you're alright! What happened? How badly were you hurt? When did this happen?"

"Hold on, hold on! Calm down Chloe, just take a breath please." She chuckles and pulls away from me slightly.

"How can you laugh right now?"

"It wasn't that bad I promise. I'm completely fine. I'll explain everything I promise." As she finished explaining things to us, tears flow down my hair, and I hug her once again.

"I'm just glad that you're alright!" I cry in her arms even more.

Alessandria's POV:

"Anyways should we wake him up now?" Liam asks.

"Who?" I ask. I genuinely have no idea what they're talking about. Then it all hit me. Cole! When I look over, I see Cole with his head on my lap sleeping at my bedside. I blush hard and I push him onto the floor.

"Ow! What the f**k!" Cole shouts as he rubs his back.

"Oh crap I didn't mean to push that hard, I'm really sorry, Cole." Suddenly Chloe walks over to him, and grabs his arm.

"We need to talk." Before he can say anything she drags him out of the room.

Cole's POV:

"I have to talk to you as well." As we step out into the hallway, I grab her hands. "I'm really sorry for leaving you without saying anything. I know that you must've been worried."

"How did you know that Alessandria in the hospital? I'll ask you one more time...have you guys known each other before?" I will give it to Chloe she's very persistent. When she is onto something, she won't give up until she figures it out. What am I going to say to her? Should I make up another lie? Should I distract her? I don't know.