Blood Between Us

CHAPTER 17 – The Silence Between Heartbeats

Leo’s POV

Three hours.

That’s how long it took them to stabilize her.

Three hours of pacing, praying, threatening, and trying not to fall apart.

Three hours of watching her lie still — no movement, no answers.

I sat beside her now, watching every rise and fall of her chest like it was my lifeline.

She hadn’t spoken since the seizure.

She hadn’t opened her eyes.

And I was going mad.

---

The doctors had ruled out the worst.

Whatever she was injected with had been a paralytic — something meant to slow her body down, not kill it.

But they’d never seen anything like it.

Custom compound.

Untraceable.

Delivered with intent.

The woman in scrubs had vanished into thin air. No fingerprints. No ID. Security footage scrambled.

And the call I got an hour ago confirmed what I feared:

Someone inside the hospital helped.

This was coordinated.

Planned.

And personal.

---

Olivia’s POV

I felt like I was trapped inside a nightmare I couldn’t wake from.

The dark wasn’t empty — it pulsed.

I could hear voices, feel pressure on my chest. The faint burn of needles. The weight of eyes on me.

I tried to move.

I tried to scream.

But my body didn’t respond.

I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t dead.

I was buried alive inside myself.

And I was terrified.

Panic surged through me like fire, but it had nowhere to go.

I heard breathing. Heavy. Not mine.

Then whispers.

“You’ll never escape me.”

The woman.

She was in here too.

Her voice slithered through the cracks in my mind.

“I’ll find you again. I’ll rip that baby out of you myself.”

No.

No.

I tried to fight her.

But my limbs were bound by shadows.

I was trapped. Powerless. Screaming in a world that didn’t hear me.

Tears leaked down my real-world face. My body twitched.

A nurse walked past my door, glanced in, and whispered to Leo, "She’s dreaming. Violently. Probably reliving it."

Leo’s jaw clenched.

---

Leo’s POV

She was crying.

Not awake.

Still trapped in that hell.

Her fingers clenched suddenly, as if reaching for something. Her lips parted like she was screaming silently.

I brushed my thumb gently across her knuckles.

"I should’ve protected you better," I whispered, broken.

No response.

Just the soft hum of machines.

“I was supposed to be stronger than this. I’ve built empires, Olivia. I’ve broken men in boardrooms, outsmarted billionaires, and survived my father’s worst. But none of that mattered when I saw you bleeding and I couldn’t stop it.”

My voice cracked.

“I’ve never been afraid of losing anything until I met you.”

I leaned forward, resting my forehead against our joined hands.

"So fight. Please fight. Don’t let her win in here."

---

Flashback – Leo’s POV

She had walked into the restaurant that first day like she didn’t belong in anyone’s world.

Worn shoes. Tired eyes. Head high anyway.

I’d mocked her.

Not because she deserved it.

Because she made me feel something I didn’t want to admit.

And now?

Now I’d burn down cities just to hear her breathe normally again.

---

Olivia’s POV

The dark started to shift.

A ripple.

A c***k of light.

His voice again.

“…fight… please fight…”

I clawed toward it.

Each second a war.

Each breath like drowning.

The shadows screamed.

But I pushed.

Until I broke the surface.

My chest jerked. My eyes opened.

The ceiling — white. Too bright.

Leo’s face.

Closer now.

“Olivia?”

My lips parted. No sound.

He helped me sip water. I nearly choked.

But I was awake.

Alive.

Still afraid.

Still shaken.

But not alone.

---

Leo’s POV

Her eyes met mine.

Tears welled in them instantly.

She mouthed one word:

“Why… me?”

I didn’t have an answer that could erase what she’d endured.

So I gave her the only truth I could.

“Because you matter more than you realize.”

---

Unknown POV

So she lived again.

She keeps slipping through the cracks.

But even the strongest cracks eventually break.

And when they do—

She’ll fall.

And this time?

I’ll be waiting with open arms.