Blood Between Us

CHAPTER 14– Breathing Again

Olivia’s POV

Pain.

That’s the first thing I felt.

Not in one place. Everywhere.

My ribs screamed every time I moved. My face throbbed. My throat was raw. My arms shook even though I wasn’t doing anything.

But worse than all that… was the fear.

The fear that it would happen again.

That I’d close my eyes and wake up back in that cold room with blood in my mouth and darkness in my head.

I gasped, eyes flying open, chest rising too fast.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Machines around me responded to my panic.

A hand touched mine. I flinched.

“Hey,” a voice said gently. “It’s okay. You’re safe. Olivia… it’s me. Leo.”

His voice. Soft. Careful.

But even that made me recoil.

I didn’t want to be touched. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

I forced myself to look at him.

He was sitting beside me, his face tired, beard shadowed, eyes dark and swollen with regret.

But he was too close.

I tried to pull away. My body cried out in protest.

“Don’t,” I whispered. “Please… not now.”

He nodded, pulling his chair back just enough.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said. “I’ll never hurt you.”

But he already had.

Not with fists. With silence. With absence. With secrets.

My hands moved protectively to my belly.

I had dreamed of the baby last night. Just its heartbeat.

Like a drum that refused to stop.

---

The doctor had come earlier. Told me the baby survived.

That I’d been lucky.

But luck didn’t feel like what brought me back.

I turned back to Leo. My throat burned as I spoke.

“That night… the hotel… you knew?”

His face crumbled. “Not at first. Then I suspected. Then I hated myself.”

I looked away.

“I came to you broken that night,” I said slowly. “And you held me. Then you looked me in the eye weeks later and made me feel like trash.”

“I didn’t know it was you,” he whispered. “And by the time I realized…”

“I had already cried myself to sleep in the staff room,” I cut in.

He didn’t speak. He just sat there, like he’d take every blow I threw.

“I’m trying not to hate you,” I admitted. “But I don’t know how to forgive you yet.”

Tears welled in my eyes again, and I hated it.

Hated that I was still this fragile.

Still stuck in a hospital bed.

Still needing someone.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness,” he said softly. “I’m asking for a chance to protect you. Even if it’s from a distance.”

I didn’t answer.

But I didn’t tell him to leave, either.

And for now… that was all I could give.

---

Unknown POV

She flinched at his touch.

Good.

Fear always leaves a scar.

They think they’re healing.

But they’re only resting.

I’m still here.

And I’ve barely started.