Chapter 164: The Girl in Red (III)

Elara:

The heavy silence was finally broken by Alaric’s voice, though there was nothing teasing or arrogant in it now. His eyes remained fixed on me as he asked, almost as if he were speaking to the others rather than expecting an answer from me.

"Then... how is she still standing when she isn’t even supposed to be conscious with injuries like these?"

I heard the question, but I couldn’t find the energy to turn my head toward him. My eyes remained fixed on the closed doors of the operating room where Jasper had disappeared, my entire body standing unnaturally still despite the tremors running beneath my skin. I felt like a statue someone had forgotten to move, held upright by nothing more than sheer stubbornness.

Esmeray was the one who answered him, and there was still disbelief woven through his voice. "It’s because her brain has essentially shut off the signals her body is sending it."

For a few seconds, none of them said anything. Through the corner of my eye, I could see all five of them staring at me, and something about their expressions made my chest tighten.

Their faces had turned pale, their eyes wide with shock, and for the first time, they weren’t looking at me as the irritating Princess who constantly fought with them, the stubborn girl who challenged their authority, or even the woman they had complicated relationships with. They were looking at me as though they were seeing me for the first time and realizing just how badly I had been messed up.

A distant part of my mind understood what Esme was saying. My body had been screaming at me, but my brain had refused to listen because there had been something more important than pain. Jasper was behind those doors. And as long as he was there, I couldn’t afford to feel anything else.

For a while, none of them touched me. I noticed that too. Reign’s arms had fallen away from my waist, Esme’s hands remained carefully at his sides, and even Alaric, who normally had no hesitation about invading my personal space just to annoy me, seemed uncertain.

After Esme had listed every injury I’d sustained, it turned out there wasn’t a part of my body that wasn’t damaged in some way. And I saw that realization reflected in the way they looked at me.

Eventually Lorien stepped closer, his expression painfully gentle as he spoke. "You need to return to your room and let the healers treat you properly."

I didn’t move.

"You couldn’t continue standing here in the hallway like this, Princess." Kairo sounded almost desperate. "Jasper’s operation could take hours".

The moment they suggested I leave, something inside me snapped. I finally tore my eyes away from the operating room doors and looked at them, my voice coming out low, hoarse, and far steadier than I felt.

"I’m not going anywhere."

The five of them froze.

I swallowed painfully before forcing the rest out. "I’m not leaving Jasper alone in there." My voice trembled despite my attempt to control it. "He was in that car because of me. He protected me. He nearly died protecting me. I’m not walking away while he’s fighting for his life."

Nobody answered immediately. Then Reign turned toward me, and this time there was no arrogance in his face, no teasing curve to his lips, no trace of the man who had spent weeks provoking me just to watch me lose my temper. His hands came up slowly, almost cautiously, until his palms gently cupped my face. And I realized they were trembling.

"Argentis," he whispered, forcing me to look at him. "Jasper protected you because that’s who he is. You know that better than anyone. And if he wakes up and finds out you were standing here until your body collapsed because you refused to let anyone treat you, do you really think he would be happy?" His voice cracked slightly on the last words.

I stared into his blue eyes, and for the first time since he had arrived at the hospital, I actually looked at Reign properly. There was fear there. Real fear. Not the fear of losing a political alliance or dealing with some inconvenient Princess. It was the kind of fear that made his hands shake as they held my face.

My lips parted, and the question escaped before I could stop it. "Will Jasper wake up?" My voice sounded so small that I barely recognized it.

Reign didn’t hesitate. He nodded immediately, almost fiercely, as though refusing to allow even a fraction of doubt into the room.

"Yes," he said. "He will. Jasper is a fighter, Princess. I have seen him take hits that would have put other warriors on their knees. He has survived worst of injuries. He’ll fight through this too."

His thumbs brushed lightly beneath my eyes, and I didn’t even realize there were tears there until he wiped one away.

Esmeray stepped closer then, his green eyes softening as he added quietly, "He’ll wake up because he still has someone to protect." I looked at him. "He spent his entire life preparing for you, Elara. He’s not going to give up now. Not after finding you again. Not when you are standing here waiting for him."

Something inside my chest cracked at those words. It wasn’t certainty. It wasn’t enough to erase the terror sitting inside me. But it was hope. One tiny, fragile piece of hope that I had been desperately searching for since Magnus had pulled me from that wreckage.

Still, I shook my head when Lorien gently reminded me that I needed to be admitted. "I can’t leave."

Reign’s hands remained around my face. "You aren’t leaving Jasper," he said quietly. "You are going to let them fix you so you can be here when he wakes up."

I stared at him. "What if he wakes up and I’m not here?"

"Then we’ll make sure you are here," Alaric said, his voice rougher than usual. "We’ll stay with you. One of us will be outside this operating room every second. You won’t miss him waking up."

Kairo nodded, his previous dismisiveness completely absent. "And if the doctors tell us the moment he opens his eyes, we’ll drag you back here ourselves if we have to."

I almost managed a weak smile at that, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Lorien stepped closer. "Being present for him shouldn’t mean destroying yourself in the process." He murmured. "He saved your life. The best thing you can do for him right now is allow the healers to heal you so he won’t worry about you once he wakes up."

That finally reached somewhere inside me.