Chapter 25

Samuel's POV 

I woke up to the sound of beeping. The noise wasn't sharp or alarming—it was steady, rhythmic, like a heartbeat. But it felt out of place, like something was off. I tried to move, but my body didn't respond the way I expected. Everything felt heavy, foreign and almost numb.

My head was a mess, like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. A dull ache pulsed behind my eyes, and my mouth was dry, so dry. I could barely open my eyes at first, but when I did, I saw the bright fluorescent lights overhead. The kind they only have in hospitals. Hospital.

I wasn't sure how I got here, but the sharp, stinging pain in my ribs told me I'd been through something. Something bad. My chest tightened in panic. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't—my limbs felt like lead. Something was holding me back, something that wasn't right.

"Angel…" I tried to whisper her name but my voice came out as a rasp, cracking. I tried again, more forcefully. "Angel."

Where was she? Where was she? The emptiness in the room was suffocating. My heart started racing, my pulse pounding in my ears. She was supposed to be here. She had to be. She was always with me. I couldn't lose her again not after getting her back 

A nurse appeared at my side. I tried to focus on her, but it was hard. Everything felt blurry. She was talking to me but it sounded like she was far away, her voice muffled by the fog in my brain.

"Hey, it's okay," she said, her hand on my shoulder. "You're in the hospital. You've been unconscious for a while."

Unconscious? For a while?

I couldn't remember what happened. I tried to focus, tried to push through the dizziness, but all I could think about was Angel. She'd been with me when everything went wrong. She had to be here.

"Where is she?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, cracking in places. I needed to see her. I had to.

The nurse looked at me, her face softening. "She's been here every day. But right now, she's not here. She's probably at the station, checking in on some things."

The station? The police station? My stomach twisted, but I couldn't focus on that. All I cared about was her. Where was she? Why wasn't she here now? Why wasn't she with me?

I tried to sit up again, ignoring the heaviness of my body. But it felt like I was swimming through molasses, my muscles too weak to push me up.

"I need to see her," I demanded, my voice hoarse and frantic.

The nurse stepped back a little, as if she was unsure how to handle my panic. "You need to rest. Your body's been through a lot. You've been in a coma for a week."

A week.

A week. My mind reeled. A week?!. You've got to be kidding!

"Where is she?" I repeated, the panic rising in my chest again. I didn't care about the rest. I just needed to know where Angel was. I needed to see her. Now.

The nurse hesitated. "She's at the station. She's been here every day. She's just… not here right now."

I shook my head. That wasn't enough. She couldn't be gone. Not now. Not after everything.

"I need her now." My voice was sharp, desperate, the words scraping out of my throat like knives.

"Please, just a little longer. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

But it wasn't soon enough. The seconds felt like hours. Each moment that passed without seeing her made the air thicker, harder to breathe. She wouldn't leave me, not like this. Not after everything we've been through.

"Where is she?" I tried again, louder this time. My heart thudded so hard in my chest it felt like it might explode.

The nurse looked at me, her expression soft with pity, but it only made everything worse. "She's at the station. She'll be back. I'll go check on her for you."

I grabbed her wrist, my fingers shaking. "Please. I need her now. Please."

The nurse seemed to finally understand the depth of my panic. She nodded, but I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She didn't want to leave me alone, but the door clicked shut behind her anyway.

And I was alone. Alone in this sterile white room, with nothing but the steady beeping of machines to remind me that I was still here. Still alive. But it didn't matter.

Not without her.

My breath came in shallow gasps, the panic clawing at my chest. I tried to push it down but it was impossible. I needed her. I needed to know she was there, standing beside me, her hand in mine like it always had been.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the image of her into my mind, but all I saw was darkness. Where was she? What if something had happened to her? What if she wasn't coming back?

The nurse returned, and for a moment, I thought it was Angel. But it wasn't. My heart sank.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said quietly. "She's not here yet. But—" She paused, glancing at me with pity in her eyes. "She's going to be back soon. I know you want to see her, but you need to rest. You need to get better."

I didn't care about getting better. I didn't care about the rest.

I only cared about her.

I forced myself to lie back down, but I couldn't relax. I couldn't stop the tightening in my chest, the way my lungs seemed to be fighting for air. My thoughts spiraled, the fear growing with each passing minute.

She's going to come back. She promised. She's always kept her promises.

But even as I told myself that, a small, terrifying voice in the back of my mind whispered: What if she doesn't?What if I never got to see her again?

---

I clenched my hands into fists, gripping the sheets, trying to anchor myself to something, anything.

The door clicked open and I froze.

And there she was. Angel.

She stepped into the room, her eyes wide, searching, until they locked with mine. The breath I didn't realize I'd been holding rushed out of me in a sharp gasp.

For a moment, we just stared at each other, the room thick with everything unsaid. She looked tired, like she hadn't been sleeping much. Her hair was a bit disheveled, her clothes—nothing fancy, just something comfortable, clung to her like she'd been through the ringer. But she was here. She was alive.

A wave of relief hit me so hard I almost choked on it. I wanted to reach for her, but my body wasn't ready. So, I just stayed where I was, still lying in the bed, watching her like I couldn't believe she was real.

"Angel…" I whispered, voice hoarse from disuse. I didn't care. I just needed her to know—needed her to hear it. "You came back."

Her lips parted, but she didn't answer right away. Instead, she crossed the room in quick, deliberate steps and then stopped beside my bed. Her hand trembled as it hovered just above mine, like she was afraid to touch me, afraid I might shatter if she did.

"Of course, I came back," she said, her voice shaky. She bit her lip, her eyes glossing over as she looked at me. Her gaze flicked to the IV in my arm, the heart monitor by my side. I saw the concern in them, and the weight of the fear she'd been carrying—fear of losing me, too.

I had to say it. I needed her to know how much she meant to me.

"I was so scared, Angel," I said, my throat tight as I forced the words out. "So scared I'd never see you again. I thought I lost you again… thought you might be gone for good this time."

She shook her head, her lips trembling. "Samuel," she whispered, her voice thick. Her hand finally brushed over mine, a soft, tentative touch that sent a shock through me. "You don't know what you almost did to me. You don't know how close I was to losing it..."

I squeezed her hand, my fingers barely able to grip hers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you go through that. I just—just couldn't breathe without you. You're everything to me, Angel. I don't care about anything else. Just you."

Her eyes welled up, and in that moment, I saw the truth of what she was feeling, the raw emotion she'd been trying to keep locked away.

"You almost made me run mad, Samuel," she said, and I could see the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Her voice wavered, her hands shaking in mine. "You left me here wondering if you were even alive, if I'd lost you too. You have no idea what it did to me, sitting by your side, waiting, watching you like you weren't ever going to wake up. I thought you were gone."

I felt my heart crack at her words. "Angel, I—I didn't know. I didn't know what it would do to you. I didn't know what would happen."

She wiped at her eyes, shaking her head. "You can't do that to me, Samuel. Not again. I can't—I can't lose you. Not after everything. After all we've been through, I can't lose you. Please."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, but in the best way. It was real. She was here, with me. And she wanted me. Needed me. Just as much as I needed her.

"I'm here, Angel. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." The words came out steady, stronger than I felt. "I promise. You won't lose me."

And for the first time in what felt like forever, I believed that promise. I believed that she'd be by my side, that nothing could tear us apart—not now, not after everything we'd been through.

Angel took a deep, shaky breath, her tears finally spilling over, but this time, she didn't wipe them away. She let them fall, and I saw how much she had been holding in, how much she had tried to keep from me.

She leaned down, resting her forehead against mine, her breath warm against my skin. "I don't know what I would do without you, Samuel," she whispered, her voice soft but so full of truth it nearly shattered me. "I don't ever want to find out."

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the sound of her voice, the feel of her close to me, sink into my bones. This was what I had been fighting for. This was what kept me going. Her.

"I'm sorry," I said again, unable to find the right words, but I had to say something, anything. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry," she said, pulling away slightly but keeping her hand in mine. "Just don't leave me again. Promise me."

"I promise."

There was a heavy silence, the weight of everything hanging between us. But then Angel's brow furrowed, her expression changing from relief to something sharper, more concerned.

"Samuel…" She bit her lip, hesitating for just a second before continuing. "How did you get caught? Did they force you? Please tell me you didn't go with them willingly."

The question hit me like a slap. I swallowed hard. "I—I wasn't forced, Angel. I went with them... because I was worried about you. I thought if I went with them, maybe they wouldn't hurt you. I didn't want to leave you alone. I just... couldn't. I didn't want them to hurt you. And I thought I could—"

"You idiot," she interrupted, her eyes flashing with anger and frustration. "You should've stayed away. You should've thought about me, not about playing the hero. I—I was sitting here, terrified, thinking I was going to lose you. And here you are, doing the exact opposite of what you should've done. You really thought I'd be okay with that?"

Her voice trembled, not with fear this time, but with raw, biting anger. "You're supposed to be here with me. You're supposed to be alive, Samuel. Not putting yourself at risk like that. You have no idea what I went through thinking I lost you. And you—you just walked right into their hands?" She wiped at her eyes, her breath shallow. "You made me feel like I was going to lose you. You can't do that to me again."

I felt the weight of her words sink in. She was right. I had acted on fear, not thinking about the consequences. Not thinking about her. I had put us both at risk, and now here we were, with me barely hanging on, and her, devastated.

"I didn't mean to make you feel like that," I said quietly, my voice shaking slightly. "I just didn't want to lose you."

"Then don't make me lose you again," she replied, her voice breaking as she wiped her tears. "I can't—I won't—go through that again. Promise me, Samuel."

"I promise," I whispered, holding her hand tighter. "I'll never do that again. I swear."

And in that moment, with her hand in mine, her tears and her anger all mixed together, I knew that no matter what, I would do everything I could to protect her. To keep her safe. Because I couldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever.