Chapter 10 - Awakening
For hours, Ethan sat motionless beside Grace’s hospital bed, holding her hand while medical monitors beeped in a steady, reassuring rhythm. He had transferred her instantly to a private VIP medical suite within the hospital, flying in top pulmonary specialists from Johns Hopkins to oversee her treatment. Thorne stood guard outside the door, ensuring that Marcus Vance’s syndicate enforcers would never get within a mile of her again. Around 3:00 AM, the rhythmic rasp of Grace’s breathing shifted. Her eyelids fluttered, trembling against the harsh hospital lights, before opening slowly. Her dull brown eyes stared up at the acoustic ceiling tiles, confused and disoriented. “Ethan...?” she whispered, her voice barely audible above the hum of the oxygen machine. Ethan lifted his head, his face wet with tears, a brilliant, radiant smile breaking through his despair. “I’m here, Grace. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Grace blinked slowly, turning her head on the pillow to look at him, as though believing she was hallucinating. She reached up a frail hand, her fingers brushing gently against his cheek. “Is this a dream? Am I dead?” “No, my love, you’re very much alive,” Ethan choked out, pressing his cheek into her palm. “And I found Ava. She’s safe at the penthouse. She’s waiting for her mother to come home.” Tears welled up in Grace’s eyes, spilling over her lashes as the immense, crushing weight of survival finally settled over her. “I tried so hard to protect her, Ethan,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I didn't want my mistakes to destroy her life like they destroyed ours.” “You made no mistakes, Grace,” Ethan vowed fiercely, kissing her knuckles. “We’re a family now. And nobody will ever hurt either of you ever again.”
