Chapter 25- She Has To

Tristan's pov

I need to see her.

My anger was abating, and I just had to see her. I have to see that she's okay. I have to tell her how sorry I am for making this happen to her. Hell, I should've gone with her from the minute that ambulance left. But I was too damn angry to follow the woman I'm falling crazily for.

Without even another peep to the officers with questioning looks on their faces, I pushed through the door and towards my car. I sped through the traffic like fire was on my tail towards the only hospital that they could've brought her- Central Hospital.

I still cant believe a man- an officer- shoved a knife in her back. And instead of going with her to the hospital, holding onto her and telling her to stay with me, I went after the man. God I'm so bad at this boyfriend thing.

‘What if it's too late?’ I thought as I pulled up in the parking lot not even fifteen minutes later. I immediately shook the thought from my head and wished for the best, as I rushed towards the entrance with only one mission in mind.

"I'm here to see Cianna Leir" I announced as soon as I was at the reception desk.

The woman looked up at me seeming uninterested, and my patience was running far too thin for this bullshit. Every time I come to this hospital, it's the same damn thing with her.

"Cianna Leir" I insisted further. "She came in here with a knife in her back? Probably in the ER"

"Oh right" She mumbled as she typed away on the laptop. "She's in the ER right now. When she's out and transferred to a different room, I'll notify you. For now, sit over there with the other man who came to see her" She pointed behind me, and I followed her finger to a single chair that held the one and only Sean Edwards--my pain in the ass partner.

I was more than confused, since he had no real reason to be here. I was more expecting her dad. Nonetheless, I tread towards him with a stern look, and he noticed me once I was close enough.

"Still got a job?" He asked as I sat beside him. I nodded.

"No one really saw me. Who did, didn't question me. What are you doing here anyways?" I asked, feeling utterly edgy about it all.

He sighed deeply as he continued to look ahead of him. "I've grown quite fond of the girl too Deckor." Anger and possessiveness immediately stirred in me, and he seemed to have noticed, since he clarified quickly. "Not like that way." He shook his head with a light chuckle.

I didn't feel like conversing, so I simply mumbled an 'okay' as I grabbed my phone to call her dad.

"There's something about her you know?" He continued to speak even though I was obviously finished with the conversation. "And I uh- I should've listened to her about Mia. She told me twice that she was dangerous. I knew this, but I didn't take it seriously."

"You don't need to be here because you feel guilty" I spat. "She doesn't need your pity."

"I know that" His voice also got edgy, but instead of prolonging the argument, I simply kept my mouth shut.

We waited for another thirty minutes, and her father arrived a little faster than I expected. He had a worried look sketched onto his face as he marched in.

He caught my gaze immediately, and he rushed towards me as fast as his frail body could go. He always had a little stagger to his walk, and sometimes I noticed that his hands trembled a little. But Cianna never seemed to notice, maybe because she was used to it.

I filled him in as fast as I could without leaving out details, and the poor man seemed like he almost had an heart attack. I could only imagine. Luckily, a few minutes after I told him what happened, we were informed that Cianna was out of the ER and was 'resting'.

"She's not awake as yet, but it shouldn't take too long before she does." Her doctor, Dr. Monroe, informed us. "She's weak and lost a lot of blood. So we have to keep her for a few days to keep a watch on her--make sure she doesn't go in shock or anything. You are welcome to come back later or tomorrow." he suggested, but I refused to leave without seeing her, her dad agreeing too.

He led us into a room just down the hall, and the dreading sound of a beeping machine was enough alone to have my eyes stinging again. But when I saw her, lying on that bed so frail and pale, my heart broke in a million pieces.

My feet led me towards her once she was in sight, and I immediately sat in the chair on her left, holding her hand carefully in mine without messing with the drip. I brought her hand to my lips as I stared at her, blinking rapidly to keep my tears at bay.

The only sign of life in her was the simple rise and fall of her chest, and I could see the large bandage wrapped around her waist through the thin gown.

My eyes found her dad, who was still standing at the door with a broken look on his face. To the corner of the room stood Sean and Dr Monroe, simply watching sadly. I dared myself to meet the man's eyes as I prepared to ask him the question that I dreaded the most.

"Doctor, is she-is she gonna make it?" That was all it took for her dad to go rushing to her other side. He avoided the chair and knelt beside her bed, holding her other hand as he wept.

My heart hurt for him. I cared for Cianna more than how I care for myself; but I couldn't begin to imagine what he must've been feeling.

"For now, she is holding on. She's a fighter" He said, looking towards her father sympathetically. "She did, however, lose a lot of blood. We'll have to do a blood transfusion once she is stable."

I nodded in understanding. “You can use mine. I'm a universal donor" I offered sincerely. I didn't do all I could to protect her, so I had to do all I could to save her.

"Okay"

"I want my mommy" I heard her speak, and I quickly whipped my head towards her as hope stirred in me at the sound of her sweet voice. But to my demise, her eyes were still closed.

"Give me back my dog" she mumbled again, and both me and her father looked to Dr Monroe in questioning.

"It's the effects of the anaesthetics and pain killers we gave her. She'll probably mumble random thoughts or past experiences. It's solely psychological" He explained as he adjusted her drip.

"Daddy why did mommy leave us?" She mumbled again, and I noticed that these weren't from her adult years.

She only told me a little about her mother, one being that she left when she was just a pre-teen. I only met her for the first time today, which I was completely unprepared for.

My heart ached as I watched how in pain she looked. Dr Monroe had a worried look on his face, which worried me too.

"What's wrong?" I demanded.

"Why did Sheldon cheat on me daddy?" She asked again, this time the beeping of the machine growing faster and louder than before.

"What's happening?" I practically shouted as I watched her grow more and more uncomfortable.

The doctor didn't answer me, instead he just rushed into action, fixing a variety of strings and doing everything confusing until she seemed to calm down a little more again.

I ran my hands through my hair as I walked towards the window, quickly mumbling a prayer as I squeezed my eyes shut.

The sound of the door bursting in caught my attention, and I saw a flustered looking woman rushing in --her mom, in particular.

"Oh my gosh my baby!" She screamed as she rushed to Cianna's side where I originally was. "What happened to her?"

We all watched in confusion as she sobbed beside her daughter, and I couldn't decipher the look on Cianna's dad's face as he ogled her. Nonetheless, she didn't seem bothered by the man, she just found my eyes with a glare that could've sent me six feet under.

"What happened to my daughter? I go back to the station to apologize to her for being out of place, only to hear that she got stabbed! In a police station!? Where were you!" She practically screamed at me, as she gazed between me and my partner.

‘Right beside her,’ I should've said. But I didn't, because I was ashamed. I was right beside her and I didn't see it coming. She had a right to be mad at me.

"Miss, I understand your frustration, but I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down. Cianna is still very unstable." Dr Monroe tried to calm down the steaming woman, but he had more on his hands when her dad erupted too.

"How dare you!" He screamed. "You have no right to be mad when you haven't been in her life all these years!"

I mean, he had a point, but I stayed out of it. It wasn't my place to make such accusations. Her dad, however, was there all the time.

"Oh suck it Renold! Our daughter is in a hospital bed and all you can think about is that? I know I wasn't the best mom..." She started sobbing again. "But at least my love for her never faltered"

"I want mommy, dad"

"I'm here baby" She tried to sooth the still sleeping, mumbling woman, as she ran her fingers over her hair, ogling her like a mother looking at her sick child. "Mommy's here"

"For once in your life!" Renold shouted again. " You have no right to show up here, acting like you have some claim on her. You left us and almost took everything from us, you backstabbing, hypocrite!"

"Mr and Mrs Leir, if you could please-"

"We're divorced!" They both shouted at the same time, cutting off Dr. Monroe.

"Mia tried to kill me Tristan. I'm scared" My angel mumbled again, looking even more pained as she erupted in another unconscious panic attack--that's what it looked like from my eyes.

I eyed the doctor in fear as he tried to stabilise her again. I didn't even realise that my hand was over my heart until I saw that she was breathing normally again.

I sighed in relief as I ran my fingers through my hair for the umpteenth time today, and Dr. Monroe turned to gaze at the two raging adults in disapproval.

"Your daughter's life is on the line, and you need to keep a lid on it. I understand this is personal family matter, but if you can't be at peace, as Cianna's doctor, I'm going to have to ask you both to leave, or one of you to leave if that's what it'll take to keep the peace"

We gazed between the two as they stared at each other expectantly. But ultimately, her dad gave in.

He pointed an accusing finger at her before he spoke. "Maybe if you weren't being a whore, and stayed with us those years ago, then maybe Cianna wouldn't have ended up with that cheating man, just like her mother. Then maybe, this psycho Mia wouldn't have been after her, and she wouldn't have been like this now" His eyes ran with tears as he spoke, but he was definitely surprising me. "This is your fault Cassandra! Yours! Now I have to fix everything by myself again, like always!"

And with that, he was gone. I was left shocked, since I didn't expect him to say such things to her, despite what she had done. But it was obvious that she was hurt by his words, as she gazed at Cianna with trembling lips.

Dr. Monroe appeared stressed as he looked towards my partner and I. "I suggest you let Cianna get some rest. She still needs to be stable enough before I can do anything else. You will be notified if anything happens."

Despite my feet lodging me to the ground and refusing to leave, I understood that she needed to rest. I saw her, and I'm glad she's alive. No doubt that I'll be up all night tonight, but I can only hope that she makes it through fine.

She has to.

"Just call me if anything changes okay?" I handed him my card before I placed a long lingering kiss on her forehead. Sean and I headed for the exit, leaving her mother still at her side.

"Come back to me baby" I mumbled just before I closed the door behind me. I sighed deeply, feeling utterly lost.

Who would've thought? One woman could do such a number on my emotions.

"Wanna get a drink? On me" My partner offered as we headed for the exit. I didn't protest, since a drink was definitely what I needed. Even if it was with him, it couldn't be worse than sitting at home or at work with worry on my mind.

"Sure. Why not?"