I nod again. I must look like a rabbit stunned by headlights, because he smiles with a hint of pity. He holds my face with both hands.
‘And I need you to promise you’ll love me too. Completely. When I snore loudly and when I grind my teeth while nightmares play out in my dreams, I need you to take care of me. I have seen things that no child should ever see… you only know some of it. And I need you to understand that when I tell you I love you, it’s forever.’
He gets down on one knee and pulls out a small box from his jacket and opens it. ‘Will you marry me?’ he asks.
Inside is a diamond ring with a single diamond, set into a silver rosebud. It’s delicate and simple. Faultless.
This isn’t a game anymore.
‘Yes,’ I say, but not loudly enough. ‘Yes!’ I say it again – just to make sure.
He wraps his arms around me and my baby-bump. I can’t wipe the smile from my face. My heart is dancing around in a white wedding gown. And my intuition is smiling too – finally.
This is infinite completion, having all parts to complete my balance – lacking nothing; forever whole and complete without limits.
Chapter 15
The sun bursts into my room as Mum pulls open the blinds.
‘Abbie, sweetheart, wake up,’ she says quietly but with an urgency that makes my heart flutter.
I groan and lift my hands to my face. I rub my eyes and blink them a few times, so I can see her better. ‘Mum? What’s wrong?’
‘Abbie, you need to get up, sweetheart,’ she presses. She sweeps across the room to my wardrobe and pulls out a long cotton dress and brings it over to me. ‘There’s been an accident, you need to get dressed.’
‘Accident? Valentine?’ I breathe heavily, sitting up and swinging my feet over the side of the bed.
‘No, not Valentine. He’s fine. He’s waiting in the lounge with your father. Put this dress on and go to the bathroom. You need to be prepared, honey.’
I’m frowning. Valentine’s here? There’s been an accident? ‘Mum, please, tell me what’s happened’ I say desperately.
‘I don’t want you to panic, just wash up and come out to the lounge,’ Mum replies as she closes my bedroom door behind her.
I’m alone. My heart is racing. My hands are shaking. I pull off my nightgown and replace it with the dress. I rush across to the bathroom, wet my face, brush my teeth and pull my curls up into a ponytail.
I look at my reflection. I was so happy when I fell asleep. Now I feel like the sky has fallen in on me and I don’t know why.
I take a deep breath and make my way out to the lounge-room. My eyes fall on Valentine immediately. He looks tired. He holds his hands out to me and I instinctively go to him.
‘Mum, what’s going on?’ I glance around the room. Dad and Sam are holding Jade and Izzy close. Mum is holding onto Dad’s free arm. ‘What accident?’
Valentine pulls me protectively into his embrace. I know I’m frowning.
‘Sweetheart, we need to go to the hospital, and I wanted you to be prepared.’
‘Hospital?’ Why are they all so worried about me being prepared? Prepared for what? ‘Just tell me, Mum!’ My voice rises in panic.
‘It’s Zane.’ Sam says this softly, but his tone is laced with anger – like somebody would sound if they had lost someone they care about.
Instantly I lift my hands to my head and a wave of grief washes over me. My legs tremble uncontrollably. ‘Oh, God!’ I crouch on the floor and Valentine kneels beside me.
‘He’s alive, Princess,’ he whispers.
I catch my breath. ‘He’s okay?’
‘No, he’s not okay, but he’s alive,’ Sam says, mechanically.
I stand up. I don’t know where the strength comes from, but I go to the coat hook beside the front door to retrieve a jacket. ‘Let’s go, then!’
‘Sweetie,’ Dad comes forward and takes my hands in his. ‘Zane’s in a pretty bad way. You need to be prepared.’
I freeze. ‘How bad?’
Everyone looks so morbid. He’s alive. He’s okay. What can be so terrible?
Dad takes a deep breath. ‘I’ve just come from the hospital. Minister Turner called me a couple of hours ago, to go and see Zane’s parents.’
‘Dad, how bad is he?’ I can feel the ground moving beneath my feet, but I know it’s my legs trembling. ‘Dad, please!’ The tears are flowing freely now and my voice is trembling. ‘I need to go to him. What’s happened?’
‘He’s been attacked and he’s in a coma,’ Dad exhales the words, in a rush.
‘The bastards beat him senseless,’ Sam adds angrily.
‘Sam, please—’ Mum interjects.
I feel my legs give way again and Valentine lifts me onto the couch, kneeling protectively on the floor beside me. ‘Princess, it’s okay. He’ll be okay,’ he whispers.
I have to see him. I can’t lose it now. ‘Can you take me to the hospital?’
Dad leans over me and takes hold of my hand. ‘Abbie, we’ll take you now, but you have to keep it together. His mum is a mess and… well, it’s going to be hard for everyone.’
I nod. I can do this. I have to be strong.
To Be Continued…
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About the Author:
Michelle Dennis lives in Perth, Western Australia; she has always loved reading and in the past few years this love has expanded into creating her own written words and worlds.
Michelle has a love of medieval and fantasy creatures, and her first book, Wolfbaene, revolved around this theme and brought the world of knights, castles and dragons to children around the world.
Michelle is a devoted wife and mother, and fits her writing schedule in around her busy lifestyle. She is currently working on a sequel to Wolfbaene, and when she's not in the world of dragons and other mythical beings, she can be found listening attentively to the other characters in her head, who are shouting for her attention because they want their own stories to be told.
Michelle shares her home with a very mature Dachshund named Phoebe Rose, a whole pile of cats who are under the impression they are the owners of Michelle's home, and one small rabbit who is under the impression he's a cat.
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Contact the Author:
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Other Books by the Author:
Wolfbaene
William Knight doesn't belong in Trinity Boys College. He is bullied constantly and is always wondering why he doesn't fit in. When he is suddenly whisked away from the human world to the medieval village of Chermside by a talking dragon, he is given a deadly task only a true knight can achieve.
The task? Rescue the queen from a dungeon, win his knighthood, kill the king who murdered his father and return the town to its former glory before the dark magic of the king ruins the beautiful town forever.
To make matters worse, he is expected to undertake this deadly quest with a conceited boy named Thomas Knight; his brother. Could things get any worse?
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Infinite Completion (The Infinity Series Book 1) Page 13
