~Violet’s Pov ~
I saw the drivers bringing Ash upstairs on a gurney and moved him to his room.
I stood at the entrance and watched the maids and nurses fixing the machines and the wires connected to his body.
My personal maid, Jane, performed the action of wrapping his head with a bandage and covering him with an extra blanket.
I came along with the vase I was holding and placed it down beside him on the nightstand.
His favorite flowers were violet.
I hope he perceives this flower and wakes up from his bad dream. I can’t cope with this anymore.
I can’t live like this anymore. Two weeks feels like two years.
I miss him so much.
When all the maids and nurses finished doing their jobs, they all excused me and shut the door behind me.
I stood beside Ash and held his stiff hand with a long sigh.
Yet, I was on the verge of breaking apart.
“Ash.” I called out to him. “Please, wake up.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his pale lips. “Can’t go through this without you.” I knelt down on the floor and sobbed. “Ash.” I called out his name repeatedly and kept pleading with him to wake up.
I tightened my grip on his hand, heaving a sigh of sadness, and wiped off my tears. “I can’t stand by and let you keep doing this to me, Ash. If you feel offended because of me, please let me know and I will do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”
Every day, I will stay by his side, talk to him and make sure to never leave his side.
I will clean his body up every two days and blend his food so I can feed him through his tube.
I did this every day and threw his poop into the toilet.
Check his monitoring machine and have the doctor come by once in a while to check up on him.
I reposition Ash’s body every day to keep it from being stiff to the bones, take proper care of his hygiene and clean him up.
Every single day of my life, I took care of Ash all by myself and allowed no one to get close to him because of anyone harming him.
And I did everything the doctor instructed me to do.
I guarded him with my life, and eventually, days, months and a year passed.
Ash has been unconscious for a year.
I was beyond exhausted, and no matter how badly I begged him to wake up. Ash didn’t flinch at my cries and remained like a doll.
I tried everything in my power to wake him up. I hit him, slapped his cheek out of anger and all my efforts went in vain.
Two years passed, and Ash was still unconscious.
Ash grew into an adult in front of me without seeing what a day looks like in his life.
I took my food off the dining table and took a step towards the staircase.
“How long are you gonna do this nonsense?” My mother shouted across the dining table and banged the table with a fork.
“Nonsense?” I frowned and looked over at her. “You called what I’m doing nonsense?”
“He has been sleeping for three years now. Do you know how old you are now?”
“I’m 20 years old.” I responded. “What does that have to do with anything?”
My mother got up from her seat with a menacing look. “Violet, we need to move Ash to the facility for patients like him.”
“We can’t do this-”
“YES, WE CAN.” she yelled at me and banged the table. “People are talking and our reputation is being tainted. If we don’t take him out of here, the people of the clan will not stop talking about him. We need to keep the people of the clan off our backs.” She moved away from the table. “We need to get you married to Alpha James Stormfall.”
“Alpha James Stormfall.” I voiced out and furrowed my brows. “What is going on here?” I asked.
“People of the clan are gossiping and it is bringing shame to this family. Get married to him. We can’t keep doing this forever.”
“Mom, do you know what you are saying?” I whispered. “How can you talk about your son like that? As if Ash is a burden to you. You don’t care about him at all. It’s been three years, mom. And what you are concerned about is for me to get married to James? How can you be so cruel, mom?!”
“Spare me the lectures. Everyone is suffering because of him, stupid girl. Get your head out of the clouds and face reality. Storm and Jinx are about to be released from their homes. Their family locked them up for three years because of Ash. We are all suffering because of him. We’ve endured enough. He is my son too. But we have to move on. We can’t continue like this.”
“They were both protecting Ash-”
“And they suffered for it. Don’t you understand what is happening or you are just being dumb? Three years of their lives are gone. Willow and Anderson had to be homeschooled for three years, too. What does that tell you, Violet?!”
“This is all your fault, mom.” My eyes beamed with tears when I shouted at her. “If you had helped Ash, we wouldn’t be in this mess. You and father sat down and pretended as if Ash isn’t your son. You -”
I felt a hard slap on my face when my mother raised her hand to me.
She was fuming in anger and her wolf’s ears were almost out.
I laughed a little. “You slapped me? Why did you slap me, mother?”
“You need to get back to your senses, Violet? Ash is going to the facility, and that’s final. You are getting married to James Stormfall and to move on with your life. Since you don’t want to take your life seriously, I will do it for you. We don’t know when Ash will wake up. It is time for you to take up the responsibilities of the clan and stop avoiding it. If you don’t do as I tell you to do, I will kick you out of this mansion and forget that you were ever my daughter.” She walked out of the dining table and rushed upstairs to her room.
I walked upstairs in slow motion and got to Ash’s room.
I sat down beside him on a long stool with the tray of food on my lap as tears dripped down my cheeks.
“Ash.” I called out to him and looked at how long his hair had become. He was no longer bald.
His face was a little mature.
His rough hair, which grew past his shoulders, made him like a badass alpha. I can’t believe I’ve been looking at this handsome face for three years.