"Dad," she called out but her voice sounded hoarse, probably from all the crying.
She wanted to smile beautifully to cheer her Dad up but tears fell even more when her dad kissed her on the forehead.
"Yes, my love. Tell Dad what you want. I'll go to the Davies family to beg them if it brings you happiness."
Hearing him, she sobbed more. Crying her heart out. "I'm sorry. Dad. I'm sorry," she said between wails.
"It's okay. Everything's going to be all right." It was her grandfather standing on the foot of her bed. He also looked worried.
"I'm sorry, I worried all of you." she wanted to apologize to her family. She had forgotten about her parents and family to chase momentary happiness.
She regretted not telling them sooner how much they mattered to her.
"I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, Grandpa," Her voice drifted at the end. She could not open her eyes any longer.
She was tired and wanted to sleep. Soon, her eyelashes grew heavy and she fell into a deep slumber.
When she woke up, she heard voices whispering around her. It is probably the nurses. Emma thought.
"Hey, I feel pretty bad for her," One of them said.
"The doctor said not to tell her right now. Her emotions haven't stabilized yet. We don't know how she'll react to it"
"Even then, we have to tell her someday."
'What are they talking about?' Emma wanted to open her eyes to see their faces and question what they meant by these words, but no matter how much she tried she couldn't open her eyes.
"She has fractured her Capitate. Even if we don't tell her, she's going to notice it the moment she wakes up."
"She's unfortunate. Not only her beloved person turned out to be trash but she even injured herself so badly," she heard the second nurse sigh.
"It's going to take forever to recuperate. I heard the doctor saying to her father that there were a lot of complications with this fracture. Her trapezoid shattered and penetrated her Capitate. The bone reduction surgery took more than 5 hours because of this."
"Doesn't this mean that she might not even be able to hold a pen for the rest of her life?" The other nurse hurriedly asked, gasping.
"It is that bad. However, the doctor did say that she might recover her hand strength to some degree with proper exercise and diet but it'll never be as before"
'What? Did I injure my hand so badly? From hitting Max?' Emma's half-asleep brain was unable to comprehend the situation at hand.
'It means I will never be able to hold a painting brush.' Her heart dropped at the thought.
'It's not like I need to draw ever again anyway' She had learned how to paint because she wanted to impress Max who loved art.
She thought he might fall in love with her if he saw her paintings.
'How foolish' It seemed like she had been living in a dream, one that was in fact a disguised nightmare, lurking in the dark looking for an opportunity to jump in and reveal itself.
But she had sobered up. 'I would not blindly chase you, Max Davies.' She promised herself. 'Only my family will matter the most to me from now on.'
She fell asleep again and kept hovering in between the state of half-consciousness and consciousness. She didn't know how many days she was in the hospital.
When she woke up, she looked towards the window. Small rays of sun entered the room illuminating the floor. She turned her eyes to the sofa placed near the bed.
She saw her mom sitting there. She looked haggard.
"Mom" Emma tried calling out but the voice that came out was unfamiliar. Her throat was parched.
Mrs. Woods got up the instant and poured water into the glass. She adjusted Emma's bed and made her sit up before placing the glass near her lips.
Emma drank a mouthful. And gobbled down the whole glass soon after.
"Where's Dad and Grandpa?" She asked after the stinging sensation in her throat had calmed down.
"They have gone to the Davies family" Mrs. Woods answered in a neutral tone. Emma couldn't perceive the emotions on her face.
"Why?" She asked dreadfully. Her eyes opened wider as she waited a moment.
"Emma, no matter how we feel we'll never wrong you. If you wish, we'll do everything we can to bring down stars from the sky or perish in the process. That's how important you are to us"
"Mom, tell me why Dad and Grandpa have gone to the Davies family?" Although she struggled to comprehend her mom's words, she couldn't shake this feeling off her chest.
"They have gone there to discuss your engagement," Mrs. Woods said in a probing voice, wanting to gauge Emma's emotions and stance.
"Call Dad," Emma gathered her thoughts at that moment. She finally knew what she wanted to do.
Mom called Dad. It rang for a moment before Dad picked up.
"Put it on speaker," Emma said gently, looking at the plaster on her right hand.
'Mom doesn't know that I know about my hand. She'll worry.' Emma thought while Mrs. Woods did as she said.
"Yes, my child?" She heard my grandpa say. 'Dad has also put the phone on speaker, it seems'
"Grandpa, I heard from Mom you are going to the Davies family" She began, not knowing that her Grandpa was sitting in the guest lounge of the Davies family, with all the members of the Davies family.
"Yes, we are," This time her Dad answered.
"Can I ask you for a favor?" Emma called out. Her eyes watering at the thought of the request she had.
"Yes. I'll try my best to fulfill it." Her Dad said with certainty. His words sounded absolute. Emma knew for sure he wouldn't reject whatever she said.
"Dad, please annul my engagement with Max," Emma said clutching her heart with her left hand, not realizing that her statement was a bomb that was launched at the people in the guest room. Even her mom holding the phone was stunned.
"I'm tired" Emma was indeed fed up with chasing Max only to be returned with coldness.
Unknown to her, Max listening at the other end fell silent. Just a moment ago, he had told Adrian that he'll never annul the engagement as long as Emma hadn't been the first one to bring this up. But now he sat there quietly, not knowing what else to do.
'It's too late' Max who had just professed his love in front of his family before the arrival of Adrian and William Woods was at a loss.
Mr. and Mrs. Davies were also quiet.
"Are you sure?" Emma heard her grandfather over the phone. She inhaled a sharp breath and said steadfastly, "Yes, I'm sure."
"Would you give Max another chance if he said he regretted his actions and said he loved you?" William asked again locking his gaze on Max, who was refusing to give up, for surety.
Emma laughed. She laughed so hard that tears fell down her cheeks. "Grandpa, be realistic," She repeated the line that had been told to her on various occasions by Grandpa.
"He'll never love me," She reassured herself. She had to constantly remind herself of this. Only then could she stand by her decision.
"It's about time I let go of him. I have pestered him long enough. He doesn't need to be responsible for me. It's not like he promised to marry me. He's free to go." Saying this, she hung up.
"I'll set him free," Emma murmured failing to stop the tears from falling.
Have you ever loved someone to the point where it feels like you'll die if you can't be with them?
Emma did.
Her heart hurts. This decision was not an easy one for her to make but when she looked at her mom, she knew she had to do this or else she'll lose her family.
Then she'll be left with nothing.
"Mom, I've freed him," Emma's voice broke.
She bit her lower lip as her Mom engulfed her in a bear hug. She cried more and more.
Her shoulders shook as she coughed, snot marring her upper lip. It was not pretty at all.
"Mom, I should have listened to you from the start"
"Shh, it's all right. My child, everything's going to fall back in place" her Mom hugged her even tighter. Her hand stung but she could care less.
In the hospital room, she cried because of her crippled hand. She cried because of the pain of losing Max. She couldn't remember which hurt more. Max's indifference after all these years or her hand which had become useless.
Mrs. Woods hugged Emma as she cried herself to sleep for the umpteenth time. Her heart ached for her daughter.
She had raised Emma with unparalleled care. Now seeing her daughter hurt and hospitalized made the corners of her eyes red.
"Emma, he's not the one," Sasha Woods whispered as she stroked the tear-stained cheeks of her only daughter.