Chapter 38: Anastasia Awakens (Christian's POV)

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

The mumbling voices of unknown people sitting somewhere nearby.

The taste of stale coffee that someone gave me.

My brother's calming voice.

His girlfriend/Domme's sniffling.

Somewhere in my brain, I register Kate's swollen, bloodshot eyes.

I also register the hatred in Raymond Steele's eyes as he looks at me with disdain. He is right. His daughter wouldn't be lying here in this hospital bed fighting for her life if it weren't for me. I did this. Not that fucking sack of shit Hyde, but me. She would have been better off if she'd never met me.

And then I hear another voice, the voice of my angel. "Christian, how are you, sweetheart? Has she woken up at all yet?"

"Not yet, Mom," I whisper in reply. It's all I can manage. I glance up at her, remembering the other love of my life. I left her in Mom's charge yesterday. "Where's Christina?" I ask.

"She's fine," Mom reassured me. "Mia and Leo are watching her at Grey Manor. Your security guy Ryan is there. She's perfectly safe."

Perfectly safe, I thought to myself. Would I ever trust that anyone in my life was perfectly safe again? I'd thought Ana was perfectly safe the day before, and look what happened. I glanced over at Dad, who was sitting next to Raymond Steele. They had been chatting… I'm not sure what about. "You have guards at the gate?"

"Yes, son," Dad spoke just as reassuringly as Mom had. "The paparazzi can't get anywhere near our home. And the only people coming in and out have been vetted not only directly by me but also by Taylor. It's a fortress."

I nodded in acknowledgement. I'm not sure how many hours had passed since I'd been sitting here holding Ana's lifeless hand, waiting for her to wake up. The doctors had said that since she was heavily sedated, that she wasn't likely to wake up until later today, and even then, she would probably be out of it for a while, probably for several days.

I'd learned over the past few hours that there was a difference between sedation and a medically induced coma. Ana was under heavy sedation due to her injuries, but not in a coma. She had spent the entire night in the OR. Several vital organs, including her liver, colon, and small intestine had to be repaired due to the stab wounds to her chest and abdomen. She'd almost bled to death, but a blood transfusion had saved her life. Thank God her heart and lungs had been spared, although she did have several broken ribs. Her female organs were also uninjured, in spite of the brutal rape. She'd also suffered a severe concussion, probably from being hit on the head by Hyde. The detectives speculated that he'd hit her with the butt of his gun and knocked her out before taking her to my playroom. I would never know exactly what she'd suffered there. I would keep my promise that I made her in the ambulance and never watch the video footage, even though part of me wanted to, just to try to make sense of this senseless act. But no, I'd promised her, even if she didn't survive, that I would never watch it. But my beloved was going to survive this brutal attack. She had to, and I knew in my gut that she was a survivor, perhaps more now than ever.

A medically induced coma was what Ana's CPO Sawyer was in, to try to reduce the swelling to his brain. Hyde had shot him in the head, just as he had my own security detail Reynolds. The difference was that Sawyer had somehow survived while Reynolds had probably died instantly according to the paramedics. Sawyer's doctors had used the same language that Ana's had: "not out of the woods yet," but the swelling was going down, and the doctors were planning to bring him out of the coma in a few more hours. I hoped he made it, for Ana's sake. I knew he was more than just her CPO, but also a friend.

There had been four dead bodies and two seriously injured ones when Taylor and I had arrived at Escala the day before. Ana and Sawyer were the only survivors. Hyde, Leila, Reynolds, and the nurse who'd been taking care of Leila, whose name I didn't remember, were all dead. It was clear to everyone who witnessed the carnage that Leila had shot Hyde. The gun lying next to her body was Sawyer's, so she must have found him in Ana's penthouse and taken it. She had been the one to call 911. The police had already been alerted when the silent alarm had gone off and none of my staff had responded to it, but they had not come immediately for some reason. Taylor was looking into it.

For hours, I'd been sitting here trying to figure out how all of this had happened. Earlier in the day, Taylor had forced me to walk down to the cafeteria with him, just to stretch my legs. We both knew from what the doctors had told us that Ana wasn't going to wake up for a few more hours, and Taylor thought I needed some fresh air. We had speculated about what we thought must have happened.

"Leila's nurse had to have let Hyde in," Taylor told me. "It's the only way he could have gotten past the security in Escala's main lobby, or into Ana's penthouse without alerting Sawyer. It's clear that he caught both Sawyer and Reynolds off guard."

"How did he know?" I pondered. "He had to have known I wasn't there, and that Ana was. And that I was going to be gone for a while."

"The nurse probably told him," Taylor speculated. "She knew you didn't have a nanny yesterday afternoon, that you were taking Christina out. She also knew that Ms. Steele was staying at home. It was why Sawyer was there, instead of with Ms. Steele. Ms. Prescott had the day off. The nurse knew all of this."

I considered his words. "We should have both had more than one security officer on duty at Escala."

"Hindsight's twenty-twenty," Taylor muttered. "We couldn't have possibly foreseen any of this."

"We should have," I insisted. "This is what I pay you for."

Taylor looked offended for a fraction of a second, but he masked it quickly. "Yes, sir," he replied stoically. "I'll hire more security."

I sighed. Taylor was right, we couldn't have anticipated any of this, but we should have done a better job of making sure our homes were secure. We had been too careless, and I would never make the same mistake again.

There was something else that had been nagging at me. "How did that bastard know about my playroom?" I asked aloud, even though I didn't expect Taylor to know the answer.

"What makes you think he knew anything about it?" Taylor asked. "He probably just guessed you had one, because of the videos. Ms. Steele was most likely unconscious... The goose egg on her head is evidence that he knocked her out at some point. He probably looked for it until he found it."

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to get the image of Hyde knocking Ana out... hitting her hard enough to leave that goose egg. "The door to the playroom was locked. How did he get in?" I asked.

Taylor looked at me like I had two heads. "A locked door… the only locked door… that's what gave it away. All he had to do was pick the lock."

I sighed. After a few moments of companionable silence, I told Taylor, "I can't go back there. To Escala. And I sure as hell can't take Ana back there, once she's well enough to go home. I'm not sure what she'll want to do with her penthouse, but I don't want to go back to mine. I can't go back to mine."

"What do you want to do?" Taylor asked me. "Where do you want to live?"

"I want to buy a house. A family house. Maybe in Bellevue, near Mom and Dad, but I'd prefer Mercer Island or Medina, still not too far from them."

"You want me to look for a house for you?" Taylor clarified.

"Yeah," I answered. "Make sure it has plenty of land, so we can build homes for you and Gail and other long-term staff."

"Sir, are you sure…" Taylor started to ask me.

"Yes," I cut him off. I added, definitively, "I will never return to Escala."

Taylor nodded. "Do you want to list your two penthouses there, sir?" he asked. "I can ask Mrs. Jones to start getting the staff penthouse in order."

I shook my head. "There's no need to do that yet. Mine's still a… crime scene." Damn if my voice didn't crack as I said that. I rubbed my forehead, trying to ease the ache between my eyes. "I need to get back to Ana," I told Taylor.

We walked silently back to Ana's room. All the way, I was wondering how she was going to be once she finally woke up. Would she remember everything that happened to her? I knew that concussions sometimes caused amnesia, at least temporarily. I thought it would be an act of mercy if she blocked out everything that Hyde had done to her.

Ana slept the entire day. She didn't awaken until sometime during the night. Mom and Dad had left hours earlier, taking Raymond Steele with them. They'd invited him to stay in one of their guest rooms. He still refused to talk to me, but he had talked at length with both of my parents, and even longer with Kate, whom he knew well because of her long-term friendship with Ana. Of course, he had no idea about Kate's proclivities. Nevertheless, I could see that he felt close to her and trusted her opinion. I could also see by the way she occasionally glanced at me when she was speaking with him that she was putting in a good word for me. Hopefully, his bad opinion of me would improve over time.

I had, after all, been the one to call Mr. Steele after we'd arrived at the ER and I had been banished to the waiting area. I knew he'd been suspicious at first that I had been the one to attack Ana… that damn video had given him the idea that I could do such a thing. In fact, he wasn't the only one speculating such things… the paparazzi had shown up at the hospital sometime that night, and they hadn't left. Somehow, they had finally gotten the facts somewhat straightened out that Hyde had been Ana's attacker, and that he was dead. It didn't completely stop the speculation about me though. But at the moment, I couldn't be bothered about it. My beloved needed me.

Kate and Elliot stayed longer than everyone else, hoping that Ana would wake up while they were there. But they finally had to go, promising that they'd be back early the next morning. I'd also sent Taylor home to rest, and Ana's other security officer, Prescott, was standing guard outside the hospital room. I knew Ana would be angry when she woke up if I didn't allow her own staff to do their jobs, so I didn't argue with Taylor when he suggested it.

The hospital staff had set up a cot for me in Ana's room, but I didn't bother to lie down since I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. Instead, I sat in a chair next to her, watching her sleep, holding her hand, rubbing it gently with my thumb. Amazingly enough, Hyde had not done much damage to her face. There was the goose egg on her head where he'd hit her, but she only had a few scratches on her face, not deep cuts like the rest of her body. She was paler than normal, but still the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. She looked like she was resting peacefully, which made me feel slightly more relaxed. At some point, I must have dozed off, resting my head on my other hand. I felt her hand on my head, which roused me from my slumber, and I quickly raised my head to look into those ocean blue eyes that were finally open.

"Christian," she whispered. Immediately, she started coughing, so I took the cup of water from the table next to her bed.

"Small sips," I told her, not sure how I knew that she shouldn't drink it too quickly. Once I determined that she was OK, I stroked her face and told her, "I love you, princess. I'm so glad you're finally awake."

Ana stared at me blankly for a moment or two. Then she began to look at herself, taking in the bandages covering her body. I could see tears forming in her eyes, so I took her hand and told her lovingly, "Don't cry, baby. You're OK. My strong girl, you survived. You're going to be just fine."

Ana didn't speak again for a few moments, and I stroked her face and hair, trying to comfort her without hurting her.

Finally she whispered again, "Hyde. It was Jack Hyde." She looked at me with eyes full of fear.

Well, damn. So much for hoping she wouldn't remember. "He's dead," I told her reassuringly. "He'll never hurt you again."

She looked in my eyes to see that I was telling the truth. "How?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

"We believe Leila shot him," I told her. "The police are still investigating, but that's how it looks."

"Leila?" Ana asked, sounding astonished. "I thought… I didn't think she could… She was so weak." She lay back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling, collecting her thoughts. "Is she…?" She swallowed before she finished her question. I think she already knew the answer. "How is Leila?"

"She didn't make it," I answered bluntly.

Ana sighed and closed her eyes. Without opening them, she asked, "Did Hyde kill her?"

God damn it! So much for the doctor's prognosis that Ana would be out of it when she woke up. Should we really be having this conversation so soon after she woke up? I sighed, not really knowing how to reply, but I answered her question. "I don't think so. The police are still investigating, but… Leila probably… died of natural causes."

Silent tears were running down Ana's face, but she still didn't open her eyes. I wiped the tears with my hand as Ana spoke with her eyes closed. "She saved my life. He was going to kill me. He had a knife. He was going to slit my throat." She opened her eyes and reached for me.

"Ana, I don't want to hurt you," I told her as I put my arms around her as gently as I could. "You've been through a lot. Your body… You've had major surgery to repair the…" I couldn't finish my sentence, but I told her instead, "It's going to take some time for you to heal."

Ana lay back again, but she gripped my hand. Her grip was weaker than normal, but not as weak as I expected her to be after all she'd been through. My girl still had some strength in her. She was quiet for a few more moments before she looked at her hand in alarm. "Christian… my brain is… fuzzy. But I didn't dream it. Did I? I had a… Where is my…? Are we…?" She blew out a breath of frustration, and I couldn't help but notice the adorable little wrinkle that appears between her eyes when she's confused. Now wasn't the time to comment on it though.

I wanted to help, but I couldn't understand what she was upset about. "What is it, Princess?"

Ana reached her hand that I wasn't holding, the one with the IV in it, to her forehead and rubbed it. Her whole face was wrinkled in concentration. "No… I don't have any gaps. I remember everything clearly. You did ask me. I didn't dream it. In your office after… after that video was released. You asked me, and I said yes. Then, that same night, you asked me again. You put a ring on my finger. I know you did. It really happened. But… where is my ring?"

Oh! That was what she was upset about? "Ana, you had major surgery. Several of your organs had to be repaired. They don't let you wear jewelry in the operating room. I have your ring, sweetheart, and I'll put it back on your finger as soon as you're well enough to get out of here."

"Do you have it here?" Ana asked impatiently.

"Right here in my pocket," I assured her.

"I want it," she insisted. "I need it on my finger. I need to feel… like I'm… me."

To hell with hospital guidelines. I took the ring from my pocket and slipped it on her finger. "I love you, and I can hardly wait to marry you," I assured her as I kissed her chapped lips chastely.

"I love you, Christian," she whispered. She closed her eyes, and I thought she was going to go back to sleep, but then she opened them widely and looked at me again in alarm. "Oh, shit! Ismintis! How am I…? Oh, shit! I don't even have a fucking COO! My batshit crazy ex-COO almost killed me, and now… How the hell am I going to run my company?!" Her voice was getting louder and stronger… and more hysterical.

"Ana, calm down," I tried to comfort her. At the same moment, a nurse came through the door.

"Why didn't you page us when she woke up?" she asked me with an irritated tone. Oh no, missy. Don't take that tone with me!

I ignored her attitude and told her, "She's only been awake for a few minutes. She remembers… everything."

"You need to stay calm, ma'am," the nurse told her.

"Don't call me fucking ma'am," Ana snapped. Holy shit, that wasn't like her. Sure, she hated to be called ma'am, but she usually didn't snap at staff like that.

"She's in pain," I told the nurse. "Can you give her something for it?"

"She just had a major trauma, followed by major surgery. Of course she's in pain," the nurse answered snippily.

"Will you just shut the fuck up and get out!" Ana ordered the nurse. She sounded more like me than herself, but I knew it was because she was hurting and frustrated.

Wisely, the nurse didn't say another word. She quietly gave Ana some meds through the IV, checked her vitals, and left the room as soon as she'd recorded them.

Ana looked remorseful, and silent tears fell from her eyes again. "I was a bitch," she said.

"Ana, you're in pain, and you're worried about Ismintis. But don't be, OK? I promise, I'll take care of everything for you."

"Christian, you can't," she answered groggily. Damn, that medication works fast. "You're GEH. You can't handle Ismintis, too."

"I can, and I will. For you. We're going to be married, sweetheart. GEH is going to be half yours. In the meantime, I'll make sure everything keeps running like the well-oiled machine that it is at Ismintis. You have a lot of loyal employees. I'll make sure that your executive staff keep things going, business as usual. I'll make sure the deals you're working on go through for you. It will be OK. I promise."

I'm not sure she heard me, because she was asleep, as was evidenced by her deep breathing. Even though it was still the middle of the night, I immediately called Ros and gave her instructions.