Anthony entered the Bridgerton house carrying his injured wife. "Someone called the doctors!"
Benedict and Colin rushed towards him as they watched him carry his wife towards his chambers.
"Fetch me more blankets!" He screams as the maids try to cover their lady, but Anthony is already snatching the blankets before covering his wife himself.
"Kate! Didi!"
Anthony did not know when his entire family entered, but their cries were too much for him to bear.
"Where the hell is that doctor?"
"He is here, brother." Colin informed him as the doctor moved forward to examine the Viscountess.
Meanwhile, Viscount, still in shock, started talking frantically as he tried to cover his wife with more blankets. "She hit her head on a rock! There was blood oozing out of her head, and I tried to stop it, but..."
"My lord, please let me do my job." The Doctor insist annoyingly.
Benedict pulls his brother back, who was still mumbling while trying to reach his wife. "Anthony, please try to stay strong."
Anthony stared at his brother and then the worried faces of his family, especially Lady Mary and Edwina.
"I did this. It's my fault. Everything is my fault."
Colin squeezed his hand, and Eloise reached out to hold her brother's hand. "Have some faith, brother; Kate is much stronger than you know."
Finally, the doctor finished his examination as he turned to face everyone else. "It seems Viscountess suffered from severe head trauma, and her falling unconscious is not a good sign. For now, she is still breathing, and her heartbeat is healthy too, but if she wakes up within the next seventy two hours, only then can we hope for her recovery. Otherwise,
The doctor sighed and gave them a sad look, and everything drowned when Edwina let out a loud wail.
Thus the wait began as Anthony, Lady Mary, and Edwina began their vigil around Kate's bedside.
Lady Danbury and Bridgerton's tried to help by making sure they got rest or food, but aside from that, all three were lost in this timeless loop of waiting.
Anthony could not spare them a glance, and luckily, whenever his steward or any staff member tried to disturb him, they were stopped by Benedict and Colin.
In rare occurrences, his eyes would leave his wife whenever his mother and sister-in-law were about to leave for Danbury House, and every time all three of them were forced to acknowledge each other, all Anthony could see was the same pain, guilt, and above all, the fear of losing Kate on their faces that he felt in his heart.
Edwina would always leave after that without a word, and his mother-in-law would give him long, hard words before saying only this. "Take care of her."
Anthony could barely manage to nod his head because, after everything, what else could he say to them?
Two nights have passed, and their allotted time is slipping away from their fingers.
That night, Anthony finally felt fear gripping his heart.
He moved away from his place and settled behind his wife. His beautiful Kate looked so beautiful and peaceful in that moment, unaware of how she had stolen all their peace in the last two days.
Tears fell from his eyes, and before he knew it, he was hugging his unconscious wife as he begged. "Please do not leave me!"
He embraced her like a lifeline as he cried against her beating heart. "All this time, I thought keeping love away from this relationship would make it easier for you to grieve me when I finally left you. I knew you were stronger than my mother, but even then, I could not cause you that unimaginable pain that you must have felt from losing your father."
Anthony lifted his face as he dared to face something he never imagined. "But Kate, never in my worst nightmare did I ever imagine that it would be I who had to live without you. For the first time, I understand what my mother has gone through because I could never imagine a world where you do not exist."
His tears spilled on Kate's face, and Anthony gently wiped them away as he prayed. "Please take me instead; I do not deserve to live, but please let my Kate live; let her be free and happy, and I promise I will do anything for her."
His vision blurred as tears kept flowing from his eyes until, finally, someone squeezed his shoulder.
"Oh! My son! I am so sorry.
Violet was crying because now she knows how her weakest moment caused immense damage to her dear son.
All this time, she blamed God for taking her Edmund away, but who could she blame for taking Anthony's mother away too?
Violet is ashamed because, as she grieves for her husband, her son not only loses both parents that day but also loses faith in love.
"Oh Anthony! You have no idea how much I wished you were not there that day! No son should see their parents like that and what I did afterwards. Violet sobbed harder because what apology can fix this year's worth of damage?
"You have no idea the regrets that are part of my heart. Mistakes I cannot fix because I cannot change the past."
Her son, who never shed a tear, was crying as he reached out to hold her hand. "I understand you now, mother; I understand because I cannot breathe these days. I planned to never fall in love, but my heart betrayed me, and if anything happened to her,"
In front of her, her bravest son broke down, and like when he was a child, Violet pulled him into her arms.
"It's alright, let it all out."
"I have hurt her so much, mama! I was the reason she was forced to change herself. What if this is my punishment? Please, mama, I will do anything, but please give me my Kate back."
Violet let her son cry as she heard his heart breaking pleas.
Finally, she pulled him away and wiped his tears off. "She will survive, Anthony, because I have faith that God will not make you suffer the same way when you lose your father, but Anthony has promised me one thing that you will do when Kate opens her eyes."
Her son looked so lost that Violet gave him an assuring smile. "Promise me you will put your faith in love because you truly love Kate, because true love is worth it no matter what."
Her son stared at her for a long time before squeezing her hand as they both quietly waited for Kate to open her eyes with faith in their hearts.
With only a few hours left in their allotted time, Edwina felt fear gripping inside her heart.
She cannot ever lose her Didi; it makes her want to die. How did she scream at her sister that night, and for what? All her sister ever wanted was their happiness, and to blame her for wanting that made her feel so ashamed and ungrateful.
"You cannot do this to me, Didi! Please! You cannot leave us like this."
Anthony and Mary stared at both sisters as Edwina completely broke down.
"Bon."
With gasps, all of them hovered over her as Kate saw great relief and happiness on all their faces.
"Oh Beti!"
"Kate!"
Her mama joined her sister's side while her husband came to stand on the other side. All three of them were crying in joy.
Suddenly, the rest of her family also entered as she heard Simon order a footman. "Go bring the doctor right now and make haste."
"What is happening?"
"You had an accident, Beti; you were unconscious for three days."
Kate then recalled those events as her eyes filled with tears. "Mama, Edwina. I am so."
Her mother and sister stopped her while her husband squeezed her hand. "Do not think about anything; for now all that matters to us is you."
Kate noticed everyone was in agreement with her husband, and soon their moment ended when the doctor arrived.
Kate noticed fear in their eyes as she got examined. That fear only disappeared when only the doctor smiled at them. "Viscountess head swelling has lessened, and I think after two or three days of rest she will get completely normal."
"Thank you so much, Doctor." Anthony shook the doctor's hand gratefully, and Kate noticed everyone finally sighing in relief.
Over the next few days, Kate was showered with special attention by everyone, especially Anthony, Mama, and Bon, who were always by her side.
To her annoyance, even Newton listens to her husband, who orders him. "Let her rest, you menace, and I promise, I will play with you."
Kate watched and smiled as Newton jumped down from the bed and followed her husband, who promised he would try to return soon.
Anthony almost reached outside when he realised he forgot the leash.
'Damn! I forgot your leash!" The dog seems dissatisfied by the idea of going all the way back, so in particular, Newton's way, he slumped his furry, heavy body down.
Anthony sighed as he considered leaving his wife's beloved dog alone to fetch the leash, but he hesitated because even if he turned around a few seconds to instruct a footman, this menace could run away, chasing after squirrels.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
"Franny, thank goodness!" Anthony cheered happily as his sister approached them. "Can you please look after him while I go and get his leash?"
His sister smiled as she assured him. "Go, I will take care of Newton; just fetch us from the gardens when you return with his leash."
Anthony smiled as Newton left to follow his sister, and he walked towards his chambers.
Anthony was near his door when voices reached his ears.
"I am so sorry, Beti. I failed you as a mother if you thought you owed us to be part of our family. I could never begrudge you for making all those sacrifices, but I wish I was strong enough to stop you from making them."
"Mama, please, stop apologising." His wife pleads in a teary voice, and Anthony glances inside his room and finds Kate being embraced by her mother and sister.
"Let us apologise to you Didi because our ignorance and mistakes caused you so much pain and we almost lost you. We should have said something about those Sheffield's schemes, but instead we made plans of our own, and where did it land us?"
"Edwina, I could never live happily if you sacrificed your love for my sake."
"Oh, didi! When will you realise you are a more important part of this family than we are? After Appa, you became this family pillar, and these last few days showed us that we could never be happy without you. I love you so much that I would sacrifice thousands of Matt and his love for you, Didi."
Kate burst into tears, and Anthony too cried because someone finally made his wife realise how precious she is.
"Edwina is right, Beti. Your happiness means the world to us, and after losing you, we care about nothing in this world but your happiness. Even if we have to face this world together,
At that, Kate frowned as Anthony noticed her staring from Edwina to her mother. "Mama? What are you trying to say?"
"Beti!" Anthony watched as Lady Mary braced herself. "Edwina and I know how sad you were leaving your home behind, and if you want, we can return home only this time forever."
Anthony's heart dropped as his wife's eyes widened at that possibility. "Home? But?"
"No, but Didi. Matt has Job offers from both Oxford and universities in India, and if you want, after my wedding, we can return home, and Matt promised to find you a job too. Even mama and I will find some job too, we could stitch clothes for English ladies and you matt will get you governess job. We could live together and live happy life."
"The choice is yours, Beti. All your life, you live for us according to our wishes and happiness, but now we will live the rest of our lives according to your wishes and happiness."
"Home." Kate cried again, and Anthony could not bear his wife's next words. "All I ever wanted was my own home."
Anthony's heart was shattered as his wife stopped speaking to control her tears.
He moved from the door and left. All he wanted was to declare his love, but never once he asked what Kate wanted, and if home is where Kate happiness is, then he will let her go and be happy because somewhere she is truly happy.
So he left, preparing himself to live a life without his love, but he left too soon because he only heard the first part of his wife's words.
"All I ever wanted was my own home."
Kate cried as she held her mama's hands. "Appa always says home is where your heart is, and that's why I left India because you both were my heart and my home, until."
"Didi?" Edwina frowned as her mother and sister shared an understanding look.
"Until Lord Bridgerton became part of your heart?" Mary concluded and watched her brave daughter burst into tears as she fell into her arms.
"Anthony is my heart; he is my home, and I cannot leave him. Even though he could never love someone like me, he still became a part of me, and I cannot live without him."
Edwina cried as Mary rocked her daughter in her arms while praying for her happiness—happiness that is in the hands of one and only Lord Bridgerton.