Bonds

Chapter 109

-Alex’s POV-

x’s Pov

The antiseptic tang assaulted my nostrils as I pushed past the clipboard–clutching nurse at the entrance. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a sterile glow over the entire scene, but it did nothing to dispel the cold dread that coiled in my gut. I wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries, or forced smiles, or whatever small talk the nurses usually engaged in.

Just get me to him, that was all I wanted.

I practically stomped down the hallway, the echo of my footsteps bouncing off the pale walls. Finally, I reached the designated room, the numbers above the door blurring slightly as I shoved it open with unnecessary force. The scent intensified, mingling with the faint, metallic tang of blood that always seemed to cling to these places.

There he was.

Damon Thome.

A tangle of tubes snaked around him, feeding into machines that beeped and whirred with an unsettling rhythm. His chest rose and fell in shallow gasps. He looked worse, much worse, than he had during my last visit,

Part of me, a twisted, vengeful part, felt a flicker of satisfaction. He deserved this, this pathetic shadow of a man, for everything he’d taken away. But that feeling was quickly overshadowed by a wave of something far more potent- a crushing sense of loss,

I stood there for a long moment, rooted to the spot, a silent observer in this sterile tableau. The beeping of the machines, the rasp of his breath, the rhythmic click of my own fingernails against the cool metal railing around his bed – those were the only sounds that filled the oppressive silence.

His eyelids fluttered open then, revealing pale, watery orbs that scanned the room before landing on me. A flicker of recognition crossed his face, followed by a grimace that contorted his features in pain.

“Alex,” he rasped, his voice a dry whisper barely audible above the whirring machines.

I stared back at him, a million questions churning in my gut. Questions I’d carried with me for years, a bitter weight that had shaped me into the person I was today. Words stuck in my throat, a tangled knot of anger, resentment, and a deep, hollow ache.

After what felt like an eternity, I managed to force the first question out. “Why?”

word, but it held the weight of a thousand

Why the constant anger?

Why the relentless pressure?

absence of

hitching with the effort. His gaze drifted away from me, lost

Fear?-crossed his face momentarily, but it was gone as

mock the lack of response. My anger, simmering just below the surface,

Chapter 109

barely concealed fury. “You were always so full of orders, so quick to criticize. Where are your words now? Where’s your booming voice telling me how to act, how to live my

All those years of pent–up anger, the hurt, the isolation, the constant fear – it all came flooding back,

my voice a low growl. “Remember how you’d scowl, how your eyes would turn cold? Well,

closer to the bed, looming over him like a dark shadow.

in, my voice a

you thought

whether physical or emotional, I

one person who loved me unconditionally, who saw the good

why!”

But I choked it back, forcing myself to remain composed. I

silent, his labored breaths the only sound in the room. The machines beeped their monotonous rhythm, a constant reminder of his fragility. But to me, he wasn’t frail. He was a monster, a man who had built his empire on fear and control, and who had crushed everything beautiful

do you?” I spat, my voice dripping

– sparked in his cloudy eyes. He tried to speak, but a fit of coughing wracked his body, leaving him gasping for breath. I watched him with a cold detachment, a part of me hoping he wouldn’t be able to utter another

don’t understand.”

a cruel, selfish man who cared about nothing but power and control. I

of sweat trickled down his temple, leaving a glistening track on his pale

that would somehow erase the years

me why you did it. Tell me

his face etched with a grimace of pain, both physical and emotional, I was sure. A long, tense silence followed, broken only by the rhythmic beeping of the