Page 27 of Empowered

“Jaan?” He stopped short of arms’ length, concern washing over his face. “Are you okay? You’re pale.”

Just then, my legs gave out and I felt the hard impact of my knees on the ground. My vision blurred and my thoughts went fuzzy.

“AMELIA!” The last thing I heard was Shyam’s cries before everything went black.

Chapter XIX

Amelia

Iwas floating between clouds, my body light like the sheer white slip draped over my body. I finally felt free of the worries and obligations that had weighed me down for weeks.

My fingers grazed the subtle coolness of the clouds. Delicate silver raindrops tickled my skin as they fell, purifying all that had stained me in my other life.

As I rose higher, the raindrops grew larger and pelted my body with more force. Wind pushed and pulled my body angrily. I wanted it to stop. I didn’t want to go any further.

The wind thrashed tendrils of my hair into my face and they lashed my skin violently. I squinted hard through the rain to see ahead of me, but all I could make out was a dark shadow. My body was pulled closer to the shadow. The figure came into focus, more monster than man.

Large hands reached out to grab me. I forced air through my windpipe to scream, but no sound came out. My limbs wouldn’t work. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the horrid figure. I was paralyzed as the hands grabbed me and a deep male voice shouted my name.

“Amelia!”

I opened my eyes, blinking desperately to get my surroundings in focus. Something was holding my shoulders down. Anxiety forced my breaths to grow short and uneven.

“Breathe,” the deep voice soothed. I closed my eyes and focused on my breath, allowing air to fill my lungs and slowly exhaling it out.

“That’s it, jaan.” Memory of who that voice belonged to hit me like a truck. The low bass centered me and brought me to awareness. I took another cleansing breath before opening my eyes. A prayer. A silent wish that it was really him.

Shyam. I could see him clearly. He had more facial hair than I remembered, but it was him. The same intense hazel eyes and strong features.

He smiled as recognition washed over me. I felt his fingers stroke my hair as I nearly lost myself in his gaze.

I could see another person in my periphery. I tried to turn my neck to see who it was, but pain shot through the base of my skull and radiated to the tops of my shoulders. I flinched from the ache.

“Don’t try to move,” Shyam said softly. “You’re safe now, in my house in India.”

India. It all came back to me. The reason I was here was because I was kidnapped by Tarun.Tarun!Oh God. Had he survived?

As if reading my thoughts, he continued, “Tarun is dead. You killed him.”

I remembered the wedding. I flexed my fingers as if I could still feel the weight of the gun between them.

He took my hands in his. “You suffered a severe concussion when his guard hit your head. You’ve been unconscious ever since.”

I tried to speak but my voice came out raspy. My lips were so chapped that they hurt to move.

“Easy. It’ll be difficult to speak since you haven’t used your voice for a while.” He brought a glass of water close to me and helped me drink from the straw. The cool water numbed my throat on the way down.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “How long have I been out?”

“About four days.”

Four days?!

“This is Dr. Khan,” he said introducing the man next to him. “He’s been tending to you. He wants to check you out now, since you’re awake. Are you okay with that?”

I nodded hesitantly.

Shyam grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m not leaving you. Not ever again.”

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