It had been 18 hours since her surgery and she still hadn't woken up yet. With every passing hour, my anxiety was skyrocketing and the chance of her not waking up was increasing. It was reminding me of the last time I was in a hospital, waiting for the love of my life to wake up but she never did. The thought enough was making my stomach churn in the worst way possible.

For the last hour, I had been sitting inside her room, watching her with bloodshot eyes. I hadn't slept for more than a day and the effects of exhaustion were probably clear from my face. I had sent Mom home to take some rest and although she wanted me to do the same, I couldn't leave Cara alone.

In addition to Cara's thought, another tension was occupying my mind. The words I said to Scarlet had broken up whatever relationship there was between both of us. I know I had hurt her in the worst way possible but what she did was unforgivable. Because of her, Cara's life was hanging in the middle, all her fault. I never expected her to be this careless but I guess people just end up disappointing you, no matter how much trust you put in them.

I rested my head back on the chair and closed my eyes for a minute. My vision was turning blurred so I decided to take a small nap. But only few minutes had passed when I heard a pained sigh, coming from Cara's bed.

My eyes shot open and I watched her with widened eyes as she struggled to open her eyes. "Doctor," I screamed through the door to call someone. "Nurse."

My eyes fell back on the bed and I rushed to her. Her eyelids were moving and so were her hands. I took her little hands in my grip and whispered, "Come on, Cara. Wake up."

After few attempts of trying, her eyes opened and she narrowed them to stop the piercing light from entering her eyes. There was confusion and pain written on her face and the sight caused my heart to ache for her.

"Mr. Parker, please wait outside. Let us assess her." Her doctor said and the nurse led me outside. I started pacing left to right impatiently, waiting to hear the doctor's response.

"What happened?" My mother entered through the hallway and asked on watching me.

"Cara woke up. They are assessing her." I said and she gasped in response. We both sat down on the bench and waited for the doctor to come out.

When he finally walked out, there was a hint of relief on his face. "With the exception of the external wounds, she is fine." He said and a lone tear of happiness escaped my eyes. I asked him if I could meet her and he said that we could. Hearing this, both of us rushed inside and reached Cara who was staring at us with her pale face.

"You scared us, Cara. You scared the life out of your Daddy." I said and leaned down to hug her gently. She winced a little and I immediately pulled back, realising that she was still in so much pain.

"D... Dad," she called my name and I nodded, linking her hands with mine. "Where is mama?"

Hearing this, I exchanged a worried glance with my mom. What was I supposed to tell her? It was obvious that the minute she would wake up, she would ask for Scarlet but the thought didn't cross my mind when I was insulting her and asking her to go.

"She... Um... She can't..."

"She will be here soon." Mom interjected and answered for me. "I'll call her."

Saying this, my mother made her way outside. Kissing Cara on her forehead, I excused myself and followed my Mom who was talking to Scarlet on her phone. When she cut the call, I stared at her with accusing eyes. "I don't want her anywhere near Cara."

"It doesn't matter what you want, Evan. That girl needs her mother and you can't stop Scarlet from meeting her." She growled angrily in return.

"But..."

"I stayed silent before but both of us know she is more of a parent of Cara than you ever were." She said and her words stopped me from saying anything. I had nothing to say in response because she was correct after all. Scarlet proved herself a better parent than me.

Sighing, I walked back to Cara and sat down beside her bed. She smiled weakly and extended her hand towards me. I kissed the back of her hands and gripped it between my palms. The sight of her covered in wounds from head to toe agitated me and I felt angrier at myself for not being able to protect her.

"Why is M... Mama not h... here?" She asked.

"She... She went home to take a bath." I lied. Right now, Cara didn't need to hear anything about our fight.

"Oh." She whispered.

I stayed near her, caressing her forehead gently as to avoid displacing her dressing. I wish there was some way I could take her pain and suffer instead of her. She was so little, so fragile and all these injuries were too hard for her.

She had closed her eyes but I knew she was awake, waiting for Scarlet to come. It was my fault. Due to my absence, she had grown too attached to Scarlet and now, being away from her was not an option. Maybe I should have thought about this before insulting her.

"Cara." Her voice came from the door. Cara whipped her head in her direction and winced in pain. There she was, standing there, staring at Cara with moisture in her eyes. Her eyes were red, as if she had cried a lot. I don't know if I was the reason of her tears or Cara. A pang of guilt attacked me on seeing her face. The feelings for her resurfaced and I suppressed the urge to go to her and hug her, tell her that everything was okay, that our family was still intact.

She ignored me completely and rushed towards Cara. "How are you feeling, baby?" She said, holding her face.

"My body hurts." Cara replied in a small voice.

"You will be alright Cara. Very soon." She said.

I stood up so that she could sit near her and talk to her. While she did that, I left the room and found Nate standing outside. "What are you doing here?" I asked him dryly.

"I came to drop Scarlet." He said and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What was she doing with you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes into a glare.

"Bold of you to ask about her whereabouts after insulting her last night. Did you expect her to spend the night on roads?" Nate asked and realization dawned upon me. My wife went with him to spend the night at his place. The thought caused a whirlpool of anger inside me and the urge to knock his head against the metal door erupted inside me.

"I'll kill you Nate if you take advantage of our fight." I threatened, barely controlling my anger.

"Oh shut up, what do you care? I was right about you from day one. One mishap and you broke all the strings with her. I have never seen such a pathetic man." He grunted.

"You fucker..." I leaned forwards to punch him in his face when Scarlet walked out of the room.

"Stop it. It's a hospital. If you really want to create a scene, do it where Cara can't hear you." She said in an annoyed voice, most of which was directed at me. I gave one glance to both of them and then gritted my teeth.

"Evan, go home. We all are with her." My mom said to me.

"I am not leaving Cara alone with her." I said and Scarlet's jaw clenched at this. She looked like she wanted to fight with me but chose to stay silent instead.

"Evan," Mom gave me a warning glance. "Go home. You need sleep." She said. Groaning, I nodded and then walked out through the corridor.

The thought of them together disgusted me and I wanted nothing more than walk out of here. She knew how much I hated him yet she chose to stay with him and broadcast our fight.

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