I hear murmurs, distant murmurs as my brain tries to register my surroundings. There is a dull throbbing on my lower abdomen which gets worse when I try to move. I slowly open my eyes but close them again because of the blinding lights above me.

I feel a hand take mine in their grasp. "Ana", I hear Christian whisper.

I try to open my eyes again, try to focus on his hand on mine but I feel too tired for that. Why am I so tired? I try to respond to Christian, to tell him I'm awake, just too tired to open my eyes. But my throat is parched... I need water.

I open my eyes again, this time more cautiously and focus on my surroundings. It is then I register the sound of the monitor and tubes inserted on both of my hands.

"How are you", Christian says but his voice is too loud... why is he too loud?

"I'm...", I croak as I try to form a sentence.

"Here, drink some water, the doctor said to give it to you when you wake up."

He helps me up as he gives me the cup. I eagerly drink the water and glance at him. He is staring at me intensely, so intensely it feels like he is burning a hole through me. I hand him the cup once I'm finished and he places it on the bedside table.

"Hi", I whisper.

"Hi", he says, still staring at me.

"How long have I been out?", I ask.

"Four hours after the surgery", he says as my eyes widens. Have been I really been out for this long? I look at him with questioning eyes but he says nothing. He is acting weird. "What's wrong", I say as I cautiously touch my face to check if something's there.

He gently takes my hand in his hands as he brings it up to his lips and kisses the back of my palm. "I've been so scared, Ana", he whispers. "The only thing going through my head the whole time you were out was 'She can't die. Fate can't be so cruel to take her from me again'."

At his words, my heart melts. He said he loves me before I went into the surgery. And now this, what did I do to deserve someone like Christian?

"Well, fate listened to you, didn't it?", I offer him a small smile which he reciprocates, though it doesn't reach his eyes. "Come here", I tug his hand gently as he carefully sits on my bed. I try to scoot a little but when I move, there is a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I gasp loudly and instantly my hand goes over the spot where it still feels like burning.

"Ana! Why are you moving!", Christian scowls as he immediately gets up and Dr. Gerald enters.

"Mrs. Grey", she greets as she comes near the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asks as she checks the monitor and writing down the information.

"It still hurts on my lower abdomen", I mumble.

"It's because the effect of anesthesia is wearing out but it should get better soon", she says with a smile on her face.

"So... how did the surgery go?" I ask and see Christian freeze, but ignore him and focus on Dr. Gerald. Something tells me this is not going to be good.

"Ana... the tumor was larger than it was detected in the test results. We could get most of it out, but we need more surgeries than expected", she says very bluntly.

I barely register Christian taking my hand in his. My heart is pounding so fast. This cannot be happening. When I finally started to get my hopes up, this is the last thing I wanted to hear.

"I know it's difficult to hear this right now, but just so you know it is still treatable. The chances of full recovery are still high. You shouldn't lose hope yet, okay?", Dr. Gerald keeps on saying this, but I'm not paying attention. I try to focus on Christian's hand instead. His smooth, warm skin against my palms. The way he holds my hand in a firm grasp. The way his thumb traces small circles on the back of my hand. And his gaze, his sharp gaze on me which is holding me together right now.

"I'll be here if you need anything", she says before she exits the room. The room is dead silent right now, the only noise is our soft breathing and the damned monitor behind us.

"My hair's starting to fall out", I blurt and I look at him.

Instantly his face changes to that of shock but he covers it immediately. "When...?" he whispers, but doesn't complete the sentence.

"Last week", I sigh.

"You should've told me before", he mutters but I don't reply. Everything right now feels so... void. I don't want to be here. I want to just be home, in with Christian, in our room and just talk without any disturbance. And not this serious talk... but a light-hearted, happy conversation. Is it too much to ask for?

"She's pregnant!", Ethan bursts through the door as Mia follows sheepishly behind, awkwardly apologizing behind him.

"What?!", I gasp. Mia is pregnant?

"Yes! Steele, I'm so happy!", he comes towards me and kisses my forehead.

"Congratulations", I say to both of them. "When did you find out?", I ask Mia. But Ethan beats her to it.

"She says she found out yesterday. And today when we came here, she took me directly to the ward where all the babies are kept together... I forgot what it is called. I was confused for a bit but then we just watched how calm the babies were and that I told her I desperately want a kid. And she replies with, 'we are having one'", he says with such enthusiasm that for a moment I forgot I'm on the hospital bed.

"Yeah, and he just started jumping and shouting and we were thrown out of the ward", Mia scowls.

"Totally worth it", Ethan beams and kisses Mia passionately.

"Okay that's enough", Christian frowns at them as Ethan laughs at him. "Aren't you happy?", I ask him since he's been so quiet this whole time.

"I already knew", he shrugs and I look at him quizzically but don't ask him further.

"Mila?", he asks. "She is with mom", Mia replies.

"I hope she didn't trouble you", I tell them and they shake their head.

"Not at all", she smiles and looks towards Christian. They are communicating something which they clearly don't want to tell me.

"We'll let you rest, you clearly need it", he says and kisses me on my lips and all three of them rush out of the room. Well, that was weird.

Trying not to think about it more, I try to sleep. Not long before, I get into a dreamless slumber.

"This is ridiculous", Ana grumbles in my arms with her blindfold on. "I'm perfectly capable to walk, for your information"

"I know", I reply as I carry her slender figure. She has lost more weight than ever. It feels like I'm carrying a child.

Taylor opens the door for us as I enter our house. There are candles everywhere with the place decorated with white roses, her favorite. I put her down gently and hold her as she sways a little.

"It smells like roses in here", she comments.

"Take off your blindfold", I whisper in her ear as she eagerly removes the piece of satin from her eyes. I hear her gasp in astonishment as she wanders in the endless bouquets of white roses everywhere.

"Christian this is...", she trails off as she takes the scene before her.

"Hearts and flowers? I figured you would appreciate the sentiment", I smile as I stand behind her.

"Such a romantic", she teases as she turns around, gets on her tippy toes and places her lips on mine. Now I'd be lying if I said her touch didn't make me go wild. I cup her face and reciprocate the kiss in the same passion, her body firmly pressed against mine. Her arms are around my neck, making each inch of my skin alive where her fingers touch me.

It feels like the very first time when I kissed her in the elevator, her arms pinned above her. I was an asshole back then, the asshole who let his demons get to him every time a woman touched him. Elena had done such damage to me and Ana filled up each pore of that open wound with her love and care.

And now she is doing it again. Filling up the open wounds that were created when she left. It is crazy that she has so much power over me that it makes me scared, scared to death to even imagine her leaving me again.

She pulls back to grasp for air, a small smile tugging at her lips. "I love you, Mr. Grey", she whispers.

"I love you more, Mrs. Grey", I say as I reciprocate her smile. "Let me take you on our little date."

"At your house? Really?", she laughs.

"Our house… plus I figured since Mila is at Mia and Ethan's and you need rest, what's better place than at the comforts of our own home?"

"Very well, lead the way", she says as I take her hand and lead her to the table which was set near the balcony, viewing the city. I've come to know recently that this is Ana's favorite place to be. I serve her the drink which she gulps down in one swing and then makes a face. "Really? Apple juice?"

"We aren't drinking today. Refill?', I offer.

"No, thank you."

I sit opposite her and take her in. She wore a blue knee length dress before leaving the hospital. I requested the hospital to let her rest at home.

"I have one rule for today", she says, "we won't be talking anything serious at all today. Only the happy moments to put a smile on our faces."

"Fair enough", I say and signal Gail to bring us our dinner.

And true enough, we did only talk about the happy moments in the past years. She had all these amazing stories about how adorable and smart Mila is and how everybody around them used to love her. I didn't have much to contribute except all the trips I took different places with the woman I dated at the time to which she wrinkled her nose in disgust. I told her once how we went on a trip with Elliott and Kate and they made me ditch my girlfriend at that time in hotel room while she was bathing and took me to an night club where partied all night to which Ana laughed hard.

"Trust me, they have made me do even more stupid things. They once took me for bungee jumping when we visited South Africa together... let's just say I would never look at valleys the same way", I cringe at the memory.

"That sounds fun!", she exclaims. "I want to go paragliding once though. That's definitely something on my bucket list for next year!"

"Sure. Just don't expect I'll be going it too", I say as I eat the spaghetti that Gail made.

"We'll see", she smirks and I'd give a million bucks look at the idea cooking in her head to make me jump from 10,000ft.

For the first time since she left me, I feel truly and deeply happy. And to be honest, that's all that matters right now.

~*~*~*~

So for starters, ITS MY 18TH BIRTHDAY TODAY! I'm officially legal to do so many stuff now! Most importantly, I can get a job lmao.

Its currently 27th June, 1:55am right now in my country so ya, at least its my birthday here haha. Can you guess what country am I from? If you guess correct, I love you!❤ (If you have read my previous microtales book, you'd probably know since i've hinted it there!)

Until we meet again, xoxo ~ Ava❤