No, no, no no no no no no.

I died!

I had to be dead!

There was no way that I could have survived Ryan's last brutal beating. I even felt the life fade away from me. I couldn't be alive! God, please don't let me be alive. I wanted it to be over, I was ready to die!

This wasn't supposed to happen.

I had yet to open my eyes, unwilling to ever look at Ryan again....or anything for that matter. But at last I gave into myself and opened my eyes only to discover how anti climactic the whole ordeal was. Pitch black. I couldn't see anything and considering that I could feel the sheets around my body my first guess was that I was in the bedroom. I needed to get up. Ryan would only punish me more if I was late waking up. I couldn't take that risk. I was just so tired but I knew that I couldn't kill myself. I wanted to and deep down I knew that it was the easiest route for me but I just couldn't. After my last attempt I'd promised Antonio that I'd never try again and he may not care about me anymore but I sure as hell cared about him.

Gathering all of my energy I tried to sit up, only to let out a shrill scream from the sudden wave of agonizing pain that washed over me. Every single inch of my body was screaming at me, it was the only thing that I could possibly focus on as it consumed my entire body. I suddenly regretted moving and could only let out loud cries. My whole body felt as if it was on fire, specifically my torso area and ribs. However my screams were slightly hushed by the oxygen mask that covered my face.

Suddenly, as if alerted by my cries, I heard the door open. Shortly after that the lights flicked on, triggering another cry as my head curled back from a massive headache.

"She shouldn't be awake yet."

Who the fuck was that?

The voice belonged to a woman so it obviously wasn't Ryan. Why was someone else here? Had Ryan called someone to come and hurt me more? Or what if he was going to give me to one of his mates. He'd always threatened me by saying that he'd let his friends come and have their way with me if I was bad.

"Nooooo..."

I whined out, desperate to get away from the mysterious identity.

"Shhhhhh....."

An oddly familiar voice hushed me and then grabbed my hand in a gentle manor. Their fingers calmingly brushed over mine, though it didn't succeed in making me anymore relaxed. If anything it panicked me more. I had no clue who was touching me, where I was or what was going on.

"Pass me a syringe!"

The woman's voice called out urgently and I once again attempted to sit up, only to be pressed down my the figure who was brushing my knuckles a second ago. I once again tried to open my eyes but instantly squeezed them shut due to the bright light that hovered on the ceiling above me.

I felt the sharp needle prick my skin and I could only whimper as the drug made it's way into my already sleepy body. The last thing I remember was a gentle kiss being placed on my forehead. That action was oh so familiar.

I glared at the vile man in front of me, hating him for what he had done to my Alice. Before me was Ryan, strapped down to a chair, he was visibly shaking in fear. Good. He should be scared. He should be terrified.

"Look man, I'm sorry! I didn't know that you two were fucking each-"

I cut him off by striking him across the face with my gun. Fucking. That word annoyed me, or more so how he was using it. It made our relationship sound insignificant. It made my girl sound cheap, like she was some kind of whore, when in fact Alice was so much more than that.

"My wife. She's my fucking wife and you thought you could touch her like that?"

He stuttered, not able to form an actual sentence. It turns out that sober Ryan was no smarter than his wasted self. The man was purely ignorant and not much else. Who knows why Alice ever liked him.

"Now, I think it's only fair that I put you through the same pain that you put Alice through."

"No, no! Please don't! I swear I'll never touch her again!"

I laughed bitterly, unamused by his pathetic pleas. It was far too late for that now.

"I know you won't."

With that I stood and left him alone in there with my men. They had their orders. I told them to make his pain long and in humane. I wanted him to suffer for weeks before I gave him the mercy that was his own death. I told them to use their imagination when it came to the torture so who knows what would become of him. My men did have quite the imaginations, especially when they were bored and luckily for me they hadn't had a mission for weeks.

I headed out of the basement and upstairs to the office where Alice's Doctors were. They had been caring for Alice ever since I had bought her back here. In total, she had three broken ribs as well as countless other injuries. One of her ribs had punctured a lung, the doctor had told me that if I had arrived any later than I did, she probably would have died.

I had a good friend who lived near to where I'd found Alice so we were currently staying with him. In fact, Edward was very excited and practically begged me to stay when he found out that there was a man who I needed to be tortured. So he was currently down there in his basement doing God knows what to Ryan along with the others.

"Dr. Jackson."

I nodded politely to her as I entered Edward's office. She was accompanied by two other nurses. I didn't personally know them but they were on Dr. Jackson's team, which meant they were good. She knew that I would accept no better than the best, especially considering the circumstances.

"Mr. Marino."

She greeted me with her usual professional attitude as we sat down.

"How is she?"

Dr Jackson picked up a clipboard and handed over to me. It contained all of Alice's medical information and charts.

"I am pleased with her recovery rate. There have been no complications from the surgery. We are keeping her on oxygen for the time being. It's best for her to stay on bed rest for the next six to eight weeks while she recovers fully. Obviously we can be more lenient towards the end of her recovery but I think it's best for her to stay away from too much physical or straining activity. Especially to avoid undoing any of her stitches. That also means that you shouldn't be travelling back to Italy until she has healed. It's not worth the risk of something happening on the way there."

I nodded, none of that really came as a shock for me. Luckily, the injury to Alice's lung was healing and her treatment was going well. I was planning on taking her back to her own place while she healed, but not until the Dr. had confirmed that she was stable. I figured that it would be easier for her to recover in a more familiar atmosphere. Then again, she may never want to go back there again and in that case I'm sure that Edward would let us stay here anyway. I was absolutely fine with that, whatever worked best for her.

"So, is she completely stable at this stage?"

I had no medical degree or experience, hence why I needed to have such a good medical team. I was fully reliant in them to take care of my wife, all my trust was on them.

"Yes, from the char-"

"AHHHHHHH"

The shrill scream that cut off Dr. Jackson instantly caught everyone's attention. Instinctively, I shot up from my seat and practically sprinted to the room where Alice was. I could hear the footsteps as everyone else rushed behind me. We entered the room, switching the lights on which only made Alice squeeze her eyes shut.

Alice was awake and obviously in a lot of pain. How was she even awake yet? She'd been given drugs that should have kept her asleep for hours after the surgery. Well, that didn't matter right now.

"She shouldn't be awake yet."

Dr. Jackson muttered to herself more than anyone else. I watched her as she went over to check the heart rate monitors and other machines. I could only stand there and panic, unable to help ease my girls pain. I felt so useless and weak in that moment.

"Noooooooo"

My head snapped back down towards Alice as she whined out in pain. I instantly went over to where she was laid and hushed her.

"Shhhhhh"

It was all I could do in order to calm her. I just hoped that she knew it was me or at least felt somewhat safe. God knows what was going through her head after her whole ordeal. I knew that she could never fully recover from this but I hoped that I could help her get through the worst of it, after that I'd never leave her side again. Everywhere she went I would go too and anywhere that I went she'd stay by my side. I couldn't imagine leaving her alone again.

I took her hand in mine, careful to do it gently. I couldn't cause her anymore pain than I already had. She only continued to cry in pain. My heart broke to see her like this, all because I'd abandoned her. I know that I only left her there for her safety, it seemed like a flawless plan, but I still felt immense guilt. I should have had someone check in on her, but my possessive nature got in the way.

"Pass me a syringe."

My eyes followed the nurse who obeyed Dr. Jackson's order. Alice desperately tried to sit up so I lightly pressed against her weak body, holding her down. The Dr. took the needle and quickly injected Alice with what I could only presume was a strong sedative. Alice let out another sudden cry so I bent over her shaking body and placed a soft kiss on her sweaty forehead. Once I stood up again she was already out.

"That should keep her under for another few hours but I'm going to administer pain medication now incase she wakes up early again."

I gave her my permission and sat on the end of the bed while they hooked up more drips for Alice. The also checked up on her stitches and anything else that was important. I knew that everything was for her own benefit but it still felt too clinical.

"I will make sure that we have someone on duty all the time incase she wakes up."

I shook my head, declining the offer.

"No. I'll stay with her."

I wanted to be the one who greeted her when she woke up. She would be extremely scared when she woke and I knew that I could calm her. She'd want me not a nurse who she'd never met before.

"Ok sir. She will be very distressed when she wakes, it's important to reassure and calm her. Call me after she wakes but you can administer two of these if she's in pain."

In her hand she held out two pills to me before putting them on the side next to a glass of water.

I quickly thanked them all and closed the door after them as they left. I shrugged off my suit jacket and let out a tired sigh. I pulled up a chair so that I could sit closer to Alice.

I took the small box that I'd been carrying around in my pocket and opened it up. There it was. Alice's wedding ring staring back at me. When she woke I was going to propose to her all over again. And this time she would want to marry me. And we would finally be happy together.