So Cold
CYRUS
My father looked directly at me.
“We need to find out what happened. What happened here? I want to know who was in the house. Just find who did this.”
Then he added, “We have to make a call to the Irish. It’s better if the Sullivan's hear this from me than if he hears it from a gossip site or some damn gossip girlr. This is his daughter.”
My mother spoke next. “I’ll go to the hospital. We can’t leave Cullen alone.”
My father nodded. My mother braced herself, then walked into the house. My father left too, off to make that dreaded phone call.
And then Bella and I were left outside. Just the two of us. Staring at the pool.
I walked toward her, and the moment my arms wrapped around her, the first thing she said was,
“It’s so cold.”
She was shivering.
Yes, it was cold, but I didn’t think it was the kind of cold the weather gives. It was deeper than that.
“… The water must be freezing,” she said next, and I realised where she was getting the cold from. From seeing Sarah like that. From witnessing what had just happened...
I swallowed hard. “She’s going to be fine,” I said so she wouldn't worry, even though I had no idea what was going to happen to her.
“I don’t think she is,” Bella said, finally turning to look at me now. “She looked so pale… so fragile. Who knows how long she’s been there? Who knows if she’s ever going to wake up? If she’s going to be okay?....”
And then she broke down. Full-blown, sobbing, tears soaking through her cheeks.
“Don’t… Don’t do this, Bella,” I said, trying to steady her. “Remember who you are. I know this hurts you, but I need you to pull yourself together.”
I held her by the shoulders, firm but gentle.
“Until we know more you're going to hold it together. Okay? Now here’s what you’re going to do. I need you to go home and take care of our son.”
“What? No!” she said, quickly wiping her face and stepping away from me. “Cullen needs us. You saw the way he was. He’s a mess. And he went to the hospital soaking wet. I need to take him a change of clothes. He needs someone there with him.”
She started walking toward the door. I stepped in front of her.
“Princess, Mom is going to the hospital. She will take care of him, okay? I need you to think of Cesar. Just go home. Be with him.”
She paused, still trembling. Still somewhere else in her mind.
“Who knows how Sullivan will take this,” I added, lowering my voice. “This could spiral into a war. And I need to know that you and our son—are safe. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, barely. I wasn’t even sure she fully understood what I was saying. But I was speaking to the mother in her. And that part of her heard me.
“Listen, the hospital is not the place for you right now,” I continued. “Who knows what Sullivan will do when he gets there, or who he’ll come with. Please, don’t come to the hospital until I tell you to. Do you hear me?”
She nodded again.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I’m going to see Cesar.”
“Good,” I replied. “I’ll take you there.”
She nodded once more.
So I took her home. And as soon as I was sure she was safe, that she and our son were okay, that’s when I went in search of my father.
I found my father already getting into a car.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Get in,” he snapped.
I got in without further questions. He started driving, and I already knew we were going to the hospital.
So I asked, “What happened?”
“I called Ronan Sullivan and told him his daughter is at the hospital,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road. “He didn’t take it very well. Started snapping at me, asking questions... Anyway, what’s important now is that we have to be at the hospital before he gets there. Your mother’s there with Cullen by themselves, and I don’t like that. I want to be there when Sullivan shows up.”
I nodded. “Of course....Okay.”
We got there quickly, but there was still no word from the doctors. So we waited.
And waited. Until finally, we got the results from the doctors—she was in a coma.
When Sullivan arrived, he was pissed. You could see it all over his face, in the way he held himself. He started accusing us of trying to harm his daughter and then kicked us out of her ward.
Of course, Cullen just bounced. Disappeared.
Next, he demanded to see her doctor. He didn’t even acknowledge my father. Or me. Or my mom.
The only time he addressed us was when he got there and asked, “Where is my daughter?”
The moment he knew where she was, he stormed in. Started barking orders. Told them to get the doctor. Then interrogated the doctor like it was a crime scene. And finally, when he’d had enough, he went inside her room and made it clear:
He didn’t want company.
That’s when my father turned to me and said, “You have to go find Cullen. Things aren’t good. Sullivan’s not happy. I know what he’s thinking. We need to be ready.”
And that’s what led us to the meeting in my father’s office. Where Cullen completely lost it.
Because that’s what it was....he lost it.
And honestly? I didn’t think he cared about Sarah that much. Not in that way. I never expected him to attack me, not with the way he treated her. Not with the way he was always lamenting about marrying her. How he never uttered the words but wanted everyone to know he hated her.
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