Chapter Text
Chapter 2: Resurgence
Emily jumped out of bed at Nolan’s words. There is no way this is true. She hadn’t even let herself hope that this was some sort of mistake. With Victoria there were no mistakes. She always knew was she was doing and always had a plan with how to succeed. There was no way she failed this badly, but maybe just maybe she had.
“Nolan what are you saying to me right now?”
“Em, I am telling you Aiden is alive. You just received a call from Officer Hunter from the Southhampton Police Department. He let me know that Aiden is actually alive. His exact words were ‘when he arrived in the morgue he appeared dead but upon an examination from the pathologist they were able to find a heartbeat and Aiden is in fact very much alive’ apparently whatever poison Victoria used on his slowed down his heartbeat so much he appeared dead, so when Victoria attempted suffocating him, she didn’t realize he was still alive because his heartbeat was undetectable!” As Nolan recounts this to Emily he is so excited he starts bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Common Em we gotta go to the hospital right now, he is in critical condition and not yet stable so we gotta go!”
Emily still in disbelief grabs a sweater and her phone, puts on a pair of shoes and hastily follows Nolan down the stairs and to the car.
“I will drive,” Nolan grabs the keys from Emily. “As much as I have every faith in your driving capabilities normally I do not trust you one bit right now, I can only imagine what is going through that head of yours.” Nolan gives Emily a small side smile.
“Ok let's go then, and could you make sure you step on it!” Emily bites her finger nail while sitting in the car. She stares out the window, wondering how this could have happened. How did she not notice his heartbeat. Takeda trained her better than this. There is no excuse for this kind of mistake on her part.
Her nerves got the best of her as they continued this drive. She was so excited to see Aiden, nervous too though. What if he had further complications. What if he didn’t pull through. Could she handle losing him again in one night?
“Hey Em, we are here,” Nolan interrupted her thoughts as they pulled into an empty spot outside the hospital emergency entrance.
“Nolan, I am scared. What if something still goes wrong even now?” Nolan reaches over and grabs Emily’s hand squeezing it.
“Emily 007 is the strongest man I know, clearly. He survived a poisoning and suffocation and he is still here. He is going to be fine, have faith in the doctors. Have faith that you have already been through enough and you deserve a break. Okay?” Emily always forgot that under Nolan’s goofball exterior he truly was an amazing friend, and gave one hell of a pep talk.
“Okay. Let’s go in in then,” Emily took a big breath before opening the car door and hoping out. Her heart was racing with every step towards the doors. Even with Nolan’s soothing words it didn’t calm all of her nerves.
She really hoped he was right though, and maybe deep down she knew she deserved this too. Nolan and Emily walk up to the nurses station.
“Hi, we are here for Aiden Mathis? We received a call from Officer Ben Hunter letting us know he was here and in urgent care.”
The nurse who’s name tag read ‘June’ typed some words in to her computer. “Yes Aiden Mathis. Admitted tonight into Urgent Care. He is currently under observation, not yet stabilized and in room 501. You may continue down this hallway to the end, hang a left and the room with be on your right.” June points her directions out down the hall.
“Thanks so much June. Have a nice night,” Nolan replies, grabbing Emily’s hand and pulling her down the hall.
The walk to Aiden’s room felt like it took a lifetime. Emily knew she was going to see the man she loves on a ventilator with tubes and machines all around him, but even still she wasn’t prepared for the sight when she walked in.
She rushes over to his bedside, reaches for his hand. “Oh Aiden!” She cries out. He is lying in the bed, so still, so silent. The machines are beeping incessantly alerting Emily to the fact that yes Aiden was in fact alive, but barely. She looked up to his heart monitor relieved to see the lines going up and down and not straight.
Nolan comes up behind her and starts rubbing her back in circles, kind of like how her father did it when she was little and sick.
“Aiden, please come back to me. I need you. I can’t do this without you. I don’t want to do this without you. I am so sorry I didn’t say this enough, how much I love you and need you. But I promise if you come back to me, if you wake up, I will spend my life making it up to you.” She squeezes his hand hoping not only can he feel it but that he can hear her too.
“Hey Em. I am going to go find his doctor see if they can give us any news. I will get us some coffee as well. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night.” Emily nods in response, not taking her eyes off of Aiden.
Emily brings Aiden’s hand to her mouth and kisses it, holding it close. “Oh my Aiden. How did this happen, how did the plan go so awry.
Emily knows that during the last moments before Aiden almost died Aiden was with Doctor Michelle Banks to get proof Victoria helped frame her father. She knew that Victoria had blackmail over Dr. Banks. What she didn’t know is how Victoria would have been able to poison Aiden, where she acquired the poison or why she did it in the first place.
She was so sure Victoria didn’t know about her and Aiden, that they had kept their relationship a well enough secret, that she had protected Aiden from the crazy that was Victoria Grayson. Clearly she was wrong, about this, maybe about a lot of things.
She thinks back on some of her favourite moments with Aiden. When they were jogging and pretend wrestling and he kissed her under the sunset. When he arrived in Southhampton after she explicitly told him she didn’t want his involvement. Their first date as a fake but very real couple to make Daniel jealous. And of course the most important, when he got down on one knee and asked her Amanda Clarke to be his wife.
Other then Nolan and Jack there was no-one else in her world that knew her true identity and it felt so amazing being able to love someone as herself and not who she was pretending to be.
After this Emily truly was reconsidering all of the plots and schemes she had arranged up until now. Was this revenge really worth all of this? Was this whole thing worth all of the pain it had caused her. Especially now almost losing the man she loved more than anything. Her dad was gone, he was never coming back. She had to focus on the people she had in her life over the memory of someone gone forever.
However this was about more than her father now. Victoria has taken everything too far this time. She was always playing the fucking victim and Emily has had it. Everything bad that happens to Victoria she brings it on herself and she can’t even see it.
Her husband getting arrested her fault. Having two secret children her fault. Daniel and Charlotte both hating her, her fault. Pascal LeMarchal dying, her fault; well actually Conrad’s fault but she married him.
Emily hadn’t even really begun her revenge on Victoria yet. She had brought down a lot of people on her list so far, but Victoria? No not quite. And now more than ever Victoria deserved what was coming to her. Emily had never murdered or ordered any one murdered in her whole life, but here was Victoria trying to take away the last of what made Emily happy. And for what?
No this time Emily was going to get the revenge she so desperately needed. No murder required. Instead she is going to take Victoria down piece by little piece until there is nothing left of her.
Just as Emily is getting more heated in her thoughts, Aiden’s hand twitches. Not enough to squeeze back or anything like that but enough that Emily could feel it.
Yes maybe everything will be alright after all.