Chapter 297 - 174
Trigger Warning: Emotional pregnancy loss
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Heaven's arms became numb. She had rubbed the necklace as much as she could, so she hoped it would work. Now she was worried about her grandmother. Hopefully Zamiel and Ilyas would arrive before she was hurt.
Suddenly the door was knocked down, and Zamiel stood at the entrance.
"Heaven!" He was beside her at the next moment.
"Zamiel," she almost cried in relief. "Grandma! Save grandma first."
"Both your grandfather and Euphorion have gone to save her." He assured.
She saw that his eyes teared up upon finding her. He had truly been scared. "What is all this blood? What did they do to you?"
Heaven swallowed the hard lump in her throat. It became difficult to breathe again just thinking about it. How could she tell him? He had been so happy. She had been happy.
Tears began to stream down her face. She couldn't prevent it. She opened her mouth and felt the words cut through her throat. "Our child…" was all she managed to say before bursting into tears.
Zamiel understood what she meant, but she couldn't see his face to know what he felt of all the tears that blurred her vision. She just felt him wrap his arms around her. "I am sorry." He said, his voice thick with pain as he stroked her back.
He let her cry in his arms, and she wished she could hold him back, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even wipe all the tears away from her face.
Zamiel carried her up and took her to her room. Her mother was already waiting there, looking anxious. Even though she was only gone during the whole night and the morning, her mother seemed to have noticed her absence, or maybe Zamiel told her.
"Heaven!" She hurried to her side as soon as Zamiel lay her down on her bed.
Heaven couldn't move her body except for her head. "Mother." More tears flowed from her eyes.
"Oh no, don't cry." She said, leaning over her and giving her a hug. She kissed her forehead and wiped her tears away. "Everything is alright now."
She looked over at Zamiel, and her expression slowly turned into a pained one. Now she knew why Heaven was crying.
"Heaven." Her mother stroked her hair back while trying to remain strong for her. "My strong girl. I am so sorry." She said, looking pained.
Heaven shook her head. "I couldn't protect…" She couldn't even finish her sentence.
"No. None of this is your fault." Her mother said, wiping the tears away from her face and then cupping her cheek. "Never blame yourself for this."
Heaven tried to stop crying and nodded.
Her mother held her hand tightly and kissed her knuckles. She couldn't fight back the tears anymore and cried with her.
Heaven tried to think positively. Her grandmother was safe, and so was she. It could have been worse for her family and Zamiel if they had to grieve more than the loss of one person, but the emotions just welled out of her.
Even though she wasn't crying loudly this time, the tears just left her eyes and she couldn't stop them.
"Grandma…" she then asked.
"Your grandmother is here now." Zamiel told her.
Somehow she got a bad feeling about her grandmother. It felt like Zamiel wasn't telling her everything.
"Mother, you should go see Grandma instead."
"I will." She looked over at Zamiel, probably asking him to take care of her meanwhile. He gave her a nod.
From the way her mother easily agreed, Heaven knew her suspicion was right. Something bad had happened to her grandmother.
Her mother kissed her forehead before leaving.
Zamiel slowly came to sit beside her. He took her hand in his. "I am sorry, Heaven." He said. She could tell he didn't even know what to say.
"No. I am sorry. You were so happy and now…."
"No." He cut her off. "You are my happiness. You don't know how relieved I am to find you alive. I was so afraid of losing you. When I couldn't sense you…" His voice broke and he shook his head, trying not to cry. "I lost my mind."
"I am sorry." Heaven said, this time sorry for how stressed the whole situation must have left him feeling.
He had lost his family before, so she could only imagine what he went through. "I am here now." She said, and she didn't want him to blame himself. She knew he was already feeling like he had failed to protect her again.
"Our child is somewhere safe now. " She told him, consoling both him and herself.
Her child was away from the cruelty of some people in this world. She couldn't believe how some people could commit such acts while talking about cleansing sins. What could be worse than killing an innocent being? One with no sins, demon or not.
He nodded, fighting back the tears. Heaven wished she could hug him.
Zamiel stayed with her and took care of her for the rest of the day. He helped her bathe and clean herself from all the blood and dirt; he combed her hair and told her encouraging and loving words.
Heaven could tell that he was attempting to make her feel better, but she was still in a bit of a shock.
The numbness was slowly going away, starting from her upper body, and as soon as she could walk, she would go see her grandmother. She kept worrying about her in the back of her mind.
Zamiel brought Gina to give her support once she was clean and rested. Gina was surprised because she had only been with her the previous day and already this much had happened while she was gone for the night.
Her friend was angry at first, but then tried to remain calm.
"I am sorry," she said, looking devastated.
They hugged and cried.
Gina stayed with her, keeping her company while she couldn't walk. It took some time for the numbness to completely disappear. Once she could walk again, she hurried to see her grandmother.
When she first walked in she was surprised to see her grandfather and another strange looking yet beautiful stranger, both guarding her grandmother. Heaven already guessed who he was. Zamiel's water demon friend. Then her heart almost sank to her stomach when she saw what had happened to her grandmother.
Slowly she walked up to her, trying not to look horrified. She forced a smile on her face when her grandmother turned her head to look at her.
"Heaven."
"Grandma." Heaven went and sat on the bed next to her. "Are you…" No, that was a stupid question. Of course she wasn't alright. Heaven could see the pain she was enduring. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Her grandmother shook her head with a smile. "Seeing you is enough. I am healing well."
Heaven had already been emotional, but seeing her grandmother in so much pain, she couldn't hold herself anymore. Excusing herself for a while, she went to cry alone in silence before going back to her grandmother.
Her grandfather was so silent as he sat in the room, and the water demon quietly left them alone.
Heaven stayed with her grandmother as long as she could, and eventually everyone joined them. Her mother, Klara, Gina and Heaven all stayed with her grandmother, and her grandfather left them to be alone.
Klara took Heaven aside for a moment to also speak to her.
"Heaven," she put her hands on Heaven's shoulders. "I have always been proud of you and of who you have become. I want you to remember your strength as a woman. We go through many hardships and losing a child is the hardest. I don't want you to feel less woman or less deserving of becoming a mother now. We can only do our best to protect our children, but we can't prevent every harm that comes their way. It is part of life."
"Thank you," Heaven said.
She was happy to have so many people around her encouraging her. They helped make her feel better, but there was a spot in her heart that still ached.