Chapter 315: Set her up
Remo sat by Abby’s hospital bed, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor providing the only sense of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic swirl of thoughts. The doctors had assured him that Abby was going to be fine. The knife wound had been deep but not fatal. She was lucky—or so they said. But as Remo sat there, holding her hand while she slept, his mind was anything but at ease.
Nicole’s words echoed in his mind, over and over: "She’s dangerous! She’s been planning this—she set me up!"
At first, the accusation had seemed absurd. He had stormed into the room to find Abby bleeding on the floor, with Nicole standing over her, hands covered in blood. It seemed straightforward—Nicole had attacked her. But now, sitting here, with nothing but the silence of the hospital around him, doubt gnawed at him like an insidious parasite.
The way Abby had looked at him, the vulnerability in her voice when she had begged him to help her, it had all been so convincing. And yet, there was something that felt too perfect about it all. He wanted to believe Abby—he loved her—but Nicole’s desperation, her frantic pleas, kept resurfacing in his thoughts.
Abby stirred, her eyelids fluttering open slowly. When her gaze found him, her eyes softened, a tired smile tugging at her lips.
"Remo..." she whispered, her voice weak but full of relief. "You’re here."
He squeezed her hand gently, trying to push the storm of emotions brewing inside him to the back of his mind. "Of course I’m here," he said softly. "How are you feeling?"
Abby let out a small sigh, shifting slightly in the bed. "Sore... but better now that you’re with me."
The warmth in her voice should have soothed him, but instead, it left him with an unsettling weight in his chest. She looked so fragile, so delicate, yet beneath that exterior, he knew there was a strength, a determination that had always drawn him to her. But had that strength crossed a line?