Dark Realms

The rumbling sound of the thunder finally stopped, but it was still raining heavily. 

The shivers from the frigid wind had Davide dragging the bedsheets as he struggled to cover his bare body, but just then, the high jingling sound of his phone made him grumble as his hand moved on the bed in search of the phone. 

When he finally grabbed it, a blissful moan escaped his thin lips, and quickly, he answered.

"Hello..." His deep husky voice broke the silence of the night, and he further squeezed himself inside the sheets. Davide was struggling to stay awake.

"Davide..." A woman's voice called out on the other end, and instantly Davide was wide awake. 

He froze for a minute, resting on his elbows, and quickly glanced at his phone's screen.

It was Avery, his wife.

His lips slowly curved into a smile as he realized it was his beautiful wife. The satisfactory warmth from her voice gripped his nerves making his lips keep parting wide apart. 

There was a sudden increase in his heartbeat, and it sounded melodious to his ears. 

In their three years of marriage, Avery barely calls him, yet, Davide's heart never swayed. His love for Avery was enough to overlook every difficulty.

"Avery?" There was a pause on the other end, making Davide's heart pound faster.

"Where are you? I've been calling. Where are you?" Her voice shrieked at him, sending tremors down his spine.

Davide was anxious. His fingers clenched at the already wrinkled sheets, further crumpling them. 

"Where the hell were you?" She shrunk at him again.

He held his breath as if waiting for judgment, and then he answered, "I was..." He barely finished before she cut him short-

"I need you in the hospital. Now!!!" There was a momentary silence in the air as the frigid wind hit Davide's bare chest. A tear trickled from his eyes and dropped on his lips, and that's when it dawned on him-

She needs his blood.

"I'm on my way." He muttered before the call disconnected. 

Tears well up in his eyes, and a small smile appear on his lips.

He couldn't believe he had thought for a moment she was going to invite him for a dinner date.

In their three years of marriage, the only time Avery contacted him was to ask him to go to the hospital and donate blood for her mother.

Avery married him just for his rare blood type, but that wasn't the case for Davide. 

Davide sighed.

The subtle rustling of the sheets filled the air as Davide got up. He was strikingly tall and had chiseled, handsome features. His deep blue eyes looked like the clear blue ocean. 

He quickly dressed the bed and rushed out before another call. He knows how impatient Avery can get. 

Davide hailed a cab by the roadside, but he spent a few hours in traffic, and Avery kept calling him to the point where Davide's heartbeats increased at every sound of his phone ringing. 

He stopped answering the call at some point, but his ears almost bled out from the shrieking sound of her voice; suddenly, his phone died out while listening to her complaints. 

"Oh no, no, not now..." He kept tapping his phone's screen, but his battery was dead. He bit his lips and kept looking out the window; he kept tapping his feet, and immediately they arrived, he exited the car in a hurry. 

Standing before the hospital, Davide breathed a sigh of relief, feeling bittersweet inside. 

When he gets to the ward, he instantly meets Avery's intense gaze. 

Holding her phone in one hand, with delicate eyebrows and a frown that made Davide's skin crawl, Avery screamed at him, "Why the hell are you standing there?"

Davide apologized to her as he got closer, but Avery only scoffed at him and said, "You can't do anything right. You couldn't even get here early." 

"I'm sorry, there was traffic." Davide couldn't hold Avery's gaze for a minute. 

"Get inside and do the blood transfusion right now!" 

With his words hung on the tip of his lips, Davide turns towards the private ward.

As he pushed open the door, he saw Avery's mother, Maria sitting up in bed, her eyes blazing with anger. "Davide, where have you been?" she snapped. "You said you would be here hours ago!"

 Davide felt his stomach drop as he braced himself, "I'm sorry, there was traffic."

Maria snorted derisively. "You can't arrive early at the hospital? You are so not reliable. You've never earned a penny for this family, Davide. You're worthless. And to donate blood, you can't even do it right." 

Davide lowers his head as a tear trickles down his cheeks.

"I know I haven't been able to contribute much," he said, his voice trembling slightly.

 "But don't forget I graduated from the best college in London, but you forbade me to work. So that I can continue donating blood to you, is that all my life is to you?" His voice was trembling.

Maria frowned, "Yes, that's what you live for, to donate blood for me. That's what your life is worth." 

Davide's anger boiled over, and he met her gaze, "This is ridiculous," he muttered. "I didn't spend years studying and working hard just to be stuck at home, doing nothing, and only to be your blood bank."

Upon hearing their conversation from outside, Avery interrupted. She looked tired and worried as she approached them-

"What's going on here?" she asked, her voice sharp with contempt. "Why are you arguing with my mother, Davide? Don't you understand that your only task right now is to save her?"

Davide felt a knot form in his stomach as he heard Avery's words.  

"I know, Avery," he said, his voice heavy with disappointment. "But it's not just about your mother. I need to work. I need to feel like I'm doing something to help our family."

Avery shook her head in disbelief. "How can you be so selfish?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears. "My mother's life is on the line, and all you can think about is yourself."

Davide felt a pang of guilt as he saw the hurt in Avery's eyes. He didn't want to make his wife unhappy, but he couldn't help feeling that he was being unfairly treated.

"I'm sorry, Avery," he said, his voice softening. "You're right. Your mother's health is the most important thing right now. I won't argue with your mother anymore." 

....

After an hour of donating blood to Maria, Davide's skin instantly became pale. He was weak, yet, he struggled out of the ward as he couldn't bare to be close to Maria for any more minutes. 

Just as he walked into the hallway, the giggling sound of Avery with another fellow alerted his ears, and his gaze turned toward the direction of her voice. 

Avery leans against the man's arm affectionately as they chat. 

Davide felt as if he had been struck by lightning when he saw how relaxed and intimate they were. He didn't know how to respond for a moment. 

His lips trembled, and his thumbs curled into fists. 

The sight made Davide's heart sink. Avery's smile was one he had never seen on her face in the last three years, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy coursing through his veins.

Davide quickened his pace and approached them, but as he got closer, he slowed down and glanced at the man, "who is he?"