The Perfect Mismatch (Completed)

The Fight

In her dreams, she floated on and on. Those visual images which slipped into her mind were vivid and realistic- there was blood, images of her family and friends and of herself. She couldn’t fully grasp the situation. The last thing she remembered was of Edward’s face and nothing else. She tried moving her hands but apparently, something was preventing her from doing so. The sense of numbness was a little discomforting.

“Alison? Alison?” the angel called out.

“I’m here.” She wanted to croak out but she couldn’t speak for some reason.

“Can you hear me?” the angel asked.

“Yes, I can.” She tried saying it but no words came from her mouth.

“Alison, open your eyes if you can,” the angel urged.

Yes, I should. Alison thought. But she didn’t want to return back to the reality and face all the load of problems overburdening her. She just wanted to sleep and forget everything. Yet, she couldn’t resist but respond slightly as someone’s hand touched her. She recognized the firm grasp as that belonging to Edward and with the unexpected resurgence of love for him bursting out from within her, she unwillingly opened her eyes.

The first thing Alison registered was the sheer clarity of the lamps and the white, blank ceiling. She could smell the revolting scent of medicine and sickness.

“Where am I?” she asked throatily. Her throat felt so parched and dry. It almost hurt to be talking.

“In the hospital.” A figure sitting next to her answered. She turned her head awkwardly and saw Edward, the love of her life, gazing at her all concernedly.

“Edward?” she hesitated. “What am I doing here?” The only thing she recalled was that she had attended Jessica’s party. Something must have happened then…..

“You fainted,” he admitted. Alison tried sitting up and she felt woozy. Suddenly, a strong pair of hands steadied her.

“Careful, love,” Edward said as he pressed a button and the bed automatically adjusted the height. Alison leant back against the bed frame and smiled gratefully at her boyfriend.

“What time is it?”

“3am in the morning.”

“Why aren’t you in bed now?” Alison asked faintly as her eyes struggled to concentrate their focus on him.

“I couldn’t sleep. I was too worried,” Edward admitted somewhat grudgingly. After a long tense pause, he added, “Your parents were in the waiting room. However, they’ve gone home already. They insisted on not disturbing you.”

What? Instantly, she bolted straight right up and was in alert mode. Flummoxed, her expression changed into something resembling dissatisfaction and unhappiness. “Oh no, what did they say?” she moaned. She feared that her militant father would go on a rampage and blame her for being so irresponsible and careless and her mother would end up lecturing her on how unladylike it was to faint in public although she couldn’t possible help it.

“Don’t worry. I handled them pretty well,” Edward replied smoothly.

“You?” Alison couldn’t help but sound skeptical. The thought of Edward, a mere 19-year-old boy although he was in truth a basketball prodigy too, facing her self-obsessed parents was a little hard to imagine.

“Oh no!” she exclaimed as a sudden errant thought dawned on her. “Do they know about us?” She gestured weakly at Edward and herself.

Edward couldn’t hide a little grin. “Yep, the cat’s out of the bag now,” he said happily.

“Why’re you so pleased about it?” Alison snapped. This really complicated things.