Dear Mr Blind Date, Are You Mr Right? (Completed)

Heart-To-Heart Talk

I don't know how much time has passed.

For a long time, I feel as if I exist in a period of darkness. A world of nothing.

Until I feel a light pressure on my wrist. I recognise Ed's touch.

He's telling me to wake up, to not give up.

But I can't open my eyes. My eyelids are heavy. I don't have the strength to open them.

"Chloe..." I hear Ed's silky voice.

I want to tell him that I'm okay but for some reason, my throat's so hoarse that I can't say anything.

"Chloe, please wake up," Ed pleads.

Come on, Chloe Manson. Open your damn eyelids. Ed's there. He needs you. You need him.

I force my eyelids open and I stare at the bright lights.

I'm not dead, am I? Had a stray bullet killed me?

"Chloe, thank goodness." Ed kisses my hand.

I swivel my head to stare at him. He looks as handsome as ever, just slightly more dishevelled.

"Am I dead?" I croak out. "Are you dead?"

Ed laughs, his voice weak with relief. "Neither of us are dead." He closes his eyelids and I notice a tear roll down his cheek. I stare at him in shock.

I've never seen Ed cry before. Not even when I told him that I was breaking up with him. He has always been the strong and silent type.

The one who comforted me when I was the one crying. The one who wasn't afraid of anything. The one person who thought that crying was a weakness, rather than an expression of emotions.

"Why are you crying?" I ask weakly. My head throbs in pain. "You hate it when someone cries."

"I don't care anymore." More tears drip down his cheek. "This is the closest I've come to losing you. It's...It's so painful. Why the hell am I in so much emotional pain?"

He covers his face with his hands. "I hate it when you see me like this. All sobbing and weak," he continues, his voice muffled and thick with emotion.

"Ed." I squeeze his hand and smile weakly. "You don't have to act macho and all though in front of me. We're a couple. We're supposed to show our true side to each other."

"You're right," Ed chokes, half-laughing, half-crying. "You've always been the wise one. I've always so...idiotic, acting so macho when I'm not. I rely on you too much."

We stay silent for a few moments.

"Do you remember everything that has happened?" Ed interrupts gently.

I close my eyes. I try to recall things but everything is fuzzy. Suddenly, one fixed image comes rushing towards me.

Hannah. Dying. Soaked in Blood. Her eyes wide open. Dead.

"Hannah..." I choke. "Is she...is she...." I can't bring myself to ask.

"She's dead," Ed says quietly. "But it's not your fault. She brought it upon yourself."

"She didn't mean any harm." All my initial hatred for Hannah has evaporated. I pity her. She gambled her life and everything on this.

In the end, she lost. She didn't deserve this.

"And Jack?" I ask.

"He's been taken into custody. He's fine. Mum's engaging the best lawyers in the States for him."