Unspoken

Chapter 20

Except this isn't the Merda that had been in my hospital room two days before. She looks nearly identical besides the fact that she has a mouth resting on the space where her face had before been empty. It makes her face fuller, her eyes wider. Her hair has been cut shorter as well, framing her new face as perfectly as a picture frame. 

Where did her mouth come from? Her surgery isn't for another two months.

Recognition passes through her eyes. She hadn't expected to see me, that much I read before her emotions turn off. Her eyes move from Xander to me. "Taeo...."

I turn to get off but the doors have just finished closing. I press the button for the nearest floor. As soon as it opens, I hurry into the dull, red hallway. Merda runs behind me. "Taeo! Taeo, wait up! Let me explain!" She has the same accent as Paul, as Michael, as Christopher, proving that she was born into a foreign land.

I halt so abruptly that she collides with my chest as I turn. Her eyes brim with tears. The anger pulsing through my chest is worse than any anger I've felt since I came here. My skin boils and arms tremble as I try to contain it.

"I.... I'm sorry, Taeo. I'm not who you think I am. I--I wanted to tell you." Her eyes go to her feet.

I grab her face and point it toward my own. I work to read her eyes, but they're the same eyes that'd been present in the hospital when she'd given me the book. They're hard to read, but now I can decode some of her thoughts.

Xander stands just outside the elevator. He tries to pretend he isn't watching but I know he is. I push past her, shaking my head. I can't handle another change like this. I can't have lost Merda.

"Taeo!"

I stop but don't look at her.

"I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. I really didn't."

I don't know if I believe her.

Xander begins to advance. Once in front of me, his hand lands on my shoulder. He leans to look into my eyes. "You need to go? We can go."

I can't move yet. I have an overpowering urge to yell at her, to tell her exactly what's on my mind.

But it isn't even that the words aren't worth it at this point.

Merda isn't worth it.

I look down at my right wrist. On it is a small, string bracelet that Merda had made for me when we were twelve. I usually wear it under a watch, but I had left the watch on my beside table in the hospital when I was taken. I pull it off my wrist now and stare at it for a moment before crossing back to Merda. I know I have frustrated tears resting just on the tip of my eyelids, that I look like a child standing before her. Part of me doesn't care. I take her hand in mine and push her palm open, placing the bracelet inside.

I hope my eyes convey what I want the action to mean.

Everything in our past means nothing at this point.

With a final, deep breath, I turn away from the girl I once thought I was in love with.

My heart does something weird in my chest as I walk away, something I can't even understand. It's like it's overjoyed but devastated. I didn't know such a mix of emotions was even possible.

I step into the elevator after Xander and don't give her a second look.

--

Bam. There it is. If Taeo wasn't angry before, he's angry now. There's some big things to come in the next two week, so keep a close eye out for the updates!

Remember to leave a vote or comment! I love all your feedback!

Alisha :)