A Tender Touch

\.Deeply Sorry./

Tuesday, - September 13, 1988

"Oh, she...I think she's about to wake up."
I heard a rather whispering voice coming from somewhere around the room.
"Miss?Would you look at me, please?"
The face of a man suddenly appeared over me.Am I lying in a bed or something?
"Good.And now, try to follow my finger if you can."
He gave me a warm smile, his brown eyes closely examining mine as I tried to follow his finger.
"Okay."
He sat down on the free space next to me on what I suppose must be my bed.
"Miss - Abelin, right?"
"Yes..."
I nodded my head but soon after stopping the movement for it hurt as if I'd just fallen to the ground again.The ground...concert - Michael!Where - where is Adri?
"Well, Miss Abelin...You suffered from a rather heavy brain concussion as you also sprained your left ankle.Oh, and you almost broke your leg too.But luckily we will be able to fix all of that without any operation or surgery."
What in the world?
"O-kay...I - How long have I been staying here?Where - where am I?"
He smiled, carefully placing his hand on my shoulder as I tried to sit up again, two nurses also approaching us.
"You're at the St. John Hospital, here in Liverpool."
He explained, his accent now clearly noticeable.
"And today's the 13th of September.You've been brought here by our Ambulance service two days ago, so I think you attended the big Michael Jackson concert here, am I right?"
"Yeah, I - with my best friend, Adriana.Is she still-"
"Oh, don't worry.She just headed to the cafeteria and should be back in a couple of minutes.Do you have any lack of memory?Anything that doesn't add up?"
He asked.
"No, nothing I could think of...How many days do I need to stay here, Doctor-"
I tried to focus my eyes on his name tag but felt them already hurting soon after.
"Adkin."
He smiled.
"And I think, well more recommend you to stay here for at least the next two days.The brain concussion you're suffering from is nothing to play around with or just shrug off!And you will definitely need a bandage for your knee and ankle.But we'll talk about that later.All you need now is rest and silence."
"Ok, I understand.Thank you."
I smiled, nodding in agreement.He was a trustful looking doctor, so I'd better listen to what he'd be telling me.
"You're very welcome."
He chuckled, running his fingers through his almost fully grey hair.

"Honeyyy!You're awake - finally!"
Adri ran up to my bed, sitting down next to me.
"I was so worried about you!This stupid dude really hurt you..."
She exclaimed.
"Yeah but I'm alright.At least I won't be needing any operations."
I gave her a weak smile.
"Yeah...oh and I've also got good news for you!"
She lightly clapped her hands, turning around to my nightstand and grabbing something from there.
"Here."
She handed me a small envelope, smiling like crazy.
"Guess who sent a card along with those flowers-"
She pointed at the truly beautiful bunch of different flowers standing on the nightstand.
"already one day after he heard about you being rushed to the hospital."
She smirked at me as I raised my eyebrows at her, carefully pulling the card out of the pink envelope.

Dear Mira,

I feel so deeply sorry for what I just heard from some of the security guards.
The purpose of you watching me perform was in no way to having you being brought to the hospital!
Again, I am so sorry and feel honestly devasted to know that this concert did not only result in hundreds of fans being treated by the Ambulance service but mostly that you are one of them...
I wish you all the best regarding your recovery and hope that you're well again soon!
You will also find one concert ticket for the first show I will be performing back in L.A. - I made sure this would be a backstage ticket, so that there's no possibility of you risking your life again... ;)

Please call me directly after you read this.

Much love,
Michael

I looked up from the letter and pulled the ticket out of the envelope, only to find Adri already handing me the telephone handset.
"You've already read the letter, am I right?"
"Of course - it's from your soon-to-be-fiancé!"
She chuckled as I slowly shook my head.
"I love you!And thanks for staying here with me!"
I let her know.
"Everything for my sister."
She gave me a warm smile.
"And now...call that cute boy back!"
I giggled, taking the handset and dialing his number which he had written below the last sentence.

"Hello?"
A sweet woman's voice answered through the phone.
"Oh, I'm...Excuse me but...is this the number of Mr.Jackson?"
I wondered.
"Yes, it is.May I ask who I am talking to?"
The somehow familiar sounding voice asked.
"Mira - Abelin.I wante-"
I suddenly heard her gasp.
"Miraa!Dear...I'm so sorry about what my son told me earlier yesterday.Are you alright and recovering again?"
Ahh, Katherine!
"Oh, yeah I'm...fine - thank you..."
I smiled, she's so sweet and kind.
"Oh, I'm glad!You gave us a heavy scare...Well, you're surely calling because you wanted to talk to Michael, right?"
"Yeah...he wrote me a card and asked me to call him after I'd read it."
"Oh, yeah yeah...Just wait a few seconds - I'm gonna get him on the phone for you.And I hope you'll recover soon!"
"Thank you so much..."
I said, waiting for Michael to pick up the phone which happened way sooner than I thought.
"Mira?"
He asked, sounding a bit out of breath, causing me to giggle.
"Yeah..."
"Oh god, how are you?I'm so sorry about what happened...I didn't mean to get you hurt or somethi-"
"Michael!It's ok."
I chuckled at his cuteness.
"I'm fine, really."
"No, you're not!Otherwise you wouldn't be staying at a hospital.Now, tell me what happened, please..."
"Well, I - basically fell to the ground because a rather muscular and arrogant guy thought he had any right to squeeze himself through the big crowd.And as I hit the ground, my head must've landed on it pretty roughly, causing me to have a brain concussion now...And I've also sprained my ankle and almost broke my leg somehow.But it's all okay...At least I won't need any operations which is great and besides the headache - I feel quite good."
"Oh, that sounds awful!I'm so so sorry..."
"Hey, I just told you that it's okay...And besides that, you're the last person to blame for that accident.I'm fine, really."
I assured him.
"Ok, I'm gonna believe you then..."
"Thanks."
I giggled.
"Oh and thank you so much for the ticket!Can't wait to see the full show."
"Oh please, that's the least thing I could do after what happened..."
"Can you please stop blaming yourself for that?Listen, I'm all good - okay?"
I carefully told him.
"Yeah I...Yeah.I'm - glad you like the ticket."
I laughed.
"I love it!"
...