Finding Him

49l Kiss Me

"Pa?!" Something grabbed his wrist, helping to steady him. "Are you alright?"

He wanted to speak of the pain in his head, the painful pounding of his heart, the betrayal he felt, the confusion he felt, but against his desire to let out his grief, he nodded and forced a smile. "Distracted is all, Helena. I shall speak to the Captain and find out when the ship is expected to sail." He needed to leave Italy, every second spent in it doing nothing but leaving him drained and devastated. He especially needed to leave the woman he loved behind, he was so desperate to leave her behind, he was willing to leave his entire family behind as well.

She would marry my brother! He didn't understand it. He didn't think he could understand it if he tried but he knew one thing; Hadassah didn't love him. She was willing to get married to his brother while he laid in bed, paralyzed and fighting the arms of death just to be with her. She was willing to leave his side to be with his brother. Daniel knew he had always been a burden to Hadassah, he knew his inability to see had been much more than a burden. He also knew his paralysis had been a burden heavy enough to drive any woman mad, but he didn't think it would be a burden heavy enough to drive her into the arms of his brother.

Swearing under his breath, he leaned heavily against the wall, knowing fully well that he would need a stick to walk with. His left leg felt like dead weight and his right could barely carry his body weight.

It wasn't just his body that changed since his paralysis, his eyes changed as well. He was surprised the second his eyelids snapped opened to a blurry darkness. At first he ignored it, crawling out of bed in a desperate bid to find Hadassah and unfortunately hearing about her plans to marry his brother. But the second he stepped into the sunlight the next morning, he became very much aware of the presence of the sun. It seemed capable of burning his cornea, left him with a headache and forced him to find a blindfold. Perhaps it was a worse form a blindness, the type that required his eyelids closed to the world. Perhaps it was all for the best anyway. He wasn't sure he wanted his eyes, he wasn't sure he wanted to see Hadassah with his brother for the mental image of it was enough to last him a lifetime.

"You mustn't think of her." Helena tugged on his sleeve, gaining his attention. "She will marry that evil man and forget all about you. You mustn't think of her."

"It is hardly poss..."

"I don't like her! If I hadn't found you, if I hadn't taken you away from there, you'd be dead like my Ma. and Pa. The man who shot you..."

"Arrrggghhh!" His entire body hunched forward, pushing him to the wooden floors as pain exploded in his head. His teeth clenched, his mucles sending shockwaves of pain around his body as his body curved into a fetal position.

"I didn't do anything." The memory bombarded his mind, leaving his body writhing on the floor. "I didn't do anything!"

A loud groan escaped Daniel's lips until all he wanted to do was clasp his hands over his ears.

"I didn't do anything to Hadassah!"

"Dasa!" He heard his own weak mumble.

"Pa!"

He tried to shake his head, but the pain made it impossible to speak. Someone pulled the blindfold off his eyes, leaving him exposed to the sun. He tried to protest, to yell for the darkness once more, but he didn't have to, for he was already sinking deep into it.

✴✴✴

"Daniel! Daniel!" Hadassah's desperate voice beckoned.

"Dasa... Hmm... Dasa..."

"Daniel? Daniel, do you hear me?"

He didn't know, he wanted to say. He didn't know what to think, what to believe. His mind had endured too many hardships and he was uncertain he could count on it or look to it for the truth about reality. So he gave no response to the question, he instead made a request of his own, something he had desired for a very long time.

"Kiss me." He felt a smile settle on his face. "Kiss me, Dasa. Ki..."

Something warm settled on his lips, warm and soft, gently nudging his lips open. He didn't need much urging as his lips parted to welcome hers. He breathed her in, her scent teasing his nostrils. His hands shot up and found her waist, wrapping itself around it and pulling her down until her body was crashing against his.

"Daniel." She trembled in his arms, pulling away slightly. His eyelids snapped open in protest but what he wasn't expecting was to find the empty, never ending darkness gone, and in its place, a beautiful brunette with tears staining her face, staring down at him, her beauty stunning him to silence.

Copyright © 2018 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.

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Late update. The good news is, I'm done with my exams! I look forward to wrapping this off!