Southern Belle

Ch. 18 Do You Love Me?

His eyes moved from the floor to my eyes. Frowning, he smacked his forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry that I love you. Apparently love's a crime."

Did he just completely miss what I just said? I almost felt like air was the only thing moving in between his ears. There was no way that he was this stupid.

Irate, I replied sarcastically, "And another thing, I thought the proposal was just so romantic. You know, because you proposed to me in a room full of germs and stinky patients."

His pearly whites clenched together as his face scrunched up in thought. In the distance, I could see a few nurses, dressed in navy blue scrubs, peering over some doors to catch sight of the drama unfolding in front of us. My eyes rolled. So inconsiderate and rude.

"You know that I'm not that kind of guy. What do you want? Do you want that rich jerk over there to buy you a million dollar ring and propose to you on the top of a yacht in the Caribbean? I can't afford that!"

I sighed, "This is exhausting."

His blond eyebrows furrowed when I spoke. The ends of his lips tilted downwards even more, and he jammed his hands into his pockets. "Because you won't come to terms with your feelings. I love you, Belle. Don't you understand that? For someone so smart, you're acting dumb."

"I understand. I just—"

"I love Belle Wilkes!" he screamed on the top of his lungs with flinging his hands around in the air. "I love her! L-o-v-e!" As the sentence went on, his voice rose three or four octaves.

His extremely noisy confession not only made about thirty nurses walk into the room to 'aww' and giggle, but it also woke up all the babies on the floor. A roaring, unified cry boomed throughout the hallway. The nurses rushed into the nursery to calm them down, but the crying only intensified. Grimacing, I smacked my hands onto my ears.

I was going to go deaf because of his idiocy.

"You idiot," I howled over the commotion, "you just woke up the babies! First you yell at grandmas, and now you cause babies to cry! You're a bad person!"

His blue orbs narrowed; his teeth smashed into his rosy bottom lip. For some reason, maybe it was the fact that the hospital lights made his hair and skin darken, he resembled a ferocious bear. My heart pulsed as I waited for the animal's next move. Everything I said had to be calculated if I didn't want to get mauled.

"I love you!"

"I heard you!'

"I loovee yoouu!"

"Oh my God, Ash, for the last time I heard you!"

"Marry me!"

"This is a never-ending circle; stop it!"

"Fine. Last question. Are you in love with me? Tell me that you love me, and I promise that I'll try to work things out, and I'll take back the proposal. If you aren't, well, goodbye."

According to Dictionary.com, love was a profoundly tender, passionate affection for a person. Did I have those feelings for Ash? Of course I loved him, but there was a fine line between love and in love. 'I love you' were words that couldn't be said without caution. And how would I know if I was in love? 

My mouth opened to answer, but somehow, nothing left it. Possibly the harsh grey walls ruined my thinking and speech capabilities, or maybe I was a chicken. If I just proclaimed my love for him, everything would be fine.

But I couldn't do it.

"Okay, well, you made your point," he mumbled; the happiness in his eyes drained away. He pivoted around and slumped away, leaving me all alone in the hallway.

When the coast was clear, a tall, unattractive nurse with thousands of peircings came over to me. For some reason, she had a huge smile on her face, although she had previously watched Ash get his heart ripped out and jumped on. The features on her were almost witch-like.

"Since you don't want him, can I have him? He's so dreamy, and you know, I'm beautiful. We would make a perfect couple! I don't know what he sees in you." Her nose bunched up as she insulted me.

"Put a bag over your face, witch. I think I need to get glasses now since you're hideousness is ruining my eyesight," I retorted and moved to sit down in one of the comfy chairs in the waiting room. She started cursing at me, but I didn't care.

Everything was giving me a headache.

**

Hey, guys! So Southern Belle made it to #8 Humor and #15 Watty Awards. We might have a shot!

***PLEASE VOTE FOR ME FOR FUNNIEST CHARACTER 2012---BELLE WILKES. I NEED ALL THE SUPPORT I CAN GET****

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