Love At First Sight

16

"So, as we already established, covalent bonding is the-"

"Who's Robert?"

Ryder looked as me as if I was from another planet. "Huh?"

"Robert. Who's he?"

He shrugged. "Nobody important. But how did you find out about him?"

I crossed my arms and gave him a look.

He sighed. "Willow."

"Yeah, she was the one who told me about him. Why did you lie to her?"

"I did it to protect her."

I absolutely hate that line. I did it to protect you/him/her/them. It makes no sense. What the heck does the other person need protecting from? So it's better to lie to them instead? It's better to hide the truth?

"Why does she need protection from her cousin, Ryder? I think she deserves to know the truth. It can't possibly affect her in any way if she knows the truth."

"You're right. It won't harm her if she knows the truth. But I don't  want to spoil her image of him"

Exasperated, I threw my arms in the air. "I don't understand any of this, Ryder."'

He sighed and moved closer to me on his bed. He placed his hand on my cheek.

"Of course you won't."

"Then make me understand. I want to understand."

He removed his hand from my cheek.

"Robert and Willow were very close some years back. But Robert was a very bad guy. Thats why I didn't like leaving him alone with her. I was scared he would do something bad to her."

"Then why did you introduce her to him?"

"I didn't. He just showed up at my doorstep."

"Oh. Then if he was so bad, why didn't you report him to the cops or something?"

He shook his head. "I just couldn't."

"What did he do that was so bad?"

"He used girls. He dated them and convinced them that he cared for them even though he didn't. He was a criminal. He robbed places, raped girls, committed murder, even went into kidnapping. The girls never knew they were into a relationship with a hardened criminal, so when he was caught, he always put the blame on the girls. Those innocent girls had to serve his sentence. He was finally caught because a girl realised his intentions and reported him to the cops. He's in Florida now, serving a 99 year jail term. Now you see why I don't want to tell Willow about Robert? Sam? Sam?"

I had completely zoned out during his description of Robert. I felt like the world was spinning uncontrolably. Everything was a blur.

No. No, no, no. This can't be possible. Ryder's cousin is Robert. My Robert.

The last thing I saw was darkness.

***

When I woke up, I was in a dark room. A hospital room. I was wearing a blue hospital dress and lying down in a bed. I looked to my right and saw him. His head was bowed down in his hands.

"Ry?" My voice came out tiny and raspy. Like a whisper.

He looked at me and quickly stood up from his chair. He rushed over to me and engulfed me in a tight hug, burying his head in the crook of my neck.