Valeria Chambers
It's been three weeks since my last encounter with Joelle.
Three weeks since I was discharged from the hospital and had to get my leg stitched again. Unfortunately, this time the skin was torn apart, which left a nasty scar. The only way to address it was to bring the sides together and stitch them.
She still hasn't ruined my life completely. Maybe her threat was all words and no action.
Or what she did to me was only the beginning.
Maybe she was plotting my death for all I know.
God I hate her so much.
And I have a very strong feeling that she was the one who spiked my drink at that party. There was no doubt about that.
I still haven't talked to my mum about my memories, I really needed to know the truth and right now seemed like the perfect timing.
I grabbed my phone that was on my bedside table, dialled her number and waited for her to pick up. Throwing myself on my desk chair and looking up at the ceiling.
After a couple of rings, I heard her sweet motherly voice on the other end "hello? Val?"
I smiled at the mention of my nickname "hey mum, how are you today?"
What? Of course I wasn't gonna start without beating around the bush, I wanted to be polite and this was me being polite.
"I'm good honey, what about you? Missed talking to you. How's university? How's life?"
"I'm good too.. university is.. well as good as it gets. Um, I got a new job in an ice-cream shop actually." I began to explain.
"Oh my God that's awesome! I'm so proud of you habibti." She answered with a cheerful voice and I smiled even wider. I can't believe I haven't told her about that already.
"Thank you mum... I'm proud of me too."
I definitely wasn't gonna tell her about the chaos that has happened in my life or about Joelle and her threats. It'd only worry her and I didn't want that.
"Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
Now is my chance.
"Erm, yeah actually. I wanted to talk to you about something, which I think is kinda important."
She waited for me to elaborate , and I did "remember when I had that bus accident? The one that erased a part of my memory and you tried to bring it all back by telling me about my life before the accident?"
"Yeah I remember, why? Is there something wrong?"
I answered her with a question "did you tell me everything? Like even about my life back in England? You didn't leave anything out?"
She went silent for a moment "yes, I told you everything."
"Even about my friendship with Harry?"
I was met with silence.
I know she didn't. But I just couldn't wait anymore for her to confess.
"You remember him? How's that possible? What do you know about him?" She interrogated me after a minute, but she seemed to be on the verge of panicking.
She didn't tell me about Harry, she knew about him and she didn't even mention him during my entire life after the accident. She just proved all that by saying those words.
"He's my friend now. He's in the same university as mine. He was the one who reminded me about our past mum. Why didn't you tell me about him? Why didn't you tell me about my memories with him? That he was my only friend?" I was literally about to cry. I hated confronting my mum, but I needed to know. I have a right to know the truth.
"It's... It's complicated..." Stress was visible in her tone now as I shook my head to myself.
"I have all day and I need to know. I don't care how long it takes. I need an explanation, right now."
"I don't think it's-"
"Please. I already know one side of the story. I need to hear about your side of it."
She sighed before she finally gave in "you would always talk about him before the accident. How much you missed him and how much you wanted to see him. You even had a doll named after him. I lost contact with his mother when we arrived here and I thought it would be easier for you if you just forgot about him for good. I didn't know that you might meet him again in the future."
I furrowed my eyebrows the more she continued to explain.
"You used to mention wanting to marry him when you two reunited, which worried me a bit. You were just ten years old at the time, and it's possible for people to change their minds as they grow up. Not everyone shares the same desires when it comes to marriage, and I didn't want you to potentially marry someone who could turn out to be different from the person you knew in childhood. People can change Val, and not all changes lead to positive outcomes, even if you were once best friends. I had doubts that you'd ever forget about him and move on, you were so attached to him, and I didn't want you to feel this heartbreak when you realize he won't be there for you anymore."
I wanted to marry him? That's how much we were close?
"You don't know that. You said it, I was only ten! I didn't even know what I really wanted! And he's not who you think he is, he's a good person and all he's ever done was be there for me. He's my friend. My good friend." I told her, my patience was wearing off slowly.
"Maybe he's good now. What if he's not who you think he is? What if he was keeping his dark side from you just to get to know you and then he'd show you what he's been keeping from you? Val you can't trust him, or anyone for that matter, not even your internet friend, Rebecca. You can't trust anyone. Stay as far away from them as possible. You hear me?"
"Then who am I supposed to trust if not them? I have no one here! I have nowhere to go! I don't know anyone else but them." I replied as I stood up and started pacing the length of my room, running my fingers through my hair as I breathed heavily.
"Valeria, it's important to trust yourself and be self-reliant. You cannot count on anyone else to rescue you if you ever find yourself in a difficult situation. This is the time for you to embrace independence, even though I was there for you during your school days, I am not able to support you in the same way right now."
She used my full name, not my nickname.
That means she's dead serious right now.
She doesn't know that I am literally in a difficult situation.
I do trust myself, but I can't live in fear for the rest of my life here that they might hurt me. I don't think they would ever do that to me. I can't even imagine it.
"I know what I'm doing mum. I'm not a child anymore. I can take care of myself and I know what's best for me." I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose with my thumb and pointer finger, closing my eyes.
"I really hope you know what you're doing young lady. And I'm only saying this because I love you and I care about you, and I know what's best for you, okay?"
I nod, even though she can't see me "yeah I know. But you should've told me about Harry before I came back here. He remembers me and I don't even remember any moment of us y'know."
"I'm sorry that I kept that from you, but it was for your own good. I would've told you if it were important."
Wait. Hold up.
"Important? Mum he was my childhood best friend! How is that not important?!" Yup. I've completely lost it now.
"Friends come and go Val, he was not going to be friends with you again after all this time away from each other. It wouldn't be right."
"But we are friends now! How could you say that! How is that not right?!" Nope I can't take this anymore.
"You're not friends. You barely even know him."
"Don't say that, you don't even know him like I do."
Do I really know him though?
She huffed as he finally said "do whatever you please in your life Valeria Chambers. But don't come crying to me when things go south and you'd know the ugly truth."
"No please tell me about this horrible truth. Enlighten me cause apparently I can't trust anyone and this truth will definitely make my years here way much better than they already are." I snapped.
Note the sarcasm.
"I'm not gonna tell you the truth. You figure it out by yourself." She snapped back.
What?
"This is for your own good. I was just trying to look out for you. Anyway, I have to go now. Call me tomorrow okay?"
Before I could say anything else, the line went off.
She just hung up on me, didn't she.
I looked at the empty black screen with wide eyes and mouth agape.
Unbelievable.
I sat back on my desk chair with a groan and threw my phone on my bed.
I looked at the glowing numbers of the clock only to see that it was seven in the afternoon now.
I think it'd be a good idea to do some research on family medicine on my laptop for next lesson. You know, diseases and diagnosis and all that. Just to get my mind off of that stupid call.
To say the least, I was exhausted. But I literally haven't done anything all day besides calling my mum, sitting on my desk chair to study and laying on my bed.
The plan of distracting myself from over thinking worked for a few hours, but my shoulders were beginning to cramp from sitting for too long and I was even more tired than I was before.
My head was pounding since this morning till now, but I refused to take any painkillers because I didn't want my body to get used to them.
And I kinda suck at swallowing pills.
Yes, I'm a twenty years old woman who has a hard time swallowing medical pills.
Of course not drug pills.
Although medical pills can be drug pills if misused and the person became addicted.
My thoughts were interrupted when I glanced at the digital clock beside my laptop on the desk, only five minutes had passed.
"Ugghh when will this day be over already?!" I muttered to myself.
My throat ached a bit when I said that. Probably because I hadn't used my vocal cords since that call.
Weird.
I shut my laptop carefully, not being able to look anymore at the bright screen in front of me.
I stood up quickly, only to grab the chair and lean on it when I started seeing black spots and my head was feeling heavy, my ears were ringing so loud, blocking any other noise.
Oh and I have only eaten an apple today. That explains me feeling dizzy and almost fainting right now.
When my vision went back to normal as well as my hearing and gained my balance again, I walked over to the light switch on the other side of my room and turned the lights off.
I couldn't stand bright lights today for some reason.
I'll just take a short nap. Maybe that'll help.
Now I just have to make my way back to my bed.
Why didn't I think of grabbing a flashlight before turning off the damn lights?
I was halfway through my room now and I didn't want to go back and turn the lights back on, so I continued walking in the direction of my bed depending on my muscle memory.
Bad idea.
I hit something hard and ended up toppling over and falling face first on the floor with a loud thud, then got crushed by the chair that I accidentally knocked and made me fall down.
I didn't have the energy to move it away from me so I just stayed there laying on my stomach and the chair over my back.
I made an audible "ouch" as I breathed sharply through the pain and closed my eyes.
Great. My head was hurting and now my zygomatic bone too.
At least it's the hardest bone in the face so I don't think it's broken, just badly bruised.
Two minutes later, I heard two knocks on my door along with the muffled voice of Rebecca "Val, is everything alright?"
I couldn't speak. My lungs felt too weak to do anything but breathe for me.
"Alright I'm coming in!"
My door swung open and the lights were back on. I just groaned as I adjusted to the bright light that invaded my closed eyelids.
"Oh my God are you okay? What happened?" Rebecca's voice was laced with concern as she made her way over and removed the chair from above me.
She turned me around slowly so I was now laying on my back. My eyes still squinted shut as she helped me up to my feet and sat me on the edge of my bed.
She gasped out when I peeked though my squinted eyes to see her looking at my face.
I was breathing normally again and I said through a one-sided smile, not being able to move my left cheek muscle "is this one of the reactions you learned to keep the patient calm even if the injury was so bad? Did you not study bedside manners?"
She just shook her head at me with a disappointed look on her face "shut up and don't move. I'll be right back."
I watched her leave my room then come back after a few minutes with a bag of frozen peas and placed it on the side of my face.
"Ow!" I flinched but she held my head tightly and pressed the bag more on my face before she replaced her hand with mine. She literally gabbed my limp hand and placed it over the freezing bag so it wouldn't fall.
"What the hell were you thinking? Care to explain what happened?" Rebecca said from her place beside me on the bed.
"I'll tell you if you turn the lights off. It's too bright." I told her, but she only furrowed her eyebrows.
"It's only a small white lightbulb. I'd say there's not enough light in here if you wanted to study. Did you hit your head that hard or something? Have a concussion maybe?"
I shook my head, but regretted it later on when the pain hit me again and I hissed "no, it was that bright before I hit my head. And now my head's hurting so much I can't see, I'm kinda feeling cold and my throat is sore. Now please can you turn it off?"
She stood up with a huff and started to make her way towards the light switch.
She turned off the lights and came back to me. The only light now was coming from the corridor outside my room.
"Talk. Right now." She ordered with a stern face.
I sighed, cleared my throat, removed the now melting bag of peas from my face and placed it on my bedside table. Wincing a bit as I did so.
What? I started to feel cold from it.
I hug my legs close to my chest with her hand on my back moving comfortably, I did not dare to look at her "I wanted to take a nap so I turned off the lights and hit the chair on my way to the bed. It's no big deal, Okay?"
As much as I want to tell her about that phone call, I just can't. I think I need some time to process it.
"Don't roll your eyes at me Val, and it is a big deal."
How did she know?
"You said you have a sore throat and a blinding headache, and you're cold." She started analyzing the information that I just gave her.
She thought for a moment as I just stared at her before she raised her other hand and placed it on my forehead "oh my God you're burning up. You're sick Val. How long have you had this headache and cold?"
I closed my eyes "this morning I guess. But I am not sick. I haven't been sick in two years. I have a strong immune system. Plus, I'm a doctor, and doctors don't get sick. They heal others."
Rebecca pursed her lips tightly "yeah but you're human with a shitty immune system right now and your white blood cells aren't working like they should be, too lazy to kick some germs' ass. I don't care how long you haven't been sick. You are now and you're staying in bed. Do you have any allergic reactions to ibuprofen?"
"Uh I don't know, I've never taken it or any painkillers in my life." I answered honestly.
She furrowed her eyebrows "how do you deal with period pain then? Or when you have a fever?"
I shrugged "I just deal with the pain. It's not that bad for me, I guess. And for the fever, I usually take Tylenol syrup. I don't swallow pills. But like I told you, I haven't been sick in forever."
Becky sighed "alright. Well we don't have any syrup medicines scattered around here. I'm gonna give you paracetamol, it's the safest one in case you were allergic. But I can go to the pharmacy and bring that. It won't take long."
She stood up but I stopped her from walking any further "no wait! I can try and take paracetamol. If I couldn't take it then you can go and get me Tylenol or elixir paracetamol, okay?"
She nodded her head reluctantly, her eyes filled with concern "I'll go get it. Stay right here. Don't want you to fall again."
She disappeared again before she came back with a white pill in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
I took the pill and the glass of water from her and placed the pill on my tongue, tasting the bitter taste and immediately pouring the water into my mouth.
After a few tries of triggering my gag reflex and almost choking on the water, I finally got it down my sore throat with tears in my eyes.
"Finally. Took you long enough." Rebecca exhaled as she looked at my watery eyes.
I coughed a bit and wiped my mouth "shut up Becks. I told you I've never taken a pill before."
Becky sighed out "I know. Sorry."
She asked after a few minutes "what did you eat today?"
I shrugged as I made my way under the comfortable warm covers "an apple."
She waited for me to continue, but I didn't say anything else "just an apple?! I'm really surprised you haven't fainted yet."
My pillow felt so soft under my head "yeah about that.. I almost did today. Felt dizzy."
"I think it's a cold. You need to rest as much as possible." She instructed.
"But I have work to do, studying and going to work, Becks." I pouted.
"Not today nor tomorrow. You don't. You're staying here and you will not leave my sight."
I widened my eyes with a smile "that means I'm going with you to your lectures?"
She squinted at me with a head shake "of course not. If I'm not here, Jessica would be. And if neither of us are here, you stay put and don't move until one of us is back."
I asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at her "what if I need to go to the bathroom?"
She twirled a golden lock around her finger "you want us to find you laying on the bathroom floor unconscious?"
"I'm not gonna faint okay? I'll eat more."
"Damn right you will. Now get some sleep-"
We both turned to look at the person who knocked on my still open door.
"What are you guys doing here? Why's Valeria in bed? It's only seven thirty." Jessica chimed in as she made her way towards one of the chairs and sat on it, facing both of us.
Time is not moving at all.
Rebecca answered "Val's sick. High fever and all. Oh, do you mind bringing the thermometer please? It's outside on the kitchen counter but forgot to bring it with me."
"Yeah of course, I'll get it."
We all waited till the beeping of the device in my mouth stopped and took it out to see the number.
Rebecca read it out "38.7° Celsius. It's really high. We have to check it again after half an hour, okay?"
I just nodded as I felt my eyelids getting heavier.
"Get some sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."
That was the last thing I heard before I drifted off into a deep sleep.
✷✷✷
Rebecca Williams
I stood up and made my way towards her desk chair before I sat on it. The same one she tripped over.
I wasn't worried about Valeria. It's just a cold and she's strong enough to fight it.
But I definitely didn't like that nasty purple bruise on the side of her face. I should get her some carpets to put on this hardwood floor in case she wanted to be clumsy again.
I glanced at her as she slept peacefully, but I couldn't help but wonder what she was dreaming about.
Hopefully not the same nightmare that had me running to her room when she was screaming bloody murder in her sleep.
I wonder what she's gone through in her life to get her screaming in fear like that.
My thoughts were interrupted by Jessica's voice "so what's for dinner? Joelle said she wanted to come over tonight."
I glanced at her, she had her arms folded over her black robe, she was probably naked beneath it, but that's better than nothing at least "whatever leftovers we have. And tell her it's not a good time for dinner with us. I really don't need more headaches today. Plus, someone needs to go shopping. I did it last time. It's your turn now."
She asked, pointing at Valeria "what about her turn to do the shopping?"
I rolled my eyes and sighed "yeah 'cause she's in perfect shape to go shopping right now and definitely not sick at all."
"I went shopping once when I was sick. You didn't say anything, Rebecca. She's got legs to walk and hands to carry the bags, does she not?" She shot back.
I answered, rolling my eyes and feeling kinda annoyed by her presence, already knowing where this was heading "well she's resting right now and I don't want to go shopping at this hour, all the good stuff would be sold out by now. I'll do the shopping tomorrow, okay? Just eat whatever we have in the fridge today and again, tell Joelle not to come here. We barely have food for both of us. Valeria won't wake up till tomorrow."
Inhuman Jessica. That's what I call her. She literally doesn't care about anyone but herself.
The black eyed girl shook her head with a huff and made her way towards the kitchen "I'll order a small pizza for myself. You eat the leftovers."
See? Inhuman.
I sighed as I stood up and walked back towards my room. I collected the books I wanted to study for tonight then made a beeline to the kitchen.
I opened the fridge and found some leftover mac 'n cheese from yesterday. I pulled the plate out and took a fork out from the drawer. I put the plate in the microwave a bit and waited for it to heat up because I didn't like it cold.
One hand held the books and the other held the plate as I made my way back to Valeria's room.
I placed everything on her study desk before I made a quick trip back to my room to retrieve my phone.
Once I settled down in front of her desk, I checked my phone to see four new messages from Louis. I read them quickly;
From Boobear 🤪
-"hey babe.."
-"you awake?"
-"missed talking to you :'("
-"I know it hasn't been two hours since we last talked but I miss you so much babe.."
I answered, smiling to myself;
To Boobear 🤪
-"Yeah Boo I'm up dw.."
-"Missed you toooo"
-"What are you doing right now?"
I immediately got a reply, as if he had been waiting for my messages;
From Boobear 🤪
-" I'm in my room, supposed to be studying but can't stop thinking about you :("
Awe I bet he was still thinking about our time together, when he had to stay quiet while I gave him that mind-blowing blowjob in my room and everyone was asleep, up until Val screamed bloody murder when she was having a panic attack.
I pushed the call button and he answered immediately, he seemed kind of out of breath "hey babes, talk to me, I missed your voice."
Smirking, I answered "hello Boobear, what's got you all panting like that?"
"I'm just doing some pushups love, nothing to worry about. Although I'd love for you to be here watching me, or better yet? Doing other intimate excercises to - wait, hold on a minute."
"what is it?" I asked curiously, giggling at his attempt to get me all flustered, which was kinda working. Twirling a strand of my hair around my finger and biting my lip, I began imagining how hot he'd look right now.
"Ughh Harry just texted me for the millionth time today asking me if I could ask you about Valeria. He hasn't seen her since the last time he saw her, apparently in the university's garden. I think he's finally showing some emotions, that heartless twat."
I rolled my eyes with a huff, ignoring his comment about Harry "She's been fine, up until today. I think she has a cold. And tell him if he's that concerned about her maybe he could ask her for her phone number instead of bugging you Boo..."
"alright love.."
They way he added "love" at the end made me feel butterflies in my stomach. Even after all this time together I still feel this spark of love whenever he's around or when I talk to him.
I kept replaying that same word said by his beautiful voice over and over again, smiling to myself with flushed cheeks like a lovestruck idiot.
I really can't explain how much I love him.
But then there's Harry. Louis' best friend who's always around.
This dude needs to get a life for real.
And he should ask Valeria for her number if he's that concerned about her, right?
Louis was back on the phone, probably after texting Harry "he's asking if it's that bad. And he told me to sod off with an eye roll emoji when I told him that he should get her number. How should I respond?"
He's his friend but needs my help talking about this stuff. I can't help but find it cute.
I told him with a smirk playing on my lips "tell him it's not that bad. She's resting now-"
His rambling voice was heard, cutting me off "you gotta help me out babe. He's spamming my fucking messages like a bloody lunatic. Please tell me what to do before he drives me insane."
I answered, raising my eyebrows "slow down, take a deep breath. I'll tell you just.. chill."
"I can't just chill, blondie. I need to know now, or I swear to God I will keep nagging Louis about it until he's gone mad." Harry's deep -clearly angry- voice chimed in.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at the screen, reading that a third number has been added to the call.
I huffed out "Harry. It's not that bad I promise. I-"
"Then put her on. I need to know that from her. I need to hear her say that she's fine." He cuts me off.
"She's resting now H, I can't wake her up. She's under medication." I answered as I heard him sigh.
"Just... Just let me talk to her when she wakes up, please."
I shook my head despite knowing that he couldn't see me "no, I won't. You can ask her for her own number when you see her. I'm not gonna let you talk to her over my phone. Just pull your shit together, grow some balls and ask her. She won't scream at you or hate you for that, you know."
Harry just muttered a few mysterious words before he hung up, I looked at the screen again and saw that Louis was still there "just ignore him Lou, he doesn't want to admit that he desperately wants to talk to her."
Louis let out a breathe "I'll try. Anyway... I missed you babe. Can you come over or are you busy? I really wanna see your beautiful face, and maybe do that intimate excercise I was tellin' ya about. Y'know hearing you say that to Harry kinda turned me on. I love it when you're all bossy."
I could practically hear him smirking right now.
I smiled fondly at his words as they once again brought redness to my cheeks "I missed you too, so much. But as much as I want to do that intimate excercise and boss you around, I can't just leave Val here all alone, and I know you have lots of studying to do too."
"You know she has Jessica with her, right?" He tried. I appreciated him trying.
"Lou, I can't leave her with Jessica, not after what happened the last time she encountered Joelle. You know, she's on Joelle's side. Remember? I don't really trust her alone with her or with anyone else right now." I tried to convince him.
He sighed "yeah, too bad. And you're absolutely right.. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, love?"
He's so understanding.
What did I do to deserve him?
"See you tomorrow babe, night Boobear."
"Night love, dream of us." He chuckled softly.
"Louu stoopp!" I couldn't help the blush that spread up on my face and giggling like a teenage girl.
"I love you, Becks."
"I love you too, Tommo."
That was the last thing we both said before I hung up.
He never hung up on me. One time we literally just stayed there without saying a word, listening to each others' soft breaths because neithe rod us would hang up.
I looked back at Valeria's sleeping figure and I knew I was not gonna sleep tonight.
I had to make sure that she was gonna be okay in the morning.
I sighed out and glanced at the clock that read eight PM. I flicked on the small desk lamp then opened my book and notebook before I started writing and studying.
This will be a long night.
****
Dictionary:
Zygomatic bone: a paired, irregular bone that defines the anterior and lateral portions of the face. In other words, it's the cheekbone.
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A/N: helloooo!! Missed you guys!! Sorry for the long wait but here's an update! (5000+ words to be exact) :D
Here's Harry getting restless and annoying Louis lol
Pics or it never happened, right? ;)
Kinda wanted to write Becks' pov since the first time I started writing ツ
Tell me what you think!
And don't forget to vote!!! :p
Happy December! :D
See ya after another 100 light years :')
Lots of love <33