CHAPTER 39
The hospital doors burst open as Yuri and Brenda, in a stretcher, were wheeled in by the medics as doctors and nurses huddled to them. Both girls were bloody and unconscious.
Julia and Tasha, along with Toby, Summer, Kristen and Amber, could only stand and watch as Yuri and Brenda where brought into two different rooms to get treatment. All were unsure of whether they made it here in time to save both of those girls' lives.
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Julia and Tasha were invited to another room to get their wounds treated. After the nurses left, Summer entered the room. She went to Tasha and handed her a bottle of water and a sandwich she bought at the hospital canteen
"Eat something Tasha" Summer said, "With the things you went through, you need to refuel" then handed the same food items to the quiet woman next to Tasha, "You too"
Julia took the food items and gave a thankful nod.
Summer took a chair and sat in front of the two women, "The police are investigating the incident as we speak. Toby, Kristen and Amber are giving them the details" she said as the two girls quietly ate and listened, "There's no news about Yuri and Brenda yet but the doctors are trying their best"
After a quiet moment, Tasha bowed her head and began sobbing, "I can't lose her... I just can't..."
Summer reached and gently squeezed Tasha's hand, "You're not gonna lose Yuri. That girl is tough, it'll take more than a few bullets to get her down" she comforted her friend, but honestly speaking, Summer's very worried as well. Even she isn't certain whether Yuri could make it. The gun was shot so close to her body and the amount of blood that was spilled on that floor was horrifying.
Julia sighed deeply and spoke with her head down, "With what happened, I'm sure you think of Brenda as some kind of heartless monster but please believe me when I tell you she isn't. She's just a girl yearning for love and found it at the wrong place."
Tasha glanced at Julia with teary-eyes as she listened
"My parents worked at one of Brenda's family farms. They died in a fire when I was 8, Brenda and her family took me in and I worked as Brenda's personal caretaker. We basically grew up together so I know for a fact that the Brenda you all knew isn't the real her" Julia said, showing a small smile as she recalled her past days with Brenda and their years of growing up together, "Brenda is kind, caring, smart and passionate. When I was sad and deeply missing my parents, she would embrace me tight and smile at me so warm and bright, I'd forget that I was sad in the first place. She has her way of making you feel special and loved despite not knowing what being loved felt like"
Tasha stared at this girl she barely knew but the way she talked about Brenda. It was heart-felt and touching. She could feel it deep in her heart how special Brenda is to this person.
Julia let out a deep sighed as she continued to tell her story, "Despite being wealthy, Brenda was very lonely. Her parents were rarely at home and when they are, they just keep fighting 'cause both of them were having affairs with co-workers. She never really felt what it's like to be loved and cared for by someone and when Ricky showed her how it felt like. She got obsessed with it and when he left and took the only version of love Brenda knew, she had to blame someone else."
Julia finally turned to Tasha and meet her gaze, "I was supposed to take care of her but I failed to notice that she lost so much of herself when Ricky left her that she had made a new version of herself to overcome the pain. I was blind. I didn't see that she was hurting so much that she ended up hurting all of you"
Julia stood and knelt in front of Tasha, head down asking for forgiveness, "I'm so very sorry for everything Brenda had done to you and to Yuri and to everyone but please, don't blame her for this. Blame me instead, I failed at taking care of her."
Tasha stared at the kneeling girl in front of her. Here's this girl that has so much love for Brenda that she willingly swallowed her pride and begged for forgiveness in her behalf. It was remarkable to think that love was this powerful and it made her realize that she grew up surrounded by people who willingly gave her the love she needed but refused to accept while Brenda grew longing for love that people refused to give her. Out of the two of them, she was the lucky one.
Tasha took Julia's hand and pulled her to a stand. She looked at the other girl face to face and showed a calm expression, "I forgive her..."
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After the police had left, Toby, Kristen and Amber sat at the waiting area. Exhaustion from the events earlier finally caught up to them.
"So what did Uncle Jeremy said when he found out about all of the shit I did?" Toby glanced at her sister sitting on his right side
"He said he wanted to talk to you one on one" Kristen admitted, "He wants to hear everything from you first and he promised that this is between the three of us for the time being"
Toby sighed and nodded then sat quietly.
Kristen's gaze shifted from her brother to the girl sitting beside him. It didn't escape Kristen that Toby and Amber still had some unfinished business to talk about. She and Amber already patched things up earlier, it's time for her brother to do the same.
Kristen stood and stretched out her arms, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom for a bit" she said then left the two alone for some private time
After Kristen left, Amber glanced at Toby and spoke, "I'm sorry Toby for not hearing you out first" she said, "but I understand now why you did those things. You wanted to protect me."
Toby showed a smile, "Not only that. I did it because I love you and honestly speaking, I would do it again if I have to. All for you" he said with a hopeful tone, "Do...you think we can get back together? Please? I want you back."
Amber stared at Toby, "I still love you Toby and I'm thankful for everything you did for me but..." she was quick to look away, "I don't think it'll be right for us to be together"
"But why? You still love me and I still love you, so why can't we be together?"
"Because looking back at our relationship now, we relied so much on each other for happiness that without knowing it, we were losing our individual selves. That wasn't the love we both entered in a relationship for" Amber explained with teary eyes, "Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful that you were protecting me when you did what Brenda blackmailed you to do but that's just it, you were willing to hurt your friends just for me and that's not you Toby. You're a good guy who is kind and caring and wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone you care for"
Toby looked at the girl with a heavy heart. He knew just from the look in her eyes that whatever Amber decided to do about their broken relationship, it's final.
"And to be honest, If I was in your position and Brenda blackmailed me to hurt my friends just so I could protect you. I would do it in a heartbeat." She confessed, her voice trembling, "Our love story was supposed to be that we love and care for each other but we also care for our friends and families as well as ourselves, that we would grow together but grow more as individuals and that didn't happen. Instead it became a selfish love with the aim of pleasing each other and making each other happy no matter what the cause and I don't want that. Because if the time comes that I grew tired of doing things just to make you happy, I would end up hating you and I don't ever want that to happen."
Toby bowed his head as tears stained his cheeks. As much as it hurts to admit, Amber was right. They were looking at everything with rose-tinted glasses that they neglected other things until it became too big to handle and started affecting everyone around them. I guess for them, Love just wasn't enough.
Toby turned to Amber and showed a warm smile despite his tearful eyes, "Thank you Amber, for loving me and making me feel so special"
Tears finally left Amber's eyes. With a heavy heart, she leaned forward and embraced the boy who hugged her back, "You'll always have a place in my heart Toby. No matter what"
"I love you" Toby whispered in her ear
"I love you too"
With their last "I love you" and a profound respect for each other. Amber and Toby mutually ended their relationship for good.
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Yuri stood beside the corner, disbelief at the sight in front of her. Doctors with bloody hands and nursed with different equipment huddled around her bloody, unconscious body and that fact that she was seeing them with her own eyes was too much.
"Incredible isn't it? But also kind of creepy" a female voice commented from behind
Yuri turned and saw Kaley standing behind her, showing a bright and happy smile with hair tied in a loose braid and wearing a plain white dress, looking as beautiful as the last time she saw her.
"Kaley..." Yuri couldn't believe her eyes. She was quick to go to Kaley and give her the biggest embrace she could muster
Yuri slightly pulled away and looked at the girl in front of her, "Is it really you?"
"Of course it is silly! Who else would it be?" Kaley giggled, "I missed you so much Yuri"
"I missed you too..." Yuri replied as tears fell from her eyes
"You're such a crybaby sometimes" Kaley teased as she gently wiped away the tears from Yuri's cheek, "you have no idea how much I missed touching your face like this"
Despite the excitement of seeing Kaley again, Yuri was quick to realized things. She let go of Kaley and took a step back
"What is it?" Kaley looked with confusion
"You died Kaley" Yuri said, "How are you here?"
Kaley didn't say anything. Instead she slowly looked at that version of Yuri that was lying on the bed being treated by doctors
Yuri followed her gaze and what Kaley wanted to say was clear as day, "You here because of me?"
"Those gunshots weren't light Yuri" Kaley admitted, "You were lucky you still made it to the hospital"
Yuri sat on the floor as the realization hit her, "so you're here because I'm dying?"
Kaley didn't reply. Instead she sat next to Yuri, "Do you know that I was watching over you?" she said, "I saw everything you did since the day I left you. I saw you mourn for me and it was so heart-wrenching. You cried so much and just refused to care for anything at all"
Yuri looked at Kaley with a soft expression. So she was right, Kaley had always been around her.
"Admittedly, I wanted to smack some sense into you during that time but I figured, you need to experience the full package of the pain of losing someone before you could bounce back. You have no idea how much I tried to embrace you and wipe away your tears when you cried your heart out. How much I wanted to take away the very pain I inflicted on you but I couldn't"
Kaley sighed, "I also watched you bounce back and try to gain control of your life again. How you entered a new university and studied well, how you made new friends and had fun with them and how you met a new girl and fell in love again" she glanced at Yuri, who caught her gaze, and flashed her a smile.
Yuri smiled back, "You saw everything that happened to me after you left. With all the things that I did, did it make you proud?"
"So very much! You've grown so much and I'm happy I get to see that."
The sweet reunion was cut short when Kaley suddenly stood.
"What's wrong?" asked Yuri, getting on her feet as well
"It's time" Kaley simply said, then turned to Yuri and reached out her hand, "It's your call. Do you want to go with me? Or do you want to stay?"
Yuri looked at Kaley's hand then at her friends who was anxiously waiting. Then her gaze went to one of the most important girls in her life, Tasha who looked so worried about her.
Which is it? Will Yuri go with her first love? Or will she stay with her present love?
Yuri closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Memories of the girl she chose to be with flashed before her eyes.
Yuri reached and held Kaley's hand as white light shone brightly around them, engulfing both her and Kaley until nothing but brightness could be seen.
Yuri had made her decision.