Jim's POV
I see Amelie's eyes opening gently as the sun's rays interrupt the gloom of the room. My index finger gracefully runs through the straight line of her spine, caressing the bare skin of her back. For once and finally, I can wake up next to the woman I love with all my heart. It is one sort of relief that in reality has no definition, I feel complete and without the need of anything else.
"Good morning," she says with a sleepy, soft tone of voice.
"Good morning," I reply, removing a strand of hair from her face. "What a nice way to wake up."
Amelie giggles a little bit, but nods her head slightly in agreement. "Yes indeed. I missed waking up to you how things would usually be."
I smile incessantly, gently caressing her head.
She continues, "Should we go have breakfast? Our typical good, old Nutella crêpes from Trocadero?" Biting her lip, she gives me a sort of flirty look as I chuckle and nod my head.
"Yes," I state, full of honest enthusiasm. "Lets go."
I see Amelie rolling on the bed, getting out of the covers and putting her navy blue, silk sleeping robe on. Not much after she ties the knot, I roll over the bed. But as I sit up, I immediately notice that something with me is not right. It is my stomach feeling way worse than it did yesterday. And the problem is that now I hardly doubt it is the effect something bad I ate two days ago, this is feeling much much worse.
"Jim?" asks Amelie, approaching me and talking in a doubtful tone of voice at my sudden lack of movement. "Are you okay?"
As she looks into my eyes, I shake myself back from my brain to my wife standing in front of me, and smile. "I'm fine, sweetheart," I lie. "You go change."
She nods twice at the sight of my smile, and caressing my shoulder walks away after a gentle stroke on my cheek.
Yes, I lied. I figure there's no need to worry Amelie after everything she's been through these couple of months. She doesn't need any more negative events occurring in her life, and so well...I believe this shouldn't really be anything very dangerous, maybe horrifyingly weakening and painful but nothing entirely risky. It can wait until we get home and I can manage to attend the doctor without worrying my wife. At the end of the day, it's just my stomach, right?
Carefully pushing myself up from the bed to my feet, I place a hand gently on my core as I feel it drop, and manage to walk normally towards the drawers from where I choose black pants, a blue-buttoned shirt, and a sweater.
A few minutes later, Amelie walks out the bathroom done and ready to leave—a smile implanted on her face—and I smile at her as she approaches me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest.
"Should we leave?" she asks with a warm voice.
I mildly take a strand of hair from her face and place it behind her ear, leaning forward and kissing her nose as she looks up to me. "Yes," I state with a hidden painful smile. "Lets go."
Colin's POV
"You have five minutes." The harsh and threatening voice of the strict policeman sounds in my ears as he locks me up on a small, guarded room with a phone.
I am finally receiving my right to make a phone call...a phone call that in reality won't be very nice, but a continuation of the plans that I have for this idiotic couple. I am lastly putting a final end to this stupid relationship of Jim and Amelie. I cannot let it happen any longer, even when I know Jim shall die sooner than expected because of the poison taking effect on his body at last. My plan? To kill Amelie now that she's probably being worried and suffering about Jim's unusual symptoms. Then making Jim suffer because of Amelie's death. Perfect way of making them both suffer and then finally disappear from this world forever. And yes—if you are wondering—I still have feelings for Amelie, but I rather have her being dead than alive with another man, especially that stupid and idiotic actor.
Without one moment of hesitation, and knowing that my five minutes of complete privacy to make a phone call are running out, I dial Karen's number and wait for an answer.
"Hello?" she states with a sort of confused voice after the third beep.
"Karen, it's me," rush sounding in my voice. "I need you to finish the work."
There is a slight pause for a moment, a pause that makes my bones burn and melt with anxiety as the ticking of the clock continues. I can just sense the puzzlement from Karen's side without even having to look into her eyes or analyze her foolish expression, something that just rages me in a way I can't even explain. I am pretty sure I am being pretty clear to her when I say 'I need you to finish the work.' Seriously, what else could it mean?! But hey, how can I be surprised...she's an idiot.
"O..kay? What do you mean?" she asks.
With no extra time to actually rant at her, I feel a certain and sudden coldness in my body with which I answer a simple, "I need you to kill Amelie." And a pause starts again.
"Oh," she speaks with a sort of devilish tone. "So you want me to do the enjoyable, villainous job now?"
I answer with a simply 'mmhhmmm' nodding my head through the phone without a moment of thinking.
"Finally," continues Karen with an undeniably excited and vile voice. "The job I'd always wanted to be assigned to do. You can be certain that the task will be done, I won't fail you on this one."
"You better not," I reply harshly. "And once you're done with that, you better find a way of taking me out of this cage."
Karen chuckles, showing more coldness in her heart than ever before since the first day I met her. "Certainly," she states. "Count on it."
And with those final and definite words, a sudden clicking sound interrupts my evil thoughts, and I violently hang up the phone.
"Time's up," says the policeman cold-bloodedly, tying my wrists together with a pair of handcuffs. "It is time for you to go back to your cell."
Jim's POV
Even with the hotel not very far away, it was not as easy to walk to Trocadero with a loud, 'feeling-fine' tone of voice, stable walking, and smile on my face as I expected. I sometimes rush out of the real world to think about whether I should tell Amelie how sick I'm feeling or not. Maybe it is not worth the worry, maybe it is...I have no idea. But all I know is that I don't want to fill her up with more things to be concerned about, make her sad, and bring her feelings all the way under the ground again.
I can listen to her sweet French voice speaking to the man on the crêpe stand over the loud chatting of the crowd admiring the beauty of the city view from Trocadero, especially of the magnificent tower. But I honestly can't keep my nauseated feelings controlled, even with the supposedly and normal-to-me delicious and mouth-watering smell of the typically-but-not-now yummy-looking Nutella crêpes Amelie is now holding in her hands.
As she passes one to me, I smile my best and try to hold the gagging to the back of my throat. I am starting to sweat, feel chills erupting all over my body...a fever; a pair of symptoms that are combined to make an energy-draining, single sign that is being added and honestly I don't like the way it's making this illness look.
"What's wrong?" Amelie asks curiously but a tad worried, as I didn't realize I was publicly showing a sick and uneasy expression.
"Oh...nothing," I reply with a weak smile. "Just thinking."
"About?"
I can't manage to come up with anything immediately, so an inevitable pause happens, putting me on an immediate spot I have to surely manage to leave rapidly.
"Just....j-just about everything that happened, and how mad I am at Colin still—and will always be—for everything he did to you. He doesn't even deserve to be alive now."
But Amelie doesn't say anything. I can just see her standing and looking at me from the corner of my eye as I stare forward. Why doesn't she say anything though? I wonder, and that's when I change my sight. When both of my tired and sick-looking eyes turn to my wife, she is staring at me with horror and terror on her face, as if I had said something really hurtful or scary...like if I had suddenly transformed into Colin's identical twin and was staring at her with his typical evil expression right now.
"W-what's....wrong?" I ask, suddenly worried and definitely confused. "Did I say—"
"Y-your eyes," she starts, terrified. "Jim...your sclera...it-it's....yellow."
I stay there, staring at her. "What?"
"Jim, I have to take you to a hospital immediately."
"No," I answer promptly. "No, Amelie. No hospitals. Just take me home, I'll solve everything there. I don't know any doctors here, and I feel a lot more comfortable with the doctors I do know back in L.A."
She stares at me for a moment, partially though not fully convinced. "But...but Jim this is no normal situation! I have to get you to a hospital n—"
"No!" I interrupt. "No, please. I feel fine, I don't want you to worry. Lets just go back home and we'll solve everything there. Once it's done I'll bring us back here, okay? I'll be fine....I promise."
Anything to erase the worry on my wife's eyes. I just made a promise I'm not sure if I'll be able to comply, even when I am indeed hopeful I'll be okay. Not everything in our destiny can be miserable, right? I don't think we deserve that.
"Jim....I—"
"Please," I interrupt again. "Lets just go home."
Amelie closes her eyes for a moment, sighing and finally looking back at me. "Alright. But NOW....lets leave now."
I nod twice, taking my wife by her hand as we start to walk back to the hotel together. But as my feet lightly take step by step on the Parisian pavement, I can't help but undeniably wonder in my head and get lost in one terrifying question....what in this world is happening to me?
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Hello!! I'm back! I am so sorry for the wait, this semester was really horrible with homework and projects. Since I'm out now, I'll be able to update faster! Thank you for reading!! The ending is not very far away....... ;)