Two months later
"So Jesse said we could hang out later and have a study group. I mean nobody can wrap their heads around these... Fourier transforms", Marley stuck her tongue out like the topic was going to make her sick as she chattered on "... And it would be great if we could get it done before Sunday because I have to go see my sister, it's her birthday on Monday and we planned a trip to Orlando... I mean we've been planning it forever but we've never actually gone, you know. Can you believe it? She's an even bigger procrastinator than I am... But then again, we're very competitive in everything, since we were born. My mother says..."
Maya shot me an alarmed wide-eyed look over Marley's bright red ponytail and we had shared enough of those over the past month when we all started taking the same elective together and met the delightful and outgoing Marley. This particular look meant, 'I can't believe she hasn't taken a breath yet'.
I sent Maya another look over Marley's head, she was about 5 feet tall so it was quite convenient for us. Mine said, I knowww....
We all got to the parking lot and stopped abruptly; this was where we usually branched off to our respective cars. Maya and I had moved into a new apartment off campus together and sometimes we came to school in her car or mine, but not today, as we had a bunch of classes we didn't offer together.
"So where are we going to eat? Ellie, can I ride with you?" Marley asked sweetly
I looked at Maya in alarm. I was so not in the mood for Marley's bright and chipper yammering tonight. I had been feeling kind of low lately; and in as much as I tried to push the dark feelings away, they kept coming back with vengeance. And to top it all off, I had scored a B in a test during the week; my lowest grade in a long time.
Don't get me wrong, Marley was awesome and funny and I loved hanging out with her. We usually got dinner after class on Thursdays but today, I just needed some peace and quiet solitude. Wallowing in my thoughts and sorrows sure wasn't healthy, but I had to let it out sometime, or else it would just well up in me until I lashed out, and that wouldn't be a pretty sight.
Maya understood everything perfectly, without me having to say a word.
"Umm... Marley", she snaked her arm around Marley's back "I think Ellie has a pretty important paper she needs to work on tonight. You know what; you and I should get dinner. Then we could go get some drinks at the place Brett Thomas usually hangs out... It'll be fun"
Marley's green eyes sparkled to life at the thought of that... Brett Thomas was the college's QB and her ultimate crush. "Oh yeah, sounds great!" then she looked at me apologetically "That's if Ellie doesn't feel left out"
I waved my hand at her and gave her a smile. "Me? No no... I'll be fine. You girls go have fun and I want to hear all the deets later". I even managed a wink.
"Are you sure?" Marley bit her lip, not wanting to offend me. She was so nice.
"Of course", Maya swooped in "Ellie wouldn't like that kind of scene anyway"
I nodded, trying to assure Marley.
"Okay then", she agreed slowly, then perked up like fireworks on the fourth of July "Can we go to my dorm first, Maya? I have to change and freshen up if Brett's going to be there!"
Her excitement was almost contagious. Almost.
"Yeah, sure", Maya smiled at her "We can't have you looking any less than sensational"
"Alright then, see you later Ells", Marley said to me and turned in the direction of Maya's car
"Bye", I called out to her then mouthed to Maya, "Thank you"
She nodded at me. "Anytime", she mouthed back and then gave me a hug before she departed with Marley.
With that, I was all alone. I heaved out a not entirely weary sigh and made the short walk to my Sedan. I got in and started my car up, and in a few minutes I was on the road, driving down to our shared apartment. It was nice and trendy enough for Maya's tastes, and cosy enough for mine. What made it even more perfect was the fact that it was ten minutes away from campus and wasn't nearly as noisy as the dorms. Finding that apartment with Maya had been one of the bright spots in my otherwise bleak return to college. It gave me a sense of relief at least that Noah didn't know where I was staying anymore. Well, I shouldn't have been worried about that, seeing as he was thousands of miles away.
Like anytime my thoughts betrayed me and strayed to Noah, my mood immediately darkened. It had been two months and I thought I would get over him, stop thinking about him... but for the life of me, I just couldn't. I tried to keep myself extremely busy to get my mind off him, but whenever I had a few quiet moments to myself, like clockwork my mind always strayed back to him. His beautiful hazel eyes, his frighteningly gorgeous smile, those blonde locks I longed to feel between my fingers once again, the way his eyes lit up when he looked at me like I was the most important thing in the world...
I didn't know I was so far gone until I felt the cold splash of a tear on my thigh exposed by the shorts I had been wearing. I immediately chided myself, shaking my head at how pathetic I must look... But then again, nobody was there to look at me.
I cleared my throat and tried to get myself in check, focusing on the road in front of me instead. I had to be stronger than this.
I made it to my apartment in a few minutes and wasted no time in popping last night's pasta dish into the microwave to get heated up. It had been a long day and I was starving. Our new apartment had a lovely flat screen TV and I collapsed on the sofa, propping my feet up on the coffee table and decided to catch something on Netflix before I got to work on today's assignments.
I was two episodes into Fuller House, my dinner gobbled down and dishes put away when I heard a slight knocking on the door. I sat upright and turned off the TV, my brow wrinkling... We weren't expecting anyone. When I didn't answer immediately, the knocking became more insistent.
I got up and rolled my eyes as a thought came to mind, it had to be Frank our neighbour in 3B down the hall. He had developed quite the crush (obsession) with Maya and always found an excuse to pop by unwanted. One day, he even came by asking for a 'cup of sugar'. Like seriously Frank... would a little originality kill you?
I dusted off my shorts as I stood up, made my way to the door and without bothering to check the peephole, yanked open the door to tell Frank oh so sweetly that Maya was not around.
However once the door flew open, the words froze on my lips.
In fact, my entire body froze.
How long could your heart stay not beating without you dying? Mine had certainly passed that limit by a mile.
Beautiful hazel eyes met mine, his scent invaded my being all at once and everything rushed back and swept me up like a tornado... like it was just yesterday, and not two months ago when Noah, looking broken and tormented, had exited my life completely.
"Wha... How? What?" I stuttered stupidly like my brain had just made a grand exit from my body.
"Sorry to show up out of the blue like this", Noah's voice still did crazy, wicked things to me. How could he be here right now?
I just stood there gaping at him for about ten seconds. I was stunned. Shocked. Stupefied. And a whole host of other adjectives that weren't adequate enough to describe my emotions right now.
"How did you find me?" I finally managed to construct an intelligible sentence.
Noah ran a hand through his hair. Tell-tale move for when he was bothered. And darn it if he didn't look good. He looked amazing actually, dressed in a navy blue dress shirt and dark slacks, his hair pulled away from his face in that low ponytail I always loved. He looked like the insanely rich Abercrombie model I may have mistaken him to be if I didn't know him better.
"I've known where you've been the whole time", he stated apologetically. He looked unusually grim and serious "I've also been living here... in New York"
"What?"
"Ellie I'd love to talk... like really talk... but that's not the reason I'm here", he took a great deep sigh and his face impossibly became even grimmer and more serious "I have some uhh... I have some bad news"
My mind jumped at that. Could something have happened to him? Mr. Stinson? The company? My mind was a whirlpool of terrible thoughts of all the bad things that could have happened to him.
"Your cell phone is down?" Noah said, out of the blue. It was more of a statement, not a question. He continued "Your calls have been going straight to voicemail the whole day"
My brows furrowed at that. I had a new number which Noah shouldn't have so how did he know that? I wouldn't put it past him to have it anyway...
"Umm... yeah. My battery was dead this morning so I left it plugged and went to class and haven't checked it since I got back..." I glanced warily in the direction of my bedroom, where my phone had been plugged in all day.
Noah must have noticed the confused expression on my face. "Your mom... and Sandra... haven't been able to reach you for the past couple of hours"
A jolt of trepidation hit me. The bad news was mine. Fear gripped me as a single predominant thought came to mind... my dad.
"What. Happened?" I asked Noah slowly, my wavering voice betraying my fear.
Noah closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them back up, his hazel eyes, full of empathy met mine. "Darryl had an accident at the construction site. He was on some scaffolding inspecting the job, when one of the cranes malfunctioned and came straight at the building", his eyes were filled with pain as he continued "He fell about six storeys along with a pile of rubble from the damage to the building. They took him to the hospital almost immediately but.... He's in pretty bad shape Ells. Doctors don't know if he will make it through the night. Sandra called to let you know and find out if you could make it to Tribune to see him but she couldn't reach you, so she called your mom... then she called me"
While Noah had been talking, my entire world had come crashing down.
My heart had just broken into tiny little pieces.
I was crushed. I was devastated.
I had just found him... and now I was about to lose him?
Why did my life always have to be this UNFAIR???
Darryl had already been through so much already, he was such a good, hardworking man, he didn't deserve this, to go like this... oh my goodness I was going to throw up.
I rushed to the bathroom, leaving Noah standing in my doorway and collapsed against the toilet bowl, throwing up my just consumed dinner.
I retched for a couple of long minutes, until I felt Noah's quiet footsteps behind me. I could feel his warm body as he squatted down beside me, his hand rubbing my back soothingly while his other hand pulled the sweat streaked strands of hair away from my face.
I let myself accept his comfort while my body tried to recover from the shock of the debilitating news. My chest heaved up and down as I willed myself not to cry. No, I would not cry. Crying meant that I accepted he was gone. And he wasn't gone yet. I had to believe he was going to be okay; else I would just be a wreck.
Noah silently rubbed my back for a couple more minutes as my breathing normalised, before he finally spoke.
"What's the plan, Ellenore?" he asked softly
"I need to be by his side. I have to find a flight right away", I said determinedly. I would have to dip into my savings or ask Walden for money, depending on how expensive the flight would be... But all of that was inconsequential right now. I had to get my computer immediately.
"What if I told you I've already arranged all of that?" Noah said so quietly, I almost didn't hear him.
My head snapped to the side to look at him. "What?"
"You trusted me once before, Ells. Can you do it again?" he asked me, his hazel orbs searching mine.
"Yes", I nodded without hesitation. I would do anything right now to see my Dad.
"Okay. I promise I'll get you to Tribune as soon as I can", he stood up from the bathroom floor and offered me a hand, pulling me to my feet "Get your phone, pack a travelling bag with all your essentials and travel documents and meet me in front of your building once you're ready"
I nodded, my mind swimming with all I had to deal with in the last couple of minutes.
Noah turned to leave and started walking away, his Italian leather loafers barely making a squeak.
"Noah?" I called abruptly
He turned his head to look at me.
"Th... thank you", I sputtered out.
He gave me one slight nod and then disappeared from my sight.
I rushed to my room, grabbing a bag and stuffing clothes and other items I thought I may need into it quickly. I got my phone and turned it on, once the screen blinked to life, I saw a massive number of missed calls, texts and voicemails from my Sandra, my mom, Walden and Maya.
I listened to all my voicemails with bated breath then called Sandra back first. She told me essentially all that Noah had told me, but the difference was that she was crying and sounding hysterical. I knew how much they loved each other; she must feel like she was in hell right now.
We ended the phone call with me assuring Sandra I would make it to Tribune as soon as I possibly could, and with her giving me the information of the hospital they were at through her tears.
I didn't have time to call the others back right then; I would just have to talk to them on the way. I grabbed my bag and rushed out of my apartment, locking the door behind me and promptly made my way outside the apartment building.
Noah was standing a few feet away and when I walked up to him, he gestured at a shiny black car I hadn't noticed before parked by the side of the building. His phone was to his ear but he held it away to speak to me.
"I ordered a town car to the airport. We'll get there in about thirty minutes and then the flight to Tribune should be about two hours", Noah informed me in a business-like tone "Is that okay?"
I nodded. It was more than okay. I knew he had saved me some valuable time finding and booking a flight. He didn't have to be here, he didn't have to do all of this for me, but yet here he was doing exactly that. He had a heart of gold, and that was one of the many reasons I couldn't help but fall in love with him.
I got into the backseat of the town car and Noah promptly followed, resuming his phone conversation. My brain was too scattered to focus on whatever he was saying, my mind wandering everywhere and anywhere all at once as the driver started up the car and started moving.
Fear gripped my heart with ice cold fingers. I wasn't ready to lose Darryl, it hurt so bad just thinking about it and more than once, tears sprung to my eyes. I had to take deep steady breaths to calm my nerves and my wildly erratic heart beat. Then I pulled out my phone, remembering I had phone calls to return.
I called my mom first. She was more upset about Darryl than I would have guessed, but then again it couldn't be easy for her either. I told her I was with Noah and I told her our travel plans and she wished me a safe trip and told me to keep her posted on everything.
Then I called Maya, somehow my mom had already gotten to her and she was on her way to tell me since she couldn't reach my phone either. I told her not to worry and explained everything. She was so comforting and supportive, saying she would cover for me at school and would be praying for Darryl.
Before I knew it, we had made it to the airport. Noah had been on the phone almost all the way. I had been engrossed in my thoughts but I caught enough bits and pieces to find out he was that he was discussing the travel arrangements and tying up some business, which made me wonder what he had been up to in New York.
To my utmost surprise, the driver drove right through the airport entrance, past the car park area and up to a secluded part of the airport I wasn't familiar with. My eyes almost bulged out of its sockets when the car stopped at its final destination on the tarmac. We had pulled up right in front of a freaking private jet.
Could he have hired a....?
No.
But yes, the evidence in front of me pointed in that direction.
This was extremely over the top but I wasn't going to protest, my dad's life was hanging in the balance right at this moment and I needed to get to him as soon as I possibly could.
"Noah, how..." I turned to him to say something but he was already out of the car.
Before I knew it, he had opened the door to my side and was gently urging me out.
"Come on, we have to go", he said to me calmly and with that, all my questions died on my lips as I stepped out. Now outside, I could see the private jet in all its glory, it had Stinson emblazoned by the side in bold script so no, it wasn't a rental... It was probably one of the jets Mr. Stinson used for his business trips. This brought up more questions about Noah and Mr. Stinson's present relationship in my mind but I couldn't think about that right now.
The driver of the town car who I hadn't even noticed, was already taking our lightly packed bags up to a lady I presumed was a hostess and Noah guided me with his hand on my back up the air stairs and into the jet.
It was beautiful, no doubt with a plush interior and the biggest, most comfortable seats I had ever seen on a plane. I pushed down the pang of guilt I felt at how this situation felt like I was taking advantage of Noah.
The pilot greeted us with a warm smile. "Welcome on board, young Mr. Stinson", he nodded at me "Miss. Forgive the delay, our crew is performing a routine check but we should be airborne in a short while".
Noah clapped him on the shoulder in that way that men do. "I'm sorry to spring this up on you so last minute, Captain Rogers"
His eyes crinkled at the corners. "Oh it's no problem, sir. Always my pleasure to have you on board"
From the corner of my eye, I saw the pretty hostess give Captain Rogers a sign. "Ah, we are ready for takeoff. Please do remember to switch off all your devices and put on your seatbelts"
And with that, Captain Rogers disappeared into the cockpit. Wordlessly, but with eyes filled with encouragement, Noah led me to one of the seats and made sure I was buckled in before he took his own seat at the other end of the jet.
The hostess, her name tag read Georgina, came to double check on us while we waited for the jet to take off and in a couple of minutes, we were airborne.
I Ellenore Rose Wyatt was airborne in a private jet going to Tribune, Kansas to be by my father's side as he battled for his life.
What a difference a couple of hours could make.
A/N: So I know I've been MIA for a while but forgive me because I have good yet sad news. The next couple chapters are going to conclude Noah and Ellie's story forever. Writing these chapters were particularly emotional for me and I love my characters so I really tried to get it right. Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me. As always do let me know what you think about the chapter. What will happen to Darryl? Don't forget to vote, comment and share! Xoxoxo
-Crystal