Bright white light blinded me for a moment as the doctor checked my eyes. I blinked several times to clear my vision.
"Everything looks good," he nodded to himself. "You'll be up and walking in no time!" he said to me, his face crinkling as he smiled.
I tried to smile back, but it was difficult when your whole body was in pain. I was propped up with the help of a few pillows. I tried to shift to make myself comfortable.
"Hey Doc?" my voice came out hoarse.
He hummed as he went through some reports.
"When exactly can I go home?"
He looked up from the report and smiled again. "Let's cross that bridge when we get there, shall we?"
I narrowed my eyes and thought he smiled way too much.
"Don't worry about that."
I turned my gaze to my dad. For the first time he looked old. Older than he actually was. He had dark circles and he face was covered in stubble.
"Hey dad," I tried to wave with my unharmed left hand, but that too was sore.
He sat on the bed, facing me and his eyes roamed my face. He expression held so much pain it made me feel guilty.
"You're grounded." It was the first thing he said and it made me chuckle. The Doctor tried to hide his smile behind my file.
"I'm serious, Ellie Kate Anderson. As soon as we get back home I'm gonna lock you in your room." Damn right he was.
"Sure, dad," I couldn't stop smiling even when tears started flowing down my cheeks.
"Oh Pumpkin, I was so worried," he reached out his arms as if to hug me, but changed his mind at the last moment, probably thinking that would hurt me.
"I'm sorry," I sniffled.
He wiped my tears and caressed my head, avoiding the spot where it was wrapped in bandages.
"Mr. Anderson, I would like to go through some things with you," the doctor gestured to the door. Dad squeezed my shoulder and muttered an apology when I winced before following him outside.
I closed my eyes and tried to rest, a hundred thoughts swirling around my mind. All centered around the same thing.
A click of the door made me open my eyes again and there he was. What was he doing here?
He covered the distance in three large strides and stopped near the head of the bed. A dark purple bruise covered the left side of his face.
"Hi," he murmured in a quiet voice.
I didn't say anything.
He seemed to not know what to do. He looked at the chair kept beside the bed, but deciding against it sat on the bed where dad had sat earlier, careful not to disturb anything that was attached to me and the machines.
"How are you?" he asked with careful eyes.
I looked at him in confusion.
"What happened?" Some of the hoarseness had cleared out of my voice.
"You don't remember?"
I just stared at him.
"We were in an accident," he sighed.
"We? What was I doing with you?" I asked, watching him with thin slits.
Color drained from his face. He reached for me, but I winced even before he touched me. He retreated his hand.
"Anderson?"
"What happened? Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital," he answered calmly.
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah well, thanks for the information. I know I'm in a hospital."
"You asked," he stated.
I let out a breath.
"How did I get here? What was I even doing with you?" I asked again.
"You don't remember?"
"Would I ask if I did?"
"It's hard to believe that with all the sass," he muttered under his breath.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
When he looked at me again, he looked concerned.
"I'm serious, Anderson. You don't remember anything at all?"
"You're giving me a headache now. Piss off," I said and closed my eyes.
I didn't hear him move.
I felt a coldness on my forehead. And I opened my eyes. Asher loomed over me.
"You seem to have hit your head pretty hard," he said to himself.
"Well, I hit other body parts harder," I piped up.
He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Who am I?" he asked.
"Jerk," I answered without any thought. It was set by default.
He nodded to himself as if my answer made sense. Of course, it did.
"What's my motive?"
"World domination."
He smirked. "After your demise," he added.
"Whatever," I said then my eyes went wide.
"Oh my God! You did this. You tried to kill me, you jerk!"
Asher clucked his tongue and shook his head. "If I ever did try to kill you, you wouldn't be present to accuse me of that," he dismissed my accusation with a wave of his hand.
"Drop the act, Anderson. I know you haven't lost your memory," he said.
I rolled my eyes.
"I never said I have," I huffed and closed my eyes again.
When he didn't leave for a while I started to get annoyed.
"Close the door when you leave," I said.
He still didn't leave.
I felt his fingers thread through the fingers of my left hand and my heart gave a jolt.
"You're scaring me, Anderson," he said in a low voice. I tried to free my hand, but he didn't let go.
"And you're annoying me," I opened my eyes to glare at him.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
I thought for a second. "Umm I was in a car with you, a truck came, you swerved and I think we hit a tree," I said.
"About me," his eyes searched mine.
"You're a narcissistic jerk whose life goal is to make my life hell," I said.
"And?"
"And why are you asking me stupid questions? Forgot your brain in the closet?" I jerked my hand away form his.
I expected a sarcastic remark, but he shifted so he wasn't facing me and his head dropped low.
That was weird.
"You don't remember me," I heard his voice mumble. He seemed to have gone in a state of shock.
"Unfortunately, I do."
He stood up and turned his head to glance at me. His somber expression made me grimace.
"Okay, now you're creeping me out," I stated.
"That's it. I'm calling the doc in," he said and went out of the door.
I laughed. I couldn't help myself. And then groaned as it hurt my ribs.
Asher poked his head in and narrowed his eyes at me. "You!" he stomped over to me.
"God, you're so cute!" I laughed again, ignoring the stabbing pain in my ribs.
"You don't remember me," I did my best Asher impression, mocking him.
"You're evil," he said, but he was smiling.
"I've had practice," I smirked.
He sat beside me again. "I'm sorry," he said, brushing my hair away from my face and looking into my eyes.
"I don't blame you, it was an accident," I said.
"I should have listened to you," he said. I didn't say anything.
"How long was I out?"
"A few days. They had to keep you under so that you could heal," he replied.
"You got hurt," I said, tracing the bruise on his left cheeks with my fingers. It was pretty big.
He chuckled humorlessly. "And you got a scratch," he said. I rolled my eyes.
"I was so scared. I thought I lost you," his voice wavered at the end and he blinked several times.
"It's okay. I'm okay," I assured him. He hardly believed that.
He leaned in and brushed his lips over my forehead. I closed my eyes. "I wish you were not all bruised up so that I could get you back for that shitty prank you played," he murmured.
I smiled. "You fell for it," I teased.
"What made you do that in the first place?" he asked, sitting straight.
"You weren't there when I woke up."
****
"What are you making?" I tried to peek, but he covered it with his other hand.
"Ashton, let me see!"
"Let me finish it," he said.
"You're not drawing something crude on my cast, are you?" I asked.
"You'll love it," he gave me a cheeky grin and went back to his artwork he was making on my leg.
"I think you'll like this one," Brooke said, handing me a paperback after reading the synopsis. She kept the other one on the table.
She sat on the chair and leaned back. "School's so boring without you," she said.
I read the back of the paperback. "Oh, I've heard about this one," I said.
"Yeah, Nerdy Red sent those," she said.
"Tell her thanks," I said. Megan couldn't come to visit me, but I was happy that they both did. I was getting irritable here, wearing hospital gowns and staying in the same room. Asher wasn't being any helpful in lessening my annoyance.
The door opened and Asher came in with a tray in his hands. He kept it on the bedside table and snatched the sharpie from Ashton's hand.
"Hey! I wasn't done," Ashton grumbled.
"No, you don't get to draw that on her cast," he said.
Ashton scoffed, took out another Sharpie from his pocket, this time a pink one and continued drawing.
"Seriously?" Asher snatched that too.
"You bitch!"
He took out three more.
"How many of those do you have?" I asked.
"He bought the whole pack," Brooke said rolling her eyes as she flipped through a magazine.
Asher and Ashton were in the middle of a tug of war of sharpies.
"Give them to me!"
"Leave it!"
"I'll color your ugly face!"
"Well, the joke's on you. You got the same ugly face!"
"I'll draw penises all over your car!"
"Both of you get out!" I yelled.
They both stopped and looked at me.
"Sorry," Ashton muttered.
"You better be," Asher said.
I glared at him.
"Boys," Brooke huffed as her phone rang and left the room to take the call.
Asher gave Ashton a meaningful look.
"Whatever," he said. Then he looked at me. "I'll finish that some other time," he said and left too.
Asher sighed and sat on the bed. His face looked a lot better now that the bruise was starting to fade.
He picked the tray and placed it on my lap. It was soup. I reached for the spoon, but he beat me to it.
"Open your mouth," he said.
"I'm very well capable of eating on my own," I smiled.
"I know. I'm just afraid you might spill it."
I shook my head and opened my mouth. I made a weird choking sound.
"Hot?"
"Very," I grimaced.
"Sorry." He blew on it before feeding me next time. I started reading the book and opened my mouth every now and then.
"Ugh," I averted my eyes from the book to see where he had spilled the soup on my hospital gown.
"Oops," he said and I saw he was now holding a sharpie and trying to draw on my cast surreptitiously.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
****
I looked out the the window that covered half of the wall. It was exceptionally gloomy today. I could now get out of bed, but I was still stuck in a wheelchair. I had hurt both my legs. I could hardly stand on my own let alone walk. The doctor said it'll take a few more weeks for the bones to heal completely. And after some therapy they'll be good as new.
As the door opened I said, "You're late."
When no voice came I turned my head to look and froze.
She bit her lip and tried to smile at me. Now that I knew what she was to me I could see the resemblance. She took slow steps towards me as I stared at her.
She knelt down in front of me. "How are you?" she asked in a soft voice. A voice I'd heard a lot of times, but never knew whose it really was.
I didn't say anything. My eyes had started filling up. I still had no idea if I would have ever decided to meet her. Now, I had lost that choice too.
When she smiled with tears in her eyes, something tugged at my heart at the knowledge that how much her smile matched mine.
I willed my tears to back up and took a deep breath. "Why are you here?" my voice sounded weird to my own ears. Somehow colder.
"I heard you got in an accident. I had to see if you were okay," she said, placing her hand on my knee.
"Why now?" I couldn't keep my voice from getting caught in my throat.
"I know it might not mean much to you, but I'm sorry. I really am. I'm not asking you to forgive me straight away. Just know that I'm sorry," she said as a tear escaped her eye. She wiped at it.
I looked away. Why did she come back? I was fine thinking that she was dead. Brooke was right. It was better than knowing she abandoned me.
"I know you have a lot of questions. And I'll answer every one of them. Just talk to me," she pleaded.
I didn't say anything. I didn't look at her. I didn't want to talk to her. Not right now. Not when the pain was so unbearable.
"Ellie," she said and that's when the waterworks broke. I sobbed and I couldn't stop. She stood and leaned my head on her waist after hesitating for a long time.
She murmured words of comfort for me, caressing me even though she was crying too. I wanted to feel the warmth I was feeling right now for so long. I craved for it for so long. When I got my crying under control I pushed her away and wiped at my tears.
"Why after all these years? Why show up now?" I asked hysterically.
She sniffled and straightened her dress. She sat on the edge of the bed. She took a shuddering breath. "I knew my mistake when I let you go. I was young and I had my whole life planned out. It wasn't easy to leave you. It was like giving away a part of heart. But I had big dreams and I wanted so much from my life," she said looking skywards and blinking.
"You didn't have to abandon me to make something out of your life," I understood it now. She had no reason to leave me behind.
She shook her head. "You won't understand," she said. She seemed to be not telling me everything.
I felt so helpless sitting in that wheelchair and not able to do anything. That wasn't how I had pictured my first meeting with her to go.
"Yes, I don't. I don't understand you and I don't want to. I don't want to have anything to do with you," I snapped.
"Please Ellie. I want to know you, I want you to know me. I get it now, nothing is more important. No amount of success can compare to what I've lost," she couldn't meet my eyes.
"What about me?" I asked. "Did you ever think about me? Did you ever think how would I get by without a mother?"
She looked at me then. "You turned out so much better than I'd imagined," her smile was rueful.
"I don't know if I want you in my life. It's too late," I said.
She nodded. "I can understand." She stood from the bed and pulled something out of her handbag. It was an envelope. It reminded me of the one dad gave me a day before my birthday which was still kept hidden in my drawer between papers. I never opened it.
"I wanted to give this to you," she said, handing it over. I took it and turned it over. It was a letter from Lenôtre University.
"Think about it," she said.
She paused on her way out. "I really hope you could forgive me, Ellie," she said without looking back and left.
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Hey awesome people!!!
Do you like it? Yes? 😁No? 😢
Sorry for being a little late. KDrama has taken over my life! Lmfao😂😂
This is the second last chapter(hopefully). I really hope you enjoyed this book. I'll really miss these characters.😭😭 The story has become so different in my head, but I can't change it here because then it won't make any sense. Lol! 😹😹
Anyway, I'll see you soon with another chapter! Until then Happy Reading!
Bye!
-K