When I opened my eyes, I was startled for a split-second, as to why I was not at home. Not lying on my bed, in my room, with sunlight streaming in through the gaps between the magenta coloured curtains.
I shot up quickly, but the pain in all my limbs, ribs and back refused to allow me to stay up for long. Body, why do you not like me? I ended up lying down again on the bed, groaning non-stop in pain.
I stared straight up at the white ceiling, only to find myself staring straight into a lit up white light bulb just a second too late. Which explains, very much why my eyes are hurting so badly. And it's all because of staring straight into the blinding light.
So I ended up squinting my eyes so that the light would not hurt my eyes just as much. I allowed them to adjust to the light first, before taking in the rest of my surroundings.
I could hear the faint but steady beeping of a machine. I scanned my surroundings carefully. I could see a needle pricked into my left arm, pricked in such a way that it avoided my vein, so that it would not burst open.
I could see a boy with dark brown hair and light coloured eyes sleeping soundly on an armchair by the window, streaks of sunlight falling onto his handsome face. He looks so... Familiar... I wonder why? And then, I randomly remembered why I was even here in the first place.
A car – no, it was a truck – hit the passenger's side of Gray's silver Toyota Altis.
I flinched at the memory of the crash. Which was a bad thing to do. Because pain immediately shot up my body. I groaned.
But that was a terrible memory nevertheless. I know very well that I want to forget it totally. Erase it from my mind. But my brain is not a memory card. And I can't just simply erase any memory that I remember. I am very sad to say this, but I have a pretty good memory.
I am not trying to brag or anything – I am not an egoistic person, note that! – but this is the truth. And I don't lie. So it is extremely unlikely that I will forget this incident for a very long time to come. Maybe I might never even forget it!
I just hope that will not happen.
I just hope that I will be able to forget all this.
I watched, from the corner of my eye, as the boy sitting in the armchair by the window stirred.
"Willow..." I heard him mumble in his sleep.
Sleep talking. I am not sure I've heard many people sleep talk before. Who is that? I stared at him curiously, wondering who that is. And that was when it hit me. I do know this guy. No wonder he looks so familiar in the first place.
"Gray?" I breathed, a little louder than I initially intended to say.
His eyes immediately shot open; panic and worry flashed in his eyes. That made me very nervous. I started breathing unevenly. The beeping of the machine grew unsteady.
"Is everything alright? What's wrong?" I blurted out hastily.
His grey eyes, which were darting around the place, finally met my own and I watched him sigh in relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're awake."
He walked over to the side of my bed and pecked me swiftly on the lips. His sudden calmness did not fool me at all, not even in the slightest.
"What's wrong?" I demanded.
"Nothing," he muttered, shaking my head as if to emphasize his statement.
"What's wrong?" I tried again, my voice more demanding than before.
"Nothing," he snapped back. "Just drop it, okay?"
I sighed. As much as I hate to just 'drop it' like that, I had to. I had no energy to argue with him right now. "Fine."
And now, it was his turn to sigh. "I'm sorry... For snapping, that is. But really, it's nothing, okay? There's nothing to worry about," he reassured me.
I nodded slightly. "Okay. Sure."
He chuckled and planted a soft and tender kiss on my forehead. "Just rest, okay?"
He grabbed my hand and squeezed it softly as another sign of reassurance, beside his comforting smile that always reassures me. I smiled weakly. His hand lost hold of mine. He got up and made a beeline for the door.
"Where are you going?" I asked as loudly as I could – which was not very loud note that – with a hint of curiosity in my voice as his hand reached for the door handle.
He turned to look at me and smiled that warming and reassuring smile once more. "Oh, I'm just going to get some food. We do need to eat breakfast, don't we?"
"Oh," I replied, feeling a little down that he's leaving me all alone in this room.
He stared at me curiously; his lips curved up a little, him cocking his head slightly. "Do you want me to stay? I don't mind, you know."
I plastered a fake smile on my face and shook my head, not too hard though; I don't want to go injuring myself even more. "No, it's okay. Just go and have your breakfast."
He grinned. "Okay. Make sure you rest up and don't push yourself too much."
I nodded. "I will make sure of that."
He chuckled at me, before turning his heel. He yanked the door open and walked out, closing the door silently behind him, without even looking back.
I turned my attention back up to the white ceiling, and the light bulb, of course. Suddenly, my eyelids felt heavy. How was that even possible? I have been sleeping for so long! How can I still feel tired?
But despite that fact, before I even knew it, I was already fast asleep.
~~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~~
"You'd think after one whole week of eating hospital food, you'd get totally sick of it. But luckily for us – and all the other patients and patients-to-be at this hospital – the food's actually quite okay here," I commented thoughtfully after I was done nibbling on my chicken and ham sandwich.
"Oh really?" Gray teased, flicking my nose at the same time.
Normally, I'd get annoyed. But not today.
"Yes," I giggled enthusiastically.
"Well, I am also glad that you are feeling a lot happier...?" That sounded more like a question than a statement.
A genuine mega-watt smile made its way onto my face. "Yes. Yes I am."
He chuckled at me and messed up my hair playfully.
"Hey! Don't do that!" I exclaimed, smacking his hand away from my head at the same time.
I raked my fingers through my hair to get out any tangles Gray might have made. Then, I combed up into a loose and messy bun. He stared at me and then stuck his tongue out playfully and childishly at me.
"Hey! No fair! That's what I do."
"Too bad," he said, shrugging care freely.
"Ah well," I replied, mimicking his tone of voice and action.
I am so glad that he's here with me. I can't believe he'd even go to the extent of skipping school just to stay here with me. No matter how many times I keep on telling him to not skip school and that I will be okay here alone. All I hope now is that he won't get expelled for skipping so much of school.
"I would rather get expelled from school and stay here with you to keep you company rather than go to school and leave you here all alone," he had claimed.
"But if you get expelled, I won't be able to see you in school anymore. And won't that be worst?" I had told him.
"True... But I still want to stay here with you. I'm sure they'll understand."
And after that, I had started giggling and laughing like there was no tomorrow.
"Willow... Oh Willow..." someone breathed into my ear,
I jumped up in surprise. Pain shot up my joints and I winced. After it subsided, which took about fifteen seconds or so, I shuddered from whatever he just did just now.
"Don't ever do that again," I commanded. "It's freaky."
"Are you okay?"
I stared at him, with a bewildered look on my face. "Why shouldn't I be?"
"Well, you winced just now," he pointed out.
"Well, stop with the 'are you okay's and 'are you alright's would you?" I snapped. "It's getting very annoying. And when I say I'm fine, I'm fine."
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay. Okay. Chill. I'll try my best not to say those words all the time."
An embarrassed grin made its way onto my face. "Sorry," I muttered, looking down, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.
Suddenly, I felt tears well up in my eyes.
"Hey, look at me," he said, lifting my head oh-so-gently.
I did what he told me to, but I avoided his eyes. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears that were already streaming down my face.
"Shh... Don't cry," he cooed.
But I just kept on crying. I don't know why I'm crying, but I just am. Gray kept on telling me to stop crying, but I couldn't do that. Because the tears kept on coming. And they won't stop.
But he was just so patient. He just sat there, waiting for me to stop crying. And when I finally did, he pulled me into a comforting hug.
"Shh... Everything is going to be alright," he told me, sounding like he was trying to calm a little kid down.
A sudden ringing of a phone made the two of us jump apart. I watched as he pulled out his phone from his back pocket and checked the Caller ID. All the drained out of his face as he read who the caller was.
He gestured to me, indicating that he will 'just be a minute'. Then, he got up and picked up the call as he was walking towards the exit.
"Hello?"
Pause. Or rather, silence.
"Yes, this is Gray Lopez."
Silence. His hand reached for the door handle.
"What?" he exclaimed in surprise as he swung the door open.
Silence.
"Yes, of course."
Silence.
"Brief me the details now and –"
The door swung shut, blocking out all noise from outside.
Who was that who called Gray? And what 'details' is he talking about? Could he be keeping a secret from me? Well, there's only one way to find out.
As if on cue, Gray re-entered the room, stuffing his phone into his back pocket at the same time.
"Who was that?" I blurted out before he could even sit back down.
"It was my... Boss...?"
That sounded more like a question than an answer to me. "You go to work? I never knew that..."
"That's because I never told you."
I see... So he has a job... And somehow, I don't know about it. How was that even possible? But then again, I am very sure he has his reasons as to why he did not tell me that he has a job.
I heard his phone beep. He pulled it out and read the new message. And once again, all the colour drained out of his face.
"What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nothing," I heard him mumble.
He put on a forced smile and looked at me straight in the eye. But something tells me that it is not 'nothing' as he claims it is. He can't fool me. I can see it in his eyes. He's definitely keeping something from me. And from what I've gathered, it's something... Big...
___________
So, did you like it? I hope you did. I also hope you'll stick around for more!