He knows that goes against almost everything he said he’d do, which is staying away, but Mike’s words had gotten to him. Neriah has only a month to live and maybe even less than that and he knows staying away and hoping she pulls through really isn’t an option anymore. He needed to see her. It’s been a whole damn week of keeping away and what good did that do him? He only lied to himself and told himself that staying away was the best when it wasn’t.
He remembers the words Ada had spoken to him about a week ago. ‘A feeling you can’t express is as painful as a heartbreak’ This past week he’d stayed away and he can recall the terrible way his heart ached throughout and he doesn’t want that anymore, he needs to see her and he knows she’s going to have a lot of question regarding his absence in the past week but he doesn’t care, he would be as sincere as he needs to be.
As he gets to the door of Neriah’s ward, he knocks softly and when he hears the small voice say “come in”, he pushes the door wide open and makes his presence known.
Neriah, who is sitting on her bed, seems to be invested in the movie being shown on TV that she doesn’t look his way at first, so he further moves into the room and when he gets to the bed, he stops walking.
Neriah still doesn’t look his way but asks, “What do you want?” Instead.
He stays quiet, not knowing how to respond to her demanding question, and when he opens his mouth, no word comes out. The explanation he’d rehearsed about his need for space and his selfishness of wanting her even when she wasn’t his first out of the window at this moment and he stood dumb like an idiot lost in space.
“Cat got your tongue?” Neriah asks, finally glancing at Cainan from the TV she’s watching for the first time in three minutes.
Her face, which used to be fair, radiant and lively, is now pale and her brown eyes weak and narrow with red colour coated around them. Her lips are breaking from extreme dryness and he wonders if she’s had enough water today. There are still a few strands of hair on her hair, but she covers her hair up with a pink beanie. The sight is heartbreaking but still beautiful to Cainan.
So much has changed with her in just a week and he still cannot believe it.
His head moves from side to side. “No, I’m sorry.” He says, which is followed by a deep sigh.
“For what? Leaving for no reason and not calling or visiting for a week?” She demands, and he can hear her voice breaking.
“Neriah, I—”
“I thought we stopped bailing on each other. I thought we stopped being enemies and are now friends.” Her voice, although small and weak, possesses demand and energy in all the right points.
“We are.”
“No, we’re not.” She snaps angrily, glaring at him.
Cainan presses his lips together and moves to seat on the chair beside her bed, before taking her icy hand into his and he’s surprised that Neriah doesn’t yank it away from him. “I’m sorry, so sorry, Neriah. Yes, I’m a crazy head. I snap and do stupid things when things feel a little good, but it was never to hurt you.”
Her nod follows a sharp sigh, “I know that you’ve always been a scared chicken.”
“That was why I needed the bold and defiant tigress like you to keep this chicken from losing it.” He agrees.
Neriah chuckles and Cainan can’t help smiling in return. “We should get out of here,” he suggests.
Her brow rises. “Where will we go, weirdo?”
He gets up and offers her a hand. “Do you trust me?”
“I am about to regret trusting you, right?” She asks as she takes his hand.
A mischievous smirk appears on the side of his lips. “Not a hundred per cent, really”
She smacks his chest but still laughs, a sound Cainan had missed this past week.
“God, I missed the sound of your laughter,” he blurts out before he can stop himself.
She presses her lips together and withdraws her hand from his. “I need to take a bath and change. I’m filthy,” she whines, purposely changing the topic.
He pauses in confusion at her words before asking, “How do you normally clean up?”
“I use the bathroom, soap and water like any other normal human being.” She explains before looking up at him like some stupid person, “what? Even though I’ve lost sensation in both my legs, I am not an invalid, Cainan.”
Cainan nod, she has nailed him well with her accurate analysis and once again he feels stupid for even asking, “How long is that going to take?”
“How long is what going to take?”
“Bathing.” He adds.
“I don’t know, might take a while or shorter.” She shrugs casually, “I don’t put time on things..... anymore.”
“Well, for one, your beauty is limitless and timeless.” He mumbles to himself, but loud enough for her to hear.
Neriah’s cheeks heat and she draws her hand away from his hold and wipes her face with it. “Did you even go to work?” She asks, carefully changing the topic again.
Cainan lets it slide. “You think I didn’t.” his brow rises as he stares down at her.
“I think you didn’t.” She bluntly states, staring up at him.
“Well, you’re right, I didn’t. I haven’t been to work this past week.” He gives her his hand again.
“Are you trying to make me walk?” When he nods, she points to the other side of the room Cainan’s eyes follow her direction and he sees the wheelchair close to the other side of the bed and goes and takes it and pushes it over to Neriah’s side on the bed, even as he does the same.
“Sorry I forgot.” He mumbles, and she waves it off.
The treatment and medication had weakened her ability to move freely and has only gone a few steps on her own and he had forgotten that. After just a week of being away and he had already forgotten all that.
She shakes her head, “Don’t be sorry, Cainan, I know you I’d probably forget too.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” she nods, “been ready for a while now.”
Cainan takes her hand and helps her over to the wheelchair in front of the bed and she sits on it. He tries to adjust her legs in the wheelchair, but she beat him to it and adjusts her legs properly on the chair all by herself. She pushes herself to the bathroom door before opening and entering the room.
Cainan waits a moment then he hears the shower being turned on and he makes a quick to Audrey his friend that works at the Glamour, a clothing line, before slipping his phone back into his pocket and then he sits down on the bed and beside the bed, he sees the journal he’d brought to Neriah a week ago and he picks it up, curious to know how far she’s come with her designs drawings.
He’s amazed to see other sketches and drawings made in the book and Cainan at this moment can feel her love for her art and designs and there was no need for words for the perfection and work to be interpreted. She is a walking talent; he has to admit, and this makes his heart hurt the more that this talent won’t be around for much longer.
“Are you crying?” comes the confused voice of Neriah as she stares at him with horror-filled eyes.
Cainan sniffs in and wipes at his face to remove the tear stains on it. “Don’t judge me, everyone cry sometimes.” He groans before getting up from the bed. “I called Andrey and she’ll be here soon.” He informs her, although not giving the thorough explanation he should.
“I do not know what you’re saying, but I’m going to go with okay.”
He realises his error. “Andrey is a friend. She’s bringing you the perfect dress in 3, 2 and 1.”
Just then, the door opens and a dark-skinned lady walks in with a red shopping bag in her hand.
“Thank you very much, Audrey,” Cainan says, collecting the bag from Audrey’s hand and kissing her cheeks.
“You’re welcome,” she smiles at Cainan and then turns to Neriah, “hey, Neriah.” She said before leaving the room.
“What just happened?!” she exclaims immediately as the door closes, demanding answers for what had happened in the last two minutes.
“Um, that’s Audrey. She got you a beautiful dress, and she likes you and she just left.” He briefly explains.
“Okay.” is all she can say.
“You can take all the time you want and when you’re done, I’ll be waiting outside.”
She takes longer to change into the neon purple dress and thirty minutes to finish. In the meantime, Cainan visits Doctor Mike’s office again, this time requesting permission to take Neriah out of the hospital, which Doctor Mike grants.
Cainan opens the doorstep into the room, and he stops when she turns the wheelchair to look at him. She looks incredibly beautiful in her dress with her hair now in a side ponytail and though she has applied no makeup, her face looks as radiant as ever.
“You look- you look...” He clears his throat quickly. “Beautiful.”
“Thanks,” she responds with a small smile. “Neon purple is my favourite colour.”
“I know,” he agrees, but before she can get to ask how he knows what he knows, “Shall we go?” Cainan asks, already knowing it’ll be another long story if she asks.
Once outside, the cool breeze welcomes Neriah and she sighs heavily as she lets go and smiles at the happy feeling that, for the first time since she’s been here, she’s finally feeling. She closes her eyes and when she opens them; she sees Cainan before her with a smile on his face.
“Where are we going?” She asks, looking into his eyes.
He bends so that their faces are only a few inches apart. “I don’t know. I was hoping you would name one place in this entire city you’d want to go now,” he suggests, staring into her eyes.
“I don’t know, Victoria island?” She says, as she remembers always wanting to visit the place in the city but never having the time and later talking herself out of it. Today might be the perfect time to do that and if he’s really ready to take her to where she wants will finally get to visit V.I like she always wanted.
His smile is broad as he nods, “Okay, great, Victoria island it is.”