Winnie opened her eyes and she was met by a pair of eyes she has missed so much, those loving beautiful pair of hazel eyes she grew to love. Michael's eyes. Is this a dream? Do dreams feel this real?? She stared at his eyes, afraid to even blink. What if she blinked and all that disappear the second she opened her eyes back. That's a risk she couldn't take.
"Winnie!!! Are you okay?? Can you hear me??" Michael asked, his eyes filled with worries. He stared deep in her eyes as if trying to read them.
Winnie slowly raised her hand and stroked his cheek, "If this is a dream I don't want to wake up. I don't want it to end" a tear fell from her eye, she didn't even notice she was crying until when she felt the cold liquid on her ear.
"No, no it's not a dream. It's me Winnie. It's really me," he repeatedly assured her, tears welling up in his eyes too.
Winnie suddenly sat and pulled him for a very tight hug. He was very warm. This must be real.
"Michael you are alive!! You were alive! Oh thank you God, thank you thank you," she wept so loud, it felt like a miracle. No, it was a miracle. She still felt like it was a dream.
Michael hugged her back even tighter and she could feel her heart racing so fast like how it used to whenever he gave her a hug. This is really him.
"Are you okay? Are you alright? What happened? Where have you been Michael? Do you know how worried we were, we looked for you everywhere. We thought you were dead. Why did you take so long? Do you know how sad I was when I thought you were dead? I had so many things to tell you, I didn't even get to tell you how much I love you. I had so many things to do with you," she ranted as she sobbed, unintentionally confessing her love for him.
"Winnie calm down first, I'll answer all your questions but first tell me if you're okay. You lost conscious and you have been sleeping for so long. I was so worried," He said as he released her from the hug to look at her eyes, all the time holding her hands.
"I'm fine, I must have fainted because of the fatigue."
"Yeah the doctor said the same thing," Michael told her. "Which reminds me, what were you thinking going up there alone?? And at that cold weather, with nothing but a thin dress and a hoodie?? And what are you, ten? Why would you run away from home?"
"I shouldn't be the one we're talking about right now. It's not like I am the one who disappeared for five years."
"It's not like I disappeared because I wanted to," Michael reasoned.
"And it's not like I ran away because I wanted to," Winnie argued.
"Why did you ran away?" Michael asked concerned.
"Calvin and my mom were forcing me to marry him," Winnie closed her eyes as she finished saying that, she shook her head to remove the unpleasant images of her being forced on the altar to marry Calvin.
"Calvin did that!??" Michael eyes widened. How could he do that?
"Your friend is crazy!!" Winnie yelled.
"I'm so sorry Winnie," Michael felt like it was his fault that happened.
"No, don't be. Why would you be sorry for something that he did? Plus I ran away before that happened," Winnie shrugged "By the way, how did you know I ran away? How did you know I was up there?"
"I just happened to find out by coincidence that you ran away. And I just took a guess to where you would be and went to check you there," Michael answered.
Winnie nodded. She looked around, only then noticing her surrounding. All that time the only things she noticed in the room was Michael's eyes, Michael's face, Michael's warmness, Michael's beautiful dark hairs and Michael's body.
The room was so big and so beautiful, it was decorated with mostly white and gold. As a person walking in design company she could tell everything in the room costed a fortune.
"Where are we??" she finally asked.
"We took a chopper, I brought you back to the Capital. We're in my room," Michael told her.
"Your room?? You live here?" Winnie's eyes widened.
"Yes, I'll tell you everything. It's a long story. First tell me why did you do that?? Why would you go up there alone, you didn't even have a bottle of water. If I didn't come on time God knows what would have happened to you. Why did you do something so dangerous?" Michael asked, still horrified by the thought of not finding Winnie on time. What if he was late? What if he never found her? She would just lay there unconscious for God knows how many days. People rarely go up there so it wouldn't have been easy for her to be found.
"I don't know. I just wanted to be there. That is the only place I could go to talk to you, to talk to you for the last time," she closed her eyes remembering how sad she was climbing that hill and again a tear fell down from her eyes.
"Winnie-" Michael could feel his heart breaking listening to Winnie's words. He slowly raised his hand and wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.
Before he could say anything else he heard a knock on the door, he went to open the door and took a tray with a bowl on it from a middle aged woman, from the look of it and how he addressed Michael as Sir although Michael responded with 'How many times have I said to not refer me as Sir' and a sigh, she looked like a caretaker or something like that. Then Michael muttered a thank you and walked back to sit beside Winnie on the bed.
"It's a soup. I requested it to be made for you. You need to eat something," he told her as he puts the soup besides her on the bedside table.
"I'm not hungry."
"You still need to eat something,"
"How can I stomach anything right now? I've so many things to talk with you. You still haven't even told me where were you all these years. I'll eat it later."
"Nope, you're eating right now. And we will talk when you finish this. I promise," he told her with a smile as he took a spoonful and brought it to her mouth. Winnie sighed and opened her mouth. As a hot liquid reached her stomach she realized how hungry she was, and the soup was just so tasty. The last time she had a meal was that night with Calvin, if that can even be called a meal, which reminded her...
"Wait a minute!!" she looked down at the big shirt and a sweatpants she was wearing "Did you..?" Her eyes widened as she traced the words.
"Oh no..no," Michael quickly denied, getting what she was referring to "the dress you were wearing was a mess, it was torn and all. I asked the woman you saw to change your clothes. You're wearing my clothes now." Michael sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling hot. Why would she think that?
"Oh!" she laughed awkwardly, slightly disappointed. She took a spoon from him and proceeded to drink the soup.
"Do you need anything else? If you need anything else do tell me," Michael said.
"No, the soup is so delicious."
She quickly finished the soup and handed him the bowl.
"Do you wanna take a bath first?" he asked her. He figured she might need one after all that.
"No, I don't want to be apart from you. What if you disappear again!"
"I'm never going to disappear again. I promise," he reassured her.
"Still I had rather stay here with you," Winnie smiled at him.
"You're still the same Winnie," He laughed. She smiled even wider at the sound of his laugh. How she has missed that!
"You have no idea how heart broken I was when you left, Katherine too. And Haroon and Calvin also. They will all be so happy to know you're alive," she said excitedly. He smiled back without saying anything.
"So what happened? Tell me everything," Winnie asked, her eyes fixed at him.
Michael opened his mouth and closed it again, the words felt like they were stuck to his throat. Where should he begin?
"Henry son, are you sleeping?" They heard a voice behind them. Michael quickly stood and look at the direction of the familiar voice. Winnie looked up to see a middle aged man who looked very familiar but she couldn't exactly remember where she saw or met him.
"Dad!" he called out shocked "Why are you back so early?"
"Michael who is he?? Why is he calling you Henry? And why are you calling him Dad?" Winnie asked, confused.
"Henry who is she? And why is she calling you Michael?" Martin also looked very confused.
"Wait...I remember now!! I remember where I've seen you. You're Martin of Martin Gold. Aren't you??" Her eyes widened, to say she was shocked would be an understatement. How can that be possible? The Martin was standing right in front of her.
"What is Martin doing here?" she demanded Michael after she recovered from the initial shock.
"He is the one who rescued me and cared for me for the past five years," he explained to Winnie before looking at Martin who also looked very confused. "Dad this is Winnie, my friend from five years ago."
"Then why are you calling him Dad? Why is he calling you Henry? Henry is his son," Winnie asked, still confused.
"Did you get your memories back??" Martin asked Michael, surprised at his previous statement.
"Did you lose your memory?" Winnie asked Michael, her eyes widening.
Michael took a big breath, "Let's all sit down and I'll explain everything."