I've been called a heartless, emotionless, ice cold and many other names over the time and I must say those names didn't really come out of nowhere. Despite what I said about the media earlier, I must say that they were actually accurate on naming me because I was exactly that. At least one of that, for sure. Emotionless.
Over the years, I've mastered the art of schooling my emotions and fixing a stoic expression on my face whenever I interact with general population. Meaning anyone out of 'Eves' list of good people'.
They're correct about the other things too because I am exactly what they've portrayed. I don't let anyone get close to me except the people from 'Eves' list of good people' which includes my sister Eva, my best friend Allie, Jake, my granns and although I'm surprised and grumpy and ashamed to admit... Adrian. Thankfully he's still in trial phase, though. I don't know when he managed to get himself into the list. The sneaky bastard.
Anyways, what I mean to say is, apart from these people, I don't show my true emotions to anyone in any condition. I was proud to say that I've always been able to keep my expression fixed when talking to people out of my list.
Until now.
I couldn't hide my shock and dread fast enough when Keith said that he had bad news. With some effort, I carefully schooled my expression and willed myself to focus on his words before coming into a conclusion myself. It must not be that bad, I'm sure. Eva said she'd been feeling better so there must be something good in that, right?
"What exactly do you mean by bad news, Keith?" I asked him. He hesitated for a while and after a few moments, he seemed to make a decision and sighed. His eyes looked wary and resigned as he spoke.
"We've done various tests over the week. I've assessed her physical strength and neurological response as well. While her physical strength seemed to be normal and could be restored with physical therapy, I'm afraid it's her neurological system that's hindering her mobility. I just looked at her MRI reports and saw that her sciatic nerve seems to be compressed.
It happens in most of accident cases when the person acquires SCI or simply, spinal cord injury. Thankfully, she's only injured her nerve at the lumbar level so the mobility of her upper appendages was unaffected. I've consulted with all the neurosurgeons about her condition but they've all come to the same conclusion."
No, no, no. This can't be happening now. My heart started beating erratically against my chest and I clenched my knuckles so hard I was sure my blood supply was about to be cut off. Then I recalled Eva's expression just a few minutes ago, how hopeful she looked when she said she was feeling better.
I looked at him and asked, "But, Eva just told me that she's been feeling better lately these couple of days. What is that, then?"
He furrowed his eyes at that. "Yes, she told me the same thing too. But I'm afraid, in her case it just means that she's getting her physical strength from her therapy. But as I already said, it's more than just bones and muscles that are responsible mobility. The major role is that of the neurons or the nerves, which seems to be non functioning in Eva's case. I'm really sorry, Eves. But I don't think we can do much in the condition."
No. I refuse to hear that. I could feel my eyes pooled with tears and I swallowed hard. Not willing to give up, I blinked back the tears and took a deep breath.
"Okay. So you mean you can't do anything now. Then what about the other doctors? Surely there are others in the world that have treated similar case before? Just tell me his name and location. I'll take her to the end of the earth if required. Money is not a problem either. Keith, please, just give me the name of the doctor who can make my sister walk again."
Keith smiled sadly and squeezed my hand. His eyes were full of remorse and I knew what he was going to say. "I'm sorry, Eves. I've already discussed her case with every neurosurgeon here and overseas but as it's a complicated condition, there's nothing we or any doctor can do. I'm so sorry."
"No!" I harshly removed my hand from his. I couldn't believe what was happening right now. All these years, all the hardships, sleepless nights for one dream and now that very dream me and Eva have endured everything for, is being shattered right in front of my eyes. I couldn't tolerate it.
I got up from my seat and without a word or a backward glance at Keith, I stormed away from there, ignoring Keith's frantic calls and in a couple of minutes, I was driving beyond normal speed limit, the adrenaline running high in my whole being.
I was driving but didn't have a destination. I didn't want to give home. I just wanted to be alone somewhere. Anywhere but not home. Because suddenly it became just a place I sleep. Just an apartment. Not a home. Because it was made for my sister who would dance to a Shawn Mendes song in her welcome party. Which was not going to happen now.
I swerved to the left and pulled over in a stranded road. Looking around, I saw that there were only a few vehicles passing by, but the place was otherwise deserted. I was finally alone in an unknown place, where no one gave a second glance at whatever I do. Just like I wanted.
I turned off my engine and finally let my mask fall down. I let go of the tears I'd been holding from the moment Keith uttered his first sentence. I let go of everything and cried hard. I cried for my parents who were taken away before me and Eva could learn to make breakfast. I cried for my sister who was never going to walk in her show. I cried for her eyes filled with life and so much hope just an hour ago, unbeknownst to the cruel reality. For the first time after my parents death, I cried my heart out.
I didn't know how long I'd been sitting in my car in the unknown place when a series of knocks suddenly woke me up. I realized I'd fallen asleep there. Rubbing my sore neck, I glanced around to see that it had gotten dark already. I jerked up at hearing another knock on my window.
I saw a silhouette of a man bent over my car but couldn't make out the face properly. I unlocked my car and climbed out only to see Adrian standing there looking worried, looking good as ever in his black suit. He breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief but his expression suddenly turned into panic when he looked into my eyes.
"Evelyn! What are you doing here in the middle of the road? Are you okay? What happened? Did you get into an accident? Talk to me, Evelyn. What's wrong? Are you hurt anywhere? Why were you crying?" He fired lots of questions at me and suddenly everything came rushing back to me about my conversation with Keith.
I didn't know what came over me suddenly but before I could think rationally, I threw myself into his arms and started crying again. Adrian tensed and stood still for a moment. Feeling embarrassed, I was about to remove myself from his arms and apologize to him when he came out of his trance and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly.
Uncontrolled sobs left my body and Adrian tightened his hold on me, slowly moving his hands over my back and murmuring soothing words in my ear. I was wrong. I didn't want to be alone right now. I wanted to cry as someone held me tight, and prevented me from falling apart. Just like Adrian was at the moment.
We stood that way for a long time. Wrapped up against each other in the middle of nowhere. My sobs were finally beginning to cease but Adrian was still whispering comforting words in my ear. I slowly pulled away and looked at his eyes.
He was looking at me with such a tenderness that made my want to cry again. However, I smiled weakly at him and replied his earlier question. "I'm fine. I didn't get into an accident. I just lost my way and got upset over it. I'm sorry for worrying you."
From his expression, I could see that Adrian didn't buy my lie but he let it go and I was once again grateful for that. He looked at me with a strange emotion in his eyes and finally spoke. "No harm done. You're fine and that's all that matters right now. Come on, I'll drop you off." He pointed to his car just a couple of meters ahead of mine which I hadn't noticed before.
Too drained to argue, I nodded weakly and followed him to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and after making sure I was safe, he walked to the other side and let himself in. He assessed me from my head to toe and inspected my face, probably looking for possible injuries and when he found none, relaxed his posture and smiled sheepishly at me before starting his engine.
The whole ride I could feel Adrian's occasional glances at me. I could tell Adrian had questions he wanted to ask but was restraining himself. I was thankful that he didn't ask anything because I wasn't ready to share everything about my life with him just yet. The ride was silent and I closed my eyes, recalling events of the day and hoping against hope that it was just a bad dream I'd wake up from.
The feeling of my feet leaving the ground woke me up from my slumber and I opened my eyes to see a sharp jaw above me. The jaw went up to a cute chin, to slightly pink and inviting lips, then to a nice, shapely nose guarded by prominent cheekbones. I slightly craned by neck to see more of this magnificent work of art and I found myself looking into a pair of enchanting electric blue eyes. A very amused pair of enchanting electric blue eyes.
It took some time for my sleep induced brain to connect all the pieces of the lovely organs together and make a human face out of it. And when I finally put every organ in its place and once again looked at the face in front, or rather, above me, I shrieked and almost ended up falling right on my vital organ if not for the arms that tightened their hold on me.
Realizing that I was still in his arms we were inside an elevator, I glared at him and slowly climbed off his arms. Though, I think I should have climbed out of his arms and created a safe distance between us before glaring as they would've been more effective. However, judging by the nature of the person the glare was directed at, I doubt it would have made a difference because he still was sporting highly amused electric blue eyes.
I decided to let go of my glare and at the moment I noticed that the elevator wasn't moving at all. In fact, the STOP button was lighting up. This made me resume my glare at him and I crossed my arms and raised both of my eyebrows at him which was a big act of self degradation on my part since we all know my issues with a single eyebrow raise.
My intention in crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows along with my glare was to look intimidating enough to get him answering my questions without having the trouble of using my vocal cords. And I did get an answer without asking him anything. He just didn't look intimidated. At all. But I let it go this time. My answer was more important.
"I didn't know which floor you lived in." He shrugged and I was suddenly reminded of why I didn't want to come here in the first place. My throat suddenly felt clogged up and I blinked back my tears. I had thought I'd already cried all my tears away but it seems that my tear gland has saved an infinite amount of tears over the years I haven't cried. With the way I was acting right now, I think I'm the bipolar one. Or maybe it was transmitted from Adrian due to sitting in his car too many times?
Adrian had his arms around me in a flash and he was rubbing his hands along my back, occassionally patting me. "Sshh... It's alright. It's fine, Eve. Don't cry. Everything will be alright. Just tell me which floor is yours and I'll take you home."
My subconscious registered that he called my by the forbidden name but I refused to acknowledge it today because for the first time in my life, I was feeling truly like I was home. I didn't want to dwell on it's implication and instead told him my floor number.
I felt one of his arms leave me and I almost panicked but it was back around me again after I heard a soft bing of the button being pressed. I scolded my pathetic self internally and blocked my subconscious. I lived on the twelfth floor so the elevator doors opened in no time and once again the floor disappeared beneath me. Adrian carried me and reached my door where I punched my pin code revealing my living room.
He carried me inside and settled me on one of the couches. By his expression, I could say that he was about to ask something so I quickly got up and ask him what he'd like to drink. Adrian pressed his lips into a thin line and asked for a beer as he realized I wasn't spilling anything tonight. I nodded and took out a can of beer from my fridge. I handed it to him and saying I'd be right back, rushed to my bathroom.
Once inside the bathroom, I appraised my appearance and saw that my eyes were red and puffy. My hair now looked like a mess of overcooked auburn colored spaghetti. I cringed at my reflection realizing I'd done a huge degradation of my self esteem tonight. And that too, in front of the one man who had a head bigger than the London eye.
I shook my head and let out a resigned sigh before cleaning up. I changed into an oversized tshirt and sweatpants and left the bathroom. I normally wore shorts or pajamas but I didn't want to show any extra body parts to Adrian.
I entered the living room to see Adrian sitting in the same position I'd left him earlier but the TV was now turned on. However, his attention was somewhere far away as he had this long thinking face while repeatedly flicking through the channels.
"If you aren't going to watch, you might as well stop changing the channels. It's making me dizzy." I commented as I slowly made my way to him. He jerked from whatever he had been thinking about and his eyes softened as he looked my fully clothed body.
He got up from the couch and shook his head before turning off the TV. He took his car keys that had been lying on the small coffee table in front of him. "Well, it's getting late, I should get going now. Goodnight." He gave me a small smile and turned away from me as he got ready to leave.
As my self esteem has already been damaged a big time, I decided to do one more action that would put the final nail into the coffin of my pride. Just as he was about to reached the door, I called out. "Adrian." He stiffened and slowly turned back to me.
"Can you... uh... can you please stay for a while?" I uttered a question that my pride wouldn't have let me ask despite my heart crying dearly. Adrian stiffened yet again and I suddenly rushed to explain. "I mean... not for anything... it's just... today was a little... overwhelming and... I... I don't think I will be able to get any sleep alone. So can you please... just stay for a while? Just until I fall asleep. Well, if you have no problem, of course. I can totally understand if you don't want to. I-"
In a blink of an eye, Adrian was in front of me and he cupped my jaw as his eyes showed so much care that I nearly melted right there. "You don't have to explain, Evelyn. I understand. I'm sorry for not thinking of that. Don't worry. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." He said softly, rubbing his thunbs on my cheeks.
Adrian then took off his coat and threw it to the couch along with his car keys. Then, without giving me a chance to speak, he carried me again and walked towards my bedroom which, I assumed he saw earlier when I went to clean up.
He gently deposited me on my bed and put the covers over me. I snuggled up to the covers as my mind automatically started getting hazy as soon as my body came in contact with the sheets. "You know, for such a rich, successful and arrogant businessman, you sure like to drive me around. Why don't you take the position of my driver? I'm feeling the need of one and although it may not be as much as you earn now, it will be enough to help you survive. And besides, one would be considered lucky to drive such a beautiful, charming and smart woman like me."
He chuckled and took my left hand that was peeking out of the covers and held it in between both of his. I unintentionally shivered as I got this tingly sensation along my spine. "As tempting as your offer is, I think I'll pass for now. But even though, whenever you feel lazy to drive around, you can always call me and I'd be more than happy to drive you around anywhere you want. That too, free of cost."
I let out a weak laugh at that and was about to retort but sleep overtook me, and for the time, I forgot all about the events of the day and Keith's words. I don't know if it was a dream or it did happen really when I felt a another wave of tingles run through me as a pair of lips touched my forehead and I heard a soft whisper.
"I promise you won't ever cry again, my Eve. I've finally found you and I'll never let you go. Whatever the reason behind your tears are, I'll make sure to find out and this will be the last time they fall from your beautiful eyes. I'll keep my promise I made to you all those years ago. Sweet dreams, my Minnie."
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Phew! That was one long chapter. Do click on the little star and comment what you think!