A few days later, Alex was finally declared fit enough to go home on the condition that he take it easy for now. He had a feeling they had gotten tired of the fuss he'd been making but he couldn't have been more thrilled by the news all the same. Dr Peter had visited once more since his first visit and it was an unvoiced pact between the both of them that Alex had resumed his therapy sessions.
Sophie couldn't make it in time for his discharge. Apparently, she had a few errands to run for her mum so they had concluded she'd join them later in the house. Angel had gone to school as well as no one had told her about his pending discharge and one could only imagine how surprised she'd be when she saw her father at home later.
Alex spent the better part of the morning listening to his doctors drone on and on about what he should and shouldn't do, what his diet was supposed to consist of and what he was supposed to abstain from in the mean while. They also kept hammering on how important it was for him to stay in touch with his nutritionist and how he was to come around for checkup every week. Never mind that they'd been repeating the same things over and over since his discharge date had been set. He felt they were being extreme with the whole thing, but he didn't bother arguing with them.
Sometime around noon, his brother arrived ready to sign him out and take him home. It irritated Alex further when they insisted he'd be wheeled to the car but most of all, he was just so grateful to be out of the claustrophobic hospital space.
Home, sweet home. Stepping into his house, Alex exaggeratedly inhaled, savoring the fresh air that filled his nostrils. It was a far cry from the tainted air at the hospital. He felt a smile tugging at his mouth. Never would he have thought he'd be so happy at the sight of his plain and boring living room.
"Welcome home, brother," Raymond clapped him lightly on the back. "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," Alex agreed with a grin. Stretching his hand towards the duffel bag Raymond was carrying for him, he said, "Hey, let me have that."
Raymond handed him the bag and Alex smiled gratefully. "I'll just be in my room."
He didn't wait for a reply before walking up the stairs, taking them two steps at once. He hesitated slightly before pulling the door open, a pit of discomfort forming at the thought of what he was about to do. It had been playing on his mind since that first time Dr Peter visited.
His room was the same as he'd left it although there was no surprise there. He hadn't been expecting anything out of place and except for a few things that had probably been shifted around during the course of cleaning, everything else looked the same.
His eyes strayed to the white painted wall and his throat clogged the way it usually did at the sight of their family picture and the ones of Becca. He'd hung them there as some sort of reminder of why he was angry with himself and the world. If the heartache he felt each time his gaze caught any of them counted, then they'd served their purpose quite well.
Looking at them now, he still felt the dull pang of loss. It was probably never going to go away. Maybe with time, it would thin out but he knew he was never going to forget Becca. She had been a important part of his life and the memories of her were always going to be with him. She had been the first woman to make him genuinely smile after his mum and both women were always going to hold special places in his heart.
It was gradual, but he was slowly coming to terms with their loss and he knew a large part of it was because of Sophie. He only had to make sure that this time, he didn't use her to block out his problems like he had done previously. For himself and her, it was going to be done right this time. And he knew just where to start.
* * *
Sophie had been genuinely pissed when her mum had called her last minute and told her she needed her to come over to the house, but she knew her mum wouldn't have called if it hadn't been necessary so she'd had no choice but to curb her annoyance and make her way over to her mum's place. It turned out that her mum was planning to resume sales at the market and was going through her account book but things weren't really adding up. Hope was too lazy to offer meaningful help so her mum had resorted to calling her instead. It took them a few hours but they were able to fish out where the problem originated from at the end.
Sophie was beyond glad when they finally ended the whole thing. Alex was getting discharged and she was beyond excited. One would think she was the one getting discharged instead.
By 1:47 pm, she was done with her errands and had already made her way to the Adams' residence. She had a key now so she didn't bother knocking. Raymond had texted her about thirty minutes prior to let her know he was going out to get some stuff and would pick Angel up from school afterwards. It was a Friday so school was closing earlier than usual.
"Alex!" She called the minute she stepped into the house but there was no response. Her brows creased slightly as she wondered what he was doing. Acting on impulse, she went up to check his room and her inclination proved to be right when she saw him standing just inside the room, staring at the wall with some sort of glazed look in his eyes.
Sophie couldn't help her eyes from roving slightly over him. Even though he was wearing a plain black T shirt with it's sleeves rolled up and black jeans as well, he looked better than any other man she'd ever seen and she had to take a minute to herself to just ponder how she had gotten so lucky with him. He was her man. Even the thought of it had her squealing internally.
The look in his eyes vanished when she shut the door not so gently in a bid to announce her presence. Slowly and with a ghost smile playing on his face like he had been expecting her, he turned to her and engulfed her in a hug.
The gesture surprised her. It took a second for her to react to it but that didn't deter her from leaning into his warm embrace. Hugging him felt so good and warm and she just wanted to remain in that position forever.
As quick as it had happened, he pulled back, the smile wider on his face and his eyes filled with an emotion she could now identify as love.
"So, what are you so excited about?" She had to clear her throat before speaking to avoid sounding like a strangled rat. He always had that effect on her.
"You," was his simple reply.
Sophie gulped, feeling her face flaming. Now that he wasn't fighting his feelings for her anymore, his show of affection sometimes threatened to overwhelm her. Not that she was complaining, she loved it and didn't want to ever get used to it. "M-me?"
He threw his head back in laughter, gently flicking her nose with his index finger. "God! You're so cute when you get all shy and cute like that."
"I'm not... I d-do not--" she stammered.
"Yes. Exactly like that," he teased, still chuckling.
Huffing, Sophie looked away from his amused self. That was when something caught her attention. The wall... She moved away from him slightly so she could face it fully. Something was different about it. She let out a small gasp as she realized what it was. The wall was bare. All the pictures that had covered it was... Gone.
She turned back to Alex who was now staring intently at her, probably aware of what was going through her mind at the moment. "The pictures..." Your wife's pictures, "...they're gone."
He nodded, pointing over to the bed. "I took them off."
She looked where he pointed and saw the pictures arranged inside a wooden box that was placed on the bed. She probably would have noticed it if she had taken the time to look around. But why had he taken them off? "Why did you do that?"
He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I felt like it was something I had to do. I had them there before as some sort of punishment to myself but now that I don't feel the need for them anymore... I'm not getting rid of them. I'm just going to keep them somewhere, maybe in one of the spare bedrooms."
Sophie couldn't contain how happy his decision made her but she didn't want it to seem like she was pressuring him into doing anything he didn't want to. "I... I don't know what to say. I don't want you to feel like you have to let go of everything that had to do with your wife. Angel for one would want to remember her mother--"
"Like I said, I'm not throwing them out or anything," he reaffirmed. "If Angel ever wants them, she'll have access to them. And we don't need a picture to remember her. She'll always be there, in our hearts." He took a step closer to her so they were facing each other again. "I meant it when I said I wanted to start a new chapter of my life with you. And if we're going to do this, I want it to be on a clean slate without anything from the past hanging over our heads. That is, if you want to do this with me?"
Sophie could feel the tears brimming in her eyes as she was so overcome by emotions she could barely form a sentence. The unsurety in his words floored her. Hadn't she proven to him enough times that she was here to stay? How many times did she have to say it for him to get it?
"Hey, don't cry," he pleaded as he leaned forward to wipe a stay tear that had fallen down her cheeks. "I'm sorry if you feel overwhelmed because I'm moving too fast. I know there are a lot of things you have planned for yourself and I'm not going to stop you from achieving any of them if that's what you're worried about. It's just that I've kept my feelings for you bottled up for so long that it's just so hard for me to control how --"
He was anxious and since she still didn't trust herself to speak, she wrapped her arms around his waist and gently placed her lips against his to stop his blabbering. He relaxed and she could feel the tension steadily leave him. She pulled back and he was wearing the biggest smile she had ever seen on him.
With her newly found voice and certainty in her heart, she whispered the words she had kept to herself ever since the time he'd so gently rejected her. "I love you, Alex."
And to think that she had assumed she had seen his biggest smile. Sighing contentedly, he whispered back, "I would never get tired of hearing that from you."
She rolled her eyes at him and smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "That's not how it goes. You're supposed to say it back."
He laughed, the sound rich and melodious to her ears. "I love you too, Sophia."
"Good," she hummed as she wrapped her arms even tighter around him. She was never going to get used to hearing the words from him either.
THE END.
**********
Awwwww
I was all smiles while writing this,
I hope you were too while reading.