HAZELThe golden streak of sunlight streamed into the room through the peek in the curtains and landed on the blanket covering me. I paid attention to the tiny dust particles floating in the air, illuminated by the sunlight, and a small smile appeared on my face. I thought they were beautiful. The last hour had been hectic, and that was putting it lightly. I was sure I had seen at least five doctors since I woke up. I had been put through a dozen tests, tiny flashlights had been pointed into my eyes, moving from left to right until I felt like I would actually go blind and they would have a real problem on their hands. The oxygen mask was taken off me and the machines that I was hooked up to were taken away, and eventually the doctors left me alone when they were convinced that I wouldn’t die or something. I felt weak and sore, but that was to be expected when you spend two weeks in bed without moving. I would have to go through some kind of physiotherapy for sure.But for now, I wa
“I don’t know where to begin,” Christian said.“From the beginning, Christian. Don’t leave out any detail," I answered, not wanting to go soft or cut him any slack.“Okay.” He swallowed again, looking helpless like a little child. “I didn’t think I would ever think about you again after that night at the hotel, I thought it was just going to be a one time thing. But then I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I just knew I had to find you and tell you.”“And that’s how Rose came into the picture,” I whispered, saying my sister’s name for the first time in years.Christian frowned. “Yeah. I was going crazy and I put out fucking fliers,” he chuckled and I couldn’t help but smile too. It was silly, but in a sweet way. “Months passed and I was already losing hope, but then you- Rose walked into the restaurant where I was having dinner with the team. And I thought I must have done something good in my past life because I really figured I wasn’t going to find you again.”“Hmm.”“We spent a
CHAPTER 126The next week swiftly went by, I was able to leave my bed for a few hours everyday, and I was feeling stronger by the minute. I’d had a lot of hospital visits and while I appreciated all the love and care, I just couldn’t wait to be in my own bed, away from all the needles and prodding and everything. The doctor and my physiotherapist did one last check on me and Christian was wheeling her towards the exit in no time. The car was out front, and I frowned when I didn’t see Dennis anywhere around.“Where’s Dennis?” I asked, still looking around as I twisted my neck to look at Christian.“I gave him the day off.”“Oh… you’re driving?”“You sound so surprised.”“You can’t blame me. You’re a good driver, but you try to avoid driving as much as you can.”“Hmph,” he grunted as he helped me into the passenger seat and buckled me in before jogging to the other side of the car to get in. “You ready?” He asked as he started the car.I cast one last look at the hospital and smiled sof
Walking into the house was like taking a breath of fresh air after you’ve been stuck in a dusty smoky room for a long time. And as I looked around the living room filled with all my loved ones, there was nothing that I could do to stop the tears.“I missed you, mommy,” Valerie said, placing a kiss on my cheek. She had jumped into my arms the second I walked into the room with Christian behind me, and had refused to let go.“Awww,” I kissed her back. “I missed you too, my baby.”“Was Gamma number two sad that you were leaving?” She asked, and I remembered Christian saying that he had told her I went to the beach to see my mom.I shook my head. “A little bit, but she said she’d be okay. She wanted me to come back home to you.”“I’ll pray tonight and thank Gamma for letting you come home,” she said before her face brightened with an idea. “Oh I know! We can take her cookies too!”“Okay mama, okay,” I assured her as the whole room burst into laughter.“Welcome back, Mrs Walker,” Tina smil
Christian turned to the other side and turned off his bedside lamp, and I followed his lead and did the same too. Darkness instantly flooded the room. Now we were both lying on our sides and facing away from each other, I had one hand under my pillow, and the other busied itself with a stray thread on one end of the pillow. We both stayed silent for a while, and I could hear every intake of breath that he took. I was sure he could hear my heart thudding in my chest, I shut my eyes in embarrassment and tried to control it, but all my efforts proved to be futile. Five minutes passed in silence.“Hazel?” Christian finally called.“Yeah?” I answered, still playing with the fraying end of the pillow.“Were you sleeping already?”I shook my head, but realized the room was dark enough that he couldn’t see me, so I replied out loud instead. “No.”“Okay…”I couldn’t see him, but I could picture him opening and closing his mouth, contemplating if he should say something. I wanted him to talk t
I woke up alone the next morning. The sheets looked slept in, but they were barely rumpled, and if there was one thing I knew, it was that Christian slept like a crazed wild animal. So now I was starting to question if he even slept in the bed with me all night, or if he got creeped out and went to one of the other rooms in the middle of the night. He probably did. Sitting up, I nibbled on the inside of my cheek. It was all sore and had these weird chewed up parts, but ever since I started doing it at the hospital since I woke up, I couldn’t seem to drop the habit no matter how much I tried. I moved on from that as my mind circled back to everything that happened last night and I smiled. I wrapped my arms around myself as I imagined Christian’s strong arm around me. It was like I could still feel his breath on the nape of my neck, and hear the sound of him inhaling as he sniffed my hair. Did I regret last night? Definitely not. But I was definitely confused and nervous. What did this
I tossed the phone across the table and groaned as it slid all the way to the other side of the table. I stood up from my spot on the chair, feeling frustrated “No, this doesn’t make any fucking sense,” i said to myself as i paced around my office, gripping my hair tightly between my fingers.Someone knocked on the door, and a second later, Tiana appeared at the door. “Mr Walker?”“What!?” I yelled as I turned around to look at her.She jumped. “Uhh I’ll come back later.” She said, scurrying out of the room before I could say something or yell at her again.I groaned when I was alone in the room again, and I pulled my hair even tighter. I walked over to his floor to ceiling windows and looked down at the city, nothing made sense. All of my thoughts were jumbled up and I hadn’t even finished reading the messages. Was there even any need to? I already knew what the truth was. And it hurt like hell, I didn’t want to believe it. I walked over the trash can in the corner of the room and
The site wasn’t an actual site. It was just what I called my childhood home. It was a three hour drive from the city and sat on a large expanse of land. And I hadn’t been back there ever since I left for college. It was a grand house, and maybe if the walls weren’t tainted with my father's sins,Maybe I would’ve loved it. I didn’t want to be there, but I felt like I needed to go back to the place where it all started in order to talk to my father, and I needed the long drive anyway. Dennis wasn’t with me, I had given him the day off. So I spent three hours in silence zipping through traffic and wondering what I would even say to my father. Sure I felt like killing the man, there had been many occasions where I had come close to doing it. But was that even the right course of action to take?The house was pretty much the same as the last time I saw it when I arrived there. Still large, still daunting, and still obnoxiously expensive. “Welcome sir, we’ve been expecting you. Your father