Chapter 14 by Fathiah Zarafi

My hair billowed around me as a soft breeze brushed past. The gentle swaying of the flowers tickled against my skin, drawing a serene smile from my lips. I focused on the clouds above me, slowly rolling in the blue sky. Lying here in a valley of flowers brought a new sense of peace in me. There was no more hurt, no more anguish. Just calmness washing over me. I closed my eyes and let myself drown in the environment.

"Aly, wake up honey."

My eyes slowly blinked open when I felt a warm weight on my forehead. I smiled upon seeing the beautiful woman in front of me. "Mom," I breathed, "I missed you."

"I miss you too, my sweet little angel," she hummed. "My, look how big you've grown. You look so much like your father."

I beamed at her before sitting up straight. Mother enveloped me in one of her warm hugs that I have yearned for so long. She ran her hands gently over my hair before pulling away. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. We're all so proud of you."

I peered over her shoulder and saw Father standing not too far behind. He had a hand wrapped around Sarah's small ones. She was waving enthusiastically at me, showing that toothless smile of hers. Lucy was standing on the right side of Father, smiling down at me. I got up to my feet and together with Mother, we made our way to our family.

Lucy embraced me first. "Good job, sis," she whispered in my ear. I made my way to Father and he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I hugged him back equally as tight, cherishing the feeling. "You have made us all proud." He released me and I crouched down to Sarah's height.

"Have you been a nice girl, Sarah?" I questioned playfully. She giggled in response and bobbed her head back and forth vigorously.

"I miss you, Carrot!" she shrieked before throwing her dainty arms around my neck. I backed away from her and pretended to pout. Her giggles filled the atmosphere around us. I couldn't suppress the laughter that bubbled up my chest and joined her in a melodic chorus. Soon, our laughter died, leaving behind traces of happiness in our chests.

"I'm so happy to join you again," I squealed out in delight. Their reaction wasn't what I had anticipated. All of their smiles dropped when the words left my lips. Mother stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me lightly.

"Honey, it's not your time yet. You can't join us." I gaped at her explanation.

"But, I'm dead. Are you trying to tell me that I'm going to hell?" I asked reluctantly. The four of them unexpectedly burst into laughter before Father joined at my side.

"No, dear, you can't go to hell if you're not dead yet," he said with a chuckle. I stared at him and Mother in horror as I grasp their hands frantically.

"But no, I can't live alone anymore!" I cried, "I can't, not without you guys. Please, let me stay here." Mother took a step forward and gently cradled my face between two palms. She kissed away the stray tears that had escaped my eyes before smiling at me.

"You are a strong girl, Alyson. The road of your life is still long and unwinding. You can achieve anything that you dream of."

"But—"

"Shh, listen to that," Mother cut off my protest.

I silenced myself and tried to pick up what Mother was referring to. There was nothing but the sound of the breeze. Scowling, I was about to question her when a soft noise caught my attention. It was so faint, like a whisper of a wind. I crept closer to the source which seemed to be coming from a door in the middle of the valley. My ears flattened themselves against the wood as I listened to the voice over it.

"Adele, please don't go."

Adele. That name was familiar to me, just at the tip of my tongue but I couldn't recall.

"You can fight this. I know you can."

My heart swelled at this voice. He was begging for this Adele girl to come back to him. They must have been really close.

"You are the best thing that ever came into my life since—since forever. My life has always been rough and negative and—when you came, you taught me not to give up. You need to remember that and don't give up fighting. I sort of, kinda, like you more than I ever should so you better wake up so I can sort my feelings out, so we can be Chayton and Adele again."

I was suddenly overcome by waves of memories and emotions. I murmured a soft 'oh' when everything clicked into place. My lips curved upwards into a smile upon hearing Chayton's voice. Chayton, who had knelt at the tip of a firearm for me. He was awaiting my return and I shall do the exact. I glanced over my shoulders to view my family. They all had arms wrapped around each other, beaming at me.

"Go, sweetheart," urged Father.

"I love you," I whispered.

"We love you too, Alyson."

I pushed the door open and took a step over it. I never looked back.

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Little pelting sounds penetrated my haze. The noise grew louder and louder until a loud thunder rumbled, shaking me awake. Although I was aware of my surrounding, my eyelids felt extremely heavy and impossible to pry open. I grew tired from fighting against it so I relied on my hearing to detect anything. Everything was so fuzzy; I couldn't remember where I was or what happened. I recalled being held hostage by Mary Anne and Chayton barging in on us but everything after that was a vague of visions. My ears detected the sounds of footsteps against hard surface, creeping nearer to me. Just as it stopped, my hand was suddenly engulfed by warm heat.

"Hey, Adele. It's me again."

I struggled against my heavy eyelids to catch a glimpse of Chayton. With Herculean effort, they finally fluttered open, only to shut tightly when the harsh light burned my retinas. Chayton apparently noticed my reaction as his grip on my hand tightened and I felt the surface I was lying on dipped.

"Adele? Can you open your eyes again?" his voice begging.

I summoned my courage to once again battle the heaviness that pulled on my eyelids. Soft, fleeting sensations ran down the side of my face and I knew he was stroking my cheek. The desire to view him in person won the raging war. My eyelids flickered open and I was careful not to stare directly into the light this time. Chayton's hovering face greeted me instantly. Although my vision was still blurry, I could make out the grin adorned on his face.

"Nice of you to wake up, Sleeping Beauty," said Chayton softly, "I'll go call the nurse. Don't fall asleep again, please."

Before I could process what he had mumbled, Chayton was running out of the room. I took the opportunity to silently learn where I was. I couldn't really smell anything; there were tubes shoved into my nostrils that blew air into it. It was rather an uncomfortable feeling, having plastic tubes in your nose. I tried to adjust or perhaps remove them but as I attempted to raise my hand, I found it restricted by another set of tubes penetrating the thin skin of my hand. I eyes followed the long trail of tubes until they landed on bags of what appeared to be water dripping into my hand.

The sudden burst of nurses through the door startled me. They gathered around my bed and started talking a mile a minute amongst themselves. I tried searching for Chayton but my vision was teemed with maroon scrubs. One of them pried my mouth open before prodding a thermometer in it. Another started taking my blood pressure while the other administered the reaction of my pupils.

"Temperature; 98.6. Normal."

"Blood pressure at 120/80 mmHg; normal."

"Pupils dilate and relax normally."

I started feeling overwhelmed by all the crowding. My heart began thundering in my chest from the anxiety and confusion. The room was abruptly filled with a rapid beeping that screeched loudly. The nurses stopped their works immediately to peer down at me.

"Nurse, please, you're making her nervous," a voice spoke from behind the human curtain. They broke apart to allow the mystery person to enter. A woman in a lab coat, probably in her early forties, sat on a stool I next to my bec.

"Hello there, Adele. I'm your doctor, Miranda. It's nice to see you awake now," she smiled. "How are you feeling today?"

I opened my mouth to answer her but all I emitted was a moan of pain. My throat was dry and each movement felt like knives scraping against my throat. Doctor Miranda noticed my discomfort when she asked the nurse to hand her a cup of water. Gently, she propped my neck up with one hand and tipped the cup into my mouth with the other. Once I felt the soothing liquid running down my throat, I sighed in appreciation.

"Feeling better?" asked Dr. Miranda, setting the paper cup on the table next to her.

"Yes," I rasped out. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chayton sitting on the window sill, his eyes never leaving me. "I can't remember what happened."

"Ah, yes. You've been asleep for a week now so we must fill out the details. Shall we?" I nodded my approval for her to continue. Dr. Miranda held a chart in her hands and began flipping through the pages.

"You were brought into the ER last Thursday with three gunshot wounds and a blunt trauma on your cheek. We had to perform multiple surgeries on you to remove two bullets, one in your shoulder and one in your calf. The third bullet was lodged in your spine. We had to wait several days to take it out but—"

"But what?" I asked when Dr. Miranda froze mid sentence. She placed the chart neatly on her lap before taking my right hand in both of hers.

"Your spinal chord was heavily damaged by the bullet and I'm afraid you're paralyzed from the waist down," she whispered.

"No, you're kidding," I laughed. She must be. There was no way I could be paralyzed, just no. When I saw the unadulterated sympathy pouring from her eyes, I snatched my hand away and turned to Chayton desperately.

"Chayton, is she, she can't—tell me she's lying!"

Chayton's expression mirrored that of Dr. Miranda's and everything just broke apart. I began sobbing out loud, not caring about anybody who can see me. My life as I knew it was busticating into smithereens. When I felt warm arms surrounding me, my cries only grew louder. Nothing was ever going to be the same again.

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"Come on, Adele, you've got to eat something."

"For the last time, Chayton, I'm not hungry," I grumbled. It was hours after the news of my disabled state was delivered and my unexpected break down. I was propped up on my upper body by fluffed pillows, avoiding the spoonful of mashed potatoes Chayton was trying to force into my mouth.

He sighed in exasperation before putting the plate down on the table. "Look, I know this must be hard for you to take in but—"

"You don't know anything!" I snapped. The hurt evident on Chayton's face made me immediately regretted doing so. "I'm sorry, it's just—I can't believe this is happening to me. I can never walk again."

Chayton's face softened. I averted my gaze to hide the traces of tears in my eyes. I hated crying; it made me feel like a helpless crybaby but at this moment, I was truly helpless. He lifted my chin up with two fingers so we were eye to eye.

"I've told you that I'll help you through this, didn't I? You're not alone. You've got me, my mom, your uncle, the doctor, lots of people" he comforted. I could only smile faintly at him.

The next thing I knew, Chayton was closing the distance between us. My breath hitched as my eyes fluttered close. His lips met mine lightly and fleetingly. Chayton held it there for only a few seconds before pulling back. I opened my eyes and saw him grinning, with a hint of blush on his cheeks. I was pretty sure I was wearing the same expression. It was when I came down from cloud nine that I fully apprehended his words.

"Wait, you said my uncle?" I questioned suspiciously. Chayton laughed and settled himself more comfortably on the foot of the bed before taking my hand in his once more.

"Mr. Charles, or James now, told me everything." I glanced down at our intertwined hands for a few seconds before the memory of James ran across my mind. My grip on Chayton's hand unconsciously tightened when I recalled him being thrown over the second floor.

"James!" I shrieked, "What happened to him? The last time I saw him, he fell through the window!"

"Relax, Adele," he spoke slowly, "James was released from the hospital a day after he was admitted with a broken arm, nothing serious."

"Oh, okay then. You're not hurt, are you?" I paused when Chayton shook his head. "How did you two find me anyways?"

Chayton inhaled a deep breath and gazed out the window so that his face was turned away from me. "You were missing for two days so I got worried and went out searching for you. Then, I saw you struggling with Tristan in front of your house and I knew something was wrong," his tone darkened when he spoke, "I went to James because I knew you two had something funny going on. He called the police yada yada yada, here we are."

I waited for a few moments before speaking up. "Thank you," I breathed, "You're my hero." Chayton flushed at my comment and mumbled something incoherent under his breath. I couldn't resist his cuteness anymore; I leaned over and sealed his mouth with mine. His lips were soft and inviting; I decided I could kiss him forever.

"So um," I started once we broke apart, "is Mary Anne, you know, dead?"

"10 gunshots fired at her," he said venomously, "she deserved that death after what she did to you and your family."

I remained silent and leaned back against the pillows. A million thoughts ran through my mind at the moment; where do I go from here? Father didn't have other siblings and Mother was an only child. My grandparents were long buried six feet under. I visibly shuddered at the thought of being placed into an orphanage. Nobody would adopt a cripple, I thought bitterly.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Chayton's voice broke my train of thoughts.

"Where do I go from here?" I sighed, "I don't have any other relatives and—"

"You're staying with me."

Both Chayton and I looked up at the sudden intruder. James was standing at the door with a huge smile painted on his face. His left arm was held in a sling and I could see a few cuts and bruises on his face but despite those, he seemed healthy.

"What do you mean, James?" I asked once he settled himself on the chair previously occupied by Chayton.

"Since I'm your biological uncle, you are now under my custody," James explained. I frowned in puzzlement and sat up straighter.

"But—you said your work forces to move around constantly and change identities. How am I supposed to follow you all over the world?"

"I quit my job," he said nonchalantly, as if quitting the CIA team was a daily activity. My eyes widened in shock and jumbled words tumbled out of my gaping mouth. James chuckled slightly and leaned on his elbow.

"When you're a forty year old man, you'd learn that nothing is more important than family." James smiled at me and I mirrored his expression. "And, we will be staying here where you can finish high school with our help."

I threw my hands around him and held back the tears threatening to fall. James patted my back soothingly as Chayton moved to sit next to me on the bed. I released him only to lean back against Chayton's arms. He pressed his lips on my head and I smiled in contentment. James stared at our exchange with slanted eyes the whole time.

"Oh by the way, no kissing under my roof," warned James. Both of us burst into laughter and giggles, and try as hard as he could, James couldn't keep a straight face. He joined us with a belly laugh of his own. I gazed at a ray of sun as Chayton joked around with James. It penetrated the dark clouds above, warmed the grass below and warmed my soul.

Come what may; I knew I would get through it with the love and support of those around me and the guidance from those above. Starting life anew as a disabled person would be a challenge but I would gladly accept it. Seeing the two most important men in front of me, I knew I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

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