"You and my sister?" Seraphina asked as they walked to the elevator. "What?!" Kieran asked, startled that they had been caught easily. "Don't worry, I am sure I was the only one who caught on. My mom is not an expert on things like this," Seraphina assured him. While she was in university, she had several relationships, and sometimes it was like her mom was intentionally trying to act dumb not to see them, but she was truly not trying to pay attention to things like that. "We are not trying to hide it""But now would not be a good time to discuss your relationship," Seraphina understood. She would do the same if she were in their shoes anyway. "The most important thing now is that Arabella recovers well and can go back to her daily life without any complications," she said. "That is true" Kieran added nodding his head."But I need to know," Seraphina said as the elevator stopped and opened and they got into it. "I need to know what happened. I can not wait till you are telling the
"What's taking them such a long time?" Ava asked as she glanced at the door for the thirty-first time in the space of a minute. "They would be back soon; why are you so worried?" Arabella asked as she lay down in bed."Why shouldn't I be worried? I do not want to think about the bad luck that had been opened over my family as a result of this accident," Ava said. "Why would you say something like that? That is the kind of statement that can bring bad luck in." Ava opened her mouth to speak but before he could say anything, a doctor walked in. Both women stood up and waited for the man to go to Arabella. "How do you feel?" the doctor asked, checking her IV drip and then her face. "Still in pain but not as much as before.," Arabella said, staring at the doctor. "Okay, that is good." "Doctor, what about the result of the test?" Ava asked when the doctor did not say anything. She was fine even if the doctor ignored her and did not say hello; she just wanted to make sure that her dau
When Kieran and Seraphina got back to the room, Ava told them to go home even though they all volunteered to stay and be with Arabella that night. They were all worried about her, but they knew that only one person was allowed to stay with her for the night. Kieran, as much as he wanted to stay, could not state a reason why he would do that, so he silently left. He drove them home, and they left for bed because of how tired they had been from the day.Kieran picked up his phone and fumbled with it; he wanted to speak with Arabella so badly, he missed her. "Should I call her or text her?" he asked himself as he sat on the bed.Are you asleep? He stared at the text on his screen. While struggling on what to do, she had taken up the courage and sent him a message instead.NoWant to talk over the phone?Isn't your mom right next to you? She is sleeping right now, and I want to hear your voice before I go to bed.Kieran felt butterflies in his stomach even though he would have argued th
Kieran and Arabella spoke fofr a long time before they finally went to bed. Ava woke up early and cleaned up before helping Arabelle to do the same. The doctor came over and checked her condition and told her that she was recovering alright."Hana," Ava began sitting by the side of the bed. Arabella looked at her mom's face and she could tell that that was her serious face. She knew that whatever her mom was saying now meant serious business."Mom, that look is scaring me," Arabella said, trying to water down the tense atmosphere. She wanted to feel comfortable enough, even though she did not know what her mom was about to say."Are you still refusing to tell me what happened?" Ava asked, clutching her daughter's hand."I will tell you, but not now." She was going to try her best to keep her promise, at least."Okay, it's no problem. I would wait until you tell me, but I have something that I want you to do for me. Are you going to do it?" Ava blinked her hand, going up and down her d
"Hana Arabella Bishop," Ava screamed."Mom!" Arabella screamed back. She had told Kieran that getting a private room instead of a shared one was a waste of money, but now that she was about to go head-to-head with her mom, she was convinced that he had spent his money wisely."Listen," Ava said, trying to stop her shaky voice."Mom, me being with you and not getting hurt was not because I was with you; it was just the way life was, and now that I was away and this happened, it is because life happens. How much longer do I need to stay with you?""I don't mean you should stay with me; I mean you should come home, where protection is," Ava said confidently, like she had taken extra measures to ensure that the place was fortified."Home or abroad, this," Arabella said, pointing to her bruised face and injured arm. "This would have happened and can happen anywhere. And I told you already that I want to put myself out there as well.""I am not saying you shouldn't put yourself out there. I
TWO WEEK LATERArabella was diagnosed and was asked to take it easy. She had told Kieran that they were going to tell their parents about their relationship today. They had spent two weeks together; it was difficult for them to be together because Ava was over her daughter like a hawk and never left her side. It was even difficult for them to be on the phone because Ava wanted to know. Knowing that her daughter had a man in her life, she was curious who it was and wanted to know. She was trying her best to act nonchalant about it when curiosity was killing her. "I do hope I get to meet this mystery guy who is hiding from me before I go back in a week," Ava said as they sat in the car. Everyone had come to take her back from the hospital, making it a big deal that she was kind of embarrassed at the fuss they were making. "What mystery, man?" Everly asked, turning to her friend. "Her boyfriend, the one I told you about," Ava replied, and Everly nodded. "I also cannot wait to meet h
"Are we meeting him today?" Everly followed up with her friends's question when Arabella did not say anything. "Yes, we are," Arabella said. "And you are just telling me, I should have stayed back at home to prepare a warm meal for him instead of coming to the hospital to pick you up. I should have also taken extra care to clean the house today." Kieran rolled his eyes at how extra his mom was being. He wondered how she would react when she got to know that he was the one she was making all this fuss over."Forget it; moreover, if he knew that you took extra care to do all those things, he would feel uncomfortable," Arabella said. "Is that it?" Everly said, biting her lip and looking out the window. "Kieran, go to Hyshoo restaurant; let us get something from there since I might not be able to make any food," she said out of the blue. "Everly, why don't you calm down? You are making a big deal out of nothing," Ethan said from the passenger's seat. It was the first thing he said sin
The rest of the drive back home was. Even though Arabella did not picture them telling their families this, she was glad that she had gotten it off her chest. As they entered the house, Ava called everyone into the living room. Arabella had expected a reaction from her mom, but maybe she was just shocked that she had forgotten how to react. She was waiting for them to remind them of the age gap between them and the reasons why this wouldn't work out. She wanted to hear their reasons, even though she was just learning how to love him. He had admitted that he had a crush on her. When he went to the airport to pick her up, it was like love at first sight. When his mom had told him that her friend's daughter, whom he knew from his youth, was coming to stay with them, he did not know why, but for some reason, he encountered a small child and was shocked by what he had seen. He tried to suppress his emotions, using his hurt as an excuse. "Everyone to the living room," Ava commanded. It w