ChrisannaHe pants, clenching his jaw as I watch him trying to stiffen his muscles."These are pretty easy questions to answer, Samuel", I tell him. "Trust me if you say you are truly happy when you meet him, I'm never gonna stop you"He takes a few steps back and turns around. "You should sleep", he grunts. "Won't you answer?" I ask."I have been wanting to meet my father ever since I was young. That should be enough for you to know that I feel happy when I meet him""Why don't you just say that on my face, Samuel?" I husk, knowing that he's straight lying. He's not lying actually. He's in denial. He has forced himself to believe that he is happy when he meets his father. He turns around, and moves closer to me again, looking straight into my eyes. "You're trying to break the promise and change the dynamics, firefly", he tells me."I just wanna make sure if that makes you happy""You make me happy", he says. "That should be enough""This is not a solution, Samuel", I snap. "What
Chrisanna"He doesn't plan on rescuing you", I bluntly say on Damien's face as disbelief washes over him. However, the look he gives me says that he's trying not to make it look like it surprises him. "Is it so? You're sure?""One hundred per cent", I say. He's silent, looking away and now his face is shaking, maybe in frustration and wrath which he's not showing. "But you're gonna be on parole after twelve years if I'm right", I scoff. He raises his eyebrows as a groan escapes him. "Twelve more years? Do you understand how long it is?""If I count your crimes in the underworld like killing people and smuggling—" pausing, I throw him a dreadful glare. "Raping an innocent woman, making her life hell—" The colours of his face drain as I continue. "Taking her child away from him. And never treating your child like a father should have— making his childhood a den of horror— traumatising him for his entire life— then 30 years of imprisonment is way less than you deserve"Silence eru
Chrisanna We reached the central jail in an hour. The whole time Samuel didn't utter a single word. It was evident that he was completely stunned. I asked him several times if he was fine and he only hummed each time. We didn't inform anyone in the family when we left and I had a bunch of thoughts roaming inside of my head. Did Damien really think of escaping after I told him he can't get out? I know I shouldn't take the blame because he tries to escape all the time as the officers told me.But he was never killed by the cops whenever he broke the prison. It's really such a weird feeling because I met him just hours ago and now—We stand by the ambulance as Damien's body is carried over there. An officer moves the cover from his face to show Samuel once. I keep holding his hand tightly, even though I know it's not gonna affect him that way. However, his silence just scares me. When the body is out of our sight, I squeeze his hand tightly. "Samuel!" I whisper."I'm fine", he lets
Samuel "Am I not enough for you, Samuel?" "No, you're not. I want dad too", the seven-year-old I screamed for the first time at my mom after spending months with her. I still needed Dad.I remember the pain in her eyes as she was taken aback but said nothing to me. She just apologized and walked out. I indeed felt bad and regretted saying that because I loved her— a lot. I loved my mom even before meeting her, even though I had every possible reason to hate her. My father did everything so I could hate her. But I couldn't. The moment I saw her I knew how much I needed her in my life. But at the same time, I felt worse for feeling that way. The seven-year-old me was taught to be grateful to that father who had raised me and love him. And the moment I realized I could live without him but not without my mom whom I just met, I felt like an ungrateful child. The anger myself for being ungrateful was taking a toll on me. All those years— I never really missed my father but it felt lik
Author's POVChrisanna having a cancer relapse was indeed the most shocking and terrifying for everyone. According to the doctors, she had been suffering from this for months, but as the symptoms were too light at first and drastically changed into something worse in weeks, the reason no one could know. Besides, her detouring health merged with the departure of Samuel made it hard for everyone to realise why she had been keeping so low. "We have delivered Chrisanna's case to the team. And we won't delay starting her treatment as soon as we form a strong team of doctors and nurses for her case", Michael says after attending a meeting about Chrisanna's case. As soon as the news breaks, everyone rushes to the hospital, still in shock and denial which is clearly visible in their silence. As Emily keeps her arms around Ivanna, expecting she would break down anytime, Christian silently listens to Michael."It hasn't been late. And Chrisanna is a born fighter", Michael says with a smile.
SamuelMeanwhile, I realize Mom is standing a few yards away, next to the entrance, smiling at us. I look down. As though a lump is stuck inside of my throat, I find it hard to swallow. Mom comes towards us and sits next to me. She says nothing, just spending the next few minutes caressing my hair and cheeks. And throughout the moment, I can't make myself look at her. "I couldn't even ask you how you have been doing. It didn't seem right that moment", she says as I nod."You did right", I mutter. "Where have you been?" she exclaims, still caressing my hair. "Not anywhere to be specific", I stutter, clasping my hands together. "We had been trying to locate you for the last three weeks", Dad says. "I didn't want to be anywhere you all could find me. I was travelling in subways", my voice is stern."For three weeks?" Mom blurts out in disbelief. I nod. "A few days ago, I landed in Boston. Then I had to use my card in the lodge. Eric tried to find it out""We stopped tracking your c
Chrisanna"You can walk by yourself after a week", Samuel says as he settles me on the mattress and begins to take my sandals off. My lips widen into a light smile as I wonder if I made the right decision by keeping him with me. He's gonna give ten times extra effort than it needs. I fear I'm gonna drain him. Why didn't it click my head when Paa was refusing to let me go with Samuel? However, either way, it would hurt Samuel. We're now at my parents' place. Obviously, Paa didn't want to give my entire responsibility to Samuel. It hurts so much to see how drastically things have changed. My father trusted Samuel the most in this whole world with me and now he doesn't even want to leave me completely alone with him. He fears Samuel is gonna leave me alone again. I was completely under Pa's concern but at the same time, I was adamant.There was a mini-war in the hospital when I told this to him. For the first time in my life, I fought with Paa. For the first time, I didn't blindly acce
ChrisannaI'm officially in the most painful stage of my life where every second of breathing is painful. As days keep passing, I feel the pain taking over all other emotions. I'm on medicines— 3 times daily— weekly check, therapy, and draining energy. It's so painful sometimes that I can't even react in front of others. I feel embarrassed — some days, I feel like shit. Samuel left his position in the company to give his entire focus to me. But he still works sometimes from home as Uncle Kane is handling all his projects and needs his help most of the time. Paa is around most of the time— checking on me and taking me for checkups once in a while. Mama has taken a break too and gradually I'm starting to feel awful.It seems like they all have changed their lives completely because of me. It stings to see my parents go through the same pain again. If Samuel wasn't there, I know both of them would be stuck to me like they were years back. And Samuel— I don't even know when was the la
Hello, everyone. This month has been a really bad one. After I posted the previous chapter almost 10 days ago, I was doing pretty well. None of my family members nor I have ever suffered from Dengue before which is why I had no idea that after the fever decreases abruptly there is a higher chance to have a very bad fever after a couple of days. I wasn't fully recovered. Had to get admitted in the hospital. I really tried my best to use my free time to write something but it was next to impossible. It's been two days since I have come back home and doing pretty well. But due to a gap in writing, I'm unable to get motivated to write the next chapter. Must be an absurd request but please let me know in the comments how many of you are still with me, waiting for the rest of the chapters, so I can have some boost in motivation and push myself to finally get back on track. Thanks in advance for all the good wishes. Hugs?
ChrisannaYou know what's the worst part of this phase? I know every bit of change happening in my body and my mind but people around me— who love me— are trying their best to hide those changes I may not see but feel. I snuggle into Samuel's arms after breaking the kiss and exhaling deeply as his grip tightens. I feel his heart racing, faster than ever.He thinks I didn't notice anything. But I did feel everything. I felt the sudden change in his voice which he tried to hide. I felt his hands suddenly moving more gently than ever as if he was scared to touch my hair, as if he feared the more he'll mess with them the more they'll come out. He thinks he can prevent them from falling anymore. Maybe. But he can't.I know everything. I feel everything.I feel him. He can't hide. He can't lie. "You're feeling well? We can cancel the date if you want to", he asks me, squeezing my shoulders gently. "No. I wanna go""You sure""Hmm", I lift my head and smile at him. *We spent the rest of
Samuel"I'm sure I was born only to meet her", I say, smiling down, midway through my speech— among the group settling in a circle during the weekly meeting. "Every good thing that happened in my life— all revolved around her. I just don't know how that's possible. I believe that I was born for her. Just to meet her and love her. There's no damn purpose in my life. There haven't been any"My breath hitches as I look around at all the smiling faces."Do I look better to you all? Like better than how I was when I came to the first meeting?" A tinge of anticipation stirs me up. "I just don't want to go back to the worst phase of my life anymore. And I'm so fearful that it would happen if I keep watching her struggling. It's very painful—" I struggle to speak.Strangely, it didn't happen ever since I started coming to the meetings and I always talked fluently.As I struggle to speak, my phone rings. Even though it's not allowed to carry phones while in the meeting, I'm allowed as I discus
ChrisannaIt's like a script they have all memorized. "Line dance", Uncle Colton says, getting up and walking towards the music player. "Darn. I hate it!" Eric snarls. "All dancing like soldiers""It's fun. We do it every time in family gatherings", Judson says, flickering a smile. "Seriously! Are you a 50-year-old in the body of a 17-year-old?" Eric grimaces, making Judson silent."Stop bullying him, Eric", Kylee shoots him a glare."Opposite attracts— shit is real", Charlotte laughs her lungs out, taking sips from her drink."Okay, you all", Uncle Colton turns the music on. "Get into a line"As everyone takes place for a line dance, Samuel helps me to get up."You don't need to match and move that much, okay? Just enjoy", he says. "Don't stress" I nod and notice a few people from the park have also joined. The environment seems to come alive with the rhythm of the dance as I weakly copied Charlotte's steps who is standing before me and briefly look at Samuel beside me. He has a
ChrisannaThe sun-kissed park provides a picturesque setting as the sprawling green meadow unfolds in front of me. Towering trees with long branches surrounding us leaves gently rustling in the soft breeze. The vibrant colours of blooming flowers dot the landscape.I inhale deeply, swallowing the canvas before my eyes. It all seems so new and mesmerising. I haven't inhaled fresh air for months. More than half of the last five months were spent within the four walls of the hospital and I also didn't wanna step out.I miss my old life so much. I look yards away, taking every inch of the view, watching kids playing around, families conversing and groups of friends laughing aloud."It's really hot over here", Samuel comes beside me, blocking the sun rays straight hitting my face as how tall he is. I look up at him and smile, finding Zoey curled around his neck. "I missed this heat""In that case, I think you had enough of it", he slides his hand behind my back and I keep smiling at Zoey
Chrisanna Stage III. As hard as it is to accept, this is the reality. It's been weeks since I've been back to the hospital. Again.And it sucks. I'm going through radiation therapy now. Even though my breasts were removed, cancer spread beyond that area to nearby lymph nodes surrounding tissues, chest walls, and skin.My skin burns, itches, and aches most of the time. I feel tired even pushing my eyelids and sometimes it's even harder to breathe. Although my stitches are gone, leaving those lifelong scars, the soreness and fatigue still wake me up every night. But now I have learned not to cry out. I have learned how to live with this discomfort and pain. Among everything, my life is just standing still. It seems like I'm stuck in a loophole where the world is running at a fast pace and I'm just standing there. I don't feel the same anymore. I'm not the same. The changes haunt me. I find it hard to accept myself. And every time I try to speak my heart out, I can't. They don't
SamuelChrisanna had to spend the next week in the hospital. As she preferred, Aunty Ivanna was there for her most of the time. I rarely got to spend time with her as the nurses and doctors had to check on her every half an hour. She might need a few weeks to recover from the surgery before the radiation therapy starts. According to the doctors, she'll need more than a year to get past all that and it depends on her recovery whether she'd need more therapy or not. However, I'm more concerned about the woman she's turning into— completely different from what she was. She barely speaks to me. She just stares at me whenever I am there as if she's talking to me through her eyes and I feel dumb and desperate when I can't bring myself to understand what she might want to say.I try to be there for her as much as I can but I wish I could do more. To ensure I'm in a better state of mind, I regularly attend my therapy sessions. Connor introduced me to a group and I have attended two meetings
ChrisannaNo amount of willpower, confidence, and support can prepare you for this— no matter how strong you try to be— it's never that easy. The day I was diagnosed with this disease again, I was so sure that I would overcome it— again. If a seven-year-old child can fight, then a twenty-five-year-old grown-ass woman can definitely fight and win. But little did I know that, it's not the same— and never that easy.The more I was sucked into this illness, the more I realized it's not the same. It's more painful than anything else. Either I lose something that defines my identity, or I lose myself. Either way, I have to lose. Spacing out of reality, I look down at my hands, clasping and unclasping them as my eyes dart to the wedding ring, glistening on my finger. My thoughts slip away from one direction to the other one as Samuel's face flashes in front of my eyes. I haven't seen him for two days— ever since I was admitted to the hospital for surgery. I met no one as I requested them
SamuelI wasn't honestly expecting something like that. There's barely any word I can form to speak when she stares straight into my eyes with a blank face. Her voice barely shakes and her gaze doesn't even flinch.This is not anything like Chrisanna. Chrisanna is all about expressing. She doesn't believe in being or looking emotionless— cold and rough. She should have been nervous, scared, or hurt while saying such a huge thing to me. At least— to me!I had seen changes in her behaviour lately but it's something painful to watch.She keeps staring at me, waiting for an answer when I was completely spaced out. I shrug, clearing my throat."Okay""It's awful", she doesn't blink— and her voice is ice cold. She should be flinching and groaning in frustration and maybe in anger. There's nothing!"It's not awful", I exclaim, immediately sliding my palm around her jaw. "It's a way to heal you""Yeah. Just throwing away a part of my body isn't awful", she groans, making me unsettled."No.