Lyrek-On the walk home, I decided I wasn’t going to tell Veronica about the money I gave her parents. I knew I should, but I also didn’t think it was a good idea. She has already suffered enough because of them. I didn’t want her to think they cared more about money than her or her brother.“How did you manage to get them to leave?” She asked the moment we entered the penthouse.Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair as I thought of a way to tell her the truth while leaving out certain details. Closing the door, I busied myself with removing my shoes and jacket. When I finished and turned towards her, she was looking at me expectantly.“I bought them a plane ticket and told them to go back home. I explained that they were upsetting you and that if they tried to take you to court, I would use all my resources to fight it.”I hoped that she believed my story, although it wasn’t exactly a lie. Her eyes studied me for a while before her body noticeably relaxed. When she turned away fr
Veronica-Waking up alone in bed, I was confused because I didn’t remember coming into the bedroom. Sitting up, I recalled what happened the night before. In the aftermath of my parents, I ended up spending a beautiful night with Lyrek.We had fallen asleep on the couch together. I remembered waking up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare and I had been wrapped up in his arms. Maybe he had carried me to bed later?The urge to use the restroom pulled me from my thoughts, so I pushed the covers back to get out of bed. After using the restroom and washing my hands, I headed out of the bedroom wearing a robe. My mind was in turmoil because of everything that had happened.Making my way into the kitchen, I stopped when I noticed a tray of food on the kitchen table. There was a note next to it with a single pink rose tied to it by a small white ribbon. Lifting it off the table, I untied the ribbon so I could read the note.“To my beautiful wife, I didn’t want to disturb you this mo
Veronica-Sitting in the office of Dr. Hendrix, I felt a little awkward. It wasn’t that she didn’t seem friendly, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. Lily had dropped me off saying she needed to get to run a few errands.The shrink was scribbling notes or something on a notepad, which I couldn’t see. Her office was nice, but it was a little stuffy. Looking around the office, I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at her.“Would you like something to drink?” Dr. Hendrix asked.“No, I am fine.”“Are you nervous?”Directing my attention to her, I noticed she was looking at my hands. Currently, I was wringing them together as if my life depended on it. Forcing my hands apart, I placed them under my thighs to keep from fidgeting.“This is my first time seeing a therapist.” I admitted.“That is understandable, but I want you to know this is a safe place. Anything you say here I am legally obligated to keep confidential. Nothing that is said inside this room will be repeated to an
Veronica-I wasn’t sure how I felt after leaving therapy, but I did feel as if a lot of pressure was taken off me. We had agreed upon my returning a couple of times a week to start. It had been odd talking about my childhood.When I reached Andrew’s hospital room, he and Lyrek were just getting back. Lyrek was helping my brother onto the bed. I didn’t say anything as I entered the room, just stood by the door and watched their interaction.“Do you really think it is possible?” Andrew was asking Lyrek.“I will know more soon. The call I received was good news, which is why I am going to check it out. When I return, we will know more.” Lyrek responded.Curiosity got the better of me, so I spoke up. “What is going on?”Andrew’s eyes shot to me, and Lyrek quickly turned around. The looks on their faces made me smile. It almost looked as if they were caught doing something they shouldn’t have.“I received a call from a colleague from California. There is another patient with scans similar
Lyrek-I was half tempted to tell my grandfather that we would have dinner another night. The moment I saw Veronica in the dress, I wanted to take her out on the town and show her off. Afterward, I wanted to take her home and admire the body under the dress.After picking up my grandfather, we went to the restaurant, where I was having a challenging time taking my eyes off my wife. I caught a few other men checking her out and it took a lot of effort not to cause a scene. Over and over again I had to remind myself that I was still trying to win her over, so I couldn’t lose my cool.Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice the ogling eyes on her. If anything, she seemed completely oblivious to everyone around us. Her focus remained on my grandfather, who was in turn watching her carefully.There was a lot of tension in the air, but I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because Veronica was nervous, which I noticed the moment I said we were having dinner with him tonight. As far as I knew the
Veronica-Waking up next to Lyrek, I instantly felt sick to my stomach. Turning onto my side, I looked at his sleeping form. I wasn’t sure what time he came into the room last night, but I knew it was late because I had already been asleep.It was still hard to believe he was leaving today. I knew he was going to return in a couple of days, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. He has become a constant part of my life lately and I hated the thought of him being clear across the country.At least right at this moment, he was sleeping soundly, which meant I didn’t have to part with him just yet. My emotions and mental state were a wreck with everything that has been happening the past few days. It didn’t help that he would be waking up soon to get ready to get on a flight.I wanted to tell him how I felt, but I honestly didn’t know anymore. There was a part of me that felt that my feelings for him were nothing more than gratitude. After my therapy appointment, I have only become more conf
Veronica-“Let me get this straight, he told you that he loved you, but you didn’t say it back?” Dr. Hendrix asked after I explained everything that had happened.“It isn’t that I didn’t want to tell him. If I told him now, I wouldn’t know if it was out of obligation or if it was truly how I am feeling. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of strong feelings for him. He is saving my brother’s life and he saved mine, but how do I know for sure that I do love him?”After seeing Lyrek off at the airport, I returned to the hospital because Dr. Hendrix agreed to meet with me. I felt like seeing her was the best thing I could do at that moment. Right now, I was beginning to wonder what was going on in my head that I automatically thought about talking to a therapist about this.“That is going to be up to you to decide. I can’t tell you what to feel, only help you figure out a way to understand what it is that you are feeling. Even then I can’t guarantee results.” I wanted to scream in frustrat
Lyrek-I wanted to rush home as soon as I got out of surgery. My entire body was buzzing with exhilaration. For the first time since I started Andrew’s case, I finally had a solid breakthrough.Not just hope or feel like there was a shot at saving him, but an absolute belief. The patient we just operated on had nearly the same kind of tumor that Andrew had, except Andrew’s was more progressed. Although the surgery had been intense and there had been a few touch-and-go moments, I now knew what I needed to do to remove it.It has been years that I have felt like this on a case. After I manage to save my wife’s brother, I want to take on more cases that seemed like a lost cause. It has been a long time since I have challenged myself like this, to this degree.Since I couldn’t head home after surgery, I caught the first flight out the following morning. It has been a few days since I was home, and I couldn’t wait to tell Veronica the good news. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk sinc
Veronica- Ten years later “Hurry up mom and dad! We are going to be late!” My nine-year-old daughter Lexi yelled as she ran ahead to the bar, where we were meeting everyone. It was now Christmas, and we had a tradition to meet at the bar every year. Rick still managed the bar, but he now did so with his husband, whom he met while he was in Europe. This year it was a little different from our usual get-together because this year Lily couldn’t join us. She was in Africa working with Doctors Without Borders. I was really proud of everything she has accomplished these last few years since graduating from medical school. The main person that I was looking forward to seeing was Andrew. He was in college now, studying to be a medical researcher. His life was relatively normal now, having been cancer free for ten years. I never thought he would have made it this far, but I was thankful every day that his illness was a thing of the past. I haven’t seen him since the school year started, b
Veronica-It wasn’t easy, but with the help of Lily, a team of wedding planners, and a lot of money, we managed to get the wedding I have been planning for the last few months up and going. It took us only forty-eight hours. The best part of it all, Lyrek’s grandfather was able to hold on.I had a feeling that the wedding was giving him the desire to live because I could tell by looking at him that he was fighting to stay alive. When I told him my plan it was a light flipped on in him and he now had the will to live. Lyrek tried to argue with me about rushing the wedding.He wanted me to have the wedding of my dreams, but I managed to win him over to my way of thinking after I told him that it wouldn’t be the wedding of my dreams without his grandfather here to celebrate it with us. After all, it had been because of his grandfather that we were together.I thought it over and concluded that even if he would have pursued me, I wouldn’t have been as willing to be with him at the time. I
Veronica-Waking up in Lyrek’s arms was the best thing in the world at this moment. After the last twenty-four hours, I have been more grateful to have him by my side. I wish he would have let me know what he was doing, but I understood why he kept me in the dark.Rolling over in bed to face him, I saw he was still sleeping. Taking a moment to admire his features, I smiled at how relaxed he looked. Moving my gaze to the other side of his body, I noticed Andrew was lying in bed next to him.I must have slept like a rock if I hadn’t noticed Andrew joining us in bed. Reaching over, I gently caressed the side of his face. His features weren’t as relaxed as Lyrek’s, yet he didn’t seem to be nearly as influenced by past events as I expected him to be.“Good morning.” Lyrek’s sleepy voice pulled me from getting too far into my thoughts.Tilting my head back, I looked up to see him smiling at me. “Good morning.” I repeated his words.“Are you hungry?” He asked, his tone soft and low.Instead
Veronica-I was beyond worried right now. As many times as I called Lyrek, it went straight to voicemail. I didn’t know what to do and even the police had to call in the FBI because they were getting nowhere.With nothing better to do, I have been pacing the lobby of the theater, trying to reach Lyrek. My nerves were a wreck. I didn’t think Lyrek would up and abandon me, so I couldn’t help but feel that something was very wrong.The Chief of Police also thought something was wrong and has been trying to track him down. He had one of his officers try calling every hospital in the area, including different police units. I wanted to call his lawyer, but I didn’t have the number.I couldn’t call his grandfather, because he wasn’t doing very well, and I didn’t want him to worry. Pacing back and forth was all I was good at right now. It wasn’t helping anything, aside from helping hold on to the little bit of calmness I had left.Finally, my phone rang, and I quickly looked at the screen. A
Lyrek-With no choice but to wait until their attention was away from Andrew, I kept myself hidden. The minutes were ticking by slower than I wanted. The men guarding Andrew were getting impatient, but I couldn’t move without putting him in danger.Looking across the room, I tried looking for Snake, but I couldn’t spot him. My hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger until my knuckles turned white. One of the men returned to the computer, while the other was pacing.If I was going to get Andrew out of here, I needed to do it soon. The moment I thought about it, there was a loud explosion coming from the other side of the factory. Both men moved in the direction of the explosion.“What the hell was that?” One of them asked.“Sounded like a bomb going off. This is an old factory so it could be just nothing, but I am going to go check it out. Stay here with the kid and keep trying to fix whatever is going on with the computer.” One of the men took off running and the other returned
Lyrek-“Found them.” Snake said a bit later.Pushing away from the table I was leaning against, I moved to stand behind my friend. Looking over his shoulder, I saw a map on one of the computer monitors with a blinking red dot. We weren’t very far from the location.Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed Veronica’s number. Thanks to Snake, he made it so I could use my phone, but it was now a secure line, and it couldn’t be hacked or traced. I had to hand it to him, he really knew what he was doing.“Did you get the money?” She asked the moment she answered the phone.“I need a little more time, but I am getting closer. Have they contacted you again?” I asked my wife while I watched Snake type like a madman on the computer.“They called once since you left and told us that you better have the money soon or they were going to start hurting Andrew.” The fear in her voice was as clear as day and I knew we were running out of time.“I promised you that we will get him back. I am going to do ev
Lyrek-“Where is my son?” Veronica asked the man that was on the phone.“Don’t worry about that right now. What is important is how you are going to come up with five hundred million dollars to get him back. If you don’t want him hurt or worse, I suggest you start calling the banks and get me my money.” The man said.With that amount of money, it was going to be difficult to produce. It wasn’t that I couldn’t get it, but it wasn’t like I had that kind of money laying around. Even if I went to the bank to withdraw it from my personal account and even take it from the foundation funds, it would take a long time.“I don’t have that kind of money!” Veronica was starting to become hysterical, which only fueled my anger.Stepping closer to her, I wrapped my arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. I knew it wasn’t going to do much, but I wanted to remind her that she wasn’t alone. My thoughts were racing with who the caller might be.We thought it was her parents, but the man’s voice wa
Veronica-It didn’t take long for the police officers to show up. Every second of waiting had felt like an eternity. I couldn’t breathe without feeling like I was going to have a panic attack. If it weren’t for Lyrek, I would have broken down the moment he told me.There was a lot of chaos going on currently as everyone in the theater was being questioned. While giving my statement to the police officers, Lyrek and I had to separate so he could also talk to them. I hated that in this situation everyone was a suspect, but I also didn’t care as long as Andrew was found.“Do you know of anyone that would have done this?” The police officer assigned to question me asked.“I was attacked a few months ago because the mugger was wanting money from me. I don’t know if it is related or not, but that is the only thing I can think of.” I admitted, even though I didn’t feel like it was relative to the current situation.“We have already investigated that. Is there anyone else that would have done
Veronica-Three months later“Come on! The movie is about to start!” Andrew yelled as he raced ahead.I couldn’t help but laugh as Lyrek and I followed him into the theater. While I knew he was excited to be able to see the movie he had been waiting for, I didn’t know why he was in such a hurry. It wasn’t like there weren’t going to be any seats, being that Lyrek reserved the entire theater room for us.Over the past few months, things have been a little weird. Not in a bad way, but in a way that was still taking me some time to get used to. When Lyrek did anything for us, he did it in a big way.Every time we went out, he made it obvious that he had money to spend. I wasn’t a huge fan that he was spending money so elaborately, but I couldn’t fault him either. His excuse was that he wanted us to enjoy everything life had to offer.No matter how much money he spent on me or Andrew, I was still not used to having someone take care of me to this degree. On the plus side, it has allowed m