Dear Ophelia

Chapter Eight

"Are you a thief? 'Cause you stole my heart."

It was the evening at exactly seven when she recieved a little note. It was so familiar.

There was a little heart in the corner as usual and the written words were printed in the middle.

"Are you a thief? 'Cause you stole my heart."

She laughed loudly. The pick up line had been the worst yet. She was so relieved that she was not forgotten.

I could love this mail guy. I really could.

...

A week after Ophelia woke up, Ivo blinked awake.

What happened?

Why am I here?

If I'm here does that mean...

Ophelia.

Oh God.

He could feel his heart beat pick up and the tube down his throat burned. Hot tears streamed down his pale face as he thought about all the things that could have happened to Ophelia.

The rapid beeping of the ECG machine deafened him.

He could hear faint voices in the background getting louder and louder.

The boy flinched when the bright white light got switched on and seared his eyes.

He was afraid to sit up, worried that the growing discomfort in his throat would hurt more.

"He's awake!"

"Sir, sir! Calm down. Focus on breathing."

The doctor looked familiar, Ivo couldn't put his finger on it.

Ivo furrowed his eyebrows and tried his best to follow the instructions.

The doctor glanced at the monitor next to him, and nodded.

"Ok, great."

Ivo tried to speak but all that came out was a low warbled sound. He winced.

"Ah, yeah. Best if you don't talk right now."

The doctor sat down on the chair next to the bed. "I'm Dr Halburn. You probably remember me, I'm Ophelia's doctor. And I'm now also yours."

Ivo's eyes widened with realisation. He instantly tried to talk again but started coughing instead.

"I'll make this fast, I know that you want to know what happened to Ophelia. She is alive. She got lucky. One of our patients died that day was a donor and she got their lungs and heart. She's been awake for a week and recovering quickly. By next week she'll probably be out of here."

Ivo visibly melted in relief and tried to keep in happy tears.

"Now, we have to talk about what happened to you." He sighed. "You've slept for 2 weeks. You thankfully missed cutting major arteries, however, you have ruined your vocal cords. Although it might be possible to use therapy to get your voice back. You've also got swelling from the operation so you'll have to keep the tube on for 2 more days until it goes down."

Ivo tried his best to nod, trying his best to process the information.

"Your family have visited, your older sister came in yesterday. She brought your typewriter and flowers. Your parent haven't visited but they did call. After this conversation, I'll tell them you're awake."

Ivo rolled his eyes. Of course they wouldn't risk seeing me, just in case they bump into each other.

The boy looked at the doctor and motioned for a pen and a notepad.