Changing Heart

Chapter 6

 Chapter 6

Daniel

The chair in the waiting room was hard and uncomfortable. In fact, the whole room was uncomfortable. Small, plain and boring. The sharp white light was giving me a headache, and the big, empty walls felt like they were watching me.

       What was going on with Lucy? Who was that guy visiting her? Her brother? But she had seemed so surprised to see him... and I was pretty sure she hadn't said anything about brothers when she told me about her family.

       Her boyfriend, then? No, that couldn't be. I was sure she had answered "no" when I just happened to ask her. Of course, it didn't matter who he was. As long as he was nice to Lucy, I had to let him visit her.

       Strangely enough, I felt a little irritated that someone else was with her. The last days I had gotten used to spending a lot of time with her, and I had felt like I was the only one in the world that cared about her. But that was stupid, of course. She had family, friends and surely a lot of other people...

But where had they been the last week?

       A door was ripped open in the end of the corridor. It was one of the nurses watching over Lucy, walking towards me as fast as you could in a short skirt and high heels. She looked upset and worried, and I jumped from the wooden chair with the cold fist of fear around my heart again.

       "What's going on? Is it Lucy? Is anything wrong?!"

       The nurse nodded with a dumb-looking expression and pointed at a paper in her clip board. A red line was going slightly up, slightly down... and suddenly straight up.

       "Her heartbeat?"

       She nodded again.

       "Her heartbeat suddenly increased in speed. It can be dangerous, so I have to give her something calming or-"

       The nurse ripped open Lucy's door and froze. I pushed her aside, and entered the room.

       Lucy was still lying in bed. The guy was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning forward with his arms around Lucy-

...kissing her.

Kissing her!

Why the hell was he kissing her?!!

       A spark inside me was enlightened, and I felt a fire unlike anything I had felt before flame up. My heart was burning - and not in a good way. In a terribly, terribly painful way.

       The guy leaned back, and drove a hand through his dark, colored hair. That little gesture alone was enough to make the flames burn brighter. Nonchalant, arrogant, selfish. This boy seemed so disgusting that my stomach tightened painfully knowing he had just...

       I could feel Lucy looking at me. Meeting her gaze, I tried to keep the flames from my eyes, but I knew I failed. Lucy looked flushed, shocked... and a bit apologetic. Did she know what I was thinking?

       Of course she did. I was practically killing that dark haired guy with my gaze. She had to understand that I-

       That I what? That I cared about her? That I... loved her?

       As the thought entered my head, I could feel the knowledge spreading out through my entire body. I knew it now, I had known it all along.

       I love you, Lucy.

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Lucy

Michael squeezed my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I nodded, not meeting his gaze. I had a strange feeling in my belly, but I tried my best to smile. "It's nice of you quit school for me." Michael drove his hand through his hair, looking happy. "Of course I will come visit you. You're my girlfriend, after all."

       Michael stood up and gathered his things, then leaned back down to me. "Goodbye." I tried to make the kiss as short as possible, all the time feeling Daniel's eyes at me.

       The door was shut, and silence flooded the room. I stared at my hands, not knowing what to say.

And what should I say? Why should I be the one starting this awkward conversation? I have done nothing I shouldn't do! Why should I have to feel guilty?

"Lucy."

       The tone in his voice irritated me. He sounded tired, sad.. disappointed. He had no right to be disappointed!

"Lucy, will you please talk to me?"

"What is it?"

I tried my best to make my voice sound calm and careless.

"Who was he?"

What do you care?

"My boyfriend."

"You said you didn't have a boyfriend. Did you lie to me?"

Irritation filled me again.

"I didn't have a boyfriend then."

I could hear how strange that sounded, so I started talking again before he could ask.

"We were together, but his parents force him to break up with me some days ago. But he came back."

"You haven't broken up with anyone the last few days. I've been here all the time, I think I would have noticed!"

"Before that. On Thursday."

I didn't know why I was giving him all this information. Why am I even talking to him? There's nothing to say!

"So... he broke up with you the day you had the heart attack?"

After some seconds of silence, he asked again.

"Lucy, tell me! What happened?"

"He broke up with me, I got upset, ran off into the snow and suddenly got my heart attack! End of story!"

"So it's his fault! It was him upsetting you, him giving you this heart attack! Lucy, don't you see?"

My mouth fell open.

"Michael has been together with me the last three years, was forced to break my heart, came back when I needed him the most - and you tell me that everything is his fault? How rude can you be?"

"Lucy, a guy shouldn't leave someone only because his parents tell him to! He can't  truly love you!"

"So I should rather choose you, is that what you're saying? You, which I have known for three days and who accuse my boyfriend of my heart attack!"

"If I had been your boyfriend, Lucy, I would never have left you. No matter how much my parents threatened me. Never."

Anger burned inside, so bright it smothered the little flicker of doubt.

"But you aren't."

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