Finding True Love

So...I was wrong!

Alex POV

I sighed after remembering the dreadful days of my life. After a while, I went downstairs. There I found mum-mum. She came back early in the morning.

"Good morning, mum-mum," I greeted her.

"Good morning. Where is my sleeping beauty?" she asked me about Risha.

"Must be sleeping," I replied. Definitely had a peaceful sleep after her little stunt.

"Still sleeping? Alex, dear, please go and wake her up for me," mum-mum told me. But I can't just face her right now. I went to argue but gave a stern look, which was enough to make me stop. So, without any argument, I went to her room.

She was sleeping but not peacefully. Looks like she was crying the whole night. Was she really taking care of me all night long? But why! 'Alex, stop overthinking,' I reminded myself again.

"Risha, wake up. It's already eight. We need to go to the hospital. RISHA!" I was a little bit loud.

She suddenly opens her eyes after hearing me. She was staring at me like she wasn't expecting me to. "Mum-mum told me to wake you up. So go get ready and come downstairs. Mum-mum is waiting for you," I said as I turned to walk away.

Risha suddenly took hold of my hand, and when I turned around, I noticed that she seemed she was about to cry.

"Are you alright?" she asked me concernedly, her voice sounding broken.

"Do you even care?" I asked her. Why was she showing concern when she didn't even care about me? She hated me. Be it past or present. It's always the same. I unhanded her hold when she didn't answer and left her room without saying anything. Maybe it's for the best. We should avoid each other.

Risha POV

Even though Alex took me to the hospital, he remained silent and didn't bother to listen to what I said. He ignored me all day. And it's already the end of our shifts. It was raining heavily outside. I was sitting beside the man inside the car who didn't even acknowledge my existence. Damn! I was feeling awful.

The weather is getting worse with each second – heavy rain, lightning, and thunderstorms. A sudden spotlight caught my attention. A car was speeding towards us.

"Alex, what the hell are you doing?" I screamed, but he wasn't listening to me at all. I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it to the right while pressing the break. I sighed in relief. We could have died if the car had crashed. "Are you fucking crazy? Are you trying to kill me for what I did last night?" I yelled in frustration.

But he wasn't listening. His grip on the steering wheel was so hard that his knuckles turned white. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was heavier.

"Alex, are you alright?" I asked concernedly but got no response. Another thunder strike caused him to flinch beside me, and his breathing quickened as if he were experiencing an anxiety attack. Seeing him like this, I started to panic, but one thing I knew was I needed to calm down. I took a few deep breaths. I cupped his face and turned his face towards me.

"Alex, Alex, calm down. Look at me. Open your eyes, please," he slowly opened his eyes after a few more pleas from me. "It's alright. Don't listen to anything. Look into my eyes. Just focus on me," I needed to distract him from whatever was going on in his mind. And it seems to be working. His breathing slowed down slightly.

I looked around and found a shed beside the road. I need to get him out of the car. I opened my side of the door while holding his hand. He tightened his grip on my hand just as I turned to step out of the car.

"Don't worry. I am not leaving. I am here. We need to get out of the car, OK?" he gave me a slight nod. I led him out of the car to the shed and sat him down. Alex firmly hugged me as if his life depended on me when another thunder crashed. I caressed his head, whispering calming words to him. I felt his breathing grow heavier again. I pulled out my phone and placed earphones on his ear, and started playing music. Right now, music is the only thing that can distract him. He couldn't hear thunder this way either.

I fell asleep comforting him. I found myself sleeping, placing my head on his shoulder when I woke up. I instantly retracted my head and looked up. Alex was staring at me with unreadable eyes.

"I am sorry. I... achoo... I... achoo," I started sneezing. Alex suddenly placed his hands on my forehead.

"You had a fever," he stated.

"Don't worry. I am fi..." before I could say anything, darkness engulfed my vision.

Alex POV

Risha just fainted in my arms. I couldn't figure out how she actually was. One night before, she scared the crap out of me with her prank, and last night, she was like an angel saving me from my horrible nightmare. I was staring at her beautiful face. She looked so innocent, so pure.

I drove her home and waited for her to wake up. I couldn't leave her side. I saw her eyes opening as I was gawking at her like a creep.

"You woke up?" she nodded. I help her sit up.

"Alex, I am really sorry," she spoke up suddenly. I knew why she was sorry, but I didn't want to hear her apology. I didn't need it.

"Stop. You don't need to apologize," I said sternly. "But tell me something— why the hell did you get wet in the rain if you aren't even immune to cold!" I yelled at her in frustration.

"I-I just wanted to..." I cut her off, raising my hand. I don't need her explanation. I turned my head to another side when something caught my eye. Something reminds me of that night. I was about to touch it when her voice stopped me. "Don't touch." Right... I wasn't allowed to touch anything in her room, and I kept forgetting it...

After I fainted that day, I didn't know how I ended up in my bedroom. When I opened my eyes, I saw mum-mum was sitting beside me. I wanted to sit up but couldn't. I had a high fever. I was there a long time in the rain before someone rescued me.

I couldn't go to school for a week. Risha wasn't rude to me anymore. She gave me her notebooks but not before giving me a 'Don't ruin my notebooks' look. My classmates also don't bully me anymore. Definitely, the teachers taught them some lessons.

Things were great until that night. I went to Risha's room to return her notebook. I saw a clay horse on her nightstand. I touched it carefully.

"What are you doing in my room?" I was startled a bit when she suddenly came over, and the toy accidentally fell to the ground and broke. When Risha saw that, she was furious. She yelled at me.

"You know what, nobody wants you here. Neither in this house nor in the school. Why don't you go away? Mum-mum will be fed up with you and eventually tell you to go away." Saying that, she left.

And I was standing there and replaying her words in my head. After she left, I tried to fix her toy. I had linked up the broken pieces. It didn't look as good as before. A broken mark was still visible on it. So, I decorated it a little. I put that on her bed and went back to my room.

Then the insecurities came again. I was thinking about that whole night. Will mum-mum tell me to go away? After thinking a lot, I decided to leave before mum-mum told me to. Then I left that night without saying anyone anything.

"You know, when my parents were on vacation, they bought me this toy. I always kept it close to me when they weren't with me. I believed if I kept it private, my parents would be more attached to me. But for my stupidity, I lost someone so precious to me," her words bring me back to the present. "He broke it accidentally. I yelled at him and said something I shouldn't have. I lost him forever. He never even gave me an opportunity to say sorry. He just disappeared and never came back," she was talking about me. Am I precious to her? Now she is crying— for me? I couldn't help but embrace her in a tight hug, trying to comfort her.

"Shh, don't cry. Your fever hasn't fallen yet. You'll pass out if you keep crying like this," I kept holding her, rubbing her back until she calmed down. I kept staring at her glassy eyes while wiping her tears with my thumbs. I felt compelled to protect this little bird and keep her safe.

"You missed him?" she nodded. "You want him back?" I asked her, and she nodded again. "Do you want to know a secret?" she frowned this time.

"He is back, Rish," I told her. Her frown deepened.

"What did you call me?" she asked almost in a whisper. Rish. It's what I used to call her even though she didn't like it.

"Rish, I am back."