Speechless | Rayemma

epilogue | red string

The hospital seems rather gloomy these days. Well, hospitals were like that, were they not? You never know what to expect in one of them; You could feel happy because you or your acquaintance, who was interned in the hospital, has finally been cured and is ready to leave the hospital. Or you could hear some bad news and watch your life go downhill from there.

Emma didn't know what to expect. What were the doctors going to say?

She was nervous, very nervous.

"Emma?" a black haired boy said as he entered the room.

Especially because she had no idea who this person was and what she was doing here.

She looked at him and tilted her head a bit... Is she supposed to know him? Sure, he seems familiar, in some way but as far as she knows she could've seen him on TV or a magazine. Could she have lost her memories? That was probably the case since she had no or very fuzzy memories of what had happened before she woke up in this hospital bed. She remembered her name, her age and basic personal information like the latter but she had no recollection of her friends, family or anything else. It was as if she was a ballerina who was placed in a scenario to dance but didn't know the choreography.

"Why did I think of a ballerina...?" she thought it was a weird comparison..

She looked out the window, seeing a few lilies growing in the hospital's garden. She wanted to go outside as soon as possible, she wasn't a fan of staying in bed all day.

She looked at the boy, who was leaning on the door frame. Emma had no idea if he knew sign language or not but she figured that she might give it a try.

"Excuse me, sir. Who are you?" She signed, in hopes that he understood.

"Come on, carrot-head, don't be silly. I'm genuinely worrying for you, you shouldn't joke like that" he scolded her but with a smile on his face.

Emma put a hand on her chin, pensive. If he had a nickname for her and had the nerve to go and scold her like that they must've been really close.. She didn't have the heart to tell him she was being serious and she actually didn't know who he was..

"...Emma? You're joking.. right?" Apprehension could be seen on his face as he wondered whether the ginger was being serious or not.

She looked down at her feet as they swung back and forth. She was wearing yellow sneakers, they were comfy and gave her a comforting feeling yet they were worn out and would soon break. It was a fact that she would have to replace them sometime soon.

She continued to look at her feet for a few more minutes, she didn't dare to look him in the eye and see how sad, frustrated and even disappointed he must be..

She heard him sigh and when she finally brought herself to give a look at him, she saw him, head down. She was about to put her hand on his shoulder, in a vague attempt to comfort him, when suddenly, she saw a little droplet of water make its way down to the floor. After that another droplet followed, and after that one, one more and soon enough, Emma noticed he was crying. Her instinctive reaction to this was hugging him. She buried her face on his shoulder and stroked his hair gently. She couldn't speak but if she was able to she would've told him "I can tell we were close in the past, and if you'll allow me, let us be close again. I have a feeling that together we can defeat any obstacle this cruel world sends our way".

Even if she didn't speak, like in the old times, the message got through wordlessly. Their hearts and minds have always been linked by a thin red string of speechlessness and thus why the only thing it takes for millions of words to be sent reciprocatively was a simple sign of love; a hug, a smile or even a pat in the head. And as if magic happened when the speechless pair spoke, the world around them seemed to disappear only leaving them both in it, smiling and, even without memories of their bond, enjoying their time together and wishing it would last forever.

Ray pulled Emma closer into the hug, as if cherishing her. Truth is, he was scared to death when saw her jump in front of him at the same time Leslie tried to stab him. In the end, he ended up stabbing Emma in the torso. Seeing the gruesome amount of blood Emma lost that day, he wondered if she would ever wake up again and as he rested at his home and waited for Emma to wake up, he thought of all the things he wished he could tell Emma. He thought about their future, the home they would now share, their past, their story. He didn't stop thinking about Emma that night.

And now that they are together, hugging... He couldn't help thinking what would be of them. He could see their past crumble and fall apart but he couldn't help but smile..

Fear is formed out of doubt. If Ray were to fear their future it would be because he has doubts regarding it but...

He didn't.

He smiled and received the future with his arms open because he knew that as long as he stayed by Emma's side and she stayed by his, it would be a good one.

Emma's memory loss was just another obstacle on their journey and like all the other obstacles they left behind, they would get over this one too, no matter what it took.

It was just a question of smiling and never giving up, no matter how hard things appear to be.

Their past time together was enjoyable at the moment but like everything in life, there's a time where you have to let go and move on and make new memories.

He looked at the ginger's shoes, which she had used several times ever since they met. They were old.. Ray promised himself that as soon as she got out of the hospital, he would buy her new shoes.