Demons of Slavery

Chapter Five

Chapter Five
Compromising Reunions and Miserable Laughter.

The hospital was very fancy, or at least, my private room was. There was a huge television hung on the wall, a couch, a coffee table and a small fridge that was fully stocked, almost like I was in a kitchenette. I had woken up a few days from the whole ordeal with a killer headache and an arm that could barely function and a rib that felt broken.

I had woken up alone, but I was used to that and I understood the reason behind it. Besides, when it came to me, waking up alone had always been nothing short of a fire that burned inside me and encouraged me to go on and keep on pushing hard, never stopping.

I had been confused for a moment but then everything had spilled into my head, almost as if under pressure from a force of some kind. It brought my head so much pain and I felt like someone was hammering my skull in.

I really didn’t know how to feel about what Melissa had done. I felt angry yes, livid even but I also understood one thing and that was the force of necessity, which was desperation. Calling Melissa power hungry or even money hungry would have been too much of a generalization as she really didn’t seem like that type of a girl.
I stayed in the hospital alone for a minimum week after I had woken up. I really felt like the void in my heart was slowly dissipating and inviting me to the better side of life, and I was all game.
I formed easy relationships with some of the nursing staff who were tending me and when they were not around I watched all kinds of dance videos online.
It was a normal, really usual day and I was awing away at a really good contemporary dance video. The door opened and I assumed that it was Frera, one of the nurses I had acquainted myself with.
“Good morning!” I called to her not bothering to look up. She cleared her throat very manly. Wait, Frera was a boy? A man!
I couldn’t have thrown the phone far enough from myself as I turned to look at the person at the door. If I was not connected to some damned drips that the doctor insisted were good for me, even if I knew he was lying. (Tora Mari United.)
“Luke!” I made up for the lack of mobility by shouting, his poor eardrums. A small smile stretched his lips and I felt a sense of Déjà vu, like we were back to the first days we had met when even though I had so much darkness in my soul, his darkness was greater that mine and it pushed me to try and make him smile.
It was contrary to what I expected. He was supposed to be happy and relieved that everything was falling into place but he looked like a shell. I had never seen anyone look so hollow and exhausted. He looked like he had had it in the past few days. Was it truly that bad?
“What’s wrong?” I dared to ask him when he began to make his way towards me. He looked haggard, and that was the nicest way of putting it.
He smiled and a blind woman could have seen that was a fake ass smile. I wasn’t about to be fooled.
He sat beside me, and began smoothening my blanket around me, even if his hands were slightly shaking.
“I just dropped by to make sure you were alright, I have been really busy dearest,” He said and whilst the stupid butterflies in my stomach decided to perform somersaults, I was more worried about him. His voice rang the depression and anguish he displayed.
“No you did not,” I countered him and he sighed.
“Please ignore these lies for now then.” He said, going on to fluff up my pillows a bit. “You are the only positive thing in my life right now.” He went on. “I do not want to lose that as well. Isn’t it funny? How when we first met, all we had around us was negativity. You were the most negative. But now you are so light and it soothes my soul. My troubled soul.” He said, almost brokenly towards the end of his words. He looked like a broken man. I stopped him from fiddling with my pillows and sheets, then I scooted over to the other side so he could fit. When he finally lay down, I began caressing his head.
“You gave me that light, remember?” I asked him and he sighed again.
“Nelly, I am in a twist. Life just isn’t fair Nelly. You have no idea how broken I feel right now.” He said, and this time he didn’t try to cover the misery in his voice, I heard it loud and clear.
“Tell me, and maybe I’ll understand.” I told him, trying to keep all the pity and anger at the world for driving a man such as him to his knees, out of my voice. He seemed to with draw and change his mind, then out of nowhere he began. He told me.