Where Iris Bloom

Ch. 34 Savio

IRIS POV

"I want you out of my house when I get back."

The words reverberated within my thoughts, an enigma I struggled to decode. Was she playing games with my emotions, dancing on the edge of my perception? Did I screw up somehow and she's not into it? Maybe something I said hit a nerve?

I watch her motionless frame with her back facing me. My tears started to stream down my cheeks as her coldness towards me came seeping in, I know this feeling all too well and it felt like déjà vu. This is exactly how she was when I first met her. Cold, stoic, vacant and phlegmatic. For a hot second, I felt scared of what she has turned into in just a couple of minutes making me shiver down to my soul.

I can't recognize her right now.

The room's silence grows heavier with each passing moment, as if time itself is wearing down. Seeing her walk away without a backward glance feels like a punch to the gut. Was it really that simple for her to just leave me behind? My head's a mess, tangled up with all the chaos Kim stirred up, and I can't even figure out how to get out of here since I left my car at the funeral home.

Gathering all the strength left in me, I clothed myself and breathed in the littlest courage I've got before leaving these four walls that has witness all the rollercoaster Kim has put me into. The same room I've slept in when she called me Becca, the same room she has shown her vulnerability and gave me hope that I have finally got in through her walls, the same room where she left me shattered.

With my phone clutched on my hand, I contemplated who to call. Wiping my tears off my face, I thought of Shelby coz I know she just got back from her month-long conference but had my second thoughts coz I know this night won't end without her giving a piece of her to Kim and I wouldn't want any of that to happen. Making up my mind, I sent Louise a message while I walk through the rubble pathway of the mansion. I felt hollow from within, I have never felt this hurt in my entire life and it felt like I'm dying inside.

My heart drummed against my chest as tears continued to stream relentlessly down my face. How had I found myself in the heart of the woods, enveloped by darkness and the fragments of a shattered heart? The night whispered no answers, leaving me adrift in a sea of questions. My thoughts meandered through the labyrinth of memories, desperately seeking a clue, but it was a futile odyssey. Each path I tread led back to her words—the ones that echoed hauntingly.

Sitting at the curb barefooted, I let my emotions flood all at once. I have been feeling drained for the past days trying to fill in the void within Kim. I gave everything that I could, I ignored all her shortcomings, I chose to see the good in her even when it meant that I am hurting myself along the process. I chose to understand where she's coming from, I never questioned her when I should have, I never asked things that would make her uncomfortable just because, I matched her pace thinking she still needs time to recover from everything. I was basically at her disposal and here I am right now, like a trash thrown away after being used.

I felt so ashamed of myself.

I clung to her words, sensing that she was teetering on the edge of saying those cherished words I've been yearning for. But I guess things took a different turn. I trusted in every assurance she offered, so why am I in this place of doubt? Here I am, tormenting myself when it's not where I should be.

I guess loving someone really hurts.

After hours of uncontrollable tears, I found myself still bawling my eyes out, unable to halt the flow. Suddenly, a familiar car pulled over, and Louise stepped out, her face marked with a disheveled and concerned expression.

"Hey, you okay?" Louise quipped and I can't help but to lean forward, unable to speak. I felt her arms around engulfing me which made hell broke loose. Without holding back, my sobs echoed against the silence in the woods expressing how wounded I am with all that has happened.

It's hard to fathom that the person I once thought held negative feelings toward me is now the same person providing me with comfort, the person who came to my rescue with just a single message.

After what it felt like eternity, she peeled me off seeking my gaze and wiped my tears away. With a meek smile to cheer me up a little, she asked. "Do you want me to take you home?"

Until I sort things out of why everything has turned sour, I don't wanna be left alone in a place where we have been together.

Funny how this feels like a break up when we didn't had an official label to begin with.

"Is it okay with you if you'll spend the night in my house?" Louise asked cautiously whilst tucking my stray hair behind my ear like she was talking to a five-year-old girl.

I simply nodded, and she reached out, gently helping me up and guiding me to settle into the passenger's seat. What caught me off guard was when she removed her own hoodie and handed it to me to wear. Upon slipping it on, her sweet scent embraced me reminding me of spring where flowers start to bloom.

As the journey away from the mansion began, I could feel exhaustion gradually overtaking my body, and my eyes started to grow heavy. Though my heart still heaves, slumber is slowly pulling me towards the dream land so I stopped putting a fight and succumbed to sleep thinking when I wake up, everything was just a bad dream.

3RD Person's POV

Unbeknownst to Iris, Louise has always been waiting for this chance she will be needing her help to repay the younger doctor with the favor she has done from the past but never did she imagine that it would be that heart breaking to see her in that state. What she has in her mind was to help on an errand or something to that degree.

Louise was inconceivably livid when she saw Iris sitting on the curb hugging herself with her shoulders bobbing up and down. Her hair was disarrayed, head resting on her arm, cheeks flushed and her eyes were puffy. Louise pulled over and exited her car in a flash. The moment their eyes met, she saw how maimed the younger doctor was. It broke her heart how her eyes expressed her churning pain.

Her thoughts were consumed by a trail of anger, and there was just one person who could cause this turmoil to – a person who shall not be named. In Louise's eyes, Iris had always held a special place, quietly admired from afar. However, Louise's inability to convey this admiration eloquently left her with a rather inept approach to demonstrating her affection. She had stumbled in her attempts, often saying things she didn't truly mean, leaving her in a perception of being a brat which was truly the other way around.

Though she was often misunderstood, she left it that way not finding the appeal to please anyone around her but it took a great turn when Kim showed up in the picture. Seeing how smitten Iris was brought a different twinge of pain in her heart and that's when she has earned the courage to make a move towards Iris.

She immediately took off her hoodie and handed over to Iris who slowly leaned in and let herself be engulfed in Louise's arms. Louise instantly wrapped her arms around the younger woman and right there and then, Iris' sobs echoed against the deafening quiet in the woods. Every sob was like daggers ripping Louise's heart. She had to bit her lips to fight back her own tears from falling.

"I got you, Iris." Louise soothed Iris while her own heart was hurting from what she's witnessing.

There's no trace of Iris being the ball of sunshine that she is and it pained her how distraught she was. She didn't want to pry fearing it may trigger a worst breakdown. What she had on top of her mind is to take Iris away from that place.

Iris has calmed down and has fallen asleep after an hour or so. With Louise checking on her every once in a while, the latter has heaps on her mind but she chose to kept it until it's appropriate to ask.

As Iris slumbered, Louise's mind raced with thoughts of what might have transpired, leaving the woman beside her in such a state. The last time Louise had laid eyes on her, there had still been a glimmer of sunshine in Iris's honey pools. But upon meeting her gaze a while back, all Louise could discern was the evident tarnishing of Iris's gem.

Lost in thought, she remained oblivious to the way her hand clenched the steering wheel with a tight grip.

You don't deserve being treated that way.

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A/N: I think I am ready for your next rants🙃🙃🙃