Early Bird (Erkenci Kus)(Part 3)

81. And the answer is...

'Will you marry me Sanem?'

The question swims around Sanem's fuzzy brain for a moment as Can looks at her with nothing but love in his eyes.

She smiles up at him, his emotions reflected in her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to yell 'Yes! I'll marry you!' at the top of her lungs.
Slowly, however, reality set in and the loving bubble he created with his beautiful words pops.

She couldn't say yes.

"Are you going to say something?" he asks when she just stares at him, her face suddenly distraught. This wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

Sanem looks down and swallows. Oh Lord, please forgive me... "Can, I..." Please please forgive me... "I really want to say yes." She looks back up at him and his brows dip a little in confusion. "I do, but..." She stops again, her chest heavy.

"But?" She doesn't say anything and he frowns more deeply. "But what Sanem?" He was so sure she would say yes and now she wasn't. She just swallows and a tear drops. Wanting clarity, he closes his eyes a moment then looks at her again. "What does 'I really want to say yes' mean?"

"It means that...I...I can't accept your proposal Can."

Can stood frozen, stunned, and staring at her avoiding his gaze, looking down at the grass instead. What...?

"I...I can't say yes."

"Are you saying no then?"

"No," Sanem says quickly, shaking her head. "No, I can't say that either because I really want to say yes with everything in me."

"Sanem, what the hell are you trying to say? I don't understand."

Sanem looks down at the ring that he still held again and back up. "Can, I have something very important to tell you."

Are you fucking kidding me? "More important than this moment?"

"No, and yes." She licks her lips. "I have to say it before I can't anymore...You deserve to know."
Can nods slowly and she takes a deep breath, her heart already cracking just thinking about how he was going to react, especially after she just turned him down. But he would understand why she didn't say yes when he know. Right? "Can, I had to give F - "

"Sanem!"

What the - ? Sanem stops and looks behind her at Leyla running up the steps. Can also turns, squinting against the sun. "Leyla?"

"Sanem," Leyla breathes urgently, coming to a stop next to Can.

"Leyla?" Can asks, frowning at her anxious expression.

"Mr Can, I'm so sorry for disturbing you," Leyla says quickly.

"Of course you're not disturbing," he says irritably, "how could you possibly be disturbing us?" He huffs and sighs. "What are you doing here?"

"Something happened. It's an emergency. I couldn't get hold of Sanem, so I asked Mr Emre if he knew where you were."

"What happened?" Sanem asks in alarm, stepping past Can.

"It's mom, she's sick."

"What?!"

"She just started to breathe really weird. We had to call an ambulance - "

"What? Where is she?!"

"Calm down, she's at home. They said it was her blood pressure or something that spiked really high."

Sanem turns to Can as if she wanted to ask his permission to leave, her eyes pleading.

"Go," he says, having no other response, and points towards his car. "Get in, I'll take you."