Love In Colour

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: GHOSTS FROM THE PAST & QUIET FITS OF RAGE

The moment I step foot at St Mary's, I am buzzing with excitement. I can't wait for my shift to end– and for my one week of leave from work to begin. I am planning on spending it with my loved ones. Mainly Grayson.

I go through my normal routine. Sign-in at the nurse's station before placing my bag into my locker, followed by some small talk with some of my colleagues. My night goes on as normal. I help set a few bones, and sew a few scrapes–my normal routine.

As the clock winds down towards the last two hours of my shift, I am practically bursting with excitement. Not that I have the entire week filled with activities to do–it's just knowing that I will be with people I care about that makes me giddy.

My last patient for my rounds is the gymnast, Zoe Khumalo. I hear her voice as I open the door to her ward. Her parents must be rolling in money for them to be able to afford a private ward for her.

Her face turns in my direction as I walk, her leg propped up on a traction device to help her bones heal and align back. "Hey, I'm not so banged up anymore," she says as I stand beside the bed.

I smile and check her vitals, "I'm glad to see that. How are you feeling today?"

"To be honest, I feel like crap but the drugs you guys give me are fucking awesome, they take away the pain."

I laugh at her choice of words, "You're welcome. Has yo-" My words are cut off by the door opening and two men walk in. One is older and the other is young, a little older than Zoe.

The older man's eyebrows rise when our gazes meet, "Well, hello." His voice is not too deep. I can't help but catch the awestruck tone in his words. He walks towards Zoe's bed and offers his hand, which I shake. "I'm Richard Khumalo. Zoe's dad."

He smiles but I'm focused on his searching gaze as his eyes roam my face. "I'm Thandi. Nice to meet you."

He nods, "Likewise."

The young man waves at me with a warm smile on his face, "I'm Lwandle." What a nice name, Ocean– that's what it means.

I smile back at him, "Thandi."

"Where's mom?" Zoe asks her dad while I continue my evaluation of Zoe and write down all the information in her medical folder. "She's on her way, she went to the bathroom."

I keep meeting Richard's gaze and sometimes feel its heaviness on me. When I can't stand it anymore I look up from the file and turn to him, "Is everything alright?" I ask.

He looks towards his son who is seated on the couch –fully focused on his phone. Richard looks back at me, "I don't mean to be rude, but you look so much like m-" his words get cut off by the opening of the door to Zoe's ward. He looks at the person who just walked in, "-my wife." he finishes lowly.

Time seems to slow down as I get a good look at the woman.

I don't know why the universe just has it out for me. What god did I piss off in a past life to have my world flipped upside down once again? I feel it, I feel her deep down inside. My soul knows who this woman is – who she is to me. Some weird, unseen tug tells me who she is.

My breath gets caught in my lungs. A tug at my heart and a dreadful sense of familiarity fills my stomach.

She doesn't seem to notice how her family has started to look from my face to hers. Time seems to slow down as I look at her. I'm fighting a part of me that knows who she is and the other side of me that thinks there's no way in hell this is her and this is happening right now.

I'm startled by the sound of the clipboard hitting the floor as it slips from my now sweaty palms.

"Holy shit." I hear someone whisper.