Where Have You Gone

Chapter 5️⃣6️⃣

Later that night Irin saw Richie sitting in the garden chair alone starring the sky, she slowly approached him with a cup of milk and sat beside him.

“Do you really think this is going to help Becky? I mean whatever you and Freen are doing?”, Richie asked confused

“Definitely yes. Becky is my best friend and I know her more than you Richie. She could never live with someone other than Freen, you don't know what happened in Freen's life but I do. Trust me”, Irin said gently rubbing her palm with Richie's.

“I could see Freen working up a lot to be with Becky, but still I can only respect her as Anne's surgeon and not anything more”. Richie walked quietly into the house.

Irin sat there thinking she should talk to Freen first thing in the morning.

Earlier the next morning, Freen stood in her office, staring out the rain-speckled glass. Her fingers twitched against her mug of untouched coffee. She hadn’t slept much. Not since the kiss. Not since Becky disappeared behind that door and never looked back.

A call from the intercom shooked her from the thoughts. “There is some one waiting to see you, says she is your friend. It's Mrs. Armstrong”. Freen asked the front desk to allow them.

A soft knock.

She turned. It was Irin.

"Can we talk?" Irin asked gently.

Freen nodded, waving her in.

Irin shut the door behind her and took a breath. “Becky’s coming in today with me and Anne for the review. You know that.”

“I’ve been counting the hours,” Freen admitted quietly.

Irin stepped closer, her gaze intense. “Freen, I know what's going on in your mind, listen to me. Whatever you’re planning to say to her—don’t. Not today.”

Freen tensed. “She deserves to know. About me. About Sam.”

Irin shook her head firmly. “She’s not ready. She’s just started to trust again. She’s just… starting to smile.”

Freen’s shoulders dropped. “I’m not trying to manipulate her, Irin.”

“I know,” Irin said, softer now. “But if she learns everything too soon—who you really are, what you’ve meant to her past—she’ll see it as betrayal. She’s still grieving Sam. She’s still tangled in that memory. And the only way she’ll ever agree to the eye surgery is if she starts living for the present. For herself. For someone who’s here.”

Freen’s voice barely rose above a whisper. “You want her to love me… before she knows it was me all along.”

“I want her to love you, Freen,” Irin corrected. “Not Sam’s ghost, understand Freen, Sam is not a person, its a imaginary character you created to be with Becky.”

Freen closed her eyes, breath shaking.

“Get her to trust you. Make her want to see the world again.” Irin gave her a small smile. “Then you tell her.”

Freen now knew what to do, she knew how to handle stubborn Becky, she has done it in the past and wouldn't hesitate to do it all again.

---

The moment Freen saw Becky step into the hallway, something caught in her chest. She looked pale beneath her calm, and thought she held Anne’s hand tightly.

They were taken to Faye's room instead of Freen's. The moment Becky entered she knew it wasn't the person who she is expecting.

Faye has reviewed all the reports and said “Anne is doing so well as we expected and Freen will be here shortly to see you guys”, Faye didn't fail to notice Becky change if expression.