Lies & Harmony Trilogy

Chapter Seventeen: Argument

The voices start not soon after my head hits the mattress.

     I’ve been tossing and turning, not finding the means to sleep immediately. I want to keep my mind off of what had transpired today and just fall into oblivion. Unfortunately, things like this don’t happen when I want it to, and I find myself thinking of Rush.

     Even worse, I begin to hear voices.

     At first I think that it is a figment of my own imagination and I’m going crazy. It must be it. This is what I get for being off the pills for so long. My own mind is acting up against me, and I will be sent back to the hospital.

     Then I realize that I recognize the voice, and it can’t possibly be in my head because it is muffled. The voices seem to be talking back and forth with an argumentative tone. I sit up immediately, listening to the voices.

     “Shut up!” Immediately, I know that it is Tabitha. She doesn’t say those words often, but I’ve heard her use that tone too many times before.

     “No, you listen to me right now, Yuen!” someone else shouts. I frown; the voice sounds familiar, but I’m not quite sure who it belongs to. I move from the mattress, standing up and heading for the door. The floorboard creaks underneath me, and I pause. No one seems to have heard it though. It is either that, or they don’t care.

     “So what did you want me to do?” Tabitha’s voice comes through the door, angry and frustrated. “Yes, I care for him! Is that enough for you? What happened to you?”

     “What happened?” the other voice says forcefully and angrily. “Don’t you understand? Everything is going wrong! Things were better between us. What happened, you ask? Gordon happened! That’s what!”

     I suddenly realize that the other voice belongs to Wynfor. I freeze up, thinking of what he would do if he caught me eavesdropping. Doctors and nurses hated it when I eavesdropped on conversations. My argument is that they were within earshot. If they didn’t want me listening, then they could have gone away.

     That answer always rewarded me with more pills, which is why I did not say them often when I was caught. With Wynfor, I’m sure that it would warrant a fist in my face. I stay silent, breathing lightly and hoping that they don’t open my door.

     “You’re jealous,” Tabitha says. Her tone has a sneering quality. Everything about this new Tabitha is wrong. She’s much too cruel, and I wish that I had been accepting enough back then to acquaintance myself with the kinder Tabitha. Now I’m afraid I’ll never have the chance.

     Silence stretches out, and I think that they may have left to argue somewhere else but then Wynfor speaks. “Yes, that’s right,” he says. “You just had a hopeless love for Gordon. He was perfectly fine with Fiametta. Then you came to me. It was perfect that way.”

     Love. I’m still not sure what that word even refers to.

     “It was ‘perfect’ until Fiametta died!” Tabitha says. “You were just—,” she pauses, like she doesn’t want to say the next words.

     Wynfor says it for her. “What? I was just a second choice? I was your backup plan. If you couldn’t have Gordon, you’d satisfy yourself with me.”

     “I—” It seems Tabitha can’t get the words out.

     “I’m not stupid enough to miss that. I always knew that I was a second choice—just like you are to Gordon. But I hoped that I would be able to sway you.” There’s a bitter laugh. “It didn’t happen.”