Love Persists

Chapter 25

Mandie's POV:
I lifted my eyelids which felt unusually heavy. I realized that I had not succeeding in committing suicide and I suddenly became afraid that my parents had discover my body, realizing how troubled I actually was.

But that fear was put aside when I began to take in my surroundings. It looked like some sort of bedroom, unlike the hospital or some sort of mad house that I had expected to wake up in. There was nothing in it that I recognized and it was lighted by one small candle in the corner of the room.

Wanting to get a better look at the room surrounding me, I tried to sit up, but was immediately overwhelmed by a head splitting headache.

The door of the room opened, revealing what appeared to be Erik, holding a cloth a bucket of water. I called out his name in shock, my voice raspy from lack of use. He looked at me, looking to be just as surprised. I could see relief in his eyes for a moment, before he recovered from his momentary shock and stepped towards the bed I was in.

"I see you have awoken," he spoke, his voice seemingly emotionless.

"Erik, how did I get here? How long have you been taking care of me? What is going on?" I immediately attacked with questions as I tried to wrap my brain around the situation.

"I have no idea what has happened to have you return to me, all I know is that I found you half dead outside by the lake. I have been tending you for the past few days, taking care of your injuries and nursing you back to health. With reminds me, I should probably take this time to scold you for doing the exact thing I told you not to. Mandie, this was what I was afraid of with your cutting, you nearly got yourself killed!"

"Perhaps I wanted to be dead, Erik, have you ever considered that?" I questioned, offending by his thinking that by simply telling me to stop I would do so immediately with no relapses. "Erik, I had lost you for what I though was forever and I had no other friends, as you certainly know. How could expect me to continue my life as though nothing had happened? I discovered that I couldn't remain optimistic, no matter how hard I tried! Besides, I never actually stopped cutting, even when we were together, it's not something you can just ask a person to do and they will stop, it's too addicting."

"So that is the cause of those scars," Erik sighed, seeming a bit saddened by my confession.

"But now isn't the time to think about that," I changed the subject, trying again to sit up, this time ignoring the headache as I reached out to take his hand. "Erik, I never thought I would see you again."

"You really should not sit up, Mandie, you need to be careful about pushing yourself too far. You lost a good amount of blood, I you do not want to make your condition worse," he replied, seeming not to want to directly face the feelings of love that we had once both shared.

"I am fine, Erik," I assured him with a smile. "I feel as though I could take on an army, now that I have been reunited with the man that I love with all of my heart."

"So you clearly still want to kill yourself," he remarked, taking his hand out of mine and turning to leave the room.

"Erik, what is wrong? Why are you acting so coldly towards me?" I questioned in desperation, feeling as though my heart was being crushed as he showed me no sort of affection. He payed me no attention as he left the room without answering me.