Unmoving ||✓||

Unmoving-//17//

I woke up to someone tugging at the sleeve of my dress.
"Wake up, pretty Eva.",Faith's voice said in my ear. I woke up with a smile on my face and rubbed my eyes.

"What is it, Faith?",I asked.
"Can I cuddle? It's really cold.",she said.

"Sure.",I said as I pushed the covers aside and moved. Faith clapped happily as she got into the bed. She rode the covers up to her chin. I looked outside the window. The sky was dark even though it appeared to be morning. It was raining heavily, filling the room with sound of rain.

Faith moved closer to me and wrapped her arms around me. I smiled at her and caressed her head. She was still wearing her monkey cap. She breathed gently, fanning my body with her warm breath.

I saw a clock hanging beside the window. It was seven in the morning. The whole house was silent. I put my head back on the pillow and closed my eyes. Faith hid her face in my shirt and slowly, she relaxed into sleep. I did not fall asleep again but I did not dare move.

All I heard were the sounds of the ticking of the clock, the patter of raindrops and the soft breathing of Faith. I closed my eyes and relived everything that happened yesterday. This place gave me a warm feeling of comfort and happiness along with a little sadness at the same time.

My eyes fluttered open when I heard gentle footsteps near the bedroom door. I saw Ryder standing there with two mugs in his hand. He was still wearing his panda hoodie.

He smiled at me and walked towards me.
I put a finger to my lip and lifted the cover slightly to reveal a peacefully sleeping Faith. Ryder stopped and nodded. He removed his slippers and walked towards the bed barefoot. He placed the mugs on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Good morning.",he whispered.
"Good morning.",I whispered back with a smile.

He sat down at the edge of the bed.
"You want some coffee?",he asked slowly.
I nodded as I gently moved away from Faith and tucked her carefully. I got into my wheelchair and rubbed my cold palms. I tried to make as much less noise as possible as I moved across the room and grabbed my mug from the nightstand.

Ryder grabbed his mug and we both slowly left the room. We moved through the silent corridors and finally reached the end of the hallway. There was a huge veranda, looking out to an open garden. Ryder opened the glass door as both of us slid into the balcony.

It overlooked a tiny playarea in the corner and a huge garden filled with colourful flowers. The porch of the veranda was big and had two wicker chairs on it.

Ryder sat down on one of the wicker chairs as I stopped my wheelchair beside it.

I sipped on my coffee and closed my eyes at its familiar warmth and bitterness.

"Good coffee.",I said.
"Thanks. I made it.",Ryder said. I nodded as I gulped down the rest of it.

"Nice place. You come here regularly?",I asked as I placed my mug on the table beside Ryder's wicker chair.

He looked around sadly, his slender fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of the mug.

"Yeah. Coming here..gives me some kind of happiness.",he said.

Then a thought struck me.
"So this is why you take extra classes and do the fighting stuff.",I said slowly.

He looked at me, a lazy smirk highlighting his lips.
"Plus I also get to spend time with you.",he said and smoothly turned his head to the other side to watch the rain gently falling on the grass.
I blinked once, then shook my head.

"So..uh...umm..", I cleared my throat.
"From how many years have you been doing this?",I asked.

He shrugged.
"Three or four. I was just crossing this place once. I saw the garden and I saw Amy and Judy playing there with a torn teddy bear. I don't know what changed in me. Whenever I come here, I bring something or the other for them. This- this...I don't know what to call this place. You can call it an orphanage or a care centre but this place is like home for me. I love the children here with my whole heart and I know they do too. Spending time with them gives me some sort of...peace. I just don't know how to put it into words.",Ryder said.