Two hearts, one soul

Why are you running away?

.

"Christian, please leave?" her voice a mere whisper, while it trembled heavily, making his heart break into bits.

As those words reached Christian's ear, his heart dropped and instantly he felt a gnawing pain in his gut. Ana was sobbing and all he wanted to do right now, was to pick her up and put her in his pocket so nothing and no one could ever do her any harm— if that were possible, but it wasn't. The reality was harder than what he hoped or wished.

"Ana... please, I can't leave you like this. You do know that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?" he pleaded, trying to swallow the huge lump that had formed in his throat.

But Ana didn't reply, she kept sobbing, her arms still wrapped around herself.

After a few minutes she did reply." Christian... please go." Ana whispered.

At that, he ran a hand through his hair out of frustration and let out a deep breath.

"Ana." He tried once more, but she didn't look up, her head still down.

At that, Christian picked up his shirt from the floor and quietly put it on. Before he walked out her bedroom door, he picked up her white blouse from the floor also and folded it neatly. Christian then placed it gently on her bed and watched her one last time.

"Ana, I don't know what happened to you. All I know is that I am here for you if you decide to confide in me. I'm not going anywhere, OK?" he pleaded.

At that Ana finally looked up, catching his gaze. Her eyes were teary and the look in them made a gut wrenching pain go through his heart and soul. It pained him to see his whirlwind this way. As much as he wanted to comfort her, he couldn't at this moment. Ana had completely shut him out.

Christian ignored the gnawing pain in his heart and told her one more thing, before walking out the door." Ana... sweet, beautiful Ana, my whirlwind. Please remember this: life won't always be easy, but you will always be safe in my arms." He said, his voice a mere whisper.

XXX XX XXX

The next morning Christian woke up, remembering what had happened between him and Ana the evening before. The ache in his heart returned, the second he thought back on how Ana was sobbing on the bed. As a sigh escaped his lips, he got up on his own. The last few days Christian refused to use his crutches like before. While walking to the bathroom, he did pause a couple of times because of the pain, and yet he stubbornly didn't grab his crutches. After he had taken a shower, he walked back into his bedroom.

His eyes landed on the bed, and noticed that Calinico had already taken out his clothes for the day from the closet and placed it there for him. Christian also saw a note from his butler.

'Don't forget to swallow your medicine and if you go out, please bring your crutches and do not push your body to its limit!' The note said.

After he was dressed, Christian combed his hair, and looked at his own reflection in the mirror. As a sigh escaped his lips, he took the time today to study his own face. It had been a long time since he had done that. The last few years, he took a quick look in the mirror, but hadn't really looked at his own face, because of Demetrios. He refused to do that, because he didn't want to see the failure that he had become.

All those years, Christian had blamed himself for what happened to his son and was disgusted by himself! In his opinion he had failed as a father, not being able to protect his own flesh and blood from the evil in the world. That's why Christian didn't have the courage to look at himself.