Stay Away (The Beocraftian Gambit - Book One)

CHAPTER TWELVE: BURNING HOUSES

Natasha sat on the hospital bed—arms wrapped around her legs, gazing with swollen eyes at the door, oblivious to the things that were going on around her. She'd been sitting this way since her psychologist left. All she wanted was to go home. If she could, she would lock herself in all day and listen to the radio so loud that she wouldn't hear herself breathe.

She exhaled in pure relief when the door opened. Finally, her dad has come to take her home. She recoiled in shock when she looked up and saw Kevin instead—what's he doing here? She clearly did not expect to see him.

Kevin stood by the door, unwilling to move a step further into the room. Their eyes locked on and for a long second, they stared awkwardly at each other. He didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to come in but wasn't sure if she wanted to see him.

"Do you mind?" The word was already out before he could stop it.

When she didn't answer, he attempted to take a step towards her but hesitated when he saw her flinch. She was scared of being approached by another male, and a stranger at that.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

"What do you want?" A shaky voice, halting, disbelieving.

Kevin was starting to think it was a bad idea, coming down here to see her. Nonetheless, he walked towards her, slowly, cautiously, until he was standing by her side. "It's ok. You can trust me."

She didn't let her guard down. She couldn't bring herself to feel comfortable around him. "Should I?"

He noticed the depression pills on the table beside her bed which hadn't been touched. "How are you feeling?"

"Miserable," she wanted to say, but he didn't need to know that. Instead, she answered him, saying, "I'll be fine."

"It's a relief to see that you are slowly recovering. I guess we'll see you in school pretty soon."

She trembled all over at his words. The pain she felt wasn't physical. She could easily recover from the marks and backaches. But what about the ones in her heart?

"Yeah. I guess." She pitched her voice very low and turned to look away. "I'm going to be discharged tomorrow—just waiting for the doctor to run some tests on me one last time."

He was alarmed. "But you aren't fully recovered yet."

"This place feels like a prison," she slouched. "Hell, I won't bear to spend another day in a place like this. I just want to go home. This all feels like a bad dream to me." She was on the verge of tears.

Kevin wasn't sure what to say or how to act. Should he draw nearer and pat her back? Should he hug her and assure her everything is going to be alright? If he did, what would that lead to? He released a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. An awkward silence slithered its way into their conversation. Then he took a chair from the corner and sat beside her, avoiding her gaze.

Natasha—wanting to keep the conversation going—thought of something to say, but they ended up speaking at the same time.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you the first day we met," he said.

"Thanks for visiting yesterday," she said.

Again, a stony silence slithered its way throughout the room. They stare at each other nervously.

"You go first," he said—smiling calmly.

"There is really no need to apologise for what happened that day." She let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "It was kind of my fault that I bumped into you. I wasn't watching where I was going."