THE ELYSIAN

𝙲 𝙷 𝙰 𝙿 𝚃 𝙴 𝚁 𝚂 𝙴 𝚅 𝙴 𝙽

𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴: 𝟿:𝟶𝟺 𝙿.𝙼.
𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽: 𝙶𝚁𝚈𝚂𝙷𝙴𝚁 𝙴𝙼𝙴𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙽𝙲𝚈 𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙿𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙻, 𝚁𝙾𝙾𝙼 𝟹𝟶𝟺.
𝙿.𝙾.𝚅.: 𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙷 𝙳𝙰𝚈 𝚅𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚂𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚉.

"Moriah?"
I look up as my name is called.
Milo is now awake, and his face is full of sleepy confusion.
"Hi...I...I'm sorry, I should've asked first, but you weren't wake, so I just thought-"
"Moriah, it's okay. It just...doesn't happen often."
"What do you mean? You...don't ever get prayed for at your church?"
He grimaced.
"I don't go to a church, Moriah. I'm not religious. It's just...I don't know...I guess I've never had the opportunity to go to one."
I feel like someone just punched me in the stomach.
I've come to trust and respect Milo. I've developed a burden for him to know Jesus. I want him to be saved.
"Why don't you come with me on Sunday? I'd love for you to join me," I smile.
"I'm...not sure. But...I'm...really sorry for what happened. This stupid phobia-"
"Milo," I say, still holding his hand, "it's okay. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Don't worry about it, okay?"
He looks at me, his brown eyes flash with affection, then they look like he's battling something in his mind.
He's trying to figure out if he trusts me or not.
"Well," I start, "I want to get to know you a little more. Could...you maybe tell me a little more about you?"
He chuckles.
"Uhm...I'm not a very interesting person."
"I think you're quite interesting, actually."
"No, I'm not. Trust me."
"Let me be the judge of that, Detective."
He sighed.
"Well...I was an only child. I was an accident, so my parents emotionally abused me until I was 14. They got divorced. I went to live with my dad, and he physically abused me. In my freshman year, I decided to face my fears and date a girl in school. Turned out she was not who I thought she was. She...she hit me a lot. I was pretty small for a boy my age, and for that reason, I got bullied a lot. Broke up with me after a year. Graduated with straight A's. Came to work at the Detective Agency. I've always liked to help people and solve mysteries, which is why I joined.
"There, see? I'm nothing special. I'm just a Commoner, Moriah."
He looked down and shut his eyes.
"Milo...I...I'm so sorry for what has happened to you. But-"
"Moriah, why are you so interested in me? Look at me! There's nothing special about me! Why don't you go find someone else that's not....messed up like I am?!"
His face was full of annoyance and anger as he stared me down.
I don't know why I'm so attracted to him. Why I want to be his friend and maybe more so badly. He's not tall and muscular, he's not drop-dead gorgeous, he's not very friendly, he's not even a Christian.
Perhaps it's because...I see how broken he is and how many times he's been used...and how scared he is of all that happening again, that I want him to know that there's Someone Who can help him. Who loves him and knows him more than anyone.
That's why I care about him.
"Just... leave me alone, Moriah."
Ouch.
"Milo...I know someone who can help y-"
"Who, Moriah?! Another therapist?! A doctor somewhere?! Don't you UNDERSTAND?! THERE'S NO ONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP ME!"
My throat tightens.
"Milo..I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"Leave."
"Milo-"
"I SAID LEAVE! IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME, THEN LEAVE!"
Slowly, I stand up, feeling outrage but acting calm, and look straight into his now black orbs.
"Alright, Milo. I'll leave, if that's what you want."
"Please."
So I left without looking back.

"Excuse me, miss!"
A nurse coming from Milo's room turns around.
As I approach her with swift steps, she asks, "How can I help you?"
"Is he going to be alright?"
"Are you the one that brought him here?"
I nod, "But I made a mistake in upsetting him, so he told me to leave. Is he going to be okay?"
Her dark eyes skimmed over my features. She looked like she was in her fifties, her silver hair pinned in a crown of braids against her scalp.
"Yes,, we will be releasing him tonight after he rests for a while longer. He will also be meeting with a therapist, Dr. Sinclair,"
I internally scream.
Milo doesn't need a therapist.
He doesn't need a doctor, or some substances to give him more side affects and more medication
Milo needs Jesus.
And I will not stop praying and reaching out to him until he finds Him.
"Alright. I don't think he will want me to take him home, so could you call Harrison Sinclair? He's a good friend of Milo's, and he's the only one he trusts."
"He seems to trust you. Don't take it personally, Moriah. I'm sure he'll come around. He's just had a rough life. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, and thank you."
She smiles, then walks away.
I walk out the front doors, then ask the lady in the front to use their phone to call a friend.
"Hello?"
"Ummm....Kenzie?"
"Moriah? Oh goodness! Are you okay? Why are you calling me this late?"
Kenzie is a friend of mine that has stuck with me since I could walk. After my mother died, my father decided to move here in Grysher to start over. Her father became a Noble in the Capitol of Chrystus, so they moved close by a few months ago. She's always been there for me.
"Umm...I'm at the...hospital?"
"Moriah Day Velasquez! What do you mean the hospital?! Oh, hold on, I'll be right there! Don't move!"
She hangs up, and I thank the woman at the front for letting me use the phone.
Kenzie has always been...overdramatic. But not in a bad way. She just cares a lot about the people around her. And she's destined to be a Noble, just like her father.
I walk out the front doors, then wait for Kenzie on a bench outside.
After a while, I hear the screeching of a car, and see a shiny, silver Porsche drift in front of the entrance of the hospital, and a frantic Kenzie in a t-shirt and sweatpants running out to me.
One more thing I forgot to mention.
Her family is rich, but Kenzie is anything but spoiled. She's very humble about her parent's wealth because she understands that God has blessed them without measure, and they always give back to Him.
And she knows I'm an Elysian.
"Oh my goodness! Moriah!"
She embraces me so tight I can't breathe.
"Are you okay? What happened?!"
"I'll tell you everything in the car."
We get in and buckle our seatbelts, and I tell everything that happened. From Milo coming at the restaurant to the nurse that I talked to before I left.
"But...how did she know your name?"
"The nurse?"
"Yeah...how did she know your name?"
"That's another thing. This all seems...weird. So I called you instead of my father to pick me up. I didn't want my father to ask questions and have the lady at the front hear everything."
"Moriah," Kenzie gasped a she pulled up in front of my house, "this is more serious than I thought. There's more going on here, and I think the only person that can help you figure this out is Detective Crathetch. I feel like he's the only one that you can trust."
I sigh.
"And I'm the only one that can help Milo overcome his fear. I can help him find Jesus."
Kenzie turns the car off.
"I guess...you two are...meant for each other."
I nod.
"I guess we are."