Redemption

Chapter XII

While caressing Safiye's hair as she fell asleep one more time, Renato stared at her dry tears and the mark of his hand forming over her cheek. He couldn't go back to sleep knowing that there was the risk of hurting her again, so he made the decision to remain awake while he figured a solution for the long term. He played with her hair from two in the morning until she woke up again, and took care of her throughout the day, forgetting about his needs, since the only one he had was making her happy and forget the pain he had caused her. On the night, when looking at the bruise on her face became unbearable, he invited her to go early to bed and she laid down over the purple cheek, switching places with him at his request. He stared at her face imagining the wound didn't exist until morning.

Safiye opened her eyes and found Renato apparently sleeping over his shoulder facing away from her. He was pretending to be sleeping, to prevent from having an argument with her, and having her worry for him. Therefore, when she shook his shoulder, he pretended to wake up by lazily turning over with his eyes close, with a gentle smile across his lips. Even with the forming black bags against his porcelain skin, and the tired red eyes, she couldn't predict what he was doing. For a long period of time he had the mark of his sin across his face, showing itself with the same characteristics, but she used to blame it on having to work and study at the same time. And just like in those days, she had found another excuse to replace the old one, and blamed it on the nightmares that were probably waking him up and reducing his time of sleep. She ignored every other thought that came to her mind, to her it was the same face she had learned to love. But what she really ignored was the real cause of why his face briefly changed over the summer. It didn't change because he had better rest, but because he had a better soul. Things changed inside him with new feelings sparking, replacing the dark, refreshing his face and returning its youth.

Safiye invited Renato to go to the store to get food since they were running out of it. He tried to convince her of not going, with the excuse they could order food ready, hiding the reason that he could already feel the effects of sleep deprivation. But she insisted on wishing to eat healthier and that she still was afraid of going out alone. He stared at her eyes and nodded and she happily left a quick kiss on his lips before jumping from bed, and going to the shower before him. He stayed in bed, taking longer than usual to stand because of the pounding pain on his head, and walked across the room to close the curtain, to block the intense light of the sun. And he was able to recover some energy by showering with cold water, and drinking coffee before leaving the house with her.

At the store, he had difficulties focusing and with some simple mathematical exercises. Safiye asked him to add the prices of some of the products for her. He had previously presumed to her of his ability of adding quickly without the need of a calculator, it was something that made the both smile from time to time, when she tried to confuse him and he still got the correct answer. But as she began to say the numbers and the digit kept growing he lost count easily, and he couldn't pass three products. It took her back, but she told him he probably wasn't in the right set of mind and to not worry about it, taking out her phone and doing the addition herself. But Renato couldn't forget about it, and he felt embarrassed throughout the rest of the day, wondering why he couldn't do it.

The thought only left his mind when Safiye had removed the makeup she placed over her bruise, and he looked at the purple mark that hadn't faded even the slightest. It almost turned into an argument when he asked her if she could keep the makeup on, and she refused saying that she never wears any because it can damage the skin in the long term, and that she only did it to hide the bruise. He looked down at her feet and confessed the pain it caused him to look at it. She walked over to him and sat in bed next to him and told him it was an accident that she didn't blame him for it. Taking his hand and leaving a kiss on his cheek, she agreed to cover the bruise again, but he kept holding her even when she stood, and gently pulled her back down to sit in bed again and told her to forget about it, and convinced to go to bed with him.