Hopes of Paris

Chapter XIV: Punishment

"That was... my very own punishment."

Distant deep breathing echoed through the empty dark vacancies. It grew closer as an oval shape revealed light from that darkness. It was Sall's point of view as he opened his eyes up, looking around. He was holding to the bottom of Lara's moving bed. They were already at the hospital, with Sam by his side, and a doctor with a couple of nurses ahead of them dragging Lara's bed along. The sound of the bed's wheels sounded somehow loud to Sall and his vision grew even more blurry with every step he took. The sounds of the people around him were disturbing as well, especially when Sam conversed with the doctor.

"We're headed to the chemotherapy section?! I thought she's just gonna undergo regular checkups." Sam spoke anxiously.

"Sir, she needs this. She-"

Lara's hand suddenly moved and grabbed to the doctor's. She squeezed onto it as if she's trying to capture his attention. As a matter of fact, she did this to silence him. The doctor misunderstood, thinking Lara was in more pain, so he looked down to her and reassured her by saying they're almost there. Lara was drugged on the way to ease her pains out. She could still move, but she was super close to falling asleep. She moved her head upwards a bit and looked at Sall. He was a mess right now. He was really sweaty and as if he was going to pass out. She smiled as she looked into his eyes and spoke heavily.

"Sall... Doctors called my parents. They'll be here any minute. You can go home."

He stared blankly into Lara's eyes without responding. Their gazes kept locked with each other's as the doctor and two nurses took her into a room away from Sall and Sam. The latter talked to the doctor before he went in, asking him if they can go inside. The doctor refused, saying the room is crowded with patients today. The two talked more, but the rest didn't sound clear to Sall at all. By now he was hearing distant echoes and a weird bass-boosted sound of pressure in his ears. Sam sighed as the room closed after the doctor went inside and he turned back to look at Sall and speak to him.

"This is as far as we go," Sam sighed as his eyes widened. He noticed Sall was zoning out again and started snapping his fingers to no avail. "Sall?! Are you with me?"

Among all the noises Sall was hearing in his head, his lips moved and he spoke. He couldn't be heard talking, so one could only comprehend what he said through his lip movement as "How so very sad... Our goodbye is drawing close." and he said that while his eyes were focused on the floor, with zero life to tell inside of them. That bass pressure and noise suddenly disappeared, and Sall found himself in his room in his house with Lara. It was the tenth of July in the year two thousand and twenty three. More than a year after Lara's first ever hospitalization. Lara was sitting on the chair infront of the piano next to Sall, conversing with him.

"You zoned out again," she got up, opened her legs and sat on Sall's lap, with her legs on either sides of him from the back of the chair. "Or were you staring at my boobs?"

Sall would usually show an embarrassed reaction to such remarks from Lara. This time though, he remained quiet. Lara tilted her head with a sad look. It's been more than two years since they got together, but they still never had sex. In fact, Lara wanted to, but Sall would always find a different excuse out from it. Her seduction attempts always got her nowhere. She kept trying, even though her attempts were probably taking her nowhere. Lara knew of Sall's depression and how his dissociation can affect his span of attention sometimes. So, she'd always try to keep Sall grounded and engaged with an interesting conversation.

Lara was wearing a tight grey sports bra that brought out a little of her cleavage, along with black and white training shorts. She was at the gym, and Sall came to pick her up after she was done so they can spend a little time together. They were having a conversation on the way. Sall was in his basketball uniform. He never liked or played basketball, it was just a gift he got on his twenty second birthday from Pierre, who happens to be really into basketball. As Lara sat on his lap, Sall wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned the side of his face over her shoulder. Lara's heart jumped. She felt super happy Sall was getting this close from her. He hasn't been doing that so much as of lately.