Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Chapter 52
Rhea
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I wake to the soft creaking sound of the door opening, and my eyes crack to peer over at the frame. Marcella pauses before coming inside, seeing that my eyes are open, and slowly pushing the door back shut behind her.
“Are you awake?” she asks me while carrying something in her hands. There’s cloth folded over the cup and napkins underneath her arm.
“I–what time is it?” I reply to her, still feeling somewhat weary.
“It’s past midnight. You’ve been sleeping for quite a while now,” She sets what she has in her hands on the table and turns to me. “How are you feeling?”
I sit up and sigh, “Better. I think.”
My hands instinctively go to my shoulder, feeling around for a second before pulling it back. There’s no pain, and I’m no longer bleeding. My body feels a lot better, like before all of this. And for a moment, it feels like nothing happened.
“I made some tea for you. It’s a herbal one, for healing. Have it before it gets cold.”
“Oh, I will.”
Marcella sit across me as I reach for the tea. It’s still warm to touch. I bring it to my lips and take a sip of it. My throat is dry but it feels nice to drink the tea.
“How is your shoulder?” she questions me.
“Better than before,” I raise my other shoulder and smile a little. “All the pain’s gone, too. That’s a good sign, I think.”
Marcella returns the smile and sighs, “It is a good sign.”
I take another sip of the tea, savoring the warmth as it spreads through me. After a while, Marcella leaves to get some food from down even when I insist that I can come with her and eat downstairs itself. But she doesn’t lets me.
I remain on the bed, finishing up the tea before I go into the bathroom, which is dimly lit. In the reflection, I see my shoulder and touch it once again, tracing the area that was bleeding so heavily yesterday.
It’s still covered with bandages but no red has seeped through them yet, telling me that it’s healed, or, at least that’s what I assume. I lift my shirt and take a glance at myself. There’s a small bruising near my stomach but it’s reducing. Fading away.
“Rhea,” Marcella’s voice echoes behind me.
I drop my shirt down and leave the bathroom as she comes inside the room to look for me.
“Sorry, I was just-”
“It’s alright, I just thought you might have left the room,” She sets the tray of food over the table near the window. “Here. Sit and eat a little. It will give you some energy.”
I walk over to the table and take my seat. She plates the food for me and gestures for me to pick up my fork.
I look up at her with a small smile and ask, “Don’t you have to sleep? It’s late, isn’t it?”
“That’s alright. I can always sleep later.”
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Chapter 52
I don’t feel entirely comfortable with knowing that she has been awake for so long, for me, since morning while I’ve been sleeping throughout the day.
“Are you sure?” I ask again, glancing up at her. “You really don’t have to stay awake with me. I’ll be fine. I’ll eat, and I’ll probably sleep again. I don’t want to bother you so much.”
“It’s fine, dear.” She pats on my shoulder, furthering me to eat.
I pick my fork and take a small bit of the food, chewing slowly. I finish up my food quickly as I don’t want to keep her awake any longer. Once I’m done, she’s gone with the plates and then she returns again to keep an eye on me.
I don’t like it, not one bit.
She takes me back to my room, the one that I was initially in. The sheets are changed now. There’s no blood, and even the covers have been changed.
“I’m fine now,” I tell Marcella again as I get under the sheets. “Please, go get some rest. I promise I’ll remain here:
“My, don’t worry about me-”
“But I am,” I say, leaning my head back against the pillow and meeting her eyes. “You need to sleep too. If anything changes or if I need anything, I’ll come to you.”
There’s silence now, as the seconds go by. I assume she won’t agree. But instead, she gives in and smiles at me.
“Okay, okay. I shall sleep then,” She pats my hands, gesturing for me to lie further back into the mattress. “Stay here now. Don’t wander anywhere. You’re already very sick, and if you need anything, anything at all, just ring for me, and I’ll come straight up.”
I nod.
“Or else the Aron will scold me endlessly for allowing you to roam out of the bedroom.” Marcella shakes her head and grins.
“Where is he?” I ask her.
She glances at the other side of the room, where the clock is, before looking back at me. “He left a while ago, but he’ll be back. I’ll tell him of your state before I go to sleep.”
“Okay.”
“Also, I forgot to tell you, there are a few things of yours that were delivered a while ago from your house. It’s some of your clothes and your personal items. I’ve kept them inside the closet,” She points her finger at the other door in the room. “You can check after you’re a little more better. But for now, just rest.”
My things. From my house?
I give Marcella another curt nod and with that, she switches off the lights and leave the room. I wait for a few minutes until she’s gone, until I don’t hear her outside and then I take off my covers and get up on my feet.
How did my things come here?
I quietly slip into the closet room, which is fairly empty except for a box that’s inside the middle along with a smaller box above it. I don’t waste a second before opening it up. Inside, my eyes meet a bunch of familiar things.
In the bigger box, there’s more of my things—my clothes, my shoes, some of my other things from my room at my house.
When I look at these things, a wave of emotions wash over me. They are packed so terribly as if someone–probably Luke or my Mom, had thrown them together without much care. It’s as if everything has been tossed inside and just shoved. It hurts
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Chapter 52
just a little, seeing that.
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I take out a few of my things from the box and set it on the side before taking my clothes and letting it fill the shelves of the
closet.
After that’s done, I change out of what I’m wearing now. I switch the shirt that barely fits me and wear one that’s a lot more comfortable. And I take the underwear and wear that too, thankful that I got those.
I try to sort out whatever I can. It feels like my whole life has been thrown into this small box.
Do my parents just not care? Do they not want to know how I’m doing? If I’m still alive?
Luke’s words ring in my ears. The words he had moments before leaving me in that cellar, even when I begged him not to. I could have died there. I would have.
Would it not matter to them? Any of them?
I sniff, feeling the tears spilling over the edges of my eyes before I know it. I stop sorting the stuff and leave the rest as is. My body slumps on the ground, and my tears roll down to my chin, dripping onto the floor.
For a moment, my thoughts escape me. I sob into my hands, letting my woes and sorrows surface in silence. I don’t know for what I’m crying for. Maybe I’m crying for them, my family, who are so oblivious to my existence that they are happy living without me.
Or is it because they never cared about me?
Dad didn’t, and neither did Luke, but my Mom, she did–or maybe I think she did. Maybe she just pities me.
Would I ever see any of them again? I wonder that for quite a while.
And then I wonder about how all of this happened. How I ended up here? How did they just give me away? What did Aron say?
I force myself off the ground and leave the closet room. It’s been a while since I’ve been in there.
When I step back into the darkness of the room, I don’t see anyone. Marcella’s probably asleep now, which I’m glad about. She’s been so kind. Really. I shouldn’t have kept her up that long.
A part of me wants to get under the sheets but another part of me wants to go outside and know the answers to my question. I take another glance at the clock. It’s two in the morning.
Maybe I should just sleep.
Or maybe not.
