A second chance: Sequel of Against all odds (10 page)

“
I
see.” I sighed. I wondered what the hell was wrong with that
man.

“
Why?”

“
He
only visited Cassidy once.” I bit out angrily.

“
What?
Who told you this?” Angela asked surprised.

“
The
nurse that is taking care of Cassidy. My God, she's his wife how
could he abandon her? He's doing it again. This is him; this is how
he reacts. When there are problems, he disappears like he did in the
past.” I couldn't contain my anger.

“
Maybe
something happened to him. Tomorrow I'll phone Edward.” 

I looked up at her.

“
Don't
try to find excuses for him Angela!”I said irritated.

“
I'm
not trying David. I know that what you said is the truth,
unfortunately, Tyler isn't as strong as you and sometimes I think
that this is the reason Cassidy had chosen him.”

I felt my stomach twisting
as I raised my head to look at her.

“
What
do you mean?”

“
Well,
he's fragile, he seems strong and tough but in reality he's weak. He
can't handle problems; he looses his head easily. He breaks down and
escapes when he can't bear the pain. From what Cassidy had told me,
he had lost his mother when he was young. He saw her dying in front
of him, probably this affected him a lot and influenced the man he
became.” She explained.

“
Listen
I'm sorry for him but this is not a good reason to abandon her, and I
can't possibly think that Cassidy chose him because she thought he
couldn't handle the pain while I could. It doesn't make sense.”

“
It's
just my opinion. David you have to believe me when I tell you that
she loved you. Sometimes we make choices for many reasons but that
doesn't mean that the choice we've done was the one we truly wished
for.”

I tried to follow what she
was saying, but I couldn't believe that this was the reason Cassidy
decided to break my heart eight years ago. She had always loved Tyler
and deep down I had always known it. Even when she had accepted to
marry me I still had my doubts. I still feared that one day she would
regret marrying me and return to him.

“
I
don't know. Anyway it doesn't really matter right now does it? Now
the important thing is that she wakes up.”

“
Yes,
tomorrow I'll come with you at the hospital.”

That night I couldn't sleep,
I kept thinking about Angela's words. Did she really love me? Lately,
I had begun to think this could be possible. Every time we met I
could see something in her eyes. It was sadness, but there was
something else which I couldn't understand. I thought about the
numerous times we had hugged and kissed on the cheek, about how she
sometimes trembled. I recalled how many times she came to my house
for no apparent reason, just to talk. Although usually our main
argument was Kylie, there had been times we didn't even mention her.
She came to tell me about her problems, to ask me for advice that I
gave her although deep down wondered why she told me and not her
husband. I recalled how she retrieved her hand if by mistake I
brushed against it. I had always interpreted those signals as
nervousness. I had always thought she felt uncomfortable or something
but now I know that I was wrong. I closed my eyes and prayed again
and again for that second chance.

The next day at school I
couldn't concentrate; my mind was elsewhere, Claire Morrison kept
gazing at me and this made me feel really uncomfortable. I had hoped
she had understood. I ignored her completely but then after the bell
had rung she came near me.

“
Sir..”

“
Yes,”
I said without looking at her.

“
I'm
sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have written that love letter but what I
have written is the truth.”She murmured.

“
I
know,” I retorted. “But you have to forget all about me
OK? I will only love one woman in my life and forever,” I said
raising my head to look at her. My eyes gazed deeply in her eyes. I
wanted her to understand; no one could take Cassidy's place.

“
She
must be a very lucky woman then,”she said sadly.

“
Claire,
I hope we can forget this as I don't wish to make you change class,”I
said in a warning tone.

“
What?
Oh no please.”

“
Then
just please treat me as a teacher OK?”

“
OK
Sir, I'm really sorry.”

“
OK.
You can go now,” I said while I began to pack to leave. While I
walked in the corridor to reach the exit, I thought about this girl.
How a girl her age thought and acted, and I thought about the
18-year-old Cassidy who was very similar to her. The 18-year-old who
had to decide between two men, becoming a mum and marry at such a
young age. Maybe Cassidy was too young I thought. Maybe she wasn't
ready to choose. I went for Kylie at school and drove home to pick
Angela. We arrived at the hospital a half an hour later. Kylie seemed
very anxious; she kept my hand in hers, squeezing it. I looked at her
and smiled. I knew she was afraid although she hadn't said anything.
When we arrived Nurse Mandy greeted us...

“
Oh
Hello, is this your daughter David?” She asked me with a smile
on her face.

“
Yes.”

“
Oh,
hello sweetheart, you must be Kylie, I heard so much about you.”

My daughter smiled shyly at
her.

“
How
is my mum?” she asked then.

“
Well,
she's still asleep, like sleeping beauty, but physically she's
healing. Come on inside so you can talk to her.”

My daughter unexpectedly
 left my hand and followed Nurse Mandy. I looked astonished at
Angela. 

“
She's
more courageous than you think David, and I think she wants to handle
this on her own, maybe it's better if we leave her alone for some
time.”

I nodded and walked quietly
near the room to see what Kylie was doing. She had set down near her
mum and had grabbed her hand. She was talking to her and telling her
what she had done at school; she told her she got an A for her last
homework and that Bethany's father had a new girlfriend who Bethany
really hated. I smiled; she had a paper in her hand and was reading
from it. Then after a few minutes she stopped and climbed on her
mum's bed. I was going to enter to stop her, fearing she would crush
a wire or something but Angela stopped me. Kylie lay down near her
mum and hugged her and kissed her forehead.

“
I
love you mummy; I'm sorry I had told you that I hated you. It wasn't
true; I was just angry because I love Daddy as well. All I ever
wanted mum, was that you loved him like I do. Mum wake up please, I
will never be a bad girl anymore, I will never tell you to leave
Tyler again to be with Dad. I promise. I'll be a good girl, and I'll
obey you. Please mum wake up. I love you so much.”

I couldn't keep back my
tears. My heart ached. I felt awful. She stayed there, her head
laying next to Cassidy's and her little arms around her mum. I walked
a little far and hid my face. Angela came near me.

“
Come
on David, you have to make courage.”

“
I
can't. Not anymore. What can I do? I feel so useless, what can I do?”
I cried.

“
There's
nothing we can do more. Just pray David.”

I sat down and waited for
Kylie to come back. She stayed there for some more time and then
returned. 

“
I
feel better Dad. Now I least she knows that I love her,” she
said smiling.

I hugged my little princess
and then went in Cassidy's room. We stayed there for around two
hours. Then we had to go. Kylie had to do her homework, and I had a
lot of work and grading to finish. I waited for Angela and Kylie to
finish and told them to wait outside for me. I closed the door and
went near Cassidy; I bended down and kissed her lips. They were so
cold. “I love you Cassidy.” I whispered then. “I
have to go honey. I'll be back tomorrow OK.” I caressed her
face and kissed her hand and then went out.

“
OK
let's go.” I said.

Kylie grabbed my hand, and
we began to walk towards the exit. We had almost arrived at the
reception when I heard someone calling me...

“
David!
David! Wait. Please Wait!!”

I turned around and saw
Nurse Mandy running towards us with a strange expression on her face.

My heart missed a beat. What
had happened?

CHAPTER 10

Cassidy's POV

I opened my eyes, slowly.
They felt so heavy. I felt without strength; my sight was blurred, I
couldn't figure out the things I was seeing. I saw an image of a man
peering down at me. I closed and opened my eyes, seeing light then
darkness came again. I couldn't understand if I was conscious or not.
It was like a dream. I felt being moved; I felt some wires being
taken off from me. I could hear voices but didn't really understand
what they were saying. Little by little I felt better, and things
become clearer. The image was not blurred anymore, and I could figure
out that the person looking at me was a doctor. Oh.. I was in
hospital then. Why? What was happening? Why was I there? I had
something wrapped around my neck that I hated and which didn't let me
move. The doctor was  still looking at me; I tried to open my
mouth to say something. The doctor smiled and said “she's
awake." I heard other people coming in; one of them was a man, a
very handsome man who was crying. Why was he crying? Then the doctor
told everyone to get out.

“
You
know your name?” he asked me.

My name. Oh my God, what was
my name? I tried to think, to remember but I couldn't.

“
No.”
I managed to say. My voice was strange, didn't seem mine.

“
OK,
do you know how old are you? Or why you're here?” he asked me
again looking at me concerned.

My answer was another no. I
tried to make some effort to remember, but my mind seemed blank. The
doctor told me to rest and that he would be back soon. He left me
alone. I continued to try to understand what was going on. How did I
get here? Why was I here? Who were I? My God, I couldn't remember
anything. It felt horrible; I was like a lost soul being thrown in a
different dimension. In a place where I didn't belong. A nurse kept
coming in and going out either to change my diaper or to check the IV
I had in my veins. How did I finish like this? I was like a baby
being taken care of.

After some time I was taken
in a different ward where tests had been carried out. The doctor
looked concerned, but he said that everything will be OK. Then I was
taken back to the same room I was in before, again. Just at that
moment while I was being taken I saw that man again. He looked at me
from far; he seemed excited and worried at the same time. Who was he?
He was so handsome; his blue eyes were so intense and beautiful. The
most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Maybe I knew him, maybe he was
there for me. My stomach tightened and suddenly I felt happy at the
thought. I smiled, even though I had forgotten everything, my body
hadn't, my senses were still working fine. I hadn't forgotten that I
was a woman. The nurse took me in and then left again leaving me
alone.

David's POV

“
Why
aren't they telling us anything? She seems OK. She looked at me.
She's conscious. Oh my God, I can't believe it Angela. She woke up.”
I rejoiced.

I was so happy. Kylie was
jumping up and down and asking me continually when she could go in
and see her.

“
I
think they're doing some tests David, to check if everything is OK.”
Angela said.

“
Yes
but it's two hours we've been here waiting without knowing what's
going on.” I grumbled.

I couldn't describe how I
was feeling. I was happy, relieved, worried. I didn't know. She had
looked at me, of all the persons there were inside, her eyes have
locked briefly with mine and she had looked at me again while she was
being carried away in her room. Oh Cassidy, I can't wait to talk to
you. Just at that moment I saw the doctor coming.