A Unique Kind of Love (24 page)

After about a couple of minutes of just punching him, I got up, sure he was unconscious. The first thing I saw was Lena. Tears freely streamed down her face and her face was flashing with so many emotions I simply couldn't place. Her eyes displayed hurt and fear, but it wasn't for me, it was
from
me, her trembling lips showed anxiety and her shaking hands showed fear for me this time. A pang hit my chest.

She'd never seen me fight before.

Victoria was in the same position, but her eyes were on Adam, who was wiping blood off his face with the tip of his sleeve. Catherine and Mrs. Winter were shocked.

But what really hit me was Belle. She was on the ground, fully shaking and sobbing. A complete breakdown tore her apart. I've never seen her so vulnerable and weak. Annabelle has always been strong and not afraid of anything.

The next seconds were a complete blur to me. It seemed like everything was in slow motion.

"NO!" screamed Lena in alert. 

Lena was running to me at full speed, but it was certain that she wasn't about to hug me. The terror in her eyes alarmed my senses. Before I could ask what was wrong, she passed me and her back was literally brushing mine. What was she doing? I swiftly turned, only to see Lena standing on the tip of her heels. 

Leo was holding two bottles of full champagne above my head, or Lena's in fact. Before I could realize what was going on, those two bottles came crashing on Lena's head. I fell to the ground beside Lena. 

Her head was oozing a huge quantity of blood and her eyes were squeezed shut. Her features were etched with pain but she was unconscious. Tears sprung to my own eyes, as I took her in my arms. I began walking rapidly towards the door; a pool of blood was wetting my shirt. But I didn't care.

"Where are you going?" exclaimed a voice I couldn't recognize. I didn't even stop as I answered:

"To the hospital, there's no way in fucking hell that I'm losing her."

24

Don’t let Me Go

"I am awake most nights because I am afraid someone else will leave me, and I won't be awake to stop them."

Liam Christopher Black

"OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE. TELL ME IF SHE'S OKAY. PLEASE, JUST OPEN THE DOOR, I WANT TO SEE HER!"

I pounded my already bruised fists with all the power that I could muster on the ED doors, which were locked. The emergency department was the place Lena was in right now. My heart shattered with worry. The quantity of blood oozing from her head wasn't a good sign. As soon as the hospital had seen her in my arms, she'd been taken in a flash on an ambulance cot. The way her skin had lost any color in it, becoming completely pale and the loss of any body heat in her scared me to death. My thoughts were scattered everywhere in my head, making it impossible to concentrate on anything. A million thoughts were running a marathon in my head and kept pushing each other to get to the finish line. I couldn’t think of anything else but 
Lena.

I can't lose her, screamed my subconscious.

"PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! GOD, DAMN IT! PLEASE!"

It's been two whole hours, a hundred and twenty minutes of absolute hell. The nurses wouldn't let me in, after a while, they got sick of my persistence, so they just locked the door and kept me out. I kept on pounding on the doors separating Lena from me, my anxiety giving me adrenaline. I knew that the old, mute Liam would’ve sat in a corner and cried, but this was before Lena came into my life. I couldn’t give up on her; I wasn’t going to just let her get away from me.

After one last pound at the door, I figured the possibility of them opening the door was improbable. I dragged myself onto the nearest chair, and, placing my elbows on my legs, I buried my head in my hands. Closing my eyes helped the massive headache knocking on every corner in my mind. I took a deep breath; the fresh air circulating in my lungs relaxed me a little.

A hand was placed on my shoulder, startling me. I lift my head to see Adam, pity seeping from his eyes, of which one was black. Actually, we both had one eye that had purple completely surrounding it. Adam had bruises around his neck and a broken arm, whilst I only had bruises in several parts of my body; face, stomach, chest. I hadn’t taken a look but my aching body told me so.

He sat down on the chair beside me and looked at me with a sad expression. "Mate, it’ll be alright," said my cousin, patting my shoulder. I shook my head, and turned to him.

"No, you don't understand. I've lost every single person that I ever cared about. I can't lose her, I just can't." My voice was trembling with fury and slight desperation.

“I know,” mumbled Adam, laying his head on the wall behind him. His tired expression showed that he was thinking about a lot of things.

I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d lost people in his life. My cousin’s father had a big impact on Adam, because he’d ingrained hatred in him. Ever since a young age, Adam would fight his dad, or kick him out of the house. And well, he’d just lost his grandmother too. Although, she wasn’t as close to my cousins as she was to me.

She was and will always be
my everything
; she was my mother, sister, friend and grandmother who’d console me whenever I was down. She understood me and knew how to help. I felt like Atlas, the Greek Titan who supposedly held the whole world on his shoulders. Grandma would take some of that weight off me, but it never completely left.

But even 
she
 was gone.

I was somehow mad, sad and 
desperado
 at the same time. Mad, because of how unfair the universe could be. Sad, because I could've saved Lena by being more careful, or, oh, I don’t know, being smart enough to turn on time and take those bottles on my head. The feeling of desperation was because she was my only hope. I just couldn't bear the thought of losing her, losing anyone else. I’m utterly and absolutely sick and tired of it. Call me selfish or whatever, but I think I deserve to have someone.

“Liam, it’ll be fine. She’s not going to… you know,” said Adam, breaking our little moment of silence. I nodded, hoping he was right.

"I can't lose her," I whispered so low I doubted Adam had heard, every drop of energy draining from me. The fight, Lena, everything just made me so tired. 

“You won’t, now come on, let’s go check on the ladies.” I looked up at his standing figure, my eyebrows slightly furrowed. I’d completely forgotten about them.

“Where are they?” I asked, my voice coming out raspy.

“With Belle, the doctors saw her state and deducted that she was having an anxiety attack. They gave her medication and she’s staying in a room for a couple of hours, so she can calm down.” Even though Adam’s tone was calm and collected, his expression was begging me to go with him. He wanted to see his sister and was frantically worried about her. I stood up, but then immediately remembered something.

“Does the doctor know that we’ll be over there, in case you know, he needs to tell-“

“Liam, calm down. He knows. Now, let’s go. I’m worried sick about that little annoying sister of mine,” he said, mumbling the last part. I mustered a small smile and followed him.

The impeccably clean hospital halls seemed endless, the smell of medicine and chlorine familiar to my nose. My eyes noticed a few familiar faces and I nodded politely in their direction. The glass walls displayed sick patients with their relatives or loved ones. Of course, the occasional moaning and call for nurses was present. I knew this hospital so well and I wish I hadn’t. The reason was that I came here during Grandma’s sickness.

Although, my eye caught something that made me freeze. Adam stopped and looked at me impatiently. I nodded in the direction of whom I was looking at and his expression instantly softened. A little girl, not older than six or seven years old, was sitting on a chair, with no one by her side. Her face was fallen and her shoulders slumped. Her long, blonde hair was loosely framing her face. She had her arms crossed and directed her face at the ground. I was almost certain that she was crying.

I took small steps in her direction and squatted in front of her. She lifted her head and my eyes met hers. They were pale blue and the redness in them meant that she I was right. Her red cheeks were wet and puffy.

“Hey there,” I said, seeing the hesitation in her eyes. She ignored me and turned away.

“Well, I know about the don’t-speak-to-strangers rule, but I’m not a mean person. I want to be your friend.” That caught her attention; she faced me with hopeful eyes.

“Really?” She asked, slightly nervous.

I nodded eagerly. “I would really, really like to be your friend.”

“I’m Ellie, and what’s your name? I’ve got to know your name to be your friend. I mean, I can’t call you my No-Name friend.” A small smile appeared on my face.

“I’m Liam.”

Her face lit up and her little hand patted the seat next to her. I sat next to her, as she fully turned to me.

“So, tell me what’s wrong,” I said, wiping the tears on her cheek with my hand.

Suddenly, she attacked me in the biggest hug someone her age could possibly give. Her frail arms held my waist tightly and I felt my shirt getting wet. So, I put my arms around her petite body as well. I stroked her golden hair, as her tears came rushing faster. After a few moments of staying like this, she pulled herself away from the hug and sniffled a little. I waited for an answer to my question, as I knew by her expression that she was ready to talk.

“My daddy’s really sad and my mommy won’t talk to me.”

“Why?” I questioned softly.

“Well, it’s because my mommy was in this white bed and then there was a lot of beeping and it hurt my ears. Daddy starts crying and I called mommy to make him happy, b-but she wouldn’t answer me. And then I asked Daddy, why she wasn’t answering me and he said that she was gone. But she was right there! But she won’t answer me, why won’t she answer me, Lee-yum?”

Tears sprung into my eyes straight away and her sad face broke my heart. I took her in my arms and held her tightly, as she sobbed again. I knew exactly how she felt, although I was older than her when I lost my parents. This little angel would have to grow up without a mom and come to a realization at one point, that the reason her mom wasn’t answering her was because she was dead. She was too young to face this.

She pulled away and held my face in her hands. She tipped her head slightly to the right, as if she was confused.

“Lee-yum, why are you crying?”

I suddenly realized that I was fully crying as well. I sniffled and wiped my tear-streaked cheeks with the back of my hand. Ellie wiped my other cheek. I smiled and put her on my lap.

“I’m just scared to lose someone I love very much,” I said, looking at Ellie. Her eyes widened and she patted my cheek.

“Don’t worry, love is always stronger than anything,” she spoke with such certainty and confidence, hope was growing on me.

“Um, Liam?”

I averted my eyes to see Adam, who awkwardly stood there, looking a bit sorry for interrupting my little moment. He scratched the back of his head and ushered at me that we had to go.

“Ellie, I’ll be right back, okay?” She furiously shook her head, hopped off my lap and stood in front of me with crossed arms. She stomped one foot on the ground stubbornly.

“I go wherever you go, Lee-yum.”

“No, you’ve got to go see your daddy. Do you know where he is?”

She pouted her lips and put on a professional pleading face that could crack anyone.

“Yes, I do, but I’m not telling you. You have to take me with you.”

I didn’t know Ellie
that
long, but I knew she was determined to go with me. But, that was wrong. I huffed and rubbed my invisible beard, watching her hopeful expression.