Healing Her Broken Heart

Almost Run Over!

Mark had asked Defne to drop some of Aleyna’s stuff at his place so she took a hot shower and changed into a pair of jeans and warm cotton black shirt. Mark couldn’t help but notice her perfect curves and toned body. While he himself changed into a body hugging cotton shirt and jeans. Aleyna admired how well built he was and how protected she felt in his arms but her mind was in a conflict with her heart and she just couldn’t trust Mark no matter how much she argued with herself.

 “What would you like to do? We can stay home, watch a good movie or go out.” Mark asked Aleyna.

“Well, actually I was thinking I should probably go I don’t want to bother you anymore.” Aleyna replied tucking her hands in her pockets.

“What is it Aleyna, have I done something wrong?” Mark asked concern in his voice. “No no, not at all” she said shaking her head, “I just remembered that today is my Nana’s appointment so I better go, don’t want to miss it.”

“Why don’t you let me drop you then? Your house isent too far away.” Mark said taking a step towards her.

“No, I’ve called the Uber and thank you for your help. I need to rush.” Aleyna said stepping backwards. She was afraid that if Mark got too close to her, she might break her resolve and succumb to her heart’s desire.

She almost ran outside and sat in the car. Aleyna called her mom who didn’t answer then she called Mrs. Brown to ask about Nana’s appointment schedule. 12 o’ clock, which meant she still had time to reach there. Hospital of University of Pennsylvania was a twenty minute drive from her current location. She hoped and prayed that the doctor would not give her any bad news after all Nana was the woman with whom she had spent hours after school while her parents used to be busy with their medical practices. Her thoughts were cut off when she saw her cell phone ringing, it was Mark but she decided not to take his call. She didn’t have any explanation for him.

As she entered the hospital premises, her olfactory lobes were hit by omnipresent smell of antiseptic which triggered involuntary memories of her accident six years ago. How could she forget that while she laid in the hospital unconscious her mom was grief struck by the sudden loss of her husband. Nana was the one who guided her out of her misery and stood by her every step and when Aleyna was well enough to stand on her own, Nana slipped into this demented disease.

She finally reached Dr. Collin’s office and found Mrs. Brown and Nana waiting for him.

“Ah, there you are Aleyna. The doctor just finished his rounds and is on his way up here. Lets see what he has to say about your Nana’s progress?”

Aleyna’s hands were sweating as she kept glancing at her Nana who was comfortably sitting in her wheel chair not aware of her surroundings.

“Sorry to keep you waiting there was a patient in emergency who I had to attend to. How is Mrs. Williams doing? Are you giving her medicines on time?” The doctor asked Mrs.Brown.

“Yes, shes doing fine doctor but sometimes she’s restless at night. I feel she is not enjoying sound sleep.”

“Well, I wont be changing her medicines at the moment and sleep loss is a common issue in Alzheimer as long as its not happening every night.”

“Dr. Collins are the results of the MRI and CT Scan back?” Aleyna asked nervously. “Yes, I saw them and they show a progressive loss of the brain cells. Its not happening at a fast rate due to the right medicines but still theres progress unfortunately.”

This was a hard blow for Aleyna, one she feared the most. While Mrs. Brown took Nana back home she decided to take a walk. She wanted to clear her head. As soon as she stepped out of the hospital, the icy sharp wind slapped her cheek and sent chills down her spine. She covered herself with her heavy eskimo jacket.

Due to the freezing temperature, there were hardly any people on the road. Aleyna had no idea for how long she had been walking when she heard squishing sound of footsteps in the snow behind her. Not paying much heed to it she kept walking, the footsteps sounded closer. That’s odd, Aleyna’s heart started beating faster. Without much thought she turned to cross the road where a bike was coming in full speed about to hit her and Aleyna was frozen in her tracks. Suddenly someone grabbed her waist just in time and steered her towards the curb against the wall.

She was breathless and by now her heart was galloping. She looked up to see her savior and was surprised to see the familiar face belonging to David.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed Ley?” David asked in all seriousness. “If it weren’t for me you would probably be lying on the road with some broken limbs.”

Aleyna closed her eyes trying not to imagine the picture David had just painted. Finally she spoke up, “Thank you David, but if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be crossing the road in the first place. You practically scared me.”

David raised his hands in all his defense, “Hey, I didn’t know you would react this way.”

“What are you doing here anyways?” Aleyna inquired.

“Oh, I was here to meet a patient in one of these apartments and I saw you on my way out.”

“You should’ve called my name instead of following me like that, it scared the hell out of me and since when have you started giving home services. These apartments look run down to me David.”

“Sorry Ley, I just wanted to surprise you. Ahhh well I tend to give free of cost services to patients who cant afford to get themselves treated.”

“Mr. David is so benevolent? I had no idea.” Aleyna remarked good naturedly.

“Well, there are a lot of things you don’t know about me Ley.” David answered with a glimmer in his eyes. “Why are you here?”

“Just wanted to get some walk but I think I’ve had enough.”

“Then hop in my car and ill drive you home.”

David always had an expensive taste. He owned a BMW and lived in a mini mansion all by himself. He was kinda spend thrift. It was hard imagining him working as a philanthropist. While Aleyna was trying to fix the strap of her bag which had broken, David asked her, “So, hows Mark?”

“He’s fine.” She answered sounding distracted.

“And how long will this project of yours last?”

“Well, we’re working on it so no definite time period.”

“He just doesn’t seem a reliable guy to me, don’t trust him easily.” “Ahan thanks”.

“Hey David, I forgot to ask hows your grandmother? You’d gone to visit her a couple of weeks back.” Aleyna asked trying to change the topic although she knew David was looking out for her.

“Shes better now, although it has been many years since dad died but she still gets upset and cries herself sick.”

“I can imagine how she must feel David, losing someone so close to you is a huge loss.”

“No, you can never imagine Ley, no one can.” David said abruptly gripping the steering wheel tightly while taking a sharp turn. Aleyna was taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor. “My dad was an innocent man who was killed by his inmates in jail so please don’t try to sympathize with me.”

“David, I have also lost my father so I can understand your pain.” Aleyna said in a soft voice trying to console him but there was a fierceness in his eyes which was new to Aleyna. It was like she was talking to a stranger. The rest of the ride back home was quiet.

Once home, she thought of checking on her black German Shepherd, “Hey Duke, how are you doing boy?” she said while lovingly stroking his thick fur. “I know I’ve been too busy lately to show up.” She continued talking to Duke while the dog kept licking her lovingly wagging his tail, eager to show his affections to his owner.

“Lemme check if I have something in my bag for you” as she rummaged through her bag she found a cookie neatly wrapped, Aleyna wondered if she had taken it from Mr. Harris’s party although it was true that she hardly remembered anything from last night. She gave Duke the cookie who devoured it accepting anything from his loving owner. Finally the dog let her go and went back into his kennel.

Aleyna couldn’t help thinking about David’s strange behavior, she mentioned it to Susan who was fortunately at home today cooking some delicious pasta, “You know Mom, I never knew David held so much bitterness I was literally taken aback by his response.”

“Honey, it’s his father you’re talking about naturally his response was understandable.”

“I know it’s just that he seemed a complete stranger to me despite all these years I have known him.”

They took their food to Nana’s room while talking about her today’s appointment with the doctor, Mrs. Brown was nowhere to be seen so Aleyna went to call her for dinner. As she was about to knock at her door she heard Mrs. Brown talking on the phone, “Yes, I know but you have to be patient, you’ve waited so long it won’t hurt you to do some more my dear.”

Aleyna knew she was a widow and didn’t have any relatives that she knew about, maybe Aleyna didn’t know everything about her after all. She finally knocked on the door and Mrs.Brown hung up the phone call, “Sorry to disturb you Mrs. Brown but we’re waiting for you for dinner at Nana’s room.”

“Oh yes yes, sorry honey had to take this call from an old friend. She called after ages, gossiping about her self-centered husband.” She said matter of factly.

Dinner was over, dishes were washed and everyone went to their respective rooms. Aleyna dropped down on her bed and opened her laptop. She was looking for something that even her boss wouldn’t have thought of for the project. She went on to searching and making notes.

She had ignored calls from Mark as she was not yet ready to talk to him although Aleyna knew very well  she wont be able to avoid him once the weekend was over.

His eyes seemed to hypnotize her and had an intensity in them, his crisp voice which quickened as he hit upon a new idea, the dimple on his cheek when he smiled, his gentleness, his confident stride, his soft lips which touched hers. Aleyna wondered how it would feel when his hands touched the curves of her body, she could feel herself blushing as she bit her lips thinking about Mark and dozed off.

She was woken up by the pressing voice of her mom, “Aleyna Aleyna wake up” she was shaking Aleyna with urgency in her voice.

“Wh, what happened mom? Is Nana ok?” Aleyna asked trying to understand the situation with her mind all groggy.

“Nana’s fine dear its Duke, we have to take him to the hospital. Hes not moving and hes drooling more than usual.”

Both mother and daughter frantically ran to Duke’s aid, they lifted him up carefully wrapping him in a warm blanket and drove him to the vet. The vet’s clinic was decorated with a Christmas tree and a bulb continuously flickering which definitely didn’t give a very festive feeling. The receptionist took one look at Duke and rushed him into the emergency room where he was placed on the examination table. After checking his vitals, the vet asked what was the last thing he had eaten?

“I gave him a plain cookie.”

“It seems like hes been poisoned. We need to make him sick in a bid to empty the contents of his stomach. Please now leave this room and wait outside.”

“Aleyna where did you get that cookie from?” Susan asked while waiting patiently outside the ER.

“I don’t remember mom, I was guessing from last night at Mr. Harris’s party but now I’m not sure how something poisonous got in my bag in the first place.” Confusion showing in Aleyna’s voice while she paced the room.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks looking dazed at her mom, “What if I had eaten that cookie mom? Oh my poor Duke, he took the fall for me.”

“Don’t talk such rubbish Aleyna, nothing will happen to you and Duke will be fine as well.”

After an hour, the vet came out, “Well, we managed to wash his stomach of all the poison and he’s fine. He’s sleeping and we will be keeping him here to check on his vitals. You can take him home tomorrow and my assistant will give you a diet chart that you’ll be following with your dog.”

Despite the sun shining and its rays bouncing off the snow layered on the sidewalks and the branches of trees, it didn’t give any comfort to Aleyna. Last night was rough, she didn’t sleep at all and she couldn’t help wondering how a poisonous cookie had entered her bag. I need to find out.