Searching for His Lost Love

7 Where is Blaine?

Ryan rushed forward to take Lisa’s outstretched hand.  Her features scrunched in confusion as though she wasn’t sure he was even there before here.  “Yes, Lisa, it’s me.  It’s snowing so badly and the wind is awful.  What are you doing gout here alone in weather like this?  Where is Blaine?”  He helped her to her feet as he brushed the snow off her coat and grabbed her suit case.  He moved them out of the street and closer to his car as they spoke.

Once they reached his car Ryan looked at her closer, making sure she wasn’t injured in some way.  He could tell by the blue tint to her lips and the ice in her lashes that she had been outside for a while.  Her body was shaking so badly that he wanted to wrap his arms around her to help give her some heat.  He could see the redness etched along her skin from the unforgiving weather.  He was so caught up in her appearance that he almost didn’t catch her whispered words.

Lisa’s face tilted down and her features crumpled as she whispered in the wind.  “We ah, we signed divorce papers.”

Ryan’s hands shook slightly upon hearing those words.  He tightened them into fists to gain control before he spoke.  “Lisa, I am so sorry to hear that.  Do you mind me asking what happened?”

Lisa sniffed before a bitter smile fell upon her frozen lips.  “He told me he loves another woman.  I couldn’t continue to live with him after that.”  She gave a helpless shrug as if to brush the whole situation away.

Ryan could see she was sad even though she was trying to cover it all with a smile.  He wondered how many times she had done that in the last three years, covered her true feelings with a mask for everyone else.  He felt his heart tug for her.  “Lisa, I’m sorry.  I feel like this is completely my fault, I shouldn’t have told you about Dana.”

She raised her ice blue eyes swimming with tears.  “No, you are not to blame for any of this.  You didn’t do anything wrong, I swear.  I actually wanted to thank you for telling me the truth.  I honestly think if you hadn’t said anything I would still be in the dark and being used as a walking blood bank for Blaine to use to heal Dana.  Now I know the truth and Blaine and I have signed the divorce papers.  I am finally free of the lies and I don’t have to give her any more of my blood.”

The bitter smile she plastered on to hide her true feelings made Ryan’s heart twist in his chest.  He reached forward and carefully brushed the snow off of her face and hair.  “I’m glad you are finally free and don’t have to live through that anymore Lisa.”

With perfect timing Blaine arrived at that very instant.  He looked at Ryan’s hand as if the mere thought of it could cause the offending appendage to leap from his body and go running for the hills.  The man was stroking Lisa’s hair as if she was a cherished lover and it made Blaine’s blood boil.  He had been Lisa’s doctor for the last three years, since she had lost her sight.  He had been working with her constantly on the hope that she would regain some of her vision, to no avail.  They had a close relationship and Blaine’s gut told him that the mad had feelings for Lisa.

Blaine’s emotions surged through him and rage came to the forefront as he shouted. “Lisa!”  He was heading over to yank Lisa away from the doctor when his phone suddenly cut through the silence and stopped him in his tracks.  Yanking the blasted device from his pocket he answered the phone.  “What do you want?”

The maid’s terrified voice cut through the night and Blaine found himself frozen between the decision to reach forward for Lisa or listen to the maid.  Her words sinking in caused him to stop and listen.  “Mr. Harland, I’m so glad I reached you, Miss Airen fainted!  I don’t know what to do, she just suddenly collapsed.”  Blaine found himself looking towards Lisa with a frown as the maid chattered in his ear.  He decided that Ryan being near her would keep her safe for now and with that he turned and headed back towards the house.

Lisa trembled in Ryan’s grasp when she heard what sounded like Blaine’s voice in the wind.  She pulled on Ryan’s sleeve before she asked him to confirm it.  “Was I hearing things or was Blaine just calling my name?”

Ryan looked in the direction of Blaine’s retreating form and couldn’t help the sneer that crossed his features when he thought of the man.  He shook his head, she deserves so much better than that jerk, he didn’t even stop to make sure she was okay before abandoning her for Dana yet again.  Making the decision Ryan turned his attention back to Lisa.  “No Lisa, I’m sorry it was just the wind.  Maybe the cold is getting to you.”

Lisa found herself feeling crushed yet again.  She had thought that perhaps maybe he had come searching for her in the wind, but no he wouldn’t do that when he has his true love home with him.  Shaking herself for being so silly Lisa felt her mind numbing more to the pain or maybe the cold, she couldn’t be sure.  She put a forced smile on her face once again and bit the inside of her cheek, all he had on his mind now was Dana, he wouldn’t come out to find me.

Breaking out of her thoughts she heard Ryan talking to her as he grabbed her suitcase.  “Where are you heading to Lisa?  I will give you a ride.  I couldn’t live with myself if I left you out in this weather.”

She tried to protest, he didn’t need to make her his problem, and he surely had better things to be doing than helping a blind woman at this time of night.  He wouldn’t hear of it as he pushed her into the passenger seat and buckled her in when her frozen fingers couldn’t work the latch properly.  She found herself hesitating for a moment before she relented and gave him the address and he started the car and headed towards the destination she had given him.

Lisa enjoyed the heat flowing out of the vents in the car and melting her frozen limbs.  Soon the ride was over as they reached the address she had given him and the car was pulled to a stop.  Ryan got out and pulled her suitcase out of the trunk while she worked the door and organized her cane and her feet to find the solid surface beneath her.  He gave her his arm to help her up the start of the stairs as they came to them and asked her.  “Which building do you need to get to?  I will walk you to the door and make sure you get there safely.”

Lisa shook her head at him.  “No Ryan.  Thank you for all your help but I can get up the stairs on my own.  I’m blind not broken and you are a very busy man.  Get back to work; I don’t want to keep you any longer.  I’m sorry I troubled you as much as I have already.”

Ryan was worried as he looked at her.  The color had started to return to her lips and face in the heat of the car and now he found he didn’t like leaving her out in the elements alone again.  “Are you sure?  I really don’t mind.”

Lisa tightened her grip on her suitcase and shook her head in a firm nod.  “Yes, I am sure.  I will be fine, don’t worry about me.”  She insisted and Ryan couldn’t find a way to say anything more against it without saying too much.  He watched as Lisa went up the stairs and stopped in front of an apartment door.

Taking a deep breath Lisa knocked on the door and waited for an answer.  She could hear the gentle voice inside call out.  “Who is it?”

She felt her chest cave with the sound and was unable to get out a word as her emotions filled her.  The shuffling of feet could be heard as the woman approached the door and opened it.  She could hear the woman gasp and stop stiffly in her motion of opening the door.

Lisa called out into the darkness with a trembling voice. “Mom, it’s me.”

She wasn’t prepared for the response as her mother Judy shouted at her. “No, go away.  You get out of here now!”  She shouted as her eyes turned bloodshot and she shoved Lisa away from her.

Lisa fell and hit her head against the ground so hard that she heard a piercing ringing in her ears and felt dizzy.  She struggled against the pain and managed to get back to her feet and face the direction of the still screaming woman.  “Mom, please calm down.  I promise I am leaving right away.  Please calm down.”

She had to remind herself that her mother had suffered from occasions of mania after the accident that took her father away from them.  She appeared to be fine but sometimes seeing Lisa would trigger a memory of her painful past and she would lose all self-control.  Seeing Lisa turning to leave Judy suddenly came to her senses and reached out her bony fingers to grasp her hand.  She cried with tears streaming down her face as she faced her daughter. “Lisa, oh my god, I am so sorry.  It happened again didn’t it?  Did I hurt you, I didn’t mean to, please forgive me. I’m so sorry baby.”

Lisa couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes as her mother grabbed her hand.  She had missed her mother so much and the warmth that spread from that little bit of contact touched her heart fondly.  Forcing a smile on her lips she turned to her mother and clasped her frail bony hand in her own.  “Mom, it’s okay.  I swear it doesn’t really hurt, I’m fine.”

Judy found herself weeping along with Lisa at the look of her daughter.  She trailed her eyes over her daughter’s pale face and her trembling features.  She hated that she was so emotionally unstable that she couldn’t even be there for her daughter.  They had both lost so much and now it seemed that they were losing each other as well.  Judy looked down and spotted the suitcase at Lisa’s feet.  “Lisa, why do you have a suitcase with you?  Why are you here alone, where is Blaine?”