Love’s Eternal Flame

The Ground gives way

Meanwhile in Crystal Village

Ethan stared at the blank canvas in front of him, unable to find the inspiration to create. He had always found solace in his art, but since she had left, he had barely picked up a brush. The empty studio seemed to echo with the ghost of her presence. But he knew he had to move on, to find a way to create again. As he sat there, he began to sketch out a new idea, something that felt like a fresh start. Does that capture his creative block and the emptiness he's feeling? After his creative block, he began to sketch out a new idea, something that's unlike anything he's ever done before. It feels fresh and exciting, and he finds himself completely immersed in the process. As he worked, he began to feel a spark of hope, a sense that he might be able to move on from the past and find new inspiration. Every brushstroke reminded him of her, and every colour reminds him of a memory they shared. He realized that she had become a part of his art, and he could not paint without her. He was stuck and did not know how to move forward. Ethan’s relationship with his girlfriend Sarah had become more and more strained. He cared about her and the baby they were expecting but he was not in love with her. He felt like he was trapped in a life he did not want, but he did not know how to get out. He had become more and more withdrawn, and his girlfriend was starting to notice. She had become worried and concerned, but he could not bring himself to talk to her about what he was feeling. Instead, he threw himself into his work, trying to distract himself from his feelings. Sarah was a petite, fair-skinned woman with blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. She is a classic picture of a traditional housewife, and she took pride in her role as a soon-to-be mother. She had been planning and preparing for her baby’s arrival and she has been looking forward to the future she and Ethan would possibly share, Ethan showed no interest in any of those preparations. Now she felt like everything she knew had turned upside down.

One day on her way back from the mall, she bought Ethan’s favourite fast food, on cloud 9 she drove to Ethan’s workshop. As soon as she walked in, she got the shock of her life. She sees a painting hanging on the wall. It’s a stunning portrait of a woman and that woman sure was not her. Sarah’s eyes widened as she took in the painting, and her hands began to shake. She looked at the painting properly and her eyes met the name “ELENA” written in italics at the top right corner of the portrait. A moment later, everything she was carrying dropped and hit the flow, her phone also slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor.

“WHO IS SHE?!!” she demanded, her voice trembling.

“WHO IS ELENA?!!!!!!” she asked again, with tears running down her eyes like waterfall.

Ethan is caught in a difficult position. He does not want to lie to Sarah, but he is not sure how to tell her the truth. He knows that telling her about his feelings for Elena will only hurt her, but he does not know what else to do. The tension in the room is palpable, and it's clear that something has to give.

ETHAN’S POV

I have mixed emotions. A mix of shock, fear and a little bit of hope. I know I have to tell the truth but at the same time, I am afraid to hurt Sarah, at the same time I cannot deny the spark of excitement I feel at the thought of seeing Elena again, please, this name brings me so much peace and comfort, I sometimes forget who is in the room. This is not fair on Sarah. Nothing about her moves me anymore. The doctor told me she should not be stressed, that is why I am afraid to be honest with her. At this point I hate myself. Maybe I should tell her the truth even if it's not entirely the truth, I mean it would not be lying, just withholding some crucial information, for her sake that is.

With tears in my eyes, I moved closer to her. I hold her hands and I can feel her shake. That just breaks my heart. With my cracking voice:

“Sarah, I know this is going to be hard to hear but…. Elena was someone I knew before we met. We were friends, and we had a special connection, but it was never romantic. I am so sorry that I did not tell you about her before, but I did not want to hurt you, I hope you can understand”.

Yes, I lied to Sarah, do not judge me. I cannot afford to be the reason the baby is not born alive. She just looked at me in silence as if she was absorbing what I just uttered. Her face hardens and she looks away, her eyes filling with tears.

“I cannot believe you lied to me”, she says softly with her voice trembling.

“How could you keep something like this away from me?” she continues to sob.

I felt like a monster, how was I able to break someone’s heart like that. But there was no turning back now, I had to stick to the story I had told her. As hard as it may have been otherwise, I would have caused more damage. I try reaching out to her and she moves back, sending my hand flying from her shoulder, I have never seen her like this.

“Sarah I am sorry” I said feeling ashamed.

“I never meant to hurt you. I just …. Don’t know how to explain it. I never meant to keep this from you” struggling to find the right words. I paused for a good 5 minutes trying to assess the situation to ensure that whatever it is that I say next closes this conversation that we are having.

“But I understand if you are angry with me; I would be angry too.” I said this with so much shame. What kind of man have I turned into, I became something or rather someone I promised myself I would never be. My heart was in shambles but again I had to keep composure, for Sarah’s sake.

“I'm not just angry, I'm devastated," she says, her voice breaking. I thought we had something special but now I do not know if I can ever trust you again?" She looks at me and her eyes are filled with pain.

“How could you do this to me”, Sarah continued to throw these questions at me.

I chose to walk away, like a coward that I am. I just could not bring myself to answer all those questions. All I was doing was breaking her. I left her sobbing and hit the road with so much running through my mind, I almost got hit by a car, that is how absent minded I was. I apologized and continued to walk to wherever my legs carried me.

Narrator

This new wave that hit Sarah and Ethan was uncontrollable. It Shaked a lot in their relationship, yes, the relationship was already messed up but this time around there was no turning back. Before this moment their relationship was built on nothing but trust and understanding. Even though love was nonexistent between the two, two of these things kept them going. Now that trust was shattered in the aftermath of this revelation, they are forced to confront their feelings for each other and figure out if they can still move past this betrayal. In the days that follow they find themselves at crossroads Sarah was struggling to forgive Ethan and Ethan was struggling to understand what went wrong, in the end they had to decide if they want to try to fix their relationship or if they are better off apart. The couple decided to stay together for the sake of the baby. It had been seven months since the revelation that broke their trust. They had been trying to work through it, but they were still struggling. Ethan then decides the best way to tackle this is to do things they usually did together when they were still lovers. Ethan took Sarah to a fancy restaurant that had a very cozy setting, they started enjoying a nice meal and they spoke about their day then Sarah’s phone then rang. She was surprised to hear from this particular friend, Ethan noticed the change in Sarah’s facial expression and of course he decided to ask who it was. Sarah responded by saying it was an old friend but the look on her face said otherwise. Ethan immediately got hit by a sudden wave of jealousy and hurt. Ethan questioned Sarah because he had never heard of this friend before, the conversation quickly devolved into an argument, as the argument got heated, Ethan said things he does not mean, and Sarah stormed out of the restaurant.

Ethan followed to make sure that Sarah was safe, he found her on the floor holding on to her tummy for dear life. Sarah was having an early birth. He quickly ran to his car and drove close to Sarah, with so much fear and blame. He blamed himself for what was happening to Sarah. With all those thoughts running through his mind, he called for help and people came running to help put Sarah in the car. Sarah looked lifeless, tears were filling up her face, but she was not letting out a single sound. Ethan drove to the nearest hospital like a maniac, crossing red robots. He got to the hospital and asked that his wife be attended to with immediate effect, yes, he called her his wife for once after months of calling her by her name. With no delay, they rushed her to the ER emergency room. Ethan spent hours scratching his head, pacing up and down and shouting at everyone that passed by. He was not different from a mad man that goes around talking to trees. After hours of trying to deliver the baby, the doctor came out with a sad face. Ethan knelt and cried at the thought of losing his baby. The doctor walked closer to him and informed him that he had both good and bad news. Good news being that the baby was alive, the bad news being that the baby was born with a congenital heart defect and needed surgery right away. Ethan never prayed so much. And just like any father he asked what needed to be done to save the baby. The doctor told him that the baby would need a bone marrow transplant. He volunteered to donate. Him and the doctor did not waste time, they went to examine him for any underlying diseases and to see if he was a match.

Ethan’s POV

When the doctor explained, I felt a mix of emotions once more, this time it was fear, guilt, and panic. All I wanted to do was to save my child from all this pain. Talking about pain, I am the reason that little person is going through this much pain. The doctor drew blood from my system, I have a confession to make, as old as I am, I fear needles. The whole process was done but the look on the doctor’s face was not appealing at all.

“Ethan, I am afraid you are not a match” he said looking down, avoiding eye contact.

“I am the father of this child, what do you mean I am not a match, look again Doc”, I said in so much disbelief, I was hoping this was a mistake of some sort.

The doctor continued to look at the file avoiding eye contact and he said the same thing again. My head was pounding. I could literally see my veins pierce through. Could it be what I think it is? I asked myself the same question several times. All I wanted were answers. I stormed out and went to the room where Sarah was, I had to get to the bottom of this. Could it be that they swapped babies by mistake? I was going crazy.

I got to the ward, and she greeted me with a smile and a face full of tears but I did not care, she had to be honest so that the baby gets help and I get my own closure. I got closer to her, and I held her hand, looked her in the eye, trying to see if there was any trace of guilt. I detected none.

“Sarah, who is the father of the baby, and do not even lie because him and I are not a match, there is no way I can save him! Stop being cruel and tell the truth so that the child gets all the help he needs. Put his interests before yours, I will ask again, WHO IS THE FATHER OF THE BABY DAMN IT!!!!”

She looked at me shaking and immediately responded,

“You are not the father, the father is……….”