You're my Safe Haven

Chapter 2- The Aftermath

LIAM'S POV

I had just arrived at the hospital with this girl whom I had just saved. I don’t know her name, but I quite know her, and I must say she’s different. At school, all the girls turn their heads and start murmuring and giggling whenever I pass by except for this girl. When she’s sitting in the hallway, her sight was glued to the book she’s reading. My charm doesn’t affect her. I once intentionally bumped into her while she’s walking, but she didn’t spare even a second to glance at me. The fact that she’s not giving me attention caught my attention. Her looks are not very outstanding. She is about 5’4 in height with a fair complexion. Her bangs cover almost half of her face. She’s emotionless most of the time.

Maybe you are wondering why I risked my life to save this girl. It’s a secret I wouldn’t let anyone know. All I can say is that it is not a coincidence.

We were taken to a nearby hospital by an ambulance. We were rushed to the emergency room. Nurses were already taking my vital signs when I heard a familiar voice.

“Everybody, don’t move. Nobody touches Mr. Patterson.”

It was Donatello, my father’s most trusted man. He’s a big black guy who used to join UFC in his twenties. He’s now in his forties. He was with his men, who were always wearing black suits as if they are always attending a funeral.

“Come with us sir, we’ll transfer you to your hospital” he said in a flat tone.

“You arrived faster than I expected.” I said in dismay.

“We got here as soon as we received the news. ”

“I’ll just get treated here. This is quite a decent hospital.”

Truth is, something inside me wants to stay beside this girl of whom I still don’t know the name yet.

“But Sir, your father has clear instructions about this matter. We’ll be the one to handle the situation, especially with the police affairs.”

“Where’s Gavin?”

“He’s in the police station and we have already sent our legal team to accompany him.”

I frowned. As usual, father took control.

“Okay, but can we wait a little bit?”

Soon enough, the mother of the girl came rushing to the emergency room.

“Ahmm… Don, can you leave some of your men to keep them safe until they get home? ”

“Do you know her sir?” he asked.

“Can you just follow my order and not ask any questions?”

“Okay sir, I’ll leave two of my men here to protect them until they get home.”

“Good, let’s go!”

2 MONTHS LATER…

MADISSON POV:

My mom slowly opened the door of my room.

“Maddie! For God’s sake, please get up! You’ve been lying there since yesterday” she said in a concerned tone.

She sat beside the chair behind my bed and opened my lamp.

“You need to eat my baby”

“I’m not hungry mom, can you leave me alone?” I murmured.

“I know it’s been hard for you lately, but I know you’ll get through this.”

“I hope so.” I said in a sad tone.

She stood up and put the food she had prepared on my side table.

“I’ll leave it here, make sure you eat this, okay?” she said before she left.

Two months had passed after the incident. I was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and I often have panic attacks and severe anxiety. I’ve been under psychological therapy since then. My psychiatrist told me to join a support group and keep the things that make me feel safe or be around people that make me feel safe and calm in my process of healing. But I currently don’t have that so I guess it will take longer for me to heal.

Small things can trigger my trauma. I even removed all my books from my room because it reminded me of the incident in the library. The saddest part is, I don’t really have any other hobbies aside from reading books, so I just spend my days staring at the ceiling and forcing myself to sleep. I have missed my classes for almost two months now.

You might be curious about what happened to Liam. Well, I am curious too. I never had the chance to thank him personally. I only have one month left and I’ll be back at school again, so I just thought, I can thank him by then.

I decided to finally get up. I stared at myself in the mirror and saw that I lost a lot of weight. Looking at my reflection, I saw a man behind me with his hand covering my mouth.

I came running down the stairs. My heart was beating fast. I stopped because I had already reached our garden, and this is the farthest I can go since the incident. I can’t even step out of our gate. I sat on the bench near the gate to catch my breath.

I looked outside and I saw a guy feeding a stray cat on the other side of our gate. I can only see half of his face and the cast on his left arm. He looked familiar.

“Liam?” I said in an unsure way.

He then turned in my direction.

“Oh! You know me?” He said in an arrogant tone.

“Yes”

“Well, I’m very popular at school, I can’t blame you.”

“No, not because of that.”

He looked at me and seemed confused.

“You saved me, remember?” I said shyly.

“Yeah, I remember now.”

“How’s your arm? I asked as I looked down.

I feel bad that someone got hurt because of me.

“You must not really know me. I’m athletic and my body recovers fast from injuries.”

I fixed my gaze on the ground.

“I’ll go ahead miss” he said, then turned back at me.

“Ahmm, Liam?” I said in a tensed tone.

He turned his head.

“Yes?”

I lifted my head and he looked straight into my eyes.

“I just want to express my gratitude to you for saving me”

“Don’t be so thankful, it’s not really my thing to save someone, I just like that kind of exercise.”

I just nodded a bit. He turned around and continued walking.

I don’t know what Liam has in him but for that brief moment, I felt calm and safe.

The next day, I went out in our garden at the same time and saw him again. He seemed to be looking for something at the roadside.

“Liam!” I shouted.

“It’s you again. Have you seen the orange cat with one eye?”

I shook my head.

“He might be hanging out with his friends somewhere” I said.

I am not good at engaging in conversation, but I suddenly felt the need to say something for him not to leave.

“How about you? Are you meeting your friends to hang out?” I asked.

“Nah, they have classes, I’m just enjoying my free time alone.”

I tried to say another statement, but I ran out of words.

“I’ll go ahead.”, he said.

LIAM'S POV

The girl keeps me getting worried about her welfare. I often see her in my dreams. She was asking for my help while crying.

There was something in her eyes that day I saved her. It was like her eyes were begging me to protect her from harm. I cannot help myself but think about her safety. I also feel a certain amount of guilt, so I always go by their house every other day to check if she’s okay.

And then I saw a one-eyed orange cat outside their gate.

“Do you know the girl who lives there?” I asked the cat like a fool.

She started licking my hand and I sensed that she’s hungry.

I’d love to bring her home, but my mom hates cats. Now, it has become a habit to pass by this girl’s house to feed the cat and to check up on her.

It was a fine Wednesday when she saw me. I heard her voice for the first time because she spoke to me. I tried to stay cool and pretended that I didn’t remember her because I thought it would end our conversation quickly and be strangers again, but it didn’t happen.

MADDIE’S POV

It was a sunny Thursday and I intentionally went out in the garden the same time I saw him yesterday.

I tried to step out the gate to check if he was around, but my anxiety started to creep in. My legs suddenly became heavy. I couldn’t take that one step.

“Meow”

I turned around and saw a cat running towards Liam.

Liam carried the cat and caressed her head.

“What’s the name of the cat?” I spoke.

He stopped and looked at me.

“Cat, that’s what I call her.”

“How about you? he asked.

I just stared at him and didn’t answer.

“Okay, I guess, you want me to call you by just the word girl?”

“No!” I said in disagreement.

“Tell me your name then.”

“Maddieson but my mom calls me Maddie”

“Okay Maddie, would you like to go out for a walk?

I hesitated for a moment, but his voice and presence are so inviting. And I remembered my psychiatrist’s advice about keeping things and people around that makes me feel safe.And that is Liam to me, so I thought that I should at least try to keep him around for a while.

I nodded and took that step I was afraid to take a couple of minutes ago.

We walked until we reached the golden river. We stood under the big oak tree.

He might be popular at school, but he’s still a mystery to me. Everything about him, including how he was there when I was being abducted, was still a mystery. I want to ask all the questions in my head, but I cannot bring myself to ask him.

We stood a meter apart and I got the chance to have a closer look at his face. I must admit that he has good looks. His beautiful brown eyes feel like they hold a thousand secrets.

“We’ll be back to school in a month” he said while throwing stone at the water.

“I don’t think I’m ready to go to school, I can barely go outside.”

“But you are outside now.”

“Yeah, but only if you’re around.”