Chapter 20
862 Words
Elena and Damian sat down for what felt like forever, in silence. Damian had instructed the servants to take her back to her room to rest.
Elena traced her fingers around the glass of water Damian had gotten for her. That act of kindness had cracked open a space in her heart, one she didn't know existed. No one had ever cared for her like this before. No one remembers her birthdays, her favourite food, favourite flowers too. Even Nathan. She has always been the one to remember their anniversaries and birthdays.
Looking at Damian who sat across from her on the bed, she couldn't help it. A drop of tears slid down her eyelid. All those years of being overlooked, ignored and playing the perfect wife, had come to an end. Where had her loyalty gotten her? She had given Nathan her heart, and thought they would finally have a bright future.
It's funny how life mocked her. How didn't she notice it since? How didn't she notice how strangely Nathan acts whenever (her best friend) was near?
Stupid her. She cursed.
She had been so stupidly in love to have noticed.
“Are you okay? Is something wrong?” Damian asked when he sensed the change in her mood.
Elena glanced up, finally meeting Damian's gaze.
She paused. Looking deep into his eyes, searching for what she didn't know. His Hazel eyes were heavy with worry.
“No…. nothing “ She managed to say. “I'm fine” She inhaled, forcing back the tears that had built up, as she blinked.
“You don't seem okay Ellie” Damian said.
How could she tell him how she feels? How broken and tired she is? How cruel is fate to her. Just when she had little or no time left on earth, she seemed to have found a reason to live.
“I…” she tried to speak, but the words got stuck. She cleared her throat and began. “Why?” She asked, still holding the gaze.
“Why what?" Damian asked. He could sense how hard Elena tried to suppress her emotions. How her chest rose and fell, how her hand gripped the glass of water tightly. He noticed them all.
He didn't know why, but he couldn't help it. He felt drawn to her in ways he can't explain.
"Why are you being this kind to me? Why do you care so much about me? You… you're so kind to me, caring, and that got me thinking. Why? It's not like I'm special or anything…. You know? " She exhaled.
For a moment, Damian was taken aback. He hadn't expected that question.
He paused. Why exactly? Why does he care so much about her? He wondered.
"I don't know. You sure you didn't use any Voodoo on me?" He teased. Elena let out a soft chuckle.
"Thinking of that, it's actually a nice idea. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because I did" Damian teased.
Elena’s smile lingered, soft and fleeting, like a candle flickering in a drafty room. The silence between them stretched, but it wasn’t heavy anymore. It felt like a shared secret, a moment carved out of the chaos of their lives. Damian’s teasing words still hung in the air, and for the first time in what felt like years, Elena felt a spark of lightness.
Damian leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, his hazel eyes searching her face. The worry in them hadn’t faded.
“Ellie,” he said, his voice low and deliberate. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Her fingers tightened around the glass. She didn’t know why, but the shift in his tone sent a ripple of apprehension through her. “What is it?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He hesitated, his gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before returning to her. “I know,” he said simply. “About the cancer. About… how bad it is.”
Elena wasn’t sure what she felt, but not anger. Just an overwhelming exhaustion
“I didn’t bring you here to watch you fade,” Damian said, his voice steady now, though his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I brought you here because I thought… I thought maybe I could give you something to hold onto. Something worth fighting for.”
Elena’s breath caught. She looked at him, really looked at him, and for the first time, she noticed the way his hands trembled slightly, the way his shoulders were tense, as if he was carrying a weight of his own. She set the glass on the bedside table, her movements were slow and deliberate. Then, without thinking, she reached out and took his hand.
“You don’t have to have it all figured out. I’m not asking you to. I just… I want to be here. For you. However long you’ll let me.”
It wasn’t for comfort, though she’d needed that plenty of times before. This was different. It was a connection, a tether between two people who’d found each other in the midst of their own storms.
- Writer
