Hope
1674 Words
But today, he needed to see her. He needed to talk to Lorie. Then he saw her with Catty. The sight of them together made his blood boil. He had been drinking. Too much. He wasn’t thinking clearly. His emotions were a chaotic mess, the alcohol making it worse. But that didn’t stop him from walking over.
"Wow…" He let out a bitter, hollow laugh. "After all that effort, and you didn't even lose a hair… Such a monster."
Catty raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" she asked, acting innocent. Jake laughed. A bitter, empty sound.
"You made me hurt her," he whispered, his voice raw with emotion. "You turned me into this. You made me blind. And in the end, I lost the only person who ever truly loved me."
Lorie flinched at his words but said nothing.
Jake turned to her, his voice breaking. "Look, my wife. Don’t break this marriage because of this. I know I hurt you, I know I don’t deserve you, but..." His lips trembled. "Ask me why. Ask me why I did this."
Lorie said nothing.
Jake stepped closer, looking at her like she was the only thing keeping him breathing. "Lorie, I love you. I can’t live without you, my love. I did all of this without even realizing what I was doing. Please… please, forgive me."
Tears gathered in his eyes, but Lorie’s face remained blank. She inhaled sharply, gripping her arms like she was holding herself together.
"Jake… maybe I should remind you." She looked up, her eyes unreadable. "I’m not your wife anymore."
Jake’s breath caught. His knees nearly buckled.
"Yeah, you're right... But you can be my wife again, huh? We can work this out, is it?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper, his hands trembling as he wiped his own tears.
Lorie closed her eyes for a long moment before opening them, looking at him with something that wasn’t hate. It was something worse. It was emptiness.
"I can’t," she finally whispered
Jake felt the air leave his lungs. "Why?" His voice cracked.
Lorie swallowed, blinking rapidly.
"Jake, I’m still in pain. Even seeing you here… it’s unbearable. I can’t forget what you did. These past days, I tried too hard to forget what you did and go back to the man I love... But, Jake I... I don't know, I love you but I... Maybe I should have some time." Her voice trembled now, betraying her.
"Why did I love you?" she whispered, more to herself than to him. "Why did you come into my life? Just to hurt me? You knew I loved you, Jake. You knew I would’ve given you everything. And whatever you were going through… you should have told me."
Jake reached for her, but she stepped back. She forced a small, broken smile.
"I’m sorry," she whispered, tears falling freely now. "I need to be alone." And just like that, she left.
Again. This time, Jake let her. He stood there, his whole world shattering as she disappeared. Then, laughter. Cold. Mocking. Catty. Jake slowly turned to face her.
"So let me get this straight," Catty smirked, tilting her head. "You married her to hurt me, and now you’re here, begging her to stay?"
Jake clenched his jaw.
Catty laughed. "And what did you get, Jake?" She took a step closer, her voice dripping with amusement. "Nothing."
Jake stared at her for a long moment. Then, he smiled. A slow, broken, bitter smile.
"It’s okay," he murmured. "As long as I don’t love you anymore… I don’t care."
Catty’s smirk faded. Jake exhaled sharply, looking at her with disgust.
"You know, I spent so long trying to destroy you. Trying to make you feel what I felt." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"But in the end, I got nothing, no revenge, no satisfaction, f*****g nothing." He took a deep breath. "And do you know why?" His voice was quiet.
Catty frowned slightly. "Why?"
Jake’s bitter smile returned.
"Because not everyone gets the chance to take revenge." He chuckled and looked at her "You hurt me, but you lead me to the amazing person in my life... I hurt her because of being obsessed by hurting you... But now, it doesn't matter anymore, I don't care about how you feel anymore, I don't care about anything about you... I just... I feel suffocated just by looking at you"
Catty laughed at him and got a sip of her drink.
"And you think you care about her? Jake you're lying to yourself, that's guilty... You feel guilty of hurting an innocent girl like her... Maybe you didn't know but she was never interested in getting married before until she met you... And you ruin everything because of your selfishness"
Jake anger increased and getting near her few steps.
"You don't got the chance to tell me anything about her, I know her enough to judge her... You can't tell me how I feel about her, you don't know me Catty... I know I feel guilty but after all this guilty I knew I loved her, I know what I'm feeling about her" he yelled "I just know for the fact the I can't survive longer without her, I love her more than I ever loved anyone"
Catty stepped back with the change on her face, was it fear? Pity? What was on her face was a mixed feeling, unreadable
"You don't know anything, so stay in you lane... Stop being so noisy"
Silence. Catty shifted uncomfortably. Jake took one last look at her, at the woman he had once loved, the woman who had turned him into this.
And then, he walked away. Alone. Because in the end, the world was never fair. Along the way, he kept thinking about how life did to him, what he have done to Lorie, he kept remembering the moment they had, Lorie really loved him, though it's late to notice that.
*****
Waking up he found himself in a hospital bed, his vision blury. Machines beep softly in the background, he tries to move but his body felt weak, his entire body aching.
The last thing he remembers is the sound of screeching tires and the impact of metal crushing into metal. He was lost in his thoughts to the point that he didn't even realize what was in front of him.
The nurses found an emergency contact in his phone and called Lorie to give her the information, she hurriedly to the hospital to see him.
Her hands were trembling as she pushed through the hospital doors. Her heart pounded so loudly she could barely hear the receptionist speaking.
“Where is Jake Adams?” she demanded, her voice sharp, panicked.
“Room 304, but...”
She didn’t wait for the rest. She ran. The hallways blurred around her, but the moment she reached his room, she froze.
Through the glass window, she saw him lying there, pale, bandaged, with a machine beeping beside him. Her breath hitched. She hated him. She was furious. He betrayed her. But seeing him like this, helpless, bruised, it shattered something inside her. With shaky hands, she pushed the door open.
Jake’s eyes fluttered open at the sound, and when he saw her, he blinked as if he thought she was a hallucination.
“Lorie…?” His voice was weak.
She clenched her fists and marched to his bedside.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Jake?!” Her voice cracked with anger, but the tears were already threatening to fall. “Do you even think?! Do you even care what happens to you?! What if you had died?!”
Jake tried to sit up, wincing. “Lorie, I...”
“No! You don’t get to talk right now!” she snapped, her chest heaving. “You have no idea what it felt like to get that call! For a second, I...”
Her voice broke. “For a second, I thought you were gone and I couldn't even breathe properly, are you crazy?"
Jake swallowed hard. He had seen her angry before, but this… this was different. Her pain was raw, uncontrolled.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Lorie let out a bitter laugh. “Sorry? Jake, I don’t care what happens between us, but you don’t get to be reckless with your life! Do you understand?!”
Jake stared at her for a long time. Then, very softly, he said, “You still care.”
Lorie stiffened.
“Even after everything… you still came running,” he murmured, his lips twitching into a faint, broken smile.
She turned away, biting her lip. “I don’t know why I did,” she whispered. “Maybe because I’m stupid.”
“Or maybe,” he said, eyes locked onto her, “because you never stopped loving me.”
Lorie’s breath caught. Silence stretched between them, thick with everything they never said.
“Lorie…” Jake’s voice shook. “I never wanted to hurt you. I swear to you, I never realized how much I...”
“Don't..,” she interrupted. “Just… stop. I can’t do this right now.” she turned her face away to get rid of her tears "Just focus on yourself now, get better and maybe we will talk about it... I will give only one chance to explain, you should use this time to think what you're going to tell me, and it's better be the truth, you better not lie to me or hide anything to me" she looked at him sadly
"I will tell you everything" he said that looking at her
"I will call your sister to come and take care of you for the time being" She turned toward the door, but just before leaving, she paused.
Without looking back, she whispered, "Get better, Jake.” And then she was gone.
Jake exhaled shakily, staring at the empty doorway. She came. And maybe, just maybe, there was still hope.
- Writer
