Chapter 8
1072 Words
"Stanley! Stanley!" She called out desperately to him as he was being taken to the operation room for his surgery. She paced to and fro in front of the operation room while praying and hoping that the surgery would be successful.
In the four hours that the operation was carried out, no other family members showed up. A call was put through to his father, but he only gave an excuse that he was in a board meeting, solving the company's problem. His mother completely disappeared into thin air.
Ruby immediately felt pity for him. She was going through a tougher situation, but she was too pure-hearted.
The surgery bell rang, indicating the completion of the procedure. The surgeon came out of the operation room smiling widely.
"The surgery was successful," he said.
"Thank you doctor," she said, drawing in a deep breath.
She crumbled on the floor. She didn't realize how weak her knees had gotten until her mind came to rest.
Stanley was transferred to the recovery room. He had now regained consciousness.
Ruby visited him in the recovery room for the sake of humanity. She only used that to convince herself that it was not that she cared about him, but she was only being human.
Stanley stared blankly at her, unable to process his words.
"Where am I?" he finally spoke.
"At the hospital. You got into an accident, and you suffered a head injury, but you're fine now," Ruby explained.
"Ooh..." he said in realization.
"You don't remember?" Ruby asked, worried that he might have lost his memory.
"No", he said.
Ruby's eyes widened. She rushed outside to call the doctor for a brief examination.
"You don't have to worry about it," said the doctor. "It's just a temporary memory loss. He would have to recuperate in the hospital for a few days," he added.
Stanley returned home after a few days. The head injury from the accident had triggered him to recall bits and pieces of incidents from the past, including those pertaining to the music box, but he still struggled to put those memories together in one piece.
He recalled the horrible way he had treated Ruby right before the accident, and he felt terribly sorry. He didn't expect that she'd still be there for him, even after the terrible things he had done.
"I have to apologize to her as soon as possible," he thought loudly.
"Ruby!" he called out to her in the dining room after they were done eating.
"What?" she asked with hostility, feeling awful disdain towards him. She had not forgotten what part of her memory he had destroyed. Though she still couldn't control her feelings towards him, she hated him at the same time. She cared deeply about him, but still couldn't stand him.
"I'm deeply sorry about what I did to you a few weeks ago," he started. "Your father told me you planned everything with Lily, and that was why I reacted that way," he swallowed and continued. "I didn't mean to destroy your things, I couldn't just control my anger."
Ruby scoffed. "What a super story," she said, rolling her eyes in irritation.
Stanley didn't mind her attitude. He had done worse things to her.
"So, you want me to welcome you with open arms now that you have given a cheap apology, huh?"
"Umm... I can help you with the investigation if you don't mind."
Ruby knew that was Stanley's cheap trick to cajole her into forgiving him, but that sounded like a good offer to her.
"There's no way we'd work together to investigate, and I won't fall harder for him. It's just too hard to resist him," she thought while staring intently at him.
"Fine!" she said sharply.
Stanley gave a wide victory smile, knowing he had her wrapped around his fingers.
"By the way, have you taken care of the crashed car?" Ruby asked in sudden realization.
"Oh! that? I've arranged for my secretary to tow the car and to bring back my belongings," he replied.
***********
Stanley put a call through to one of his subordinates to help with the investigation, while Ruby stared at him in admiration of his strong figure, but she didn't expect Stanley to look her way.
Their eyes met!
She quickly looked away, hiding her flushed face. It was too late.
"Not again! She exclaimed silently. She pinched herself so hard after realizing her mistake of not being able to control herself.
"You are being too obvious, Mrs. Edwards?" Stanley said with a little smirk showing at the corner of his mouth.
"I'm all yours anyway. You can look at me as much as you want. No need to hide it," he said in mockery.
Ruby bent her head in shame, wishing the moment would just vanish.
Stanley hadn't forgotten about the music box. His mind went back to the emotions he had felt back in his father's house when he played the music box. He found it quite mysterious. His spirit wasn't just settled with it. He knew there must be a connection between Ruby and the music box, but he couldn't fathom what exactly it was. He had thought about asking her, but he didn't want to bring back the pain he had caused her.
He decided to play the music box again, testing if it was really the one causing him the unsettling feeling. As the music came into tune, the pieces of junked memory started coming into one piece bit by bit. He held his head tightly, trying to control the flashbacks which were causing a spin in his head, but he failed.
He started sweating profusely with chills coming down his spine. He shook terribly.
Ruby stood abruptly upon hearing a familiar sound from her sleep. She thought she was dreaming, then laid back down on her bed, but the sound persisted, then it occurred to her that it wasn't a dream. She became troubled, then decided to trace the sound. As she moved closer downstairs, the sound became more audible.
She could now decipher the sound! It was the same music from her music box!
She stood confused, not knowing whether to go back upstairs to check if her broken music box had miraculously assembled itself, or whether to still go further to trace the actual sound.
Fear gripped her!
"Has my mother come to visit me?" she thought.
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- Writer
