Devouring love

by Serafina Daniel

  I didn't know how long I slept, because I soon heard my alarm clock. I pushed the button to kill its stupid scream and left my warm bed. I quickly took a shower, than ate my breakfast and walked straight to my job. I met Chelsea on the stairs. She was chatting with her friend, but when she noticed me, she quickly ended her talk and approached me. Her hair was loose today, revealing how long and pretty it was.

  “Hi,” she said. Her dark eyes stared at me. ”How was you first day in Mrs. Mathew cabinet?”

  “Terrible,” I said honestly. ”I spent my time reading files of people who have money to do what they want.”

  She lifted her eyebrows.

  “That is the life. But I could guarantee you this day will be much more interesting than the last one,” she said. Her hand quickly brushed against mine. I didn't know if it was an accident or if she really indented to do that. But one way or another, it was nice to feel someone's touch.

  “I hope so,” I nodded, trying to forced my face to create a smile, but I felt too tired even to do that.

  “I know it.”

  She walked with me to my cabinet, in which I found two men sitting, waiting for me. Why couldn't they just come in middle of the day. Why were they so determined to find out my decision?

  Oh, yea. That guy loved that girl and wanted not to waste precious time, because ever second was a matter of life-and-death.

  “Good day,” I said, taking a seat. I noticed that Meridian wasn't happy to see me. At least not only I felt like that. The feeling was mutual Mrs. Spring seemed to be in good mood. He was sitting, studying me.

  “Good day, Mr. Offman. We came here to hear your decision,” he took the bull by the horns.

  “Yes,” I said, taking a deep breath. ”I decided to be her doctor, but I still want to tell you that her condition is really bad...”

  “Don't start that topic,” Meridian warned me in a threatening tone. ”Melody is alive. She will wake up and you will do everything in order to wake her as soon as possible.”

  What could I actually say after hearing these words?

  “Of course she is alive,” I decided to agree with that fact,” but...”

  “Mr. Offman, we understand everything. You don't need to repeat those things for us. We just wanted to hear your answer. Now we know that you have agreed. So, I think,” his eyes slowly turned to the files on my table, ”you will do everything what is in your power. We will give you as much money as you need.”

  Meridian glanced at his father, before he stood up and bend to take files from my table. At first I didn't understood what he was doing, but when I finally realized, I tried to stop him, but he just ignored me. He opened the window and threw all those files out.

  “Melody is your only patient from now on,” I heard Mr. Spring saying. “Other people will be only a distraction which you don't need.”

  I was stunned, amazed, angry, scared. Maybe I really made the bad choice.

  “But,” I heard my voice.

  “No buts, Mr. Offman. Melody has been in coma for two years now. Even I understand it isn't a good thing.”

  Meridian sat back to his chair and shoot his angry eyes at me. He didn't think I would be able to help his beloved, but still he listened to his father who said I could do something what could force her to opened her eyes.

  “We would like to hear everything about the progress,” Meridian added.

  I nodded, because I didn't trust my mouth. Now I really doubted my day would be better than the last one.

  “So, good day, Mr. Offman,” Mr. Spring said and rose up with his son. They both looked at me for some seconds, and then they walked out, leaving me alone.

  I stood up and walked closer to the window. On the ground I saw my files and some people who tried to collect them. They didn't ask anyone about them, because those people knew who they were and where they were here. It could cost a lot for them if they would decided to give questions.

  I shook my head and sat back. On my desk I noticed a document which I didn't see yesterday. It was the agreement to let the medicine students do their practice here. I quickly put my signature on it. After that, I walked out from my cabinet. I decided to visit my new and only patient. How lucky I was. Only one person for me to take care of. But it also could be a really bad thing. For some reason I had an idea in my head that Mr. Spring would do everything in order to force me really to do something to wake that girl.

  The guard greeted me with curious eyes. He didn't stop me when I asked him to let me in. He even nodded and opened the door. In the room I found Meridian. He was sitting on the bed's edge, staring at the girl. In his hands I saw her palm.

  He didn't glance at me when I walked closer to him. I stood still for some minutes, studying the girl and her none-existing-reaction to Median's touch.

  “She is cold,” he said, destroying the silence in the room. I looked at his face. Meridian now seemed so broken to me suddenly,” but I know she is here and you will bring her back to me,” he let her palm and plant a soft kiss on her forehead. The girl didn't move and any of devices didn't prove me that she would have felt his lips against her skin.

  “Could you tell me more about her that I could understand what kind of person she... is.”

  Meridian nodded.

  “She is caring, smart, funny and...shy,” that last word forced him to smile. ”She loves flowers. Her favorite flower is the lily of the valley. Her room is always full of them even now. I make sure about that.”

  I didn't know what to say. He sounded so sad, so madly in love with a girl who wasn't in this world anymore. It was really painful to listen to his words.

  “And that toy was my first present to her. She used to have it everywhere with her when she was younger.”

  “And what could you tell me about her sister? In her file I have read she has one.”

  I stepped closer to the bed. The girl still lay like a death person.

  “She is six now,” he said and stepped back. “She is really similar to her sister. I spend a lot of time with her. She can't remember Melody, so she always asks me what she likes, what she hates,” smile vanished from his face.

  “I would like to speak with her,” I said.

  He nodded and, without saying another word, walked out. I was left with my only patient.

  “Great,” I said a bit irritated.

  I had lingered some minutes before I resolved to take remaining steps to destroy that distance between me and that bed with the girl. She seemed today even more beautiful if that was even possible.

  Suddenly I felt urge just to touch her skin with my fingers. I quickly scanned the area, assuring myself that I was the only person in this room. Only then my two fingers slowly approached to that white and soft skin. I let my fingers linger only for some seconds. Then, I pulled them away and sat on the edge of the bed how Meridian had some minutes before.

  I needed to create some kind of plan how I should work now. Of course, I should try to wake her in the same methods which Mrs. Mathew used. Maybe she did something wrong and that didn't give any kind of effect. So, the first thing was electricity shock. Then some drugs. And then what?

  I sighed. My life had just become my nightmare.

  I glanced at the door when I heard loud steps. But that someone didn't enter inside.

  Suddenly I tried to imagine how everything should feel to that poor creation. The room was quite peaceful. Only those computers created noises. That was all. So, my conclusion would be that she lived in hell if she was able to hear.

  Hearing. Maybe I should try to find out if she could hear. That would be a push forward. But how could I know that?

  “Miss Melody Watts, I need your help. If you can hear me, try to move your finger or open your eyes,” I asked her and waited for words to become actions, but nothing happened. She was still here, cold like ice.

  My fingers touched her skin again, only to make sure that she wasn't as cold as a dead person. But, unfortunately, she was really cold.

/>   I stood up and started massage her arm's muscles that some warm blood could circulate and make her body at least a bit warmer. I really didn't know what else I could do right now. And at least by doing this I could make excuses why I needed to touched her. How stupid I had to sound. I needed to touch her? For some reason I started to crave for that.

  I glanced at the computers as I finished massaging her arm. I tried to find some kind of changes in her condition. But the numbers were the same. Nothing had changed.

  Then my eyes turned to that teddy bear. It was really a cute toy. I took it into my hands and studied for some seconds. Then, I put it to her naked arm, hoping that maybe she could feel it when her arm was warmer now and more sensitive.

  Nothing. The numbers remained the same. I put the bear near to her neck and took her arm again into my hands and slowly massage it. I really was out of ideas what I could do.

  Melody

  My new doctor was holding my arm in his hands. I knew that and... I could even feel how his warm skin was against mine. Was that possible? I wasn't able to feel anything warm for two years and here suddenly I could feel my doctor's fingers? Something wasn't right here. I had to be dreaming. But could I dream when I was in a dream? In a cold and lonely dream. I guessed not. But I really wasn't imaging things. There, I felt how his big fingers ran against my skin, studying ever spot of my arm, learning, remembering it like he would not be able to see, touch it again.

  That was silly to think like that, but what could I actually imagine when for the first time I had felt a man's touch? After all, I was a girl. A girl who understood that it was stupid to do what she had done. I shouldn't have run from my destiny. I should have accepted it and now I should have a family, be happy. I would have a lot people, surrounding me every day instead of being here, alone forever.

  “I will always make you happy,” I remembered Merdian words to me when a he put an expensive engagement ring on my finger. I was happy then. Really really happy, because I knew that he loved me. That he would really do everything what was in his power to keep a smile on my face.

  “I love you,” I said to him and our lips met for one, long kiss.

  “I love you too,” he said holding me tightly against his chest. I could see in his eyes love, passion and ... possession. That was the thing which scared me the most. My parents taught me to a be a person, not a thing. And then seeing that he thought maybe about me as a thing, scared me.

  Now when I thought what forced me really to doubt if I should be with Merdian, I could tell that exactly that it was possession in his eyes. All this begun from that night, from seeing those two eyes of his. That planted a suspicion in my head.

  Stupid. Stupid. STUPID! I shouted at myself. I was stupid to doubt, to be afraid. Because of that I put myself for this misery. For what? For nothing. So, okay. I would try to wake up. It was time to leave this darkness. It was time to come back to life and now when I felt that doctor's touch, I knew somewhere deep inside me that with his help I would really be able to open my two eyes.

  Then another memory hugged me. I was on the river shore with Merdian. He was sitting next to me, holding me tightly in his arms like he was too afraid that I could run away from him.

  We both were watching ducks in the river and some children were throwing bread to them. It was a fantastic weather; the sun was shinning, some white and floppy clouds were swimming up in the sky in slow motion. Around us I could see many trees, letting my believe that I was not in the city park, but somewhere really far way.

  “I love nature,” I said to Merdian and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

  “I know,” he whispered and only hug me tighter.

  “I could spend hours just sitting like this,” I confessed. I loved nature, animals. I spent every second of my free time just sitting in the garden and drawing sky, flowers, animals or just places I wish could exist. Merdian said that I had a talent for that. Every of me paintings which I had drawn where in his room. He said he liked to wake up and see them, know that a painter, who created them, would always belong to him.

  “I agree,” now was his turn to kiss me. But he didn't just kiss my cheek. He touched my lips with his, letting me feel butterflies in my stomach. I knew that I belonged to him and...I really wanted to belong to him.

  I slapped myself in my mind. I needed to put my thoughts in some kind of order. I knew that I loved Merdian. I really did. But, I wasn't sure if he was the right man for me, because we both didn't have another choice. We both knew that in the future we would be together, not because we really wanted that, but because our parents made a deal. A deal which was the main reason why I closed my eyes.

  But now, after two years of thinking, I had made my mind. I want to be with Merdian. I wanted to be his and I would do everything to open my eyes and see him again.

  Caspar

  Seven days and nothing. I repeated everything what Mrs. Mathew had tried only to understand that I should do something else. But what? I had never had a wild imagination. I did everything according to the rules, what I knew.

  Like I hadn't already felt pressure, trying to show that I was really a good doctor, everyday I was forced to meet Merdian. He always repeated the same commands. He wanted her back, awake. NOW!

  Believe me, I want that too, I thought sarcastically as I took a seat next to my desk. It was late evening, but I refused to go home. I knew that I won't be able to fall asleep. So, why should I waste my time then going home and doing nothing when I could try to figure all this thing out here?

  I took a deep breath. On my table were many books, telling me about coma and deep sleep. Also, what I could do in order to wake her up. But I tried all those methods. Medicine had failed me.

  So, what could I use then? Psychology? Magic? What else could I do?

  Merdian told me he would bring Melody's younger sister tomorrow...today. I would try to see if she could somehow react to her. It would be some kind of start.

  I opened my mouth widely. I was tired. I should go and buy myself some coffee if I didn't want to...what? I didn't know. Too lazy to think.

  I stood up and walked out from my cabinet. I walked straight to the coffee machine. In order to walk there, I had to pass my only patient's room. I was surprised when I didn't notice the guard, standing and patiently observing everyone.

  For some reason I didn't like that. I scanned quickly the corridor, searching for something unusually, but the only person here was me.

  All sleepiness suddenly left my body, forcing it to be in full control. I approached quietly to the door and listened if someone was behind that door. I was surprised hearing steps. They were quiet and... light. I didn't think it could be that man's steps. Someone was behind this door who shouldn't be here.

  I opened the door and entered inside. My eyes immediately noticed the woman who ordered me to convince Merdian Spring to kill that girl. The woman was standing next to the bed. In her hands she was holding a needle with red liquid. She didn't seem angry, surprised, guilty that she was caught here red-handed. She just stood, staring at me with her calm eyes.

  “It's done,” she said in cruel tone. ”All this story is over.”

  It took me some seconds to understand what she was saying. Done? What was done?

  Then I heard how sounds of computers started to change. Melody's heart beats were slowing down. She was dieing.

  “What have you done?” I asked her scared.

  “She is never going to wake up. She is not better than a corpse, So let her be one.”

  I didn't listen to her. I shot to the wall, pushed the button, ordering nurses and doctors to come here and help me to save this girl.

  “What have you given to her?” I ordered her to tell me, but she shook her head and took two graceful steps back. I couldn't detect quilt in her face. She thought she had done a good job. Finally letting the poor girl to die. But it wasn't a good job until there was a hope for her to open those two eyes and come back to the living world.

 
Melody's heart-beats with every second were slowing down. I didn't have time to play. I repeated my question. This time I shout it into her face.

  “You won't save her,” she hissed. She wasn't pleased hearing me shouting at her, but what else could I do. I needed to find out what kind of thing she had given to her.

  Two seconds later a bunch of doctors and nurses came inside. They didn't ask anything, because I told them quickly what was going on, while that woman stood in the corner, watching how we tried to save that girl's live.

  In her eyes I could see happiness. She thought she had already won. But I won't let that happen. I didn't want to stand in front of Merdian if this poor creation leaves this world.

  Melody

  It was a night. I was sure about that. So, who dared to come into my room? I didn't recognize the steps. They were too quiet for me to understand if it was a girl or a boy. I didn't like that, because some nasty thoughts filled my head. For some reason I didn't believe that I was with a nurse in one room. Those women only in rare times came into my room at night.

  I tried to guess in my mind who it could be when a name crossed my mind. Katherine. She hated me, although there was a time when she was to me like a mother. She carried about me and did everything that I and my sister would be happy. I couldn't imagine a better person in my life at that moment. All that happiness and a mask on her face didn't let me see what kind of monster she really was. That woman was only thinking about her daughter, Lauren, who had her eyes only for Merdian, although she belonged to other guy. But that didn't stop Katherine for trying to get Merdian for her daughter and I only helped her by taking a very long sleep.

  My eyes had opened only when I closed them. One day Kate came into my room and announced how sick and tired she was of me and my sister, how she wanted to kill us and was creating plan for that. I couldn't believe my own ears at that moment. I wanted to believe that it was only one big nightmare, that Katherine was only trying to do something I could wake up.

  I also remembered Lauren near to my bed. She was alone. I couldn't see her face, but I imagined that a huge smile was on her face when she said those terrible words to me, “Finally you are out of my way, you stupid angel. I wish a hell will be a nice place for you.”