Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Crystal's POV I stared at him, tongue-tied. "But I got Josh's jacket and school ID" I was doubtful and sounded like an interrogator. After being deceived by Scott earlier and now with Josh... I did not know what to believe anymore. I needed proof and valid reason to convince me about the truth. "That navy blue jacket was mine. It was a birthday gift from Lisa." He put his hands inside his pants' pockets, standing so tall at the foot of the bed. "I was at school that morning to return a book in the library. The school guard saw me and gave me Josh's ID. He lost it again." "And why were you there in the woods?" "I was on a job. I just delivered pizza to a nursing home care. I was passing by when I heard someone screaming for help." The shock of discovering the truth hit me full force. I was silent for a minute trying to absorb everything. "Are you okay?" He asked when I stayed still. "I'm sorry, I'm just so shocked." "I know. I'm shocked, too. I never thought that you were that girl. You looked different when I saw you again at Lisa and Alessandro's wedding." I nodded and managed a little smile. "My growth spurt after the incident. I grew taller and gained more weight." He smiled back. "Not only that. You were so helpless and fragile in the woods. The one I met at the wedding was feisty, aggressive, and wild." I glared at him, then defended myself. "I'm not usually like that." "I know." I was glad he agreed. "I did not recognize you too at the wedding." I shrugged my shoulders, then continued. "It was dark in the woods. The sky was gloomy and it was about to rain. I could not see your face clearly." I took a deep breath then rested my back against the headboard. "Something happened to me also. I forgot about the incident. I thought everything was only a terrible nightmare." "You mean, your memory about it disappeared?" "Yeah. Before, I thought it was a dream, a terrible nightmare. My neurologist said that I could have a mild concussion, because later on, I could remember what happened, but vaguely." He nodded. "So that was your nightmare." "Yeah. It had been going on for years. I don't know why. Maybe because it was too traumatic for me." "I wished you told me about it." He said. I did not miss the hint of regret in his voice. He was right. I should have told him about it. It would make a difference on what we became as a person. First, I would not suffer having nightmares anymore. Second, probably we were still together by now. Third, I would have been happier, married and have kids. Fourth, I wouldn't have met Scott. Actually, I was not able to tell Liam at that time because my nightmares were gone. I was so happy and in love that all my dreams were only filled by him and us together. It only came back haunting me every night again when we broke up. It became worse. It followed with Josh forcing himself on me and ended with a feeling of loss and emptiness. Remembering what Josh did, I asked him. "So Josh pretended that he rescued me. How did he know about the incident in the woods?" He inclined his head, and said. "He knew that I was looking for the girl I rescued in the woods." "You were looking for me?" He nodded. "To thank you. You opened my eyes. When I saved you from your asthma attack, I realized that that was my calling in life. To save lives...and help people live longer." "That's why you kept that badge." "Yeah. It reminded me of you in the woods and my dream every time I felt so stressed out and wanted to give up." "I see. I was looking for you, too, to thank you properly for saving my life. It was too late when I found Josh ID." I shook my head gloomily. "I should have told you. I made a mistake of telling Alice first. She arranged my meeting with Josh and orchestrated everything." He exhaled heavily. "This is not the right time for us to talk about the past. A lot of things happened this morning. You need to take a rest to fully recover. I'll have someone get your medicine." That made me so upset suddenly. He was back into it again. Being allergic to the topic. "Why are you avoiding talking about it? Do you still think that your friends are vain? Josh was an asshole who played along with Alice. And Alice wanted me out of the picture, so she could have you by herself. You were so blind. You did not notice that that bitch was so in love with you." He pressed his lips together, then looked at me with steely eyes. "I can't let you talk like that to my friends. At least show some respect. It had been years Crystal, and you could not stop hating. We agreed to leave the past behind and move on." "How can I move on when all this time, you still won't listen to my explanation?" My voice started to rise a little, showing my escalated temper. "Is that what really upsets you now? Or the fact that you've seen you're fiancé having sex with someone else this morning? You have mixed emotions right now and you're confusing me with that guy." "Correction, ex-fiancé. I'm not confusing you with Scott...or Billy. Whatever his name is. I'm just trying to fix our issue here." "Maybe I will when you calm down." "Maybe?" That word really annoyed me. So he did not really want to hear my explanation. "You're as bad as Scott." I chuckled nastily. I saw his face immediately darkened in anger. "Don't compare me with that asshole. He was the guy who beat Josh and made his life miserable. He also happened to be our school's greatest fuck boy." "Thank you! So you knew him all along, but you did not bother to warn me!" "Would it matter? If I did, would it change your mind about him? I doubt it. You still believed in fairy tales. You were so in love with your Prince Charming and thought that he was the perfect guy in the universe." "At least you should have tried." "To make me look like I'm the wickedest villain? No way." He shook his head disapprovingly. "I will leave now so you can rest." He put back the painting on the wall and immediately left. My suspicion was answered. I opened the cabinets above the painting. It was full of books, mostly medical books. There were plenty of folders, envelopes, and notebooks. In the living room, I found hidden wall storage and inside were many plaques, trophies, medals, and certificates of Liam. I went to the walk-in closet and realized why half of the cabinets in the room were closed. I looked for the key and found it above the door. I was not surprised anymore when I saw Liam's clothes and shoes. Darn it. I'm occupying his room. And this is not just a vacation house for him. It's his home. I woke up at the sound of someone whispering. In front of me were Mom and Emerald whispering at each other loudly. "We should give this later, she's still sleeping." Emmie said. "Wake her up gently. She needs to take her medicine." Mom insisted. "But Liam said to wait until she wakes up." "No, he said..." I moved and both women looked at me. "Hey..." Mom sat on the bed, looming over me. "Are you okay now?" "Yeah, I'm feeling better." Mom nodded and gave me medicine. It was the same drug that I usually took whenever I had an asthma attack before. "I'll get you a glass of water." Emmie said, then left. "We brought some food, it's in the kitchen. You don't need to come down if you don't want to. Liam advised you to take a rest." "Okay, I will. I'll probably just watch movies on Netflix." I answered, then sat up. When Emmie came back, she talked about how big my accommodation was compared to theirs. "This is not just a room, this is actually a house. I think this is Liam's quarter." "Yeah. It's like a penthouse." Mom agreed, her eyes looking around. "Exactly." Emmie said, then teased me. "You must be very special to him. He put you in a special accommodation." "Please... don't put any meaning on it. I'm alone and he knows I'm being careful with his things." I took the medicine, then asked. "Where is he, by the way?" "A helicopter came and took Liam." Mom answered. "Lisa said that he's going to perform an emergency heart surgery." "He's really a brilliant doctor. And in case you're interested to know, I heard that he's single." Emmie was back teasing me again. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Emmie. I just broke my engagement. Anyways, did he leave the island already?" "Oh gosh! Forget about that douchebag. He's probably still in the ocean right now rowing the boat with his lover. Good for him! And by the way, the girl is now wearing your engagement ring." I was speechless. Anger overwhelmed me again as I remembered seeing him and the girl in bed. What a cheater! I went down that evening for dinner. Everyone was so nice trying to entertain me. I felt my family's effort to make me forget about Scott. His name was not mentioned anymore. All were singing, dancing, laughing, and talking while drinking the family's favorite vintage wine. I joined the kids in the games that Lisa and Kate organized. Big prizes were given, sponsored by Uncle Inigo and Aunt Chloe. I had fun with my family that evening and forgot my heartaches. I kept on telling myself to be strong and not to dwell on sadness over a person who did not value my worth. Yeah, I had another big cry that morning after Mom and Emerald left, and after that, I accepted that it was over. I should still be thankful that Scott revealed his true color before we exchanged "I dos," or else I would live a miserable life. Guilt. Anger. Love. Loss. Betrayal. Regret. We fought to hold on to them. But life became easier if we learned to let them go.