Chapter 12: Before He Sees Me
Chapter 12: Before He Sees Me
Dr. Smith’s office was so quiet I could hear the clock’s hands ticking, notch by notch, on the wall. Fluorescent light from the ceiling spilled onto the wooden desk, casting a cold white halo. On the desk, a cup of coffee had gone cold, a dark brown ring clinging to the porcelain.
I sat beside Kristine, fingers interlaced, palms icy. She leaned slightly against the chair but her shoulders stayed taut. Across from us, Dr. Smith set his pen down on the folder and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Unlike the other doctors I had met—hurried, stern—he sat calm, eyes like a still lake.
“Elysa,” he said slowly, voice deep and clear, “your cancer screening results are completely normal. All cells healthy. Nothing abnormal. You’re probably just physically exhausted. Eat well, rest more, don’t overwork yourself.”
I stared at him, a roaring in my ears. “Dr. Smith…” My own voice wavered. “Two weeks ago I went to two major hospitals. Both told me I had late-stage stomach cancer. Why… why is the result different now?”
He slid his glasses down a little and looked straight at me. For an instant I caught a cold certainty in his gaze. “I don’t know how they ran their tests,” he replied. “But I screened and checked you myself. This result isn’t wrong. You can be at ease.”
His final words hung in the room, bounced off the white walls and fell to the floor like pebbles. I turned to Kristine. Her eyes met mine, deep and knowing, and in them I recognized something that didn’t need to be spoken—like two people both hearing the clock tick faster than normal.
I took the prescription he handed me, the thin paper still smelling of fresh ink. As we stepped out, the door closed behind us with a dry “click.”
Outside, misty rain drifted down, the asphalt pale as ash. Kristine’s car waited by the hospital gate, its window glass warping my reflection. I climbed into the passenger seat and fastened the belt. The engine purred softly.
Through the first few blocks only the wipers moving back and forth and the tires slicing wet streaks across the road broke the silence. The hospital’s disinfectant smell still clung to my throat, mixing with the leather scent of the seat, making it hard to breathe.
“Kristine…” I turned toward her, my voice hoarse. “Do you think… everything’s part of Kael’s plan?”
She didn’t answer right away. Her hands tightened on the wheel, knuckles whitening. The glance she threw me was like a pinprick—enough for me to know she was thinking the same thing.
We said nothing else. My heart beat faster, mingling with the heavier rain. I knew I couldn’t stay any longer.
Kristine turned into a narrow street leading to a newly built apartment complex. The building rose high, balconies of glass beaded with water, elevator doors glowing green. We rode up to the tenth floor; each time the doors closed, the space shrank, our breaths blending.
Apartment 1001 opened with a soft turn of the lock. Inside, the smell of new paint, raw wood. Pale flooring, a suitcase leaning by the wall. Light from the big window streamed in, catching raindrops like silver dust.
Kristine went straight to a small table, pulled open a drawer, and took out a stack of documents. She placed them in front of me: passport, plane ticket, papers stamped in red ink. Thin sheets that felt heavy as lead.
“These are what you need to go to France,” she said quietly.
I picked them up, fingers trembling. “Why France?”
She looked at me, eyes hard yet glistening like river stones under rain. “Go there first. Start over. I’ll keep gathering evidence on Kael here. When we have enough, you come back and expose him.”
I clutched the papers, my breathing ragged. “What about my family? If Kael—”
Kristine shook her head. Hair fell over her cheek, her voice calm to the point of chill. “You’re the only and most important piece on Kael’s board. Without you, he can’t act. He won’t touch your family. The most important thing now is to disappear—leave no trace.”
The rain against the window thickened, like a hundred hands drumming. Our shadows stretched long across the wooden floor, trembling as if about to dissolve. I looked at the papers again and understood they weren’t just documents—they were a thin border between survival and the trap closing behind me.
Kristine stood by the window, back to me, only her silhouette spilling onto the white curtain. “Go while you still can,” she said softly, but I heard every word as if it were a rope snapping behind me.
I glanced around the apartment once more. Frames still wrapped on the walls, the smell of paint giving everything a temporary feel. The suitcase in the corner waited like a silent figure.
I unzipped it. Inside were a few sets of clothes, some essentials. Kristine had prepared everything. I swallowed hard, chest tightening.
“You… prepared this since when?” I whispered.
“Since I found out Kael’s dealings weren’t clean…” Kristine answered without turning from the window. “I knew this day would come.”
Her reply dropped to the floor like another pebble, rippling through me. Everything had been planned. All that was left was for me to step out.
I drew a deep breath, gripping the papers, the edges nicking my skin. Outside, car horns mingled with the rain, calling me toward another road.
“Kristine…” I murmured, “…thank you.”
She turned, lips curving into the faintest smile, but her eyes were painfully serious. “Don’t look back, Elysa. Just go.”
I nodded. Fear and relief rose inside me together, like stepping out of darkness without knowing what lay ahead.
As the elevator doors closed behind me, I caught one last glimpse of Kristine at the doorway, her hand clutching the frame as if holding something back. For a heartbeat we looked at each other, no words. Then the steel panels slid shut, leaving only the smell of new wood and her gaze etched in my mind.
The elevator carried me down, floor by floor. My heart pounded faster, but my feet didn’t slow. Outside, rain still fell. And I knew, once I stepped out, there would be no turning back.
Somewhere out in the rain, Kael might already be watching. But this time, I would vanish before he could take hold of me.