CHAPTER 33

“I will never leave you…” Malcolm held his hand to her. “Come with me, Helene…”

Helene stared at his hand but hesitated to take it. “Is it the right thing to do?” she asked worriedly. “How about my mom? My friends? Arianne, Lexy and Adam?”

“They don’t care about you, Helene,” Malcolm answered in a stern voice. “They’re taking you away from me. Your friends wanted to separate us from each other. If they’re your friends, they should be just happy for you, right?”

She pressed her lips together and looked around her room. Helene noticed that all her things are upside down, and the lights are a bit gloomy. There’s also a thick fog floating in the air. “Am I dreaming?”

“This is my home,” Malcolm said. “The faint lights and fog in the air are the elements that separate us, Helene. You, from reality, and me from the realms of dreams. This is also the place where we usually meet when you’re lucid dreaming.”

“So it’s true that you’re just an illusion…I created you in my imagination because I subconsciously wanted a man like you, who resembles James, who will love me with all his heart. I wanted a man who will accept me for who I am…” Tears fell from her eyes. “But you’re not real, Malcolm…And I should stop making myself believe that you existed because you really don’t.”

Malcolm held out his hand. “I am really inside your heart, Helene. And, if you will just hold my hand and cross this line separating us, we will be together forever.”

Helene looked at his hand and the thin bright blue line floating in the air. “I love you, Malcolm…”

“I love you too, Helene.” He reached for her hand. “Take my hand and cross the border now…”

Helene raised her hand and slowly reached for Malcolm’s hand. Their hands were an inch away from each other when Helene heard Adam calling her name.

“Adam?” she looked around but can’t see him.

“Eyes on me, Helene!” Malcolm called her. “Come on, take my hand now!”

“I heard Adam’s voice—”

Malcolm grabbed her hand and tried to pull her, but somebody grabbed her other hand out of nowhere. The hand has a scar on the forefinger. And it was strong, stronger than Malcolm. And, before Helene knew it, she was awakened by voices calling her name.

“Helene? Helene, wake up, please?” A familiar voice said from her side, followed by a hand caressing her arm.

With half-lidded eyes, Helene turned to her side. The first face that she saw is Lexy’s. She was crying while calling her name repeatedly. On her side was Arianne, just like Lexy. She was also crying.

“Where am I?” she said and raised her hand to cover her eyes because of the blinding lights on the ceiling, but somebody was holding her left hand. When she looked at it, she noticed the scar on the forefinger. “Who are you…?”

“Helene, it’s me, Adam.” The man squeezed her hand. “Helene—”

“You saved me, Adam…” she said and started to cry. “You saved me…”

Lexy and Arianne hugged her tightly. They were both whispering apologies to her, and it made Helene smiled. She has never missed her friends like this.

“Don’t do that again, Helene, please?” Lexy begged. “I’m sorry, I promised I would be good to you—”

“It’s nothing…” she said and laughed. “I understand now. You’re on your first trimester.”

Lexy gasped. “How did you know?”

“Arianne told me.” She looked at Arianne, and when she saw that she’s still crying, she held on to her hand. “Stop crying, Arriane. Look at your eyes; it’s swollen.”

Arianne only cried harder. “Helene promised me that you’d undergo therapy when you get out here.”

She knotted her forehead and looked around. She gasped when she found out that she’s in a hospital. “Why I’m here? What happened to me?”

“Adam found you in your apartment…” Lexy hesitated to continue. “You…You hang yourself in the ceiling.”

“But I came just on time, Helene,” Adam told her. “I was able to remove you from the curtain before you passed out…”

Helene couldn’t believe what she heard. “I-I tried to kill me?” She started to cry. “What if you didn’t come to my house, Adam? I could have died…And I wouldn’t see you anymore.”

Adam squeezed her hand to comfort him. “What’s important is you’re safe now, Helene,” he said. “And, from now on, I will never leave your side, Helene. I will take care of you and gave you all the attention that I have.”

“Me too, Helene,” Lexy and Arianne both added. “Starting today, I will move into your apartment,” Lexy said, then paused. “If it’s okay with you…”

Helene laughed. “Why? You kicked out in your apartment because your landlady found out that you’re pregnant?”

Lexy leaned her head on her shoulders. “Just for temporary, Helene, please? Jeremy is still finding an apartment for the two of us.”

Helene rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. “Whatever,” she said and turned to Adam. “Why are you in my apartment when…when you saw me hanging?”

“I got worried about you when Arianne and Lexy told me about the results,” he said. “I know that you need somebody to talk to, and even if it’s not me that you wanted to be with at that time, I still tried my luck.”

“And you saved me…” She smiled at him. “Thanks, Adam.”

Adam held her hand tightly. He hasn’t let go of her hand since she gained consciousness. “I don’t wanna lose you, Helene. I don’t want to lose the woman that I love.”

“`Been loving for years,” Lexy added. “Adam got a crush on you since you were in high school.”

Helene felt the heat risen to her cheeks. She looked at Adam, who was also blushing. “Is it true, Adam?”

When the man nodded, her heart almost jumped out from her ribcage. “That’s impossible…”

Arianne laughed. “By the way, Helene, your mom called me—”

“Did you tell her?” she asked worriedly.

“No, Helene, we know that it should be you to tell your mom about what happened to you,” Lexy answered. “She just asked Arianne why she couldn’t reach your number. Arianne told her that you lost your phone.”

Helene released a sigh of relief. “Thanks, I don’t want my mom to worry about me because she’s a million miles away from me.”

“We’ll video call your mother when we get home, but for now, you have to take a rest, Helene,” Adam said and arranged the pillows on her back. “What do you want to eat?”

“I want to eat…” As she turned to the open doorway of her ward, Helene’s eyes caught a shadow behind the door. And, before she could take her gaze away from it, the shadow disappeared.

“What is it, Helene?” Adam asked as he followed her gaze.

Helene shook her head and caught her hammering chest. “N-Nothing…” A smile formed on her lips. “I saw nothing.”

***THE END***