True Love Never Dies 26/
General information and disclaimer: Here
Summary: The story is about Camilla/Sofie. She has an opportunity to visit London after several years. She is there on an assignment and also to meet some new friends. However, destiny wants something more when she meets an old friend that causes her to have to confront the memory loss resulting from a surgery done a few years back. Not possessing any memory of the old friend or what sort of relationship they might have had, she only knows that she has seen him lately in films.
Previous Chapter; Intro-1, Chapter 2-3, Chapter 4-5, Chapter 6-7, Chapter 8-9, Chapter 10-11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25,
*Chapter 26*
I was tired, closed my eyes, and moved closer toward him. I wanted the warmth he emanated and one part of me was scared that he would leave me now when he knew I had woken up. I could feel how he put his arm around me, which made me relax even more. With his heart beating near my ear I fell back to sleep again.
The next time I woke up. I was in his embrace, and I felt much better. I was able to think more clearly, and the pounding in my head was now no more than a dull thud. It felt so good lying in his arms that I tried not to move for fear of waking him. I could hear his slow, steady breathing and it relaxed me to just listen to him. After some time, I slowly began hearing other sounds both within the room and beyond.
I could distinguish other breathing and realized that we were not alone in the room. Curiosity got the better of me, and I tried to see who else was there. I spotted three people, two male, one female, sitting against the far wall. For a moment I wondered who they could be, but slowly I remembered the evening before my attack, recognised their clothes, and could put names to their faces. The first thing I was going to have to ask them was what had happened to leave me in a hospital bed. It was a blank spot in my memory.
I did remember how Berlinda and I had spent the day and went to Borderline to listen on Billy Boyd. The evening had been good and somehow I had felt more relaxed than I had been in a long time. I don’t regret anything that we had done or that I really had taken the opportunity to go to London. It surely was the time to do it and I hope I had opened the right door.
“Sigh no more, lady, sigh no more.” I started to whisper since I was sure that I had been reminded of the special verse from ‘Much ado about Nothing’. “Men were deceivers ever, One foot in sea, and one on shore, to one thing constant never.”
I was hugged closer and when I continued, I was accompanied by the guy’s voice, “Then sigh not so, but let them go, and be you blithe and bonny, converting all your sounds of woe. Into Hey nonny, hey nonny.”
“Morning, Sophie.” He said as we stopped reciting.
“Hi, Orlando. Why are you here and where are we?”
“You do not remember what happen last night? We are at Charing Cross Hospital.” He answered as low he could to not wake the others.
I moved out from his embrace and turned around as I wanted to face him. “Not after that you were whispering the verse into my ear at the dance floor in Borderline. I can’t even say what might cause a migraine attack.”
He looked over to Dominic and the others. I followed his eyes, wondering what they had to do with the whole thing. Shifting back to Orlando, I could see he was uncertain of how to begin.
“I did something I shouldn’t have done, didn’t I.” I said as I sat up.
“Nothing, that wouldn’t be normal for you I think. Somehow I think that I got you to remember something about us and you get a step closer to believe - accept that we had been a couple. We did kiss there on the floor.” Orlando said, looking again over at Dominic.
“Then what?” I wanted to know, since I hated to get all these blanks.
“I interrupted the two of you.” Dominic said from his place. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t know how things where and you hadn’t said anything and you sure gave me some wrong signals.”
“You shouldn’t be sorry. I probably have myself to blame for not trusting people to say it like it is.” I tried to clarify myself. “It seems that I haven’t learned from my mistakes.”
“What mistakes?” Billy said slurred, since our voices weren’t as low anymore and woke him.
I smiled, thinking they were so like the hobbits they played. “Mistakes, like to not clearly say how things have been affected after I went through a major head surgery in 1998. I often avoid telling what happened much because one of the things I’d have difficulty with is to know what people have for intensions. Not being able to understand their intension made me close up. With new people, I have made a habit to not talk about my life before 1999.”
“Oh,” came from the guys.
“May I ask why you needed the head surgery?” Billy asked.
I looked them knowing they deserved the entire story. I had told them no more than I had let many other friends know. I slipped out of the bed and slowly shook Berlinda awake. She needed to hear the story as well and I only wanted to tell it once.
As she woke, relief flooded across her face finding me so alert. As she stretched, telling me that they had slept in the chairs all night, I realised that I was thirsty, hungry and in need of a trip to the rest room, and I didn't doubt they needed the same.
“I'll tell you everything about me soon, but first I think we all need some refreshment. Can one of you arrange some food, and maybe call a nurse in here?” I said.
They seemed to agree with me and everybody went out except Orlando. I looked over at him, noticing he had moved from lying on the side to his stomach. I lifted one eyebrow as the normal thing would be for him to lie on his back. Not asking why, I did the errand I needed.
The same moment I sat down on the bed again, a nurse come into the room.
“Your friends told me you were awake and asking for a nurse. They asked me to tell you they've gone off to rustle up some food. Now, what can I do to help you?” she asked as she looked at me.
“Can you tell me how long Orlando and I need to stay here? I'm feeling fine now and would really like to go home.”
She walked to the bed end and looked in the journal that was placed there.
“It looks like the doctor would like to run a few more tests before he lets you go. How were you during the night?”
“Good, you must given me the right medication since I can’t feel much of the headache.” I replied and went silent before I reacted on what else she had said. “What tests? What else happened?”
“It is a few blood tests.” She looked down in the papers again. “And a scan. You seemed to mention that you had had a brain surgery some years back. I would think the doctor wants to check it out to be on the safe side to see if nothing happened. I will come back and take the blood tests and then we’ll wait to hear from the doctor.”
“What about Orlando?” I asked looking over to him wondering why he hadn’t said anything. Seeing that he actually fallen back to sleep.
The nurse put down my paper and took up his. “Your boyfriend is free to go, as I can see.” She read more in his journal before she continued, “According to the notes he was hit in his back by a car, though was lucky enough to only get bruises.”
I was even more curious about the previous nights events. The way the nurse spoke, she didn’t seem to know what happened so I kept silent and only nodded slightly. ‘Boyfriend?’ Were they assuming that only because we were in the same room? When I didn’t say anything more, she left.
I moved to be able to watch Orlando more closely. Curiosity took over and I found myself lifting the gown he was wearing to check out his back. Seeing the bruises caused a sharp intake of breath and a shocked squeal to escape my lips. I lost the grip of his grown and tried to cover my mouth to silence the sound.
I was fast, but not fast enough. My squeal had woken Orlando. He made to sit up and look at me, then hissed in pain.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he exclaimed and sank back down into his first position.
“Sorry to wake you. I just wanted to see how it looked. How did you manage to get that?” I said as fast as I got my voice back.
Orlando turned his head to look at me. “If Dominic hadn’t interrupted me earlier I would have told you why we ended up here in the hospital. Are they still here?”
“No, I asked them to go get something to eat, so they will be back. Please tell me.”
While no one could disturb his story, I got to hear what happened from the moment Dominic had jerked me from Orlando. It did answer most of my questions, but there were a few others questions I had to get answered when the others would be coming back.
Chapter 26