Raphael – the Archangel who brings healing
Alice.
I couldn’t find my voice. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t understand why or how it all happened. But the truth was right before my eyes.
Hunter slowly approached me. The expression on his face was soft and gentle. Gone was the look of disgust or anger that he usually wore whenever he saw me.
“Hunter? You? You were the guy who always followed me home? You were the one who saved me from those potheads?”
He reached out to wipe my tears with his fingers. Then he nodded gently.
“How?”
He took a deep breath. “When I came back, the first thing that I did was look for you. But you moved and didn’t leave a forwarding address. I didn’t have your number. I have a faint idea how you look like. But other than that, I had no clue how to really find you.
“When Denise mentioned that she has a friend named Alice and that she has a scar on her face, I knew she was talking about you. When she said that you were working at Alibri, I wasted no time to go there so I could see you.” There was sadness in his voice when he added, “But when I went into the bookshop, I saw this beautiful girl with a scar on her cheek in between the shelves. She was with a boy, she didn’t notice my presence. And then I saw him kiss her.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I thought you moved on with your life… without me. I thought you didn’t wait for me.”
I scanned my brain for that incident. It was the night when Chaise went to the bookshop and kissed me against my will. I did hear the bell chimes on the door. Once, signaling that somebody came inside the shop. But my hands were trapped in Chaise’s arms I couldn’t get away. The chimes rang again after Chaise kissed me, signifying that whoever came in, immediately went out.
God! The person who came out as fast as he came in and saw me with Chaise was Hunter.
“But I didn’t kiss him.” I shook my head. “He stole a kiss from me.”
Hunter nodded. “I know that now. I read your diary.” He smiled at me ruefully. “That night after I walked out of the shop, I stayed in my car. I waited for you. I wanted to be sure it was you. Then I saw the guy leave without you and I thought your boyfriend was such a jerk. How could he leave you to walk home on your own?
“Even when I thought you were already with Anderson, I couldn’t help worrying about you. So, I went to the bookshop every night, during closing time. I… walked behind you, watched you… made sure you got home safely. I told you I would get my eyesight back so I could protect you, remember?”
My heart sang and broke at the same time. I couldn’t help crying as I listened to him.
He reached up and wiped the tears on my cheeks again. Then he continued, “I figured if your douchebag boyfriend couldn’t make sure you got home safely at nights… then I would. Even if I meant nothing to you anymore.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I wanted to tell him that he meant the world to me then… he still means the world to me now.
“I must be freaking you out. But I was hoping after a couple of nights, you’d figure out that I meant you no harm. Sometimes, I followed you while I was in the car, stopping by corners so you wouldn’t notice me. Then one night… when I followed you in my car, I stopped by a corner and waited for you to turn up. You didn’t. I panicked and retraced my route. I found you in that street with two guys attacking you. I saw… red. I know I would not be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to you. I would die first before I let them touch you.”
“Hunter…” I whimpered. “What you did was dangerous for you. Those guys could have hit you in the head and that would damage your eyes again,” I said in between tears, unable to believe he really would risk everything for me.
“I didn’t care. You were the reason why I opted for a transplant. You were the reason why I wanted to see again. What was the point of seeing the world if you were gone? Your safety… your life was more important to me that night.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I did,” he said. “I was glad I did. If I get to save you in exchange for my eyesight… in exchange for my life… then that would be enough.”
But I would never forgive myself if something happened to Hunter too. During those times, I was desperately waiting for him to come back to me. If he died saving my life… then what good was that life?
“Why didn’t you show yourself to me?” I asked.
“When those wackos ran off, I turned and found that you were gone,” he replied. “I drove to the direction of your house, hoping I would find you in the streets, but you weren’t there anymore. I was only able to breathe properly when I saw the lights inside your house, and I knew you were safe.”
Hunter pushed a lock of stray hair away from my face. “I was gone for two weeks after that. My father insisted that I go back to Boston, where I had my transplant done. The doctors were on me as soon as I got in. They ran tests and observed me for two weeks to ensure that the transplant was in place… that everything was fine. While I was in the hospital, I was worried about how you were going home every night. I was worried that no one was protecting you. When I came back, I went to the shop again… and I saw you with Anderson. I was glad at least that after that night, he stepped up his game and made sure you were home safely from then on.” He took a deep breath. “It was killing me to see somebody else taking care of you. I always thought you were mine to take care of… mine to protect. And it breaks me to see some other guy doing the things I wanted to do.”
“Chaise asked me the next day if I was okay. That’s when I thought for sure that he was the one who rescued me. Because… how else could he know about that night?”
Hunter took a deep breath and then he asked, “Did you speak to him? Did he tell you the truth?”
I nodded. “He set it all up. He must have been just sitting there watching you rescue me. And then the next day, he took credit for all your work!”
“I don’t care if he took credit for what I did. What I could not forgive was how he put your life on the line just to score points with you.”
“When I thanked him for saving my life, he didn’t deny it. I assumed… how else could he know about that night if he weren’t there? The only other person with me apart from those lunatics was the boy who saved me.”
“Lucky for him and too bad for me, huh,” Hunter said and I didn’t miss the tang in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Hunter,” I sobbed. “I was ignoring Chaise for a long time. I only opened up to him because I thought he saved my life. Because I thought he was my guardian angel. And even then, I made it clear that I could only be his friend.”
“But at least I’m glad that he protected you when I couldn’t be there,” Hunter said. “I’m not glad though, that he took advantage of the situation just to get to you. If he wasn’t in the way… then I could have been with you.”
“All the while, I thought you hated me,” I whispered. “Or didn’t even remember me.”
He shook his head. “I could never hate you. As if I could ever forget you. Your voice is a melody I replay in my head every night before I go to bed. Your scent is engraved in my soul, I couldn’t escape it even if I wanted to.”
“That day somebody tripped me in the hall and you caught me, you knew who I was? You were so cold, I thought you saw right through me.”
He sighed and smiled ruefully. “I had to be cold. Because if I weren’t, I would not be able to resist hugging and kissing you senseless—right there, in the middle of the corridor.” He gave me a wistful glance. “All the time, I was always fighting the urge to pull you into my arms and kiss you… beg you to choose me… ask you to leave Anderson and come back to me.”
I looked down my feet and took a moment to absorb what he said. All the while, his anger, his frustration, his jealousy… he didn’t know they were for nothing. He was hurting when in my heart, it had always been him.
I looked up and gave him a shy smile. “There’s nothing stopping you now, is there?”