Author's POVChrisanna falls on her knees and palms against the floor and starts crying right away. Abrupt nervousness flashes on Samuel's face as he finds her whimpering. Not sure what he should do right now, with the consciousness of an eight-year-old, he rushes towards her and kneels on the ground."Are you hurt?" He asks, with finally some reaction in his voice. Chrisanna sobs, rubbing her eyes. Her entire face turned red when she sits back. Samuel notices her scratched knees and gets a bit terrified. She keeps on sobbing. "It burns", she says. "You're so stubborn. Didn't I tell you to sit back?" He sneers, making a wriggled face and looking around for help. "Don't yell at me. I'll tell my paa", Chrisanna sneers back while whimpering.It concerns Samuel a bit as he recalls Christian left him to take care of her. He starts to think he has messed up. He couldn't do it properly. However, keeping it all aside, he decides to treat her wounds and stop her from crying. He looks at t
ChristianWhen I take a turn from Michael's cabin, from a distance, I find Samuel on his knees and Chrisanna is sitting on the chair. As the distance decreases, I realise she has been crying. That makes my heart sink right away and I surge towards them. The last thing I see is the band-aids on both of her knees."Chrisanna!" I clamour, reaching out and immediately pulling her closer to me. "What happened? How did this happen?"I look down at her knees, confronting her. "It's okay now", she says. Her entire face is swollen and I can't help panicking. "How's it okay?" I seethe. "Tell me what happened here"She twitches her lips and looks down and it clearly means she got herself hurt. That's why she's avoiding eye contact with me."Princess, what happened over here?" I repeat a bit coldly. "Forget it"I hold her legs and try to scan the wound but it doesn't seem too big since it's completely covered with the thin band-aids. "Let's go. You need to see the doctor right now""I'm good,
Christian"Okay, now. No more fights because Chrissie has to go for a check-up too", I say, taking her in my arms and I look down at Samuel. He looks much more cheerful now and I believe they might have talked a bit. "Samuel, you wanna come with us? Because there's no way I'm leaving anyone alone anymore", I tell him. He nods. I smile and hold his hand, walking towards Dr Michael's cabin. "Hello, Chrisanna", Michael greets her as soon as we enter the cabin. "Hello!" Chrissie beams. Michael's gaze shifts to Samuel. "Well, who's this little guy?""He—" I hesitate to speak because Samuel won't like it if I tell anyone he's Emily's son. I'm kind of careful with him in every possible way. "He's a grumpy little kid", Chrisanna screeches, shooting a glare down at Samuel. "Yeah, stubborn little typhoon!" Samuel fires back with a victory smirk as if he got a button to annoy her. I'm dead for sure! Until I'm with both of them. Chrisanna fumes, gritting her teeth at him. She's literal
Christian"Everything is going well. We just have to keep a track of her medication and improvements. There will be two monthly therapies before we get another test done to see if she still has any traces of cancer", Michael says.Everything is coming positive and it makes me hopeful that soon she'll be completely fine."I really can't wait for the day", I say."Me neither", he says. "Chrisanna is a courageous child. The way she battled for more than a whole year. I have seen adults giving up for months. She's no less than a blessing""For sure", I smile and look over at Chrissie and Samuel talking. Michael takes leave and walks out of the cabin and I move to them. "What's cooking here?" I ask as I find them chatting very seriously. Chrisanna looks up at me excitedly. "Paa, I invited Samuel to my delayed birthday party. I did right?" She squeals. I'm actually mesmerised by the way she brought it up. "Of course. You did right"I look at Samuel. He looks confused. I don't know how h
ChristianI look back at Chrissie as she passes me a caught red-handed look. She slides down from the couch and walks slowly towards the door. "I need to prepare for the party. Bye. Bye"Ivanna eyes at her, then back at me when she's gone. "I—" I part my lips to explain but she walks past me. "I don't need any stupid excuses from you. That you have been teaching her all the melodrama!" She shrugs, getting back to the desk to pick up her phone."I swear it was the first time. She already knew how to do melodrama!" I roll my eyes. Ivanna turns around, leaning against the desk while tapping on the phone vigorously."Whom are you texting so violently?" I shrug. "Emily. I told her to get the ice cream. That'll be a ton of it. And she's confused with all the flavours. I don't understand why she can't just pick randomly. Or the chocolate one. Kids die for chocolate flavour in anything", Ivanna blabbers.She looks at me and halts, heaving her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"I don't know how she
Christian She seems to be at a loss for words. "I don't want to force— even explain anything to him. At least, at this point when he's trusting me with everything. He feels safe with me. And I just can't disrespect his decision just because he's a kid. He needs to know that we're the people who care about him and value him"She just nods, pressing her lips. I touch her cheek. "It's a lot for him to take at this age. I can feel him. I can relate to him so much. He reminds me of my childhood. Those days when I was left alone with a bunch of strangers. Life in a foster home. Even though this is different and he does have a mother and all of us. He just can't trust enough because of all the bitterness Damien put into his premature head. It's gonna take a long time""I know", she looks at me, cupping my face with a small smile. "And I understand why you're so careful and patient with him. I have always known that it was because you saw your childhood in him"I pass her a painful smile.
Kane"Emily?" I exclaim. "Why are you sounding so worried? Is she alright?"I leave everything open on my desk, surging away towards the window. "She's okay. But I think she's gonna need you", she says, making my heart twist. "What exactly happened?" I ask, my voice clenching. Ivanna narrates the whole thing to me. I squeeze my eyes shut while she rambles from beginning to end. Every time such a thing happens and she gets hurt, I feel helpless. More than ever. That I can't do anything for her. "I tried to avoid that and give her some excuse but if she ever gets to know I lied to her and kept her away from this party, she would be more hurt. I had no better way", she explains.I let out a deep sigh. "No. No. It's fine. You don't have to explain. I know you handle her better than anyone does. You would find the best way. It's not your fault that the best way stings"We haven't spoken for a while. "She must be at home. If you're not that busy—" she says."I'm going to her anyway", I
KaneI turn the stove on and let the spaghetti boil while cutting the veggie. My phone rings just then. I wipe my hands and grab the phone. It's Ivanna."How's she doing?" She snaps as soon as I receive the call. "Did she cry a lot? She was silent? Or she kept ranting? Did she eat something?""Ivanna, relax!" I tell her, smiling audibly. "She's not that fine. But better than before. She cried and rambled a lot. But she didn't ask me to go this time. I was hugging her for like thirty minutes before she finally got up to get a shower", I narrate the whole thing and hear Ivanna sighing deeply."I'm feeling so terrible right now, Kane. She should be here now. But I couldn't do anything to—""It's okay", I assure her. "She understands that. And you know why she was crying? That we have to worry about her all the time. That we're always scared she'll be hurt""That's Emily for a reason. She thinks she's obliged to make everyone happy", she says. "But I'm definitely obliged to make her hap