Chapter 5- The breaking news

The Breaking News

The time is 10:12pm.

BREAKING NEWS:“Xavier King involved in a fatal midnight crash. The victim is in critical condition, the source of  the woman remains unidentified.”

Mira stared at her phone,her heart thudding vigorously , her thumb trembling as she scrolled through the screen reflecting her wide eyes . This is the 1st news ever, of Xavier with a strange woman.

The words burned through every gossip blog and news site. Her lips twitched into a bitter smirk.

In the photo, Xavier was seen in a car smashed against the guardrail, glass scattering. He crouched in the rain, holding a woman’s head against his chest,but her photo was unidentified.

“Xavier… what have you done?” Mira broke down in tears.

Three years she’d waited for Xavier. Three years she had pretended she was part of his world when she was only an afterthought and now she was staring at the proof of Xavier in the arms of another WOMAN.

She knew that look in his eyes when she saw him in the photograph, desperate and longing for the woman, the one he never gave her.

The tremor inside her turned into a bitter smirk as she paced around barefooted, restless, and muttering under her breath. She waited for his call but he never called. Well, he doesn't know what is waiting for him at home either.

The rain started splashing heavily again outside. It was now past 11pm. Mira was inside fighting her agony, when the sound of tires screeched into the driveway outside. Xavier just drove in, exhausted and weary.

He opened the door and stepped in,soaked to the bone, rain dripping from his collar, his eyes hollow, his tie half pulled loose. His face, pale and tired, streaked with exhaustion.

He shut the door, leaned against it, exhaling for a second, he didn't even notice Mira who was sitting at the couch nor did he see her at first until she spoke.

“You made the news.”

Xavier froze, turning slowly.

“Mira?” His voice came out hoarse. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you. Well, it seems I’m the only one who does now.” she said.

“You shouldn’t have come to Mira.”

“Oh please,cut me some slacks. Or you shouldn’t have lied?” Mira cuts in.

“What?” Xavier frowned.

She lifted her phone, thrusting the image in front of him, showing himself kneeling beside a woman on the street, wet, and face twisted with fear.

“It was an accident,” Xavier said softly. “I hit her. I couldn’t just leave her there.”

“Then you stayed with her all night? Holding her hand and whispering her name?” Her arms folded, nails biting into her skin.

“You stayed with her all night, didn’t you?”

“Mira”

“Oh please don’t Mira me,” she snapped. “You never even hold my hand.”

He rubbed his forehead. “It wasn’t like that Mira. She was unconscious, I didn’t even know her.”

“But now you do.” Her voice cracked, anger bleeding through her as she stepped closer. “Don't you?”

Xavier’s jaw flexed.

“Stop twisting it. There’s nothing between us. There never was.” he snapped.

“Nothing Xavier?” she asked wide-eyed.

“Yes, Nothing,” he said again, slower this time. “We were never in a relationship. You know that.”

“I gave up everything for you, Xavier.”

“I let people laugh at me for chasing a man who won’t claim me. And now you go ahead and play a hero for some woman? A stranger for that matter?”

“You’re twisting this,Mira, it's not what you think”

“No,” her voice raised and trembled. “You twist everything Xavier until I look crazy, just because I wanted to stay.”

“Mira” You stayed because you wanted to. Not because I promised anything.”

Mira’s shoulders dropped.

Her eyes glistened. The rain thundered harder outside with silence thickening between them, full of things unsaid.

He sighed. “Look Mira, just go home. Please.”

Her laughter rang sharp and brittle.

“Home? You mean that place you visit when you’re bored of everyone else or done licking their ass?”

He clenched his jaw. “You’re making this worse than it is.”

“Worse?” she hissed. “You haven’t seen worse. But you will.”

She grabbed her coat, her eyes wild with fury and deeper hurt.

“One day you’ll remember tonight, and wish you’d kept me.”

She swore under her breath and slammed the door behind her. The echo leaves a disturbing sound.

Xavier stood there, his pulse hammering.

He rubbed his face in weakness and for the first time in years, he felt the weight of the night pressing deeper.

**********

Xavier didn’t sleep. By the next morning, around 8am, he was already at Silvercrest Medical hospital, the weight in his chest heavier than any hangover.

The antiseptic smell filled the hospital wars.

He walked fast, boots clicking and ignoring the glances of the nurses on duty.

He came into Nichole’s room . The machines blinked lazily, as she lay in bed, pale and motionless.

The machine beside her blinked, counting every fragile second. Dr. Vincent was already there checking her temperature with his stethoscope.

“How is she?” he asked.

The doctor looked up, shocked by his presence. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

“What do you mean? She’s breathing, isn’t she?” Xavier asked with a worried look.

“She’s breathing,” the doctor said quietly, “but not responding. Her brain scans are erratic. One minute they show deep activeness, the next minute…flat.”

“Flat?”

“Her scans show no physical injury or  trauma.

But her body reacts like it’s shutting down.

She is not brain-dead. She is not alive, either.”

“That’s not possible, doctor.”

Xavier’s throat went dry. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“It doesn’t to us, too.” the doctor admitted.

“Doctor,” he called. “Please tell me she’s improving.”

The doctor's brow furrowed.

“She’s… stable, but we can’t explain her condition for now.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Xavier snapped back with a curious and angry expression.

*****

Before the doctor could respond, suddenly, a nurse hurried in, flipping through a document, Her face drained and troubled. “Doctor, we can't find her file.”

“What?” Xavier roared. “It’s not on record. I checked the archive, the system... nothing.” The doctor frowned, snatching the documents from her and flipping it through by himself again.

“What? No file found.”

“You logged her yourself doctor,” Xavier said, stepping closer.

“Yes I did. She was right here last night.”

“Then where the hell is her data?” Xavier fired back.

“Her file is missing, It’s like she was never admitted.” The nurse responded triggering much fury inside Xavier.

He backed against the wall, dragging his hands through his hair. His chest ached as the air thinned.

He turned toward Nichole, the faint rise and fall of her chest was the only proof she was alive

He turned to the medical staff.

“Dr. Vincent, you’re telling me a living patient doesn’t exist in your system anymore?”

Neither of them answered.

The monitor suddenly spiked… then steadied.

The doctor reached for her wrist, checking her pulse again, while the nurse was still rifling the pages of the document.

Everybody was shocked at the new development.

Xavier moved closer to  Nichole who was laying breathless, brushing out the strands of her hair.

He leaned closer.

“Nichole, I promise. If anyone…anyone had a hand in this” His voice dropped. “I’ll burn down this hospital to the ground before I let them finish what they've started.”