Chapter 4

I stared in shock at the figure standing right in front of me.

Emily was wearing an elegant woolen dress, red, short sleeved and tight across the hips. She had just little make-up on and made her hair in braids.

Never have I seen anyone more beautiful.

"Hi." She said. "Uh can I come in?" She asked, pushing her face closer.

"Oh y-yeah, sure, c-come in." I said, opening the door wider as she entered.

"But wh- I mean how did you find here? And why are you here?" I asked, silently cursing myself for stuttering.

"Uhm, I had Brian tell me where you live, so..." She trailed off.

"Oh." I said. I must have given Brian my address, but I couldn't focus on remembering that with Emily standing next to me.

And then it was awkwardly silent.

"You- you can sit." I said, pointing towards the sofa. What was she doing here?

"Thanks." She smiled.

"So, what brings you here? Talk to me." I said, immediately surprised at my own boldness.

It was silent for some seconds before she spoke.

"Daniel," She started. "It is true that I have feelings for you, but I just couldn't get myself to confess my feelings to you directly. And that's why I told Rose to help me with it, and she suggested telling you herself. But now she's telling me you don't believe her, and I get why you would say that, because you know I'm dating Adam and-"

"Wait a minute. So you're telling me that its true you're dating Adam, and its also true that you're in...in love with me?"

I was so confused, and it must have showed because she held my hand after.

"Daniel, yes its true. But its just...its just that there's more to this issue than you know." She said, immediately bursting into tears.

Why she was crying, I didn't know. I didn't even know what to do, so I did the best thing I could do, which seemed the only thing to do, under the circumstances.

I took her in my arms and laid her head on my chest.

"Stop crying Emily, please." I said, gently stroking her beautiful blonde hair. Oh her hair smelled so nice.

Her crying reduced to a sob, and then she finally stopped, wiping her face with a tissue I had brought her.

"Thanks Daniel." She said, looking into my eyes.

'Yeah, its no problem at all. So can we go back to the topic now? Why you're dating Adam?" I asked, feeling a bit guilty for making her cry the last time.

"Okay. But If I cry again, just let me be. I wanna get over this as soon as possible."

"It's okay, but you really don't have to tell me if you don't feel very comfortable with it."

"I need you to know this, Daniel. That's the only way I can get it off my chest, at least." She said, a tear dropping from her right eye.

"Gosh, is it that serious?" I asked, surprised at what could make her that sober.

"It is, Daniel." She nodded.

"Okay, go ahead." I said, bracing myself for the worst.

She took a deep breath.

"It was a long time ago, in the fifth grade..." She began.

★

"It was a long time ago, in the fifth grade when it happened. I fell really sick. My condition was so critical that I felt pain in literary every part of my body. I had nephritis, which is a-"

She stopped when she saw the face I made, puzzled.

"Nephritis is a disease of the kidney." She said.

"Oh... Okay, go on." I said.

"I had nearly all the symptoms -inflammation of the kidney, weakness of the body, fever and body pain. It got so bad to the point that I couldn't even stand upright on my own. I had to be helped up and assisted everywhere. But as critical as my condition was, I insisted on not going to the hospital." She paused.

"But why?"

"Well, partly because I didn't know what was wrong with me, but mostly because I was terrified of injections. I thought I just had a little fever, and that was what I told my parents. And my foolish parents believed me. My Mom was even thinking I was just faking the whole thing, till I passed out one day, unable to bear the pain anymore.

I was rushed to the hospital.

The doctor examined me and found out I had nephritis, which had become very chronic. Luckily for me, the doctor told my parents it had only affected just one of my kidneys. He told my parents that I didn't need a transplant, that the affected kidney would be cut off, and I would be left with one healthy kidney.

What my parents didn't know was that the doctor was a quack."

I gasped. "So you didn't have neph...whatever?'

"Nephritis. I did, but it had already affected both kidneys. Not just one as the quack doctor had said.

So the surgery was performed, and I was left going around with one of two diseased kidneys.

After a while, the symptoms persisted, but it was much worse this time. My parents were shocked, and I was immediately taken to another hospital, the best my parents could find.

My parents were a bit hesitant on seeing that the doctor was a female, but they had no choice because time was taking its toll on me -"

"But I don't see how this involves Adam." I interrupted.

"You're not patient, Daniel." She said and continued, "I was again, diagnosed for nephritis and the doctor informed my parents that if I didn't get a donor whose blood matched mine, I was going to die in a few days. You have no idea his much pain I passed through." She uncontrollably broke into tears again, but still continued.

"My parents searched and searched, put me on newspapers, the radio, and all other media they could find, looking for a donor, but they could find none.

That's when Adam showed up.

He was my close friend at the time, so he offered to donate his kidney to me.

Adam was fifteen back then, but had been a bully long before then. Adam's blood group matched mine perfectly, so Adam told my parents that he was going to donate his kidney to me on one condition -that I would belong to him and him alone"

I opened my mouth in shock.

"Wow, I had no idea it was that deep. And what did your parents say to Adam?" I asked.

"My parents had no choice. The time given to them was five days, and three days had already elapsed, so my parents gave in to Adam. They accepted."

"Oh my gosh."

I was speechless.

"After the surgery was completed, we were both left with one kidney each. I was unconscious the whole time, and when my parents explained the situation to me, I was furious. I mean, we were friends then but I'd rather die than be with him forever. But then, I had no choice. He was and is my benefactor. He did me a favour and now I have to do whatever he wants. That's the reason I'm... Stuck with him. But I want to be with you Daniel, it's you my heart wants. I'm in love with you Daniel." She finished.

I was totally dumbfounded. But I knew I had to say something. I just had to.

"Uh... Emily, I... I-" I pressed my temple, trying to think straight. But I couldn't. I knew I had feelings for her but I didn't know how and if I should let her know. Because of Adam.

"Daniel," She said, wiping her face which was now red. She must have been crying all through the story.

Emily stood up.

"I just want to know one thing, Daniel."

I stood up to listen.

"Which is?" I asked.

"If you feel the same thing. Do you?"

I couldn't say a word. It was not like me for words to fail me, but this time, it was different.

It always was, with Emily.

"Uhm... I..." I couldn't get myself to say anything.

Why? I didn't know.

But I was panicking inside of me.

What's wrong with you Daniel? Tell her you love her, you know you do. Just open your damn mouth and let 'I love you too' flow out of it, my inner self told me.

Emily was starting to cry again.

"I should have known this." She sobbed as she picked her bag and turned to go.

"Wait, Emily! I -I -"

"You can't say it, which means you don't." She said with her back turned against me.

I can. I knew I could. I told myself.

Emily ran out of the door. I followed her and caught her.

"Yes I love you, Emily. I really do. And I'm sorry I couldn't say it earlier. I'm sorry." I blurted, knowing if she didn't hear that, she would breakdown completely.

I pulled her towards me and gave her a warm, loving embrace.

She just kept on crying

And just then, what I saw made my heart skip a beat.

It was my Mom's car, pulling up in the driveway.

I immediately pulled away from Emily.

.