Rachel's POVShrugging, I took lazy steps toward him. “Nothing. I was just remembering the times I spent the nights here. It was mostly when we got too drunk and Henry’s place was the closest from the bars we went to so all of us ended up spending the night here. Good old days.”Seeming to have noticed the longing in my eyes as nostalgia took over, he frowned. “What changed?”“Um, nothing. Except that I got married and depressed.”That drew a laugh from him, “I wouldn’t have had any problem if you wanted to go out here.”“Didn’t you hear what I said? I was depressed after marrying you. Having fun with my friends didn’t occur to me as I was busy hating you.”“If it’s any consolation, I wasn’t in my best spirits either after our marriage.”“Yes, because you were busy chasing me in clubs worried someone might kill me.”He didn’t look pleased, “Now who is talking about death? I thought you hated it.”Reclining backwards, somewhat, I said, “Alright, sorry. Just kidding.”“Don’t repeat it.”

Rachel's POVWhen we approached everyone at the table to wave them goodbye, the tables have turned against poor Alan.His attempts at dragging me back home from indulging myself in more alcohol have proven to be futile when I strongly insisted on having some more fun. He knew better than that, and he also knew that if he’d let my drink more - she’d get completely out of control.Knowing that he’d drive a hard bargain, I teasing said,“I miss having drinks with my friends, are you going to take that away from me too?”“Smart one, aren’t you? You know exactly how to get things done your way.” He said as he watched me hop onto a stool by the bar.“Yes.” I grinned, “You think you don’t have a weakness? Hell no! I’ve learnt that guilt is your one huge weakness. And I’m going to make use of every opportunity I get to exploit it.”“Mind your actions, you’ll render me immune to it if you over-use that tactic,”“Oh, I know you won’t.”“You know me that well?”“Yes.”“Well, if that’s the case,

Alan's POVA month had passed since Douglas was enlightened about Rachel.There was no news from him since then, no update about April’s health. This never happened. In the few years I’ve known Douglas, never did he block me out of his life like this. It surely took me sometime to become a significant part of his life but it was sooner than most others managed. I was his go-to person for everything - he never spared me any news that was of grave significance to him. Which was why I wasn’t at rest knowing how he was not updating me about anything right now.“Do you know if April’s coming to the hospital for follow-ups?” I asked Rachel.She was standing before the dresser in my room, fixing her hair, and her eyes flickered to look at me behind her shoulder as soon as she heard my voice.“They came in for a few in the beginning.” She said, “Their next appointment is not until another three weeks. She was in good health the last time she came, which was about three weeks ago. Or maybe two

Alan's POVThe next morning, upon my insistence, Rachel agreed to invite her friends home. But before they came over, I deemed it fit to finally discuss with her what we’ve both forgotten to do last night.We were seated on our bed when I decided to start,“So, about last night..” Upon hearing my voice, Rachel looked up at me for a brief second before eyeing her laptop screen again. “I meant to discuss the Marla issue.”A blank expression took to her face right then and she averted her gaze further away from me. “Right, what about it?”I sighed and demanded her attention, “I’m sorry I haven't talked about this before, I didn’t think.. there’s no excuse for it. But I’m ready to answer any concerns you have.”She shook her head, “You don’t have to apologise. I’d like to hear whatever it is for me to know.”I nodded and continued, “Right. Suppose I start from here then,” I spoke to myself before paying her my full attention, “It was shortly after I became one of Douglas’ men that Marla m

Alan's POVSasha was out of surgery by the time I reached the hospital."She's right now in a medically induced coma which is going to give her brain a little time to recover from the imbalance. But she should be awake in a day at the latest." Dr.Johnson, the neurosurgeon who had taken up my sister's case told us. He was also my mom's old friend from college.By the time I had reached the hospital, and as I had expected, my mother was found in a miserable state. Since my father was not around and we had still not been able to contact him, she was visibly terrified.Shortly after I had consoled her, the neurosurgeon walked out of the OR to update us on my sister's condition."Are you saying she survived? That she's going to be okay?" My mother asked in disbelief. Since it was a brain injury, I couldn't blame her for calculating the worst outcomes. I was well aware of the risks of brain surgery, although death is not always an outcome, there is a high risk of memory loss, loss of speech