Three Thousand Miles (12 page)

“Alanna,” Michael says bitterly. I lean my head back and look up at him, with my stinging eyes.

“Yes, Michael?” He has a considerate look on his face.

“How are you?” I clear my throat and whisper.

“Physically I am fine, but I am an emotional wreck.”  Michael shakes his head,

“Alanna, why are you crying?”

“Adrian called me; he told me he never loved me.” He rolls his eyes
at my words
,

“That bastard, I could kill him for the way he is acting.” I sigh and I have never seen Michael look so disappointed in someone.

“He said I was harassing him, he wants no contact with me, and what will I do?” Michael walks over to my bedside; he sits on the edge of my bed and takes my hand in his. His long thin fingers intertwine with mine and my skin tingles at his touch. With his other hand he lifts up my chin, my hair
falls over my face with my movement
and Michael carefully pushes it back. He looks deeply into my eye
s, and I gaze into his. This man
saved my life, his braveness overtook the fear that was inside
of
him as we ran for our lives. He stepped in front of a bullet for me and sitting here with him, I feel that I am bonded with him even more than I was before. I briefly close m
y eyes and the taste of Michael’s
kiss floods back to my memory. I feel his hand again on my chin and I open my eyes, I look into his ocean blue
eyes
.

“I never thanked you for saving me,” he smirks and
his
lips twitch to form a great smile. He exhales and I can feel his breath against my cheek.

“You are most welcome Miss Hart.” He says in a posh accent. I smile at him and I lean back a little from him. He notices my movements and
he
quickly walks back over the chair. I stare at him and he stares back. There is no doubting that there is some type of chemistry between us. His bold stare sees right through me and I feel uneasy in his presence. I bite my lip as I lock my eyes on his. I catch my breath and
I
say,

“Michael, have you heard from Adri
an?” He exhales deeply.

“No, he hasn’t called me; I am annoyed with the bastard.”

“Tell me about it,”
I say as I roll my eyes deep into their sockets.

“He said that he didn’t
love you?”

“Yes, he said that
he never has and never will, now I am bound to the fact that everything we had was, just a lie.” Michael shifts forward in the seat; he rests his arms on his legs.

“Alanna, you and I both know that he is lying. He loves you, I know him and he is just trying to put you off him.”

“Do you really think so?” Michael gets off the seat and briskly walks over to me. He again sits on the edge of my bed,

“Alanna, he is crazy about you. However, he feels that you are better off without him. He is trying to push to you away and it looks like it is working.” I push m
y hair back from my face as I reply
,

“Michael, you have to talk to him, he will listen to you.”

“No, Alanna he won’t, if he has this set in his mind, no one will talk him out of it.” Michael removes his hand from my face, but immediately places it on my arm. I again tingle at his touch,

“Michael, what about you
r
f
ather, has Adrian talked to him?”

“No, he has not had any contact with my
f
ather. We don’t know where he is.” I jolt forward with anticipation.

“He has to be in France, there is nowhere else he could be.”

“Alanna, my
f
ather has flown to St Tropez, he is not there.” I wrinkle my forehead in disbelief, where else could Adrian be?

“What about his company?”

“He has put Jeff in charge, trust me when I
say
,
no
-
one knows where he is.” I am astonished and I run my finger along my lips as I think. Adrian is being careless, if he does not want to be with me, then that is fine. However, he should not jeopardise the empire that he has built, over me. I feel that he is being foolish in his actions. He will only find himself to be miserable if he does not regain the power that he has.

“Michael, you have to talk to him.”

“Alanna, I would not give that
idiot
the
pleasure.”

“Don’t talk about him like that.” I pull my arm away from Michaels grip and
he
looks astounded
at
my movements.

“I will talk about that fool in any way I want.” I tut rather loudly,

“You aren’t funny, or clever. You pretend that you do not care about him, but I can see right through you. You are more worried about him than anyone else.” I frustrate Michael; he rises up quickly and sits again on the chair.

“I
doesn’t
matter if I am worried or not, he is an idiot for the way he is treating you.
” I slide the bed covers off my legs
, and
I
edge out of the bed. Michael immediately stands up and approaches me. I look up into his eyes,

“Michael, you don’t fool me; I know
that
you are hurting over him.” He sits down next me and he slides is arm over my shoulder, he pulls me close to him and whispers in my ear,

“Sweetheart, I am hurting but in a different way to you. I promise you that, I will always be here for you. I will never abandon you in the way he has.” I rest my head against his shoulder and I close my eyes. For a second, I pretend that everything is okay and that Michael is my one and only man.

Four

“Wonderful, I must thank you sincerely for looking after my
d
aughter.” I hear my mom say as looks up at Dr James.

“It has been my pleasure and I have enjoyed getting to you know all of you.” He says beaming. I whistle gently while I finish my packing. My mom looks over and smiles to me.

“Happy my dear,
” I glance over to my mom and flash a friendly smile.

“I will be glad to back to normal.” I admit. I thro
w
my wash bags into my overnight bag and zip it up. I walk into the bathroom and switch on the light. I glance over the surfaces to see if I have forgotten anything. I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My hair is hung freely down my back and is massively curly, my eyes are huge and I can see that despite the pain they still
have their sparkle. My lips are full and are as red as rose. I have chosen to wear a lo
o
se
-
fitting sweat suit, my stomach area is still rather tender and I do not want to aggravate my sti
t
ches by wearing tight clothing. I have not looked fully at the extent of the scaring, although I know that it is prominent. I sigh and stare at my reflection, I am thrilled that I am leaving hospital however; I am very disappointed that Adrian will not be there when I get out. My life will be very different now and
,
I have come to realize
,
things will never be the same again.

“Alanna, are you ready?” My
m
om shouts. I look again at the girl staring back in the mirror; I exhale and switch of
f
the light as I close the door behind me. I walk over to my bags and I see that my
m
om has already lifted them from the bed.

“Mom, let me help, give me one of the bags.” I say reaching my hand out to her. She quic
kly swats away my hand.

“N
o,
A
lanna I can manage.” I sigh, as I
pout
my lips at her and then I turn to Dr James. His deep brown eyes are wide and beaming, but somehow he still looks deeply sadden
ed
. I walk over to him and smile up at the six foot
-
two, dark haired doctor.

“James, are you, okay?” He nods his head quickly.

“Of course, I am fine.” I tilt my head to the side and narrow my eyes at him. “Really Alanna, I am good.” Somehow, I do not believe him. He looks very miserable and I am almost sure that it has something to do with Emma. I feel compassion towards him; I know how hard it is to love someone, who fights their feelings with everything they have. I understand how James feels about Emma, as it is similar to the way I feel, about Adrian. I get his emotions and I know the pain that he has to fight every day.  Loving Emma is what defines hi
m
and
I
hate to see the despair in his eyes whilst love is not returned.

“Okay, I will miss our daily chats, we must stay in contact.” I say lovingly to him.

“Yes
absolutely
,
I will call you, look after yourself.” He says.

“J
ames, did you ever call Emma?” H
e looks down at the floor and then back to me again.

“I saw her the other day; things are still the same between us. She will not open up and tell me how she feels. I do not know what else I can do. I have told her
repeatedly how I feel about her. She never responds and I
never get the answer that
I crave.” I feel sad at his words. He is hurting and I hate to see people in pain.

“I guess Emma has a lot in common with her brother.” James rolls his eyes and exhales very loudly.

“Has Mr Black still not contacted you?”

“He has, but what he said, I wish I never heard.” I feel the sting in my throat as I force out my words. A hot rush is flooding over me and I hate this feeling. Over the last few days, I have had to cope with this rush. My head starts to thump and my body temperature multiples, every time I think back on Adrian’s words.  I take a deep breath and close my eyes, every time I get the feeling. It soon fades off until the next time Adrian enters my mind. 

“He is an idiot to let you go.” I feel awkward hearing James slate Adrian. I know he means nothing in his words, but I still do not like to hear anything negative about him. He is my world and I love him.

“
Never mind, I guess I better get
going.” I say in a sweet voice. I look up at James who towers above me. I reach out my hand to shake his. However, I am surprised when James pulls me close to him and gives me a very tight hug. I stand in his grasp for a little while, but he hold
s on longer than I would like
. I gently pat him on his shoulder and I push him back slightly. He notices my movement and pulls away from me.

“Sorry, I needed that more than I knew.” I gently pre
ss a smile from my lips.

“I thought you said you were fine?” I insist. His smile quickly fades.

“I thought I was, but things have a way of creeping up on you, when you least expect it.” I give him another gentle hug and then I make my way over to my
m
om who is waiting by the door. I gaze back at the room and it is filled with many
memories, that
I would rather forget.

“Goodbye, for now,” I say to James as I push open the oak the door.

I walk rapidly down the hallway of the hospital with my
m
om, in complete silence. We approach the front door and I walk out into the cold. I feel like an ice block as I open the car door. I look around at the busy hospital entrance and I take in the view. There is several yellow cabs all parked in a straight line, the drivers wait outside their cabs and rub their hands together trying to fight off the frostiness of the cool air. I notice a young girl about my age, standing alone. She looks as if she is in terrible pain and there is no
-
one around her. I see her clench her teeth and bow down in pain. I immediately walk over to her and ask her
is
she okay
.

“I am sorry to bother you, but are you, o
kay?” S
he looks up at me and forces out words.

“Yes… I am okay, thanks for asking.” Something in her voice tells me that she is lying. I walk closer to her and ask
I
again.

“Are you sure, you look as if you are in pain.” I say and the girl again buckles over in pain, she grabs my arm and pulls me towards her. I jolt forward and I try to keep my balance on the icy street.

“Maybe, I am in a little pain. Could you reach into my bag and pul
l out my pills?” I immediately
do as she says. I reach into her brown leather backpack and take out a small bottle of pills.