Fan Fiction |
by Rain
Monday, 26th August 2002, 11:30pm
Raymond turned his keys, as quietly as possible, hoping that Michelle was already asleep. He peeked in the house, and found it dark. He heaved a sigh of relief thinking Michelle had already gone to bed. He did not return the night before but headed straight to his office after sending Tavia back to her house. They promised to think through their relationship. The whole day in his office, Raymond could not concentrate on his work. Flashes of Tavia and Michelle alternated in his mind, driving him to the edge.
Raymond sunk into the couch and closed his eyes. Almost instantly the flashes of their smiling faces flooded his mind. He sprung up, shaking his head.
“No!” he said furiously. “I’ve got to straightened this out with Michelle. I can’t hide this from her. I can’t cheat on her…”
He was about to make his way to their bedroom, when he stumbled over the luggage by the sofa.
Isn’t this Michelle’s? Why hasn’t she unpacked? He unzipped the bag to find it all still as packed as the day they had returned from hospital. He darted upwards, to find their bedroom empty, their bed smooth and looked untouched. Both their silk pajamas laid untouched by the feet of their bed.
Where could she be? He wondered, reaching for the mobile phone extension in their room and dialed Michelle’s number.
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“When can I be discharged Steven?” Michelle asked impatiently.
“Michelle! You just had a brain surgery a day ago. This is no joke. You’re not going to be discharged any time soon,” he said grimly.
“If I don’t get out any sooner, they’ll find me missing…” she said, wondering if Raymond had realized that she was missing. Maybe he’s still too occupied… She winced in pain.
“Mich? You okay?” Steven saw her agonizing expression.
Michelle held up her hand assuring him. “I just want to get out of here.”
Steven sighed, shaking his head. “That is just not possible.” He said one final time before leaving her room.
Michelle held her head that was bald for the operation. The bandage was thick. She felt some pain when her fingers touched the wound but she bit her lips to fight it. Slowly, she picked out the tubes stuck in back of her palms, and got down the bed. She felt a sudden daze overwhelming her, threatening to black out as soon as she was standing up, and held onto the bed for support.
Steven was not kidding after all…. She felt her limbs turned cold as sweat broke out from her forehead. She had felt just fine while lying on the bed, but that was totally different from standing on her two feet. Slowly she picked up her few belongings and changed into her clothes and left the hospital.
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Kevin and Niki were cuddling together in the couch, fighting for popcorns as they stared intently onto the square frame before them, displaying motions of people running about.
“This is so boring,” Kevin complained, yawning like a lion.
“You’re a pig, shut up, this is so touching… The girl’s dying and the guy has no idea…” Niki said stuffing popcorns into his wide open mouth to shut him up. Kevin choked on them, as he was sucking air in.
He coughed and stuck a finger down his throat helplessly. “Ohk… Ohok… ahak… help…” Niki did not remove her gaze from the screen but simply gave him a loud smack on his back.
“Ahhh…” Kevin gasped for air as the popcorn flew out of his throat. “You… nearly murdered me….” He pointed an accusing finger at Niki, his face still blue from the choke, but she couldn’t be bothered to notice.
Niki clasped her palm on his mouth, stifling his words. “Shhhh….”
There were two loud knocks on their door. “Jamwans jet e or” (Someone’s at the door) Kevin tried to shake Niki’s palm away but in vain. She seemed to have understood his words anyway and gave him a push.
“Sheesh, this is your place, shouldn’t you be answering it?” Kevin got up anyway and opened the door.
“Michelle?” he greeted in surprise. Niki finally was able to turn her gaze away upon hearing her best friend’s arrival.
“Mich? You’re visiting me so soon? You just discharged yesterday; I thought you should rest more…” Niki hopped up from her seat to find Michelle dragging her luggage in.
“Bu… uh…” Niki pointed at her luggage, lost for words. Michelle smiled sweetly as she could, tucking her lock of hair behind her ears.
Kevin gestured uncertainly. “I… uh... better go first.”
Niki closed the door after Kevin left, and sat down beside Michelle. “What’s wrong Mich? What’s he done this time?”
Michelle just shook her head slowly. “Nothing. It’s my problem.”
“Mich…” Niki touched her hand peering to look into her eyes. They were dry, but Niki had a feeling that they had just dried from a very long cry.
“I… I just need…” Michelle stammered, breathing heavily. “I just need… a divorce.”
Niki’s jaw gaped apart, but Michelle gave her no chance to question further.
“Please have it ready for me by tomorrow,” she added before leaving to the room she had always stayed in before her marriage.
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Tuesday, 27th August 2002
“Niki?” Raymond questioned her with his eyes. Niki nodded towards Michelle room, and he dashed inside, and began rapping it anxiously.
“Michelle? Do you hear me? Please open the door…” he pleaded. The door clicked unlock and he entered to find her sitting on the bed, her back facing him. He closed the door quietly behind him. He gently sat by her and put his arms on her shoulders, and stroke her hair, but she got up almost immediately.
“Mich… I…” he didn’t know where to begin. The courage he had collected to confess his deed seemed to have evaporated away.
“I want a divorce…” she said, shocking him tremendously.
“What? No! Mich… I… No…” he tried to change her idea. “Why?”
“Why not?” she spun around to face him.
“Can you tell me why not?” She asked softly but she didn’t sound like she was asking at all.
“Because… because…” he stuttered as hard as possible but the words ‘I love you’ just couldn’t sound from his throat.
She smiled and tapped his shoulder gently. “That’s why I want a divorce. But we’ll still be friends like old times…”
Raymond looked at her face that was shining with sincerity. She was not mocking him. She was so calm, so prepared… for their separation. He sighed and looked out of the window where a faint rainbow streaked the blue sky.
“The rainbow’s so dull today…” he mumbled.
Michelle gazed outwards and whispered almost silently. “The rainbows never ceased shining; it is us who stopped seeing…”
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Tuesday, 30th August 2002
“So what’s this I hear about you and Raymond…?” Jessica asked watching Michelle sipped her coffee not looking troubled at all. She replaced the cup onto its saucer, and nodded silently.
“I won’t ask why, because Vicki’s right, love has no reasoning…” Jessica’s mind floated back to Louis’ stillness in the hospital. “You ready?”
Michelle nodded again getting up from her seat. “Where’re we going?”
Jessica narrowed her eyes at Michelle’s face and found that she was seriously asking. “To get Niki’s stuff of course, we’ve been talking about this celebration since the day you awoke from your coma. Don’t you remember?”
We did? Michelle gulped down a cold feeling. “Whe…” she quickly stopped herself asking aloud again. When’s Niki’s birthday? How come I can’t remember?? Her head felt a twinge of pain as she tried hard to recall. Steven’s words echoed back in her head. No… so fast? How much else have I forgotten?
“Michelle?” Jessica peered at her friend who seemed lost in her thoughts. “You didn’t forget the celebration tonight did you?”
Michelle shook her head confidently. “Course not, how can I forget such an important day?” She flashed a convincing smile, but Jessica couldn’t help feeling that something was missing in her friend who just recovered, yet she couldn’t tell what it was.
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END of Chapter