Never forget that
Never forget that
"Mia?"
She opened her eyes. It took her a moment to remember it wasn't Leo but Louis.
"Sorry for waking you up. I brought you something to eat." He said.
Mia tried to sit up. Thankully, she felt a lot better than she was the previous day and two nights ago after returning from the police station.
"How are you?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said honestly. She felt like an empty shell. She was just living through each day like an empty vessle which is going to break at any moment.
"What about your physical health? Your vitals look better then they looked yesterday. You feel pain? Discomfort anywhere?"
She shook her head in response.
"Freshen up and have breakfast. I will come pay you a visit in an hour. Good?" He said while leaving her medicine beside the bowl of soup on the tray with a written instruction.
"They smell badly. Can you give me a shot instead?" She said, eyeing the medicine warily.
"No. You have to take them if you want to get better."
Mia sighed. Why was he suddenly acting all professional?
After he left, she went to the bathroom. Everything inside was neat and new. It was only now that she realised this was probably a VIP room. A thought came to her to run away but where was she running to? Leo's house! They would find her there. But she hadn't asked them to treat her or bring her to the hospital right? So she won't be charged for it... right?
She had stopped taking part time jobs a while ago, the money she first borrowed from her friends and Mr B had been used to pay up part of the debt before Leo paid everything in full. The money won from the dance was naturally meant to be used to repay Mr B so she didn't have money to spare for hospital bills.
While still thinking about it, she left the bathroom and realised she had visitors.
"Hey!" Jeremy said.
Mia smiled a little before returning to the bed wearing a new hospital robe. She looked better, smelled better and felt better.
"How are you doing? I came twice yesterday but you were asleep."
"I had no idea you came. I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Chloe said to say hi to you. She wanted to come here but you know... she didn't want to bump into her parents."
Mia nodded in understanding.
"I brought you your phone. And Chloe wanted me to let you know that Leo has been trying to reach you and is worried about you."
"Really?" She asked in surprise and quickly grabbed her phone before turning it on.
"He called this morning. When your number didn't go through, he called Chloe who told him you were in the hospital. She suggested he called Louis so you can speak with him but I think Louis' line was unreachable."
True to Jeremy's word, Mia saw several text messages. She saw three messages from Leo, there was one from her mother, one from Mr B and one spam text. She didn't think twice before dialing Leo's number.
"I see you already have something here to eat. But I brought you breakfast anyway. So I will leave you speak with him and return later. You should get well soon. Our official graduation is in two days. You must be there!"
"Thank you."
Before Jeremy walked out, she had already clicked open Leo's messages.
"Babe? Been trying to reach you but it's been unavailable. Is everything okay?" That was the first one on the thread. The next one followed,
"Please Mia. I am begging you. Whenever you turn your phone on, give me a call. Please. I love you."
"You are making me worried sick. Please give me a call. I do not know what happened, but please call me let's talk about it. I am going crazy here."
Mia could literally hear his voice and the worry etched in it.
As if he knew she had turned on her phone, his call came in.
She answered immediately and heard the relief in his voice.
"Please tell me you are okay?" He asked first.
Hearing his voice broke something in her and she began to cry. This was the voice she had been yearning to hear. The person she wanted so badly to meet.
Leo tried his best to make her calm. He was really beginning to regret this trip. After she was calm, she explained everything to him. That also led to another round of tears.
"I'm so sorry Mia. I feel it's my fault for causing you this heartache."
"No. It's not your fault. I guess it was time for us to know about his whereabout. If you didn't ask the private investigator to search for him, we wouldn't have known about it and those evil people would have continued using other people. I only pray the police apprehend their leader soon."
Leo sighed. When he asked the private investigator, he knew it was going to be a fifty-fifty chance. In fact, the possiblity of him being dead looked greater. But for Mia's sake, he prayed for otherwise. Too bad his prayers wasn't answered.
"I am sorry I am not there to comfort you. Please, take care of your health. I will not tell you to stop crying but please, take care, eat, take your meds and be happy. Please? You do not have to worry about the hospital bills. Everything has been sorted out already. As long as Louis wants you to stay in the hospital, stay there. You can trust him. He is good at his job."
Mia agreed. She felt a lot better after speaking with him.
"I love you Mia. Do not ever forget that."
"I love you too. Do not forget that either."
A few minutes after the call ended, Louis came in.
"You look a mess." He said when he saw her teary face.
"I'm sorry for coming just now. There was an emergen—" He paused and frowned when he noticed she hadn't touched the food he brought in earlier, neither had she taken the meds.
"What is the meaning of that? Do you know that missing a dose or taking it at the wrong time could make this whole treatment useless?"
"I'm sorry. I was distracted." Distracted by Jeremy and Leo.
"I'm going to sit here until you finish eating. I'll give you 10 minutes to finish up." He said before going to sit on the couch opposite her bed.
He picked up the entertainment magazine left for patients and began to flip through it.
As Mia ate, she stole glances at him a couple of times. If only that was Leo.