7 DAY 04

DAY 04

In the city A, at the Wool's orphanage, the kids were playing in the yard. Most of them were below ten, they were running around. The matron was sitting with some smaller kids, reading them a story. The kids were sitting around her in a semi-circle.

She had a serene expression on her face, as she read the book. The children seemed to be quite interested in the story as all of them were sitting there quietly, against their usual rumbustious nature. This scene was interrupted when a black Audi, stopped in front of the orphanage. Some of the older kids seeing, and perhaps recognizing the car, rushed towards the door.

Ethan Grey, stepped out of the car and upon seeing the kids running towards him, he had a small smile tugged on his lips. The matron, upon seeing him smiled and passed the book to one of the older kids and moved towards him. He started mingling with the kids in the garden. Upon seeing her coming towards him, he spoke.

"How have you been doing, Teresa,"

"You do know, that is not my real name kid. You should stop with that now. You have already grown beyond such teasing," she said reminding him of his age, nonetheless her facial expressions indicated her happiness at his arrival.

"Who goes to the trouble of remembering so many names, Teresa is a fine name for you, you know like that Mother Teresa, perhaps you should really consider changing it to that." He said while frowning as in deep thought.

"You should stop with your antics. Come on kids, give Dr. Ethan some room. Join me inside." She said while moving indoors.

He high fived some kids and followed her inside.

"You don't have to do this Ethan; you already treat all the kids here free of charge. This is your money. You don't owe us anything." She said while looking at the cheque for 10,000$. He would always bring a cheque with the same amount twice a year. She knew that he earned well. But even then, this was not a small amount. Other children who grew up here also came by but none as regularly as him.

She looked at the child now become man, with pride in her eyes. He had always been an enigma. To most of the people he was a rogue, rude child while for those he cared about he would do anything. She was perhaps among the only few, who knew about his true goal. Though he was peculiar and prickly, he was like her own child and she could be proud of being related to him.

"You don't have to worry about it. Get some new books, some treats and kids will smile a bit more. That is more than reason enough." She could feel the sincerity in his words. He was drinking tea, that she had prepared. Looking at him, she could see that he was not his usual self, he was troubled and she knew there was little that could trouble him.

"What is wrong, you seem troubled?" she asked knowing him he would bottle it up and tell no one. Hopefully she could get him to share his worries with her.

He looked at her, his eyes widening a bit. Then he chuckled, "You could always read me like an open book."

He took a sip of the tea. Both of them were silent for a minute or so, then he spoke in a soft voice,

"I found her," Her eyes widened. She, of course, knew whom he meant. He had been searching for her for more than a decade now. If one thing she knew about him was that he was not normal. Yes, he was brilliant but his past made it almost impossible for him to be normal. The closest he got too normal was when she was with him. Then she had just vanished, poof gone into thin hair. He had become queer since then, he worked to the bone became a doctor, only for her.

Her expression softened remembering the destined lady," Where?"

''In this city, she had changed her name. You know, I often thought whether becoming a doctor was right or not. Perhaps I should have joined the Police or become a detective, but one day she just came into the hospital." He laughed at that, it was filled with both pain and joy. " At that moment I knew that it was all worth it."

"So, when I am going to see her again," I asked with genuine curiosity.

"Not anytime soon, she needs help and I don't even know how to begin." She could see him struggling to control his emotions.

"Perhaps, you just have to remind her of who she once was and she could help herself." She said giving him her advice hoping to ease his worries.

"Well, it getting late. I will visit again. If you have any problem."

"Call you immediately, if you can not be reached then call Mark, I know Ethan I may have gotten old but I can still remember things quite fine. Thank you very much" she completed his regular monologue.

She got up and hugged him, "You will get through it, don't worry too much. Things will work out. They always do for good people."

"I hope so. I hope so too," he murmured while returning the hug.

At the dinner table at Goldstein's, there was an additional person sitting at the table. The lady was continuously pouring food into his plate, ignoring her own daughter and husband. Both of whom were amused the situation of their guest.

"You don't have to worry about weight. You are very slim; you could put on some without an issue."

He smiled wryly at her; with the amount she was feeding it would be more than a couple of pounds.

"How has Julia been in class, has she behaved properly?" she asked eliciting an eyeroll from her daughter.

"She is quite smart and hardworking. She has her own group of closely knit friends, all of whom are quite interesting." He answered her for the probably the tenth time.

"You never did tell, why did you decide to become a teacher," at this question everyone at the table was paying attention to him.

"Ah well, it was to clear some time to settle some past issues. This would also help me in my degree. So, it was a win win."

"Hmm, its good there aren't many doctors as capable as you in the city." Mr. Goldstein said from the side.

"Well, there aren't many teachers like him as well," Julia chipped in her praise.

After some time, the dinner ended he said his good bye and went back home. During the journey his thoughts continued to drift to one single person. The person who had driven him to becoming who he was, yet were broken themself. He couldn't stand it. He hated this. The color and hope drained out of those eyes. He would fulfill his promise, to see those eyes shining again, even if it was the last thing, he did.

He had always known that he was not normal, of course his circumstances may have played a big role in him becoming like this, but he was far from normal. He was driven, some would say even obsessed yet what would they know of him, they could call him a fool for destroying his career, call him an idiot for doing what he was doing yet for him everything he ever did were a means to and end, his career money and accomplishments were all means to a very specific end. The end which was now in his sight.