27 CHAPTER 26
"Ethan put me down, I can walk." Anna whispered with flushed cheeks as Ethan carried her from the car and inside her house. The Grandmother, Elora and Eva followed behind them chuckling at Anna's embarrassed face.
Anna had been discharged after three days from the hospital. Throughout the three days Anna had hardly had proper meal and was only surviving on the soup that the hospital provided. She had become quite weak but insisted to go home since her head injury was not severe. She stumbled a little while getting out of the car and that's when Ethan lifted her up in his arms and carried her in.
As they entered her room, Ethan slowly and carefully placed her on her bed as everyone else gathered around her. She looked really pale, and her eyes lacked the usual sparkle in them. The old lady held her hand, sitting beside her and Anna looked up at her before flashing her a weak smile.
"Take some rest, I will make you something light to eat."
She patted Anna's hair gently and kissed her forehead before walking out. Eva came to her side and hugged her, before taking a leave and Ethan left to help the Grandmother with the bags.
Elora carefully observed Anna who had zoned out looking out of the window. She knew her since Anna was in her diapers and was always close to her like her own mother.
Elora was never unhappy or depressed because she was still unmarried at 35, she had a loving family and Anna, who was like her own daughter. But things seemed to take an obtrusive turn when one day she got a phone call informing her about the accident of her brother and his wife. By the time she reached to the hospital, they were long gone.
She still remembered seeing Anna at the hospital that night, her tear stained cheeks and still eyes staring at nothing. She looked lifeless and pale just like she was sitting in front of her right now. Elora had just one question in her mind at the moment.
What was it that happened which brought Anna back to that horrible state again?
Raven walked into the company building in his charming black suit and three men following him behind and everyone was stunned to see the CEO after almost half a month. Gasps and whispers broke through the entire hallway as he walked past all the prying eyes, fixing his eyes on the document in his hand.
As soon as Raven was discharged from the hospital he took a day to calm his mind and now he was walking into his company after what seemed like ages to him.
He loved his work, more than anything. He could sit in his office and work all day without complaining a bit. He has been like that since, like forever. Until he met the girl who changed him, into someone he would never ever want to be again. She taught him how to smile which he rarely ever did now.
The first year after the horrible incident, his life was scattered into pieces and slowly, he started nursing a grudge against love, against her.
All the promises and vows that were made were not kept. She left him before their life even started together and that was one of the reasons he became more detached and insensitive than he was before he had met her.
As he entered his office, he dismissed the three men and took a seat at his table. Leaning back into his chair he inhaled deeply closing his eyes. He missed being in his office, mostly because work was the only thing that kept him busy and occupied, hardly leaving him any time to sit and think about whatever happened.
He saw the file tagged schedule on his table and sighed as he ran his fingers through it's edges, his eyes dancing over the brown, almost hazel coloured file. He fixed his gaze to the file and for a moment something flashed in his mind.
A pair of hazel eyes.
He flinched back. What was that? he thought, but shook his head as he opened the file and started running his eyes through it. He was ready to dive into work so that no memories of what happened in the past few days could bother him, if he remembered any.
Elora sat beside Anna on the bed after she had finished the bowl of soup. Anna leaned back and saw Elora staring at her with a straight face. She weakly smiled at her aunt before the small smile faded away from her lips.
Elora placed her hand over her folded ones and smiled. Anna shifted from her place and laid on her side, resting her head in her aunt's lap. She slowly brushed her fingers through Anna hair and she closed her eyes.
"Tell me Sweetheart"
She spoke and Anna opened her eyes. She did not have to ask what she was talking about because Anna knew her aunt could easily make out if anything was wrong with her even if no one else could.
"Hmm?" She caressed her head softly.
Anna stayed quiet, she wanted to tell someone, to let it all out but what would she say? That she lost control over herself and let him take over before he suddenly pushed her away like she was the biggest mistake in his life?
Elora brushed her hair away from her neck and under her ear.
"Something happened between you and him Annie. I know it"
Anna blinked and looked up at Elora from her lap, confused. Elora nodded before tapping the spot under Anna's ears which tickled her a bit.
"I saw a mark here the day you were taken to the hospital and it surely wasn't a mosquito bite"
She said softly and Anna blinked before bringing her fingers up and caressing that spot.
She recalled how he had sucked at her skin, the feeling of his lips and that feeling still sent shivers across her skin, but she never thought it would leave a mark. She looked up at Elora who was patiently waiting for her words of explanation.
"Tell me Annie, you know you can always confide in me"
She smiled and Anna felt a sting in her eyes, not trying to hold in anymore, she let out all the tears and hugged Elora while she rubbed Anna's back trying to calm her down. She cried on her shoulders and told her everything that happened. From the day she brought him home to the day he called her Noona to the day he came to stay with them and the time they shared the special moment together. A moment that lasted only so long.
Elora continued rubbing her back until she was quietly sniffing and not crying anymore. She pulled away from her and wiped Anna's tears with her bare hands.
"Annie, listen to me. I don't have much experience in dating or relationships, I hardly had any actually. But by the little what I have seen and observed and experienced, there is one thing I want to tell you"
Anna looked up her with her red puffy eyes and Elora smiled before speaking up.
"Once in our lifetime, we meet that person, who takes us to places no one else could. I am not saying it is the one for us, No. It may not be but on the other hand, it may be. I had met someone too but I was such a coward that I let him go."
Anna stared up at the lady with stunned eyes, "Why?" Her voice came out shaky and unstable.
"Because I could not handle it, the love and attention was something I had never experienced before and he was just so affectionate that I felt if tomorrow he left me, I would be totally shattered. I was really stubborn at that time, so before he would..."
"You walked away" Anna continued her broken sentence and she nodded.
"But I don't want that to happen with you. Sweetheart, remember one thing, if he is not the one for you, he will go on his own, he'll become a sweet memory at least. But if he is the one for you, you will bump into him again, he'll not just be a memory but will be the one with whom you'll create many. So don't let go like I did, until you're sure"
She smiled and Anna nodded slowly, understanding her words and hugged her again. She knew everything that her Aunt said was true. He had given her the affection and love, she had never felt before, from another man at least. He made her feel things, she had never felt before but was she ready to bump into him again?
She was not sure, she needed a sign. A hint by anything or anyone to know that she was going right and let's just say, God heard her prayers because she heard the door bell go off.
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A/N:- Someone asked for a double update, so later on, I'll update another chapter. Until then, Enjoy Babies❤️
