Drowning

"Dr De Luca, may I ask who brought me here?" Calliope questioned. 

Valencia's smile froze and there was a hint of anxiety in her eyes. But she still replied in a soothing voice, "It was someone called Father Francis who is acquainted with my husband and my husband asked me to take particular care of you." 

"But the doctor from before didn't seem to particularly like you," Calliope retorted. 

"You are an observant, person," Valencia smiled as she took a seat next to her. "My husband is Nash De Luca. He is said to be an influential man here in this country. As you might have judged from my accent, I'm not a native. I'm from America. I settled here with my husband after our marriage. And when I found a job in this hospital, he, for some reasons, believed that buying me shares of this huge hospital for our first-anniversary gift was an incredible idea." 

Calliope's eyes widened as she understood what might have happened. People of their country weren't very tolerant of foreigners. And she was a woman. The status of women in their country was not as great as it was in American states. Men were old fashioned here. A foreign woman became a shareholder of such a big and influential hospital out of nowhere. 

"He wanted to make you happy but ended up creating problems for you," Calliope mumbled. 

Valencia laughed. "Nothing, I can't handle. Isn't just putting some feminist concepts in the mind of these old fashioned men? I think I can handle it all too well." 

Calliope smiled but didn't say anything because she couldn't understand what was going on with her. Something was not right. Why would father Francis ask Valencia De Luca to look after her? 

And what was her husband's name again? 

She had heard that name somewhere but couldn't remember where exactly. 

… 

When Valencia left Calliope's room, she found Callum sitting on the bench in the waiting area, rubbing his cold hand. She sighed and dragged the room heater that was switched on but no one was sitting near it. It had long enough wire to reach where Callum was sitting. 

When Callum felt warm rays on his legs, he looked down to see an orange glowing room heater placed near him. And then, he found Valencia who had placed it before him.

"It's not winter yet," Callum found himself saying. His heart had a hint of warmth that was never there before.

"Of course, it's spring, " Valencia rolled her eyes. She sighed and collapsed on the bench next to him. "When Nash told me you were losing your mind over a woman, I thought he was overreacting. I know he tends to overreact...but now I know he wasn't overreacting at all. You have been sitting on the same bench for hours now. It's raining non-stop outside. Instead of resting in a cosy blanket at home, you are enduring the brutal weather in the gloomy hospital, " She raised her gaze to look at his face. "This makes me want to ask, is she that important to you?"

Nash was not Callum's best friend only, he was a brother to him. They had lived as the same family for two decades now. And Valencia being Nash's wife was like a sister-in-law to him. He respected her as she was his brother-slash-buddy's wife and adored her like a younger sister. Thus, he found it offensively to lie to her.

When his heart refused to let Calli endure the pain without anyone by her side, he called Valencia because he knew his family would always be there to take care of someone who meant the most to him. And truly, he wasn't disappointed. Valencia had been by Calli's side from the moment the latter was brought to the hospital. 

"Call is very important to me, Val," Callum replied with a smile. "I don't know what she is to me. But what I feel for her can't be named yet."

"Do you like her Callum?" Valencia asked. It was he either liked her or he did not.

Callum sighed as he glanced at the closed door. His Calli was lying on the other side. He wondered if she was still in pain.

When he brought her out of the fire, she couldn't breathe. Her delicate face was ashen as if she was dying, slowly losing her breaths. He would never forget the feeling of sheer emptiness he had felt the moment he was told that Calli was stuck inside the fire. 

"If I know what I feel for her, wouldn't it save me time and energy?" Callum answered her question with another question. "I wish I could explain to you or myself what kind of feelings I have for her. All I know is that she is very important to me and I can't bear to see her in pain." 

"She is not the woman for you," Valencia said and Callum froze. "She is drowning. She has panic attacks every hour. She will be a huge emotional burden to you. And you know what makes her unfit for you? Her unwillingness to help herself. She is running away from herself. She knows she is in pain but she doesn't want to do anything to lessen the pain." 

No one could study a person like Valencia. Just one panic attack and she knew the girl had some mental and emotional baggage. She was feeling the pain. Noticing her wounds but not once did she ask for painkillers. It showed her unwillingness to put herself out of pain.

"You are not a psychologist, Valencia. You are a gynaecologist, " Callum retorted. Why was everyone saying that Calli was wrong for him? 

Does it matter if Calli was drowning? 

No, it didn't. Anyone could heal with care and patience. 

"Callum, you know I am making sense, " Valencia said with a sigh. "Yet you are refusing to accept it. She is a good woman, I can tell you. But just being good is enough for you? You are a man with great responsibilities. Can you give her what she needs?" 

"Valencia, you are saying as if I am going to marry her," Callum said. 

"Are you not?" Valencia narrowed her eyes. 

Callum fell silent as he didn't have anything to retort with. He liked Calli, wasn't it enough?