The Encounter

"All I want is you!" The shadow roared and made a reach for her. 

Scarlett awoke with a scream drawing the attention of her sister who rushed to her aid. 

"Scarlett! Are you okay?" Vivian helped her sit upright, her dear sister was drenched in sweat while her chest was heaving. 

"Where am I?" Her gaze darting around the ward curiously but the strong smell of disinfectant answered her question before her sister did. 

"You're in a hospital, don't you remember?" 

Scarlett pressed her hand on her temple, her head was throbbing severely. 

"Remember what?" 

"You were sprawled out on the floor unconscious when I came into your apartment this morning, you scared the hell out of me" Her sister explained but Scarlett was far from the word called listening; she was immersed in her thoughts. 

The only thing she could remember was someone playing a ghost prank on her, she would investigate this case thoroughly; who dared to play her?! 

"You shouldn't stress yourself about the wedding, I'm here to help you out" 

"Huh?" She was lost. 

"The doctor said you're suffering from fever, stress, and malnutrition, you don't even have time to eat properly these days" Vivian complained. 

Fever? Perhaps, that must have caused her to hallucinate yesterday's events.

"Fine, I'll listen to you this time" she agreed just so her sister could stop nagging about her health. 

"Speaking of which, your Prince charming is here". 

Thanks to Vivian's suggestive gesture, she could already surmise her fiancé was here. 

"Hey" 

"Hey" 

Jasper bent and kissed her on the cheeks before hugging her briefly. 

"You shouldn't have called him" Scarlett chided her sister, "When you know he's a busy man" 

"What do you mean not to call me?" Jasper frowned down at her, "No matter how busy I am, how can I ignore my fiancée in the hospital?" 

"But - "

"No, but " He hushed her with an admonishing look, "You're very important to me and nothing would change that" Jasper confessed, intertwining their hands together. 

Vivian who couldn't take this level of public display of affection any more gushed out "My God, you both are a match made in heaven! "

"Keep your voice down," Scarlett instructed her while trying to hold back the blush staining her cheeks, "You are disturbing the other patients "

"I know, but I'm just so happy for you," Vivian told her, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes. 

God, how could she forget, her sister was a sucker for romance. Even at cinemas, a heart-stirring romantic scene was enough to make her cry a gallon of tears. 

"What is it? "Scarlett asked her fiancé who had an odd look on his face. 

"I should get you a separate room, " Jasper said, scrunching his nose in disapproval at the people walking up and down the ward and passing curious gazes at them. 

They put her in a 4-bed ward, so she was sharing a suite of rooms with other patients though there were curtains to demarcate their beds. 

"No, you don't need to. I'm fine the way I am, besides it's wasting your resources and I'll be discharged - " She tried to change his mind but he wouldn't hear of it. 

"If it's for you, then so be it. All my resources are there for you to spend" 

"So romantic". Vivian squealed by her side. 

Though it sounded cheesy, her heart couldn't help but miss a beat. 

Scarlett's love story was the cliché version of a poor girl meets a rich boy and they fall in love at first sight. 

The only exception was the fact she didn't face the stereotypical rich-parents-thinks-she's-not-good-enough-for-their-son-and-settles-her-with-a-cheque.

Jasper's parents accepted her with open arms and now, all they were expecting was for them to get married and produce grandchildren. 

Soon enough, she was moved to a VIP room which probably cost him thousands of money, forgetting the fact she would be discharged tomorrow. 

"By the way" started Jasper who was peeling off the skin of the apple for her, "My best man would be arriving Creek city today" 

Her brow furrowed, " Best man?" 

"My friend I told you about" 

"Ah, yes ". She didn't remember a thing. 

Unless people made a notable first impression, Scarlett had a hard time remembering that person. She wasn't always like this but after that accident years ago, she had problems with her memories. 

"Once he's here, both of us would go over my bachelor party plans and the rest of the wedding arrangements," he explained to her. 

"Sounds nice" Said Scarlett, chewing her apple. 

"And by the way, my parents want us to spend the night at their place after you're discharged"

Scarlett was surprised, why the sudden spend- the-night- over? This was the first time they were requesting such and for some strange reason, she was nervous. 

"Did something happen?" 

Jasper blinked, "No, of course not" he dropped the knife on the nightstand since he was done.

"They just want to spend some time with us before we get married" 

Scarlett knew Jasper was lying to her, he looked disturbed and she had a feeling it had to do with the sleepover at his parent's place tomorrow. 

She swallowed nervously, she and Jasper had not done it yet because they decided to wait until their wedding night - the only thing they had done so far was hold hands and makeout. 

But her fiancé was the only son and child, even without being told, she had sensed the pressure mounted on him by his parents to produce a heir as soon as possible. 

Scarlett reached out and held his hand, stroking it tenderly with a warm smile "You know I'm always here for you right?" 

He looked down, then smiled up at her, "Of course" 

Jasper drew her into a hug before pulling back, his gaze flickering to her red lips, and began to lower his head. 

Scarlett shut her eyes when she saw him advancing towards her slowly; she now felt his breath on her face. Just a little more and - the phone rang disrupting the romantic mood. 

She pulled back with a jerk while Jasper shot up to his feet, phone pressed against his ear, his face flushed. 

"Hello…. sure, I'll be there" he said and ended the call. 

"Duty calls" 

"Go, I'll be fine besides, my sister would be here to keep me company" 

"Alright" Jasper placed a peck on her cheeks and left without seeing the shadow form watching them with fire in its orbs. 

Scarlett was bored out of her mind, not even the movie playing on the television could calm her down, and decided to have a walk. 

She was walking in the hospital hallway with her thoughts all over the place while feeling her engagement ring when it slipped from her hand to the marble floor. 

In haste to pick it up, she was not looking and bumped into someone hard; bringing both of them to the ground.