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“I know, I’m sorry. I swear I’ll give you a name this weekend. I’ll have someone by Saturday,” I promise. He purses his lips, dropping his head. My heart feels heavier. All the weight on my shoulders falling onto it.
He looks up again before continuing, “Okay, we’ll continue with some more scheduling and planning in the meantime,” he says. He gets out of the chair and walks to the shelf with all the files on it. My phone vibrates on the table, urging me to pick it up and see who it is. Lorenzo. I tap the notification to open the chat and read his message.
Lorenzo:Hey Val
Lorenzo:I know you’re in a meeting now and you need to be focused
Lorenzo:but you told me to tell you immediately after
Lorenzo:Elias has broken his arm but it isn’t too serious
Lorenzo:they say it will heal in less than three months
I inhale a sharp breath, reading the messages again. He broke his arm. He has a broken arm! For three months. Tears start burning in the back of my eyes. It’s broken. Like full on, has to wear a cast, broken.
Oliver comes back to the table, and I drop my phone back into my bag, then look back at him. He drops some files on the tabletop, but stops when he looks back up. His posture straightens more. “Val, are you okay?” he asks. No. No, I’m not okay. I am horrible. I am a horrible person.
“Mm-hmm. I’m fine,” I lie again. I hate lying, but it comes natural to me when I’m upset. When I’m stressed. It’s like a reflex, I can’t control it.
He nods his head and starts distributing different files. I swallow whatever’s in my mouth and get up to walk toward the sink. I grab a drink of water, and tears start to surface in my eyes. The cup of water stays under that tap, an excuse to stay where I am. I take deep breaths, closing my eyes. I need to calm down. It’s going to be okay. I just get this meeting done, and then I can figure out the rest. I can do that. I wait until my eyes are dry enough before turning off the stream of water, then take the cupwith me to the table. Oliver then starts talking, and I try my best to focus on his words. But my mind isn’t here. I’m not here. So many thoughts run through my head, I just want them to settle. Take a break. Give me a break. Some peace of mind, just till this meeting finishes.
I need some peace of mind.
Chapter 49 – Trentasei
Val
Three months. A broken arm for three months. How could I let that happen? He can’t use both his hands for three months. A broken bone, it even sounds painful. And I was it’s main cause. I haven’t seen him yet, and I didn’t get to ask Lorenzo anything else. I don’t know if Elias is angry at me, or even upset. But either way, I need to go see him. I need to check on him. Most importantly, I need to apologize. A thousand times if I can.
I search the school, waiting to get a glance of him anywhere. How is he going to hold his bag? Or his stuff? Maybe he needs help. Maybe he’s outside. I rush down the staircase and to the entrance. School doesn’t start for another ten minutes, but Elias is always early. Why isn’t he here? Is it that bad?
When I get to the entrance, I find Elias and Aurora walking inside. He’s wearing a beige sweater and pants. His left arm is in a sling, wrapped around his opposite shoulder. I let out a breath,looking at the cast. A whole cast. The ladder caused him to wear a whole cast and arm sling.
Aurora is next to him, wearing jeans and a white shirt. Her straight hair is tied up, and she’s holding two bags. One on her shoulder, one in her hand. I guess one of the bags belongs to Elias. She’s talking, but I’m unable to hear what she’s saying.
Elias then turns around, spotting me. Our gaze connects. There’s a spark in his eyes, one that almost touches my heart. My legs move automatically toward him. He walks closer until we meet in the middle. His hair is parted in the middle and waved away from his face. I notice the hint of tiredness in his expression as I get closer.
I hesitate at the words, speechless. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. What do I say? I have both too much to say and nothing at all. How can I not mess this up?
“Are you okay? Lorenzo told me about the results.” I’m able to ask.
A weak smile surfaces on his face, twitching even. “Yeah, I’m okay. It hurts a bit, but it’s not the worst. I’m taking painkillers which helps. It's not really much of a bother except when it’s touched,” He answers, calmly.
Without words, I nod. I don’t know why I’m nodding, but I do. Say something. Say something, Val. What is wrong with you?
“I’m sorry. About leaving yesterday. Something came up, and I didn’t know what to do, but I would’ve been late if I overthought it, so I went anyway. I shouldn’t have, I’m so sorry,” I blurt out. Fire burns at my face, as well as tears in my throat.
“It’s okay. The doctor took forever, I had expected you to go to class anyway. It’s fine,” he assures me. A million knots are tied in my stomach, pulling tighter and tighter.
“I’m really sorry. I should’ve been the one to take the hit, it was headed for me, anyway. I didn’t mean for—” I repeat, but I’m interrupted.
“Violet, it’s okay. I swear it is. And I’m glad I took the hit, because if I hadn’t, you would have gotten a bigger hit than I did. You were the target; the ladder would’ve hit your head or back, which would have been far more serious than this. I can deal with a broken arm, and if anything, no one caused it but me,” he tells me, taking a step closer to me. Heat drives into my body, and my heart picks up its pace.
“I shouldn’t have left. It was a horrible thing to do.”
“You didn’t have a choice. I don’t know what it was, but I know it must’ve been important, and I would’ve hated to ruin anything,” he reassures me, extending his right hand slightly just to brush his fingers against my hand. “I’m not upset, or angry. I’m just glad you were able to miss getting hit by that ladder.” He’s almost whispering. I skip another heartbeat.
“You’re sure?” I ask again, and he nods slowly.“Did anyone cause any problems? Why weren’t you here early?”
