The apartment was quiet. The man tiptoed inside the living room heading immediately to one of the bedrooms. He could hear soft breathing as he turned the door knob. Inside the room was a girl sleeping peacefully her mouth curved in a gentle smile. She must be having a happy dream. The man thought as he took note of her pregnant stomach rising up and down with each breath she takes. He walked silently towards her bed, as he neared her he lowered his hand as if to touch her face. With his fingers an inch away from her face, the man felt his hand shake nervously and he paused. He didn't want to wake her. He shoved both his hands inside his back pockets and stood staring at the girl for a long time.“Jiro…” He heard her whisper a name. The man frowned, who was Jiro? The only friend she mentioned was her best friend Ella.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Jiro…I still care about you, I’m sorry I can’t stop my heart from loving you…but I don’t want the burden of messing up your life…sorry…” The young girl’s voice was filled with such sadness and regret the young man knew whoever Jiro was…he was somebody important to her. The smile on her face a few minutes ago was now replaced with a bittersweet sadness. Tears rolled down her cheek, eyes still closed, she was crying in her sleep. As gently as possible, the man took a tissue and wiped her tears.
The girl continued to tossed and turned as if she was having a bad dream. The young man took one of her hands and held it in his. He did not say anything. The girl whimpered, the other hand raised up in the air as if trying to block an attack.
"Please don't! Please don't hurt me...don't hurt mom!" She begged, her body shivering in fear, she was groaning her face now covered with sweats.
"Shhh...Ariel, you're safe, everything is fine."
He took both her hands and held it securely against his chest.
Ariel squeezed his hands so tight her finger nails pierced his skin and tiny drip of blood fell on the blanket.
He held her hands for a long time, gently stroking it until her hands were no longer cold, he held it until she stopped tossing and turning, he held her hands in his until her face was again sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face. With a huge sigh of relief the young man covered her with a blanket and turned off her bedroom light. He walked inside his room and immediately lie on the bed exhausted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"MOM!" Ariel shouted and bolted up from her bed. She was covered in sweat, her hair felt damp and...there was blood on her blanket. She reached for the Kleenex box on her nightstand and realized her finger nails had smudges of blood on it. What happened? She wondered and looked at her hands. She didn't have any scratches so the blood was from someone else. How did she get blood on her nails? Ariel wondered as she headed to the restroom to wash her hands. Joe forgot to turn off his bedroom light. Ariel wondered if he was still awake as she walked silently passed his room. She went inside the restroom and quickly washed her hands. Could the bloods on her nails be Joe's blood?
Joe was sprawled on his bed without any blanket. Ariel rubbed her stomach and whispered to Hope,
"Darling, look how tired your daddy is. He forgot his blanket."
He was lying on top of his blanket, Ariel knew she did not have the strength to pulled the blanket from under him. She searched his room for something else to cover him. This is the first time I'm in his room. She thought as she searched his room for a blanket. The room was filled with pictures of his girlfriend and him, there was pictures on top of the nightstand, the closet and the huge bedroom mirror.
Every picture seemed to have special meanings, there were the kindergarten pictures, Tiffany with her ponytail and Joe pulling it. The middle school pictures of Joe secretly admiring Tiffany while she grinned widely as if the whole world belonged to her, then there were the high school pictures of Joe and Tiffany hugging, kissing, every action seemed to indicate their love and affection for one another. It was obvious Joe truly love his girlfriend.
Staring at the pictures, Ariel felt her heart skipped a few beats and something else...an aching kind of pain, but she didn't know what it was. It felt as if her heart was breaking? She wondered why she was suddenly feeling so sad and lonely... it must be because of guilt. She felt guilty for hurting two people who are so perfect for one another. Sighing, Ariel went in her room and grabbed one of the blankets she knitted for Hope and covered it over Joe. Soft, pink knitted square shape bunny blanket. For someone so rich, he didn't even have an extra blanket.
Ariel tugged the knitted blanket under Joe's chin and was about to leave when she saw the cuts on his hands. She stopped and stared at his hands.
"Joe..." She whispered, so it was him...it was his blood.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked as she gently cleaned his wounds. She remembered in her dream there was moments when she didn't feel scared. She felt as if someone was protecting her, shielding her from her fear. It was Joe... she was holding his hands, he was the one protecting her.
"So instead of waking me up, you let me hurt you? Stupid." Ariel chided him as she wrapped gauze around his hand.
"You and Hope need to rest, that's why I didn't wake you up." Joe replied. Ariel glanced at him surprised that he was awake.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You didn’t, I couldn’t sleep.”
Ariel tied the gauze and took Joe’s other hand and placed it on her lap.
“It’s going to sting a little bit.” She warned as she applied antibiotic cream on his hand. Joe didn’t respond. She lowered her head and carefully wrapped his hand with gauze.
“All done. You can go back to sleep.” Ariel said with a smile. The smile froze as her eyes met his. He was staring at her, there was something different about the way he was looking at her.
“Why are you staring at me?” She asked curious.
“I’m not staring.” Joe protested his eyes twinkling with mirth at her, she was quick.
“Okay…but I feel weird when you’re looking at me like that. Are you okay today Joe?”
Ariel asked and placed her hand on his forehead. Joe took her hand and covered it with his.
“Ariel….”
“Yes?”
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
He gazed at his hand covered over hers for a few seconds before he placed her hand back on her lap.
"Joe? Let's go see my mom. I've been dreaming about her lately...let's go see her in the morning."
"Ariel....I...." Joe couldn't say it. He couldn't tell her the truth about her mom. He couldn't tell her about her father. Ariel grinned at him waiting patiently.
"...I...can I hold Hope for a little bit?" He asked instead.
Ariel nodded. Joe lift his body up in a sitting position and lowered his head on her stomach. Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around Ariel expecting her to pull away from him, but she didn't. He could feel Hope and Ariel's heart beating steadily as one. Safe, thank god you’re both safe. Joe kissed the round tummy and pressed his ear closer. Joe smiled sadly and whispered,
"Hi there baby Hope, it's me your dad..."
Ariel grinned,
"Hope, tell daddy of course it's him, I wouldn't let anybody else pressed their face on my tummy except daddy."
Such simple words, such simple truthful response, yet Joe felt his eyes filled with tears and unwillingly it fell one by one, drip by drip down Ariel's shirt.
