The Indifference of a Man Forgotten (BOOK I)

Chapter 29- Dreams of the Living

--Dahlia POV--

Convincing my dads' to let me go was probably one of the most difficult situations of my life, but it was all worth it when they said yes in the end.

I don't know how much time passed after that, but before I knew it, I had been discharged from the hospital, and was able to get comfortable in my own bed at home again. I'd visit the hospital a few times a week for my rehab, and now that a few months have passed, I'm able to walk around freely without crutches slowing me down.

My leg's healed, and my mental health is getting better, but I might just be fooling myself about that. Either way, the idea of suicide was getting further and further away from my mind; I know I'm not going to get better with the snap of a finger, it will take time, but for now, there's something that I'm looking forward to, and that's what I'm focusing on.

Isaac, my dad's, and Ava were the only people that knew of my plans to go to that village, and I planned to keep it that way. If the public found out, then that hidden place that was supposed to be a chunk of heaven will no longer be heavenly.

I'd hear my name pop up on the news every now and then about people wondering what happened to me, or what I planned to do from now on since I've retired from figure skating, but I tried not to pay too much attention to it.

I don't know what's happening to my birth mother; After traumatising me like that, that day, she disappeared, but my dad's are looking for her. Ava's going through her chemo right now, and she's growing weaker by the day, but I made sure to talk to her every day. Isaac's still the same as ever. And slowly, we're all falling into the routine of our own lives.

And then there was Marcos, he's not seen me face to face since that day I told him to leave, but I'd be a fool to not notice his presence near me. He was always there, but he didn't plan to approach me unless I called for him first, it was making it harder to get over him.

Space might be all we needed from each other, and what better timing than now? Since I'll be leaving for Scopello tomorrow, I doubt he'll be following me all the way there.

"It's looking great. You're getting better by the day, what do you think?" The doctor asked as he felt my leg, my X-ray showing on the screen behind him.

"Yeah, but I can't run for more than half a minute without it throbbing. And I don't know if it's because the leg is still healing, or if I've just become unfit from not exercising all these months," He chuckled at the reply.

"It could be both, but the prior point would make more sense. Remember, baby steps; Steadily increase the time, and you'll be fine, don't push yourself too hard. If your leg starts hurting then it's time to rest, your body communicates with you through pain, don't ignore it,"

"I won't. Don't worry, I've learnt my lesson after the first time,"

"Happy to hear that. But that should be enough for today's appointment, I'll prescribe you with another dosage of the pain meds since you said they worked. And we'll book our next appointment for two months from now, is that alright?"

"Two months? Not one?"

"Your legs getting better, we'll slowly be seeing less and less of each other with time. You'll be happy to know that one day, you won't have to see my face anymore, you're probably bored to death of it by now anyway," I laughed, shaking my head at him.

"Don't worry, the same could be said to you about me. I must have been such a pain in the ass while I was here. Trying to kill myself, shouting at the nurses about how no one understood me, gosh, I must have been mad,"

"You don't need to apologise about that, they understand, and we've had more troublesome patients than you, you're not even close to them," He laughed as he signed his signature off on some papers.