'I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along'

XVI

"No, no Suha you don't understand, Aaron, he's.. he's pulled through. That's the reason why they were taking so long to come back with any news wow.. WOW!"
Olivier was almost breathless saying the words, shaking his head he continued
"The blood clot had travelled through his blood stream and that's what caused the sudden heart attack"
Olivier jumps up from his seat and is now pacing the room, running his hands through his hair
"Did you hear me? Suha?"
anxiety rises in his voice as he looks over to her and then continues to walk around the room at quite a rapid pace
"He's actually going to be okay"
he slams his hands down on the desk and starts laughing with relief as tears prick his eyes, the sudden sound startles Suha, Olivier looks over to her and she now has tears streaming down her face. He rushes over to her and stands before her
"Heyy, hey what's all this now?"
he's clutching her shoulders and trying desperately to console her
"The doctors have said he's going to be okay"
Olivier kneels in front of Suha so he can see her face, he wipes her tears away before rummaging around in his pocket and finding a tissue

"The joys of having an emotional girlfriend eh? Sarah really does cry at anything doesn't she" He jokes
Suha throws Olivier a half hearted smile and a laugh to match
"Yes, actually she does, and thank you.."
Suha takes the tissue from his hand before pressing it softly against her cheeks and wiping her nose
"I.. i just.. it's all been so much"
she has to stop and catch her breath as the tears start to fall once more
"Not just this, everything that happened before this. We have been through so much lately and it never seems to stop. I thought we were in a good place but when Aaron had the accident he didn't even want to speak to me. I know he blames me, It was my fault that we argued.."
Olivier shakes his head and interrupts Suha, still holding onto her shoulders tightly
"No no no, listen to me. He doesn't blame you, he doesn't blame anyone he isn't like that. What happened was an accident"
"Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself? We both know that if I hadn't have started that stupid argument me and Aaron would have gone home together in the same car. I just had to make him leave on his own didn't i. What have I done.."
Suha can't lift her eyes from the floor, still in floods of tears she feels rotten. Everything was the way it should be, she had Aaron back and they had worked through their issues, everything with Daley was in the past and they were looking to the future. They were looking forward to starting a family and now everything was dangling by a thread and Suha was wondering what it would take for that single thread to snap.

Winter choked the city as a pale moon was blemishing the sky. Gracefully, the delicate snowflakes sparkled as they descended from the heavens, dancing around in the piercing cold air and eventually settling on the white dune of snow. The once bright blue sky had been rapidly replaced with a misty glacial freeze. In the shops opposite, the lights glimmered as people gathered inside to keep warm from what seemed like arctic temperatures outside. Rooftops were glazed in snow, clinging on for dear life and the ice cold breeze wafted right through the room whenever a new customer walked in. This must have been the hundredth time that Suha had met Luke for tea before heading out to the hospital to see Aaron. She had spent absolutely weeks in this dainty little coffee shop. In this time she'd got to know him pretty well, sometimes not even leaving until mid afternoon to see Aaron and by the time she would arrive, visiting hours were over. Time cautious now, she looks at her phone every 5 minutes to check that she's definitely on schedule. It's easy to lose track of time when she was with Luke though, he constantly makes her laugh by telling her the antics he gets up to with the lads at Manchester United, especially Memphis. He helps her to remember that it's okay to have time to herself and to be happy too, that she is just as important as Aaron is.

Suha shifted around in her chair to look for Luke, he's already 10 minutes late. She stares into the fire as it crackles and spits before hissing into life, the cold air from the door is a distraction and she spins back around in her seat to see him, dressed from head to toe in snow, Luke was here. Suha bursts into laughter while he shakes his head at her, releasing droplets of thawed ice as he goes
"The things I do for you!"
He smiles before brushing himself down as the effects of the damp thawing snow start to soak his jacket, so he unzips it, peels it off and wraps it around the chair nearest the fire.
"Hopefully it will be a little drier by the time I leave, i'm sorry I'm late too, the traffic is absolutely horrendous. Are you seriously going to drive all the way to the hospital in this?"