One Glance

Chapter 23

"Sometimes waiting makes the culmination that much sweeter." Lynn Raye Harris, Strangers in the Desert

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Chapter Twenty – Three

Luke had not expected that. He leant against the wall outside of Isabella's room and hung his head in shock. Of all the possible reactions to Isabella learning what had happened, he had never expected that sort of reaction from her.

Isabella was not a hateful person. She was the most cheerful, kind and positive person that he had ever encountered.

Then again, that woman in there had said it herself. Isabella was gone, and he had seen to that. It was his fault.

The hate, the rage, in her eyes would be something that he would never forget. She had truly meant those words. She hated him. Isabella was gone, and the woman that remained was a stranger, and that stranger hated him.

But he loved her still. Perhaps it would be a curse. He was bound to love a woman who hated him for the rest of his life. There was no going around it.

Luke's legs would no longer support him. He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest so that he could rest his head on them. It was then that a few tears that had been welling up escaped.

What he would give for it to be him. How could it be that after everything, he was the one who was healthy? He had been blinded, stabbed, and had survived a dangerous operation. Isabella simply knocked her head and she was gone.

Luke suddenly felt an arm around him. He jerked and was taken aback for a minute, his eyes meeting those with such a familiar brown hue. But they were not Isabella's. They were Annaliese's, and she looked terribly sympathetic.

"Matthew's gone with everyone to the Royal Crescent. He has a school friend who lives there who will be able to offer us temporary lodgings," she informed him quietly. "Jamie is downstairs with Eleanor. He refused to leave without you."

"Did you hear?" he asked her pathetically. "Did he hear?" he then added fearfully. How on earth could he ever explain this to Jamie? How on earth was anyone going to explain Jamie to Isabella?

Annaliese nodded helplessly. "She will come around," she promised him. "It is still such a shock. What happened is not your fault. It is Mary's fault. You were vulnerable and she preyed on you."

Luke knew that Annaliese was talking sense but it was hard to shift the blame from himself when he had been blamed with such conviction by his wife.

Annaliese placed a comforting hand on his forearm. "Doctor Whitney says that once she has regained a little more of her strength then we can take her home. Being around familiar surroundings is bound to help her."

Before Luke could respond, Annaliese's facial expression changed. Her face dropped and she cupped a hand over her mouth. Quicker than anything, she jumped up and burst into a patient room across from Isabella's. Luckily it was empty.

As soon as she saw was she was looking for, Annaliese seized the chamber pot and emptied her stomach into it.

"Are you alright?" gasped Luke, anxiously following her into the patient room.

Annaliese wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and then placed her hands on her hips. "No. Can you not tell anyone about this?"

"Are you ill?" How fortunate it was that they were in a hospital.

"Every day for the last three months," she murmured in reply. "It has not been the right time to tell anyone. Can you promise to keep this a secret?" she implored.