Lost And Found

Chapter Twenty Six

"Deni if you cry right now I would kill you"
"You look so beautiful Selasi"
"I do?"
"Oh no, I'm going to cry, I can't help it"
"You are so crazy" The door suddenly opened and in walked Mrs. Graham.
"There you are" She hugged Deni so tightly.
"So good to see you"
"You missed the dinner last night"
"Yeah, I couldn’t make it to Calabasas in time, besides, I had a lot of work to take care of but I hate that I missed it, so happy to see you"
"So am I honey…..and look at you princess" She turned to her daughter.
"Ready yet?" Genie walked in with Gina, they were wearing identical dresses, except Genie's was orange and Gina's was mint green.
"Yeah I am" Selasi said.
"Oh my goodness, is that you?" It was a male voice, one she recognised ever so well but she was scared to turn, she froze but kept the smile on. The room fell silent as if everyone was waiting for her to react but she didn't.
Sam walked in.
"Hey baby bro" He hugged his sister and turned to Deni.
"Hey" He said with a  smile.
"Hey you, look who's in a tux, suits you though" She said with a  smile and that seemed to ease the tension in the room.
"We need to get going"
"Okay, let's do this, oh my God I'm getting married" Selasi began to shiver as she took her brothers hand and he led her out, they all followed.
Soon  it was the bride walking on the aisle towards Neil, beside him was his best man, she frowned, he looked so familiar but then again, he was Neil's friend so it was not surprising, they probably had met somewhere and even been introduced to each other. It was not until the service was over and they were at the reception that he walked up to her and smiled.
"Wow I cant believe it, it is you" He said.
She was lost.
"Do I know you?"
"Yeah…umm….not really, my name is Dex, I'm the guy who almost ran into you the other day"
"Oh" She said as her eyebrows shot up.
"Remember?"
"Yeah, wow what a surprise"
"So you're Selasi's friend?"
"Yeah I am, her bestie actually"
"I see"
He picked two drinks from a tray that was being passed around and ahnded her one.
"Thanks" She smiled.
"Its nice meeting you again and I am really sorry for what happened"
"Seriously, you're going to do that now?"
He giggled and she did too and they just couldn’t stop talking to each other. They talked so much they didn't even realise they were away from the celebrations. They both laughed when it finally clicked them and they walked back just in time as Dex was called to say a few words as it was tradition for the best man to say a few things about the groom.
"Neil grew from the step brother I hated to my best friend and only brother….when my dad told me that Neil was his son, the only thing I could see him as was the reason my parents divorced since he was younger than I was and not my moms. So yeah….i hated him till Neil grew up to look out for me, he was always the one to rush to my aid, although I pushed him aside he was always there but despite it all I never thought of anything more than he being a home wrecker till one summer, I was playing with Paw, our husky, Paw was just a puppy and he fell into the pool, I couldn’t swim then, I was always kinda scared of water. I just stood there screaming and out of nowhere he appeared and dived in with his shirt and everything……..and it was only after he dived in that I realized he couldn’t swim either……"
Everyone laughed and Dex turned to Neil and said….
"I have always meant to ask this but never found the courage to, but dude, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"
The laughter grew wild.
"……so yeah it was one puppy and two helpless teenagers, one facing death and the other facing jail time, yeah I was thinking if they both died I would be a murderer or something so I grabbed this floating mat, threw it in and watched them get on it, and finally, we were all safe, my dad got home and when we told him, he freaked, that summer we did nothing but learn to swim, I know I'm the older one and I should have been looking out for you but thanks for teaching me what it means to be selfless, what it means to love someone and I am happy you are blessed with an equally loving and selfless person like Selasi, she's one of the sweetest women I have come to know, I love you both and I do wish you guys all the best" Dex and Neil's father Conrad was first to stand and applaud and everyone did same.
The two brothers hugged each other and the celebrations continued. It was fun just like Selasi had said and Deni didn't even recognize Sam anymore, she didn't care, she had Dex who was so funny and interesting, she just couldn't stop talking to him.
The couple left an hour later and they continued to dance and have fun till late at night when they decided they needed some rest. They returned to their hotel rooms and succumbed to the night.
The following morning Deni had the urge to go swimming. She left her room and bumped into Sam.
"Sorry" She said and continued tow alk away.
"Denise!" He called out to her and she turned then he walked towards her.
"How are you?" That question was irritating, her fist was itching to throw a punch.
"I'm fine' She forced a smile.
"Can we talk?"
"No" She turned to walk away but he grabbed her hand, stopping her.
"Deni I'm so sorry for everything"
"Oh now you're sorry, now Sam, I don't need your sorry, I survived without it can I have my arm back now please" She said as politely as she could, he let go of her.
"Congrats on your new relationship, glad you finally got rid of the guilt once I was away" She said and walked away.
"Dammit Sam" She said under her breath realizing her chest was tightening up and her eyes were tearing up. She could not let him go, why couldn’t she? It hurt knowing she had lost him yet she desperately wanted him.
She got to the pool but she couldn’t jump in, she just stood there staring into it…….then flashes of what had happened came to her. She had gone swimming with her father that day….she had complained that the water was so cold…..he had promised to buy her a pool toy that day, they were heading for the shop after the pool visit and that was where the two men appeared, pointed a gun at him, he'd asked what they wanted, they said 'Nothing you can give' and then the first one fired, then the second then the first again, and they took to their heels as her father lay on the floor bleeding to death. She knelt beside him crying and then she looked down at her hands, they were bloody…….completely red, she was covered in liquid but it wanst from the pool, it was from her father….
As Deni looked into the pool her mind began to paint an image before her and she tried stepping away from the pool but she couldn’t move, it was like in the case of sleep paralysis but this time, she was fully awake, but her mind was dreaming, she looked into the pool and all she saw was blood….she began to hyperventilate….and then she felt herself falling, down…..down….down…..down……
When she opened her eyes again, the only person she could see was Sam…..
He was shirtless, it was the first time she had seen him like that.
"Hey.." He said.
"Its cold…." She shivered. He gathered her in his arms and walked away, she closed her eyes and wrested her head on his chest. She could hear Gina's voice but couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Sam took her into the room she shared with her sisters and placed her on the bed then covered her up with a blanket.
"I'll stay with her"
"Is she still taking her meds?"
"Yes she is" Gina answered Sam's question.
"Where's Genie?"
"Somewhere, probably shopping, she has to leave for London tomorrow"
Apparently they still had two days to stay at the hotel but everyone else had left.
"She'll be okay Sam"
"She scared me you know, when I saw her fall like that I knew something was wrong all I could do was move…….no one even seemed to have noticed.
"Well thank God you were there"
"I'm glad I was" He said, taking her hand. Gina noticed and she felt the urge to ask.
"What happened with you two?"
He sighed.
"We kinda had a moment and I told her off, she got the impression I didn't care about her and it's been like that ever since"
"That’s not what I heard Sam, you told her off yes…..but you gave her the impression you didn't care, even when you knew she was leaving for the States…."
"I didn't want her to get hurt"
"She did, she did so bad Deni hasn’t been as happy as she was when you were with her that day at Genie's wedding……that smile, that aura, its not been there ever since you left……she may have left London, but you left her life, you literally walked out of her life and didn't even look back, that was cruel and I didn't expect that from you, it was so wrong and the next thing I hear you are in a relationship?'
"Hold up…" He frowned.
"A relationship…..who told you that?"
"Your sister"
"Oh……" He said.
"Oh?" Gina repeated.
"I told her that so she'll get off my case, I'm not in a relationship"
"Let me ask you this Sam….did you ever love my sister?"
"I loved her…..i love her and I will always love her…."
"So what's holding you back?"
"Deni would never forgive me for what I did…"
"Then you don't know Deni, if you show her that you are wrong and that you really are sorry, she would cry, yes, she might blast you hard…..but she wouldn’t let you walk away without a hug….she's that sweet and I honestly can't see why people keep hurting her, Kobe was a jerk and I wish he breaks his leg and stays in the hospital for years……..but you……you are everything Deni needed, or so I thought, now I wonder if you're even good enough for her, sorry but I won't hide my feelings…….if you can so easily walk away just like that from someone you have been through so much with, then you might have to do a lot more to show her you love her as much as you do and get her to believe it…..good luck with that because Deni doesn’t easily trust or let people in, once they shut the door in her face when it comes to matters of the heart, she won't risk it after what happened with Kobe, so good luck bro, you'll need it, I'll leave you both now"
She walked out of the room after giving Sam a tap on the shoulder. He looked down at Deni and it broke his heart seeing her like that, he thought he had made the biggest mistake letting himself fall for her, but then he realized his biggest mistake was letting her go.
"Forgive me Lord for trying to alter your plans……I'm sorry for telling you that your work wasn’t good enough, forgive me Lord….." He said, he touched her hand it was warm. He settled down in a chair watching her till Genie or Gina came back then he fell asleep right there in the chair. When he woke up, it was dark and Deni was still asleep. Sam drew closer and found that she was perspiring. He touched her and she was so hot that it scared him.
"Deni…." He shook her gently then tapped her on the arm but she didn't open her eyes.
Then there was a knock and then the door opened and in walked Dex, he recognized him from the wedding.
"Umm, I could come back……"
"Umm, no, I was actually just about to get her out of here, she has a temperature, it's that bad"
"Let me see" Dex got closer, sat at the edge of the bed and checked her temperature.
"Gina told me she passed out"
"Yeah she has this thing a panic disorder I don't know if its related though"
"I don't think so….." He propped her up and then she groaned softly.
Dex frowned.
"We need to get her to her hospital" He lifted her in his arms and walked out. Sam followed.
Once they were in Dex's car, he called Genie.