Pace My Heart (A sequel to *Happy To Meet You*)

Chapter-50

“I am sorry. Please excuse me.”

I mumbled an apology to a person I had accidentally bumped into. I was walking absent minded, heading towards the left wing of the hospital. There were the usual daily rush of patients and staffs alike as I made my way through them.

  Suddenly, I slowed down my pace on seeing a familiar face at a distance.

“Daniel.”

I took his name surprised to find him walking up to stand in front of me.

“Long time, Ava. How have you been?”

He asked me placing both the hands inside the pocket of his pants.

“I…I…am fine,” I stammered taken aback to find him in front of me.

   Daniel is back in Mc Gill? Does it mean that he re-joined the hospital? When did he come back? There were many questions filling up my mind.

“I like to talk to you. Could you spare me few minutes?”

He requested bringing me out of my thoughts. I realised that I had been staring at him.

“Hmm… Yeah, sure,” I mumbled again.

“If it’s all right with you then we could sit in the front lawn?”

There was earnestness in his voice and it held more of a formal tone. I gave a slight nod with my head in reply.

   Like always, I was following few steps behind him as he walked ahead of me, his tall frame taking long strides. After walking together for a few distances, he slowed down and turned around to face me.

“Can you please wait here for me? It wouldn’t take long.”

I halted my steps on hearing him.

“Five minutes,” he said checking his watch as he hurried away leaving me standing at the spot.

  I didn’t have to wait for long because he came back as quickly as he went.

“Here, I got one for you too. Is a cappuccino fine for you?”

I stared at the cup of cappuccino in his hand. It reminded me of the day during my neurosurgery rotation when I kept him waiting for me while I ran to fetch two cups of cappuccino. One for myself because I was sleepy and another for him, only to be told that he didn’t drink it.

“Thank you,” I said finally taking it from his hand, the paper cup warm from the coffee inside.

*

  We sat together quietly on the cast iron bench in the Mc Gill hospital lawn. There was an awkward silence as none of us spoke anything.

  I was watching the steady streaming of people entering and leaving the entrance of the Mc Gill building while he stared at the cappuccino cup in his hands, a solemn expression on his face.

“Ava.”

He took my name breaking the silence finally.

“I am sorry,” he apologised. He had hung his head low and his deep voice had a resigned tone. I could sense the difficulty he was having in bringing up the topic.

“I shouldn’t have raised my voice on you. I don’t know what happened to me that day. I am sorry…”

He apologised again. Resentment and regret had filled his face.

“Please don’t say sorry…Daniel,” I spoke up after a pause. There were no misgivings nor did I hold any hard feelings against him for what happened. I left the incident behind in my past and I wanted him to move on as well. He was still looking down and remained silent.