Lost ✔️

Chapter 20

"Hey I can't come to work today", Stephanie said. Her voice was heavy with exhaustion.

"Are you sick?", Chris worried over her through the call.

"Yeah a bit.", she said while coughing.

"Kay, you take care though"

"Yup"

The call ended with that.

Stephanie rarely got sick and that's what worried Chris more. He was sure there was something more to what Stephanie had told him.

Heck, she told me nothing.

Meanwhile :

Stephanie closed her eyes to stop the pain in her head, legs, stomach, hands , everywhere. She was laying on the sofa, breathing slowly.

Her chest was hurting like hell.

"Here drink this", her aunt ordered her.

She had brought a cup of tea and set it beside her. Even if Stephanie wanted to refuse it, she would have to eventually drink it. Doing otherwise would earn her another slap or punch and she was too wasted to take another hit. 

Stephanie quickly sat up and gulped it down before lying down again. There was no way she could muster up enough strength to walk now. Her ankle was badly sprained due to which she had been obliged to spend the night on the couch. 

When the morning had come her body had still not recovered from the incidents of the night before.

She could go to her room now but she was scared. Scared that if her aunt saw her moving upstairs, she would be hurt more. Probably have a broken bone or something. So she continued her day on the couch. Plus she hadn't eaten anything solid so she didn't have enough strength in herself. She knew her aunt would bring some in the late afternoon.

The tea had at least given her some comfort.

That is how her aunt had always been. Beating her hard but not to the extent of serious trouble. Then help her wounds to heal so that the world sleeping outside would never get a whiff of the events going inside the house. This had started the moment her aunt had stepped into the once happy house. And all because of money?! Money that she wasn't even aware of in the first place.

All the swarm of emotions started making Stephanie dizzy and she slipped in and out of consciousness gradually. 

There were flashbacks of the sweet moments in her life, making her want to not come back to the reality. She started dreaming of that day........

That day when Chris...

*

Both of them were walking towards Stephanie's house. Chris always made sure personally that she reached her house safely. Although ironically, she was only safe when not in her house. 

"Hey maybe you should go now", Stephanie said, stopping in her tracks.

"Why?", Chris asked.

His doe-like eyes were searching her face for any form of discontent, anger or disappointment. He found none. Her expression confused him. It was a mixture of everything. 

It was fear. 

"Because I think it's fine for me"

Chris raised his eyebrows at that. Stephanie continued to explain.

"Well honestly my life is at danger at home. Plus this is just causing you discom-"

"Let's date"

"What?", Stephanie said.

"You heard me right", Chris scoffed. 

He was clearly not happy with how she always thought he was doing her a favor. He simply was looking out for her. He looked at Stephanie's face. It was emotionless. Actually, it was shocked. 

"Why?", she asked in disbelief.

Why would anyone like a piece of trash like her. It did not make any sense to her but Chris was not even thinking about that. He was wondering how to answer her question best. He was growing anxious with every passing moment. 

He took a deep breath and started blabbering.

"Because you're smart, pure, cute, adorable and there's no proper reason I can give you for liking you. When I look at you, I feel like only protecting you. Even if it's from afar. Even if you hate me. My heart bursts  in happiness when I see you smile and it breaks into small pieces when you cry. I understand if you don't feel the same way because I'm just plain creepy and weird and als-"

Stephanie simply stood on her toes and kissed his cheeks lightly.

"Chris", she laughed. "I like you too you know. Don't get so panicky for that!"

Chris started blushing. 

He didn't mean to say all those embarrassing things but he did it anyway. 

"You serious?", he asked.

Stephanie smiled widely and nodded her head furiously like a little kid.

She linked her arms with his and both of them started towards their way, with a little skip in their steps. 

Like little children.

*

Stephanie opened her eyes. She felt her face.  There was something liquidy all around her eyes. Maybe she was crying at how beautiful that memory felt. Her mouth was completely dry.

A buzz.

She felt around with her hand until she grabbed her phone. 

51 missed call from Chris.

Looks like she slept through the entire day. It was 6' o clock in the evening now.

Somehow she managed to call Chris and put it to her ear. She didn't know how long she had until she dropped unconscious again but she had to let Chris know she was doing fine. Even if that was a lie. Otherwise, he might break the entire house in search of her. 

"Hello, Stephanie!", Chris exclaimed.

"Yeah, hi. I saw you called just now", she said, trying her best to sound normal.

"Geez! Did you know how worried I was? I was just about to call the police."

Stephanie laughed nervously.

"No silly! I just slept through the entire day. I'm fine now", she said reassuringly.

Her eyes were closing gradually and her grip on the phone was growing weaker. 

She could not hear Chris properly. It was all faint but she replied with a few 'yeses' and 'uh-uhs'. Then the phone fell out of her hand just as her aunt came to her.

At the other end of the call, Chris was as confused as a monkey in a zoo. 

When he asked what had happened to her in the morning, she replied with a 'yes'. When he asked what she meant by saying yes, she replied 'uh-uh'. He didn't like how weak Stephanie sounded and how parched her voice was. She was definitely anything but okay.

He was about to cut the call after it all went silent from her end when he heard someone else speak.

"Are you awake yet? You made me fuss over you so much today. Wake up! Or do want me  to-"

A shriek of pain followed after that.

Chris started to sweat in fear. 

The voice was that of Stephanie's aunt and the shriek..... of Stephanie!

Oh boy!

He should've known.

*****

A/N :

My book crossed 600 reads! I am so grateful to those who supported it. Keep voting and commenting. I will write long chapters from hereon!