Blind Love

Part 10

Silas POV

Cool water lapped against my legs. I sighed in the silence of the hospital pool. I knew that my nurse was nearby, waiting to help me. It took me some time before I convinced her to bring me to the pool. I didn't want to swim but to just dip my legs into the water. I would have preferred the salty scent of the ocean instead of the acrid chlorine, but I just needed the comfort.

Worries rushed through my mind. When my father heard of my predicament, he rushed to the hospital, leaving Theo alone. My elder brother then decided to leave, and I had use some of my favors to have other Academy members track him down. They were able to find him in an abandoned church, struggling with his desires to set the decaying building on flames. Now faced with Theo's latest relapse and my blindness, my father was pulled in two different directions.

After my father visited me earlier today, I talked to him, telling him that I was okay. That there was hope to me getting my eyesight back, but that it would take time. Time that could be spent on focusing on Theo. My father didn't want to leave me, but I assured him that he didn't have to visit me everyday. That I was okay.

"Silas?" A voice called my name.

Turning my head in the direction the voice was, I spoke. "Agelle?"

The giggle told me who she was. I heard her sit beside me before I heard a small splash as she joined me in soaking her feet. "Yep. Are you okay?"

I forced a smile onto my face before nodding. "Not really, but I will be."

A small hand took mine, and I was astonished at how small her hand was. It was dwarfed by my giant palm. Her warm hand was kind, and the soothing motions of her fingers rubbing small circles comforted me. "So what are you doing down here?"

I smiled. "I talked my nurse into letting me use the pool just for a bit. I used to live near the ocean and would go there when I needed to think. When I came to America, that habit transferred with me. I would go to the beach or use Nathan's pool. It calms me and makes me not that lonely anymore."

"You know that you're not lonely at all. You're surrounded by your family who cares for you," she said softly.

I nodded. "I know. It's just that sometimes it can get stuffy and I need time alone."

"I know what you mean, and sometimes it can be okay not to be okay."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion at her wording. "What do you mean, Agelle?"

She giggled. "What I meant is that it is okay to be worried and sad sometimes. Not everyone can be happy all the time, and we shouldn't always push our happy façade when we're not."

I looked in her direction, feeling sad. "Why do I feel that you know this from experience?"

Wren let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't have a happy childhood. I told you guys that I had my sibling to hold me up and likewise, but it wasn't always like that. My father and stepmother were cruel, always putting the blame on me. My stepmother hated me. I don't know why I was always hated by her, but she was angry. She would punish me for anything she didn't like, and she would become creative in her punishments. Sometimes, she had me kneel in rice, tie me to a stool in the shower, make me drink lemon and vinegar. But that soon changed into kneeling into rice, locking me in our basement for days without food or water, and beatings with a horse whip. When I was younger, I thought that it was because I deserved it and smiled through the pain. When I became older, I learned that hiding behind a mask wasn't always the best thing. I couldn't communicate to anyone about my feelings or my thoughts. It became hard to keep the mask on until I broke. That was when my sibling found me and helped me. Ever since then, we've been working on my past fears and everything that worked.

"But even then when I was surrounded by people who loved me, I couldn't handle it. I wanted some time alone." She said as if she was lost in her memories.

I gritted my jaw at the horrors of her past, but I also understood what she was trying to say. Although I can be sad alone, I can also be sad and not hide behind a mask. I guess that was what I was doing when I talked to my father. I hid behind a mask of acceptance and worry for my brother to make sure that my father didn't see me sad. "I feel sad that my father is running in circles with me and my brother. He's at his job all day then sees me when he gets off his job. When he returns home, he has to be careful to watch my brother. When he came earlier today, I knew that one of the reasons why I tried to talk him out of visiting me is because he needs the rest but because I don't want him to see me like this. One of his sons is already obsessed with fire, while his other son is blind."

"I don't know if things will get better, but just remember you have a family you can be with and who will wait with you." Wren said with a tiny happiness to her voice. "But first what is an Agelle Mou?"

I don't know why but I laughed. The way she said it was cute. "It means My Angel in Greek."

She chuckled. "Angel? How do you know that I'm not a devil?"

I smiled at her. "Because you've been healing all of us. You've helped all of us through this hard time. Comforted us. Brought us out of our darkness."

"You're right," she giggled. "I'm just glad that I can help all of you, even if it's just listening to you."

"You do." I said gently, feeling refreshed.

"But you can't just depend on me," she chided me with laughter in her voice. "You have your family."

"And do I have you, Agelle Mou?" I whispered, hoping that she wouldn't toss my hand away in disgust and walk away.

She was quiet before she squeezed my hand. "You do. All of you do."