RED

18. Gardenia

Love: Two minds without a single thought.

by Philip Barry.

A ding sound emitted and Kiana quickly pushed the door open, rushing into the penthouse. She spared not even a second more and ran towards the staircase. Her heart was thumping so fast against her ribcage, but she couldn't stop, at least not now. Her thoughts were clouded as well. She rushed up the staircase that she had never been on before and hastened her steps towards Enrico's room. Without thinking for a moment, she held the knob and pushed the door open and rushed into the room. She only came to a standstill when she sighted him on his bed.

She stood, as if frozen, staring at him, while panting from all the running she had done all the way from the office. She even made use of a cab for transport, instead of a bus. The elevator at this building seemed occupied and at that moment, she couldn't wait. She had grown impatient, so she chose the other way up. She ran up using the staircase. Tears clouded her vision as she stared at him on his bed with a duvet over his body. Just his head could be seen. His eyes remained shut and anyone could tell he wasn't okay. Kiana felt really bad. If his condition has gotten worse, it would be all her fault. She left without checking up on him. She had been so selfish to save herself all the time and this was the consequence.

Slowly, Enrico's eyes fluttered and slightly opened. His eyes fell on her and he stared without saying a word. Kiana stared back for a while, before sniffing then blinking several times to contain her tears, but they just came rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off, looking elsewhere but on him.

"You wore shoes into my room." Enrico suddenly stated, barely in his usual voice and Kiana shifted her eyes to him before looking down at her feet.

He was right. She was so caught up in getting to him that she forgot to take off her shoes. Without wasting a second more, she reached down to her shoes and took them off, before walking up to him. She stared at him for a moment before going on her knees, so it was easy for her to meet his face. His eyes remained on her as well. She placed a hand on his forehead to feel his temperature and thereafter, withdrew her hand.

"You... You have a high fever. Why... why didn't you call for me? I live here, don't I? You're not supposed to be on your own when you're sick." She commented as she tried so hard to contain her tears, but all Enrico did was stare at her.

"You're not supposed to be in my room." He gave a sudden remark once more and Kiana slowly furrowed her brow at him.

"You can be in mine but I can't be in yours? You can help me out when I'm ill, but I can't help you out when you're ill?" Kiana added, before getting up on her feet, then turned away and hastened her steps out of the room.

Enrico let out a sigh as he shut his eyes right after she left. He hated being sick. He hated feeling vulnerable and stuck to a bed. He hated the fact that she saw him like this. Last night, he had gone to bed feeling quite okay, but by this morning, he felt so cold. He felt so dizzy, weak and unable to get off his bed. He heard a few sounds downstairs and remained reluctant to ask for her help. Actually, he was grateful she was leaving for work that early. That way, she wouldn't get to see him this way. He also hoped that in a few hours of resting, he would feel a little better, but it had just gotten worse. There was the sneezing, the running nose and the ever-splitting headache. His eyes felt so heavy and he just couldn't move no matter how much he desired it. It made him vexed because that wasn't him. 

He wasn't the type to fall sick easily. He wasn't the type to stay still for a long time, but now that Kiana was back and seeing her in his room made him realise she might have figured out something was wrong with him, as he hadn't showed up in the office. He still didn't want her seeing him this way; although a part of him craved to have her by his side. He believed he had an image to uphold. He had always seemed cool. Cool with his movement, cool with his words, cool on the face. She seeing him this way would ruin the image of a perfect life he had painted for himself. Gratefully, she was gone. His words might have seemed a little harsh, but it did the trick.