Sylvia was lost in her thoughts when her phone rang.
It was Isaac.
“Sylvia, I’m downstairs at your hotel. When will you come down?” The man’s magnetic voice resonated through the phone.
Sylvia was applying BB cream. After hurriedly putting on lipstick, she said, “I’ll be right down, just a few minutes.”
She grabbed her bag and phone and rushed out the door.
Her fair skin and red lips made her face look bright and radiant.
Isaac sat in the car and saw Sylvia coming out of the hotel from a distance. He immediately got out of the car and waved to her.
Sylvia walked quickly towards him, not paying attention to the traffic on either side of the road.
“Watch out!” Suddenly, Isaac shouted and grabbed Sylvia’s arm, pulling her back.
A speeding motorcycle whizzed past, narrowly missing her arm.
Isaac let go of Sylvia and smiled, “Are you okay?”
Sylvia shook her head, “I’m fine.”
“These bikers are becoming road bullies. Let’s get in the car,” Isaac said as he opened the door.
Sylvia bent down and got in, still replaying the scene in her mind. She thought she could have avoided it without his help.
But he did help her.
Something felt off.
But she didn’t dwell on it because Isaac handed her a breakfast, “You probably haven’t eaten yet. I prepared a simple breakfast.”
Sylvia was touched by Isaac’s thoughtfulness, “Thank you, Isaac.”
“When I worked with Old Mr. Thompson, I often brought you breakfast. You weren’t this polite back then,” Isaac joked, then frowned slightly, half-reproachful, “Doesn’t Franklin prepare breakfast for you?”
“He gets up early and leaves early,” Sylvia smiled, “Let’s eat together.”
She opened the breakfast box to find two cartons of milk, some toast with ham, and a cute strawberry cake.
A simple breakfast without any frills.
Isaac seemed to enjoy this time alone with Sylvia. He slowly took a bite of the crispy toast.
The toast was perfectly toasted and delicious.
The ham was just right too.
Outside, it was drizzling. Inside the car, it was a warm breakfast moment.
The car moved forward slowly due to the rain.
They arrived at the nursing home almost an hour later.
The nursing home was quiet, located in the suburbs away from the city’s hustle and bustle, making it an ideal place for retirement.
The nursing home had single rooms, group dormitories, individual apartments, and single villas.
After getting out of the car, Isaac held an umbrella for Sylvia as they walked towards Old Mr. Thompson’s villa.
Old Mr. Thompson loved peace and was passionate about antiques. Grateful for his mentorship, Isaac had arranged for him to live in a single villa.
The villa had the best living conditions.
In front of Old Mr. Thompson’s villa was a small flower bed with colorful flowers. The rain made the flowers look even more vibrant.
At the door, Isaac closed the umbrella and stepped inside the villa.
To make it convenient for patients to move around, even the two-story villa had an elevator installed.
A nurse led them to the elevator, “Please enter the elevator.”
“It’s just the second floor; we can take the stairs,” Sylvia suggested, thinking it unnecessary to use the elevator for just one floor.
“The elevator is already here; let’s use it,” Isaac said as he stepped in and looked at Sylvia.
Sylvia nodded and stepped in as well. She didn’t want to argue over something so trivial.
As soon as she stepped in and felt the elevator rising, there was a loud bang!
The elevator shook violently.
The lights inside flickered and then went out completely, plunging them into darkness.
Sylvia was stunned with fear.
She never expected that at this moment, the elevator would lose control and plummet downwards.
She instinctively pressed all the buttons inside the elevator, including the emergency button.
“The elevator is broken!” Sylvia said anxiously in the dark.
“Sylvia, don’t panic. I’ll call for help,” Isaac reassured her while reaching for his phone. Fortunately, there was still a signal inside the villa.
“What’s going on? The elevator in Old Mr. Thompson’s villa is out of control! Get here quickly!”
Inside the pitch-black elevator, Sylvia’s mind was filled with thoughts of Franklin. They had just reunited…
She didn’t want to die… She really didn’t want to die.
She felt her body trembling… The suffocating feeling in the darkness was like an invisible hand squeezing her throat.
She could feel the Love Parasite inside her body becoming restless and agitated.
Cold… So cold!
The last time she was trapped in an elevator, Franklin had been by her side.
She had almost died from the Love Parasite’s reaction to confined spaces.
Is it happening again?
No… Please no!
She leaned against the elevator wall, her legs bending as she slowly crouched down.
Her bag fell to the floor, her shoes slipped off; she closed her eyes in despair.
So cold… So cold… Cold sweat beaded on her forehead and slid down her cheeks as her consciousness began to fade.
At that moment, the elevator suddenly shot upwards like a roller coaster!
In complete darkness, she couldn’t see anything; it felt like walking through an empty black tunnel.
In this darkness, she saw no hope or heard any sound-only felt the elevator crazily going up and down.
Isaac kept calling for help and shouting into his phone.
After hanging up, he noticed how eerily quiet it was inside the elevator.
“Sylvia?” he called out in confusion.
He reached out in the dark until he touched Sylvia’s icy arm. He was startled, “What’s wrong?”
Sylvia’s heart felt frozen. Just then, with another jolt, the elevator miraculously stopped moving.
Sylvia fell to the floor but managed to get up in the dark.
Isaac reached out and pulled her into his arms when he felt her icy coldness. “Sylvia, why are you so cold? Are you okay? Your hands are freezing.”
He remembered once when Sylvia had been trapped in an elevator; Franklin had carried her out and taken her straight to hospital…
Could it be…
Does she have claustrophobia?
Isaac frowned slightly. If his guess was correct, then yes.
Sylvia’s breathing became rapid; her chest heaved as she tried to push Isaac away but couldn’t muster any strength.
She couldn’t speak-only shake her head weakly in confusion.
At that moment, an urgent voice came through the emergency button speaker: “Mr. Carr, we’ve stopped the elevator. The repair team is on their way. We’ll get you out as soon as possible.”
“We need some time; please stay calm.”
It was the nursing home’s repair team.
“Hurry up! My sister might have claustrophobia; I’m afraid she’ll have an attack!” Isaac shouted while holding Sylvia tightly in his arms.
He could clearly feel Sylvia’s shallow breaths. He pursed his lips and leaned down towards hers. “Sylvia, I need to give you CPR; you’ll die if this continues.”
Sylvia’s breathing grew more labored; it felt like a rope tightening around her neck.
Instinctively turning her head away from Isaac’s kiss…
After a while, she weakly whispered, “Isaac… no… don’t…”
Even now she refused him! Isaac growled angrily, “Do you want to die? I’m not trying to kiss you-I’m trying to save you!”
“What’s more important-your life or…” Just then a beam of light pierced through their small space as rescuers pried open the door.
Sylvia remained cold and curled up in Isaac’s arms despite being freed from darkness.
“Mr. Carr! Come out quickly!”
With help from staff members outside, Isaac carried Sylvia out of the elevator at last.
Sylvia closed her eyes slowly as consciousness slipped away into darkness once more…
Seeing her unconscious state made Isaac furious-why did they have to open it now of all times?
He carried Sylvia swiftly towards a nearby rest room while shouting at nurses: “Get a doctor here! Now!”
The nurse had been terrified-who would’ve thought such an incident could happen with just two floors?
Hearing Isaac’s command snapped her back into action; she ran off immediately for help…
Isaac laid Sylvia gently onto a soft bed while doctors arrived promptly for examination…
After checking on Sylvia thoroughly…
The doctor hooked up an IV drip: “She indeed has claustrophobia-a condition usually stemming from childhood trauma rather than being innate-it could also be due to other psychological issues-please ensure she receives proper care both physically & mentally.”
Isaac listened quietly before nodding: “I understand-thank you doctor.”
Old Mr. Thompson hurried over upon hearing about near-fatal incident involving malfunctioning elevator…
“Isaac-how is Sylvia?”
“She should recover after some rest,” replied Isaac calmly-“I didn’t know she had such condition.”
Old Mr. Thompson looked at pale-faced unconscious Sylvia lying there-feeling pangs of sympathy: “Poor child… sigh! Perhaps we should remove that elevator altogether-it’s not worth keeping.”