Zack’s eyebrow quirked, his eyes narrowing at her, trying to comprehend what she meant. Of course, he knew what she wanted to end, the awful situation devouring their tranquility. But what begged the question was what she planned on doing. How did she want to end it?
Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be a good idea as she was certain he would disagree.
Zack’s gaze softened as he stared at her for a while, not knowing how to calm her down and relax without dwelling too deeply on her past ordeal. “Ivy, your safety is my priority, so get some rest and let me handle this,” he said, his voice calm and gentle.
Ivy shook her head weakly, her jaw still clenched.
Zack, seeing her reaction, knew she wasn’t ready to yield to his words. He let out a frustrated sigh. “Just come here.” He sat upright and wrapped his arms around her. “Relax and don’t worry. Focus on making a full recovery.”
Ivy remained silent with an unshakable resolve. Despite Zack assuring her of handling the situation, she remained firm in her decision. “I’ll do what you say for now. When I get out of this hospital, I’ll do what I have to,” she said, her voice barely audible, insistent on following the plan she had devised to ascertain the true mastermind.
Zack didn’t respond, stroking her back as he leaned on the bed headrest. But he couldn’t help but ask, after wondering what she had planned. “Ivy, I have a feeling you want to do something reckless.”
She buried herself deeper into his chest, humming her response. She felt drained of energy and relaxed into slumber.
“Ivy,” Zack called her, tilting his head to check if she was still awake. Her eyes were shut tight, her breathing steady, peacefully asleep.
He chuckled softly, amazed by how quickly she had drifted off to sleep when she had just woken a few minutes ago. He knew the accident had taken a toll on her both physically and emotionally.
He laid her down to rest comfortably on the bed and cuddled her. He kissed her forehead affectionately, holding onto her as if she were the most valuable treasure on earth. Which she obviously was because at that moment, all he could think of was her. Nothing else occupied his mind apart from her and ensuring her safety.
His eyelids drooped, and slowly, he too began to drift off to sleep.
***
FEW HOURS LATER….
“Seriously Zack? You are treating me like a baby,” Ivy whined, reluctantly opening her mouth. Zack ignored her and continued feeding her.
Ivy’s lips twitched, annoyed by his earlier silence. He was being affectionate, and now he was deadpan. He was studiously feeding her as if his life depended on it. She cringed, hesitating to open her mouth again, but the stern look from Zack made her droop her jaw in defeat.
With a subtle nod, he filled up the spoon to the brim and lifted it to her mouth again.
Ivy pouted, refusing his unspoken order.
“Open up, wifey, and stop behaving like a child,” he said, still lifting the spoon and waiting for her to give in.
“Why won’t I behave like a child when you’re treating me as one? As you can see, I’m not handicapped; I have arms,” she murmured, her face scrunched up in feigned annoyance.
“I can see that,” Zack said, his eyes flashing her a playful stern look, causing her to avert her eyes away from him.
He chuckled, amused by her juvenile way of feigning annoyance. “It’s obvious you were once a troublesome teenager.”
“Quite the opposite,” she rolled her eyes, swallowing the large chunk of food Zack kind of shoved inside her mouth.
“Tell me a little about your childhood.”
Ivy thought for a while before deciding to spill a small beans, of course skipping the embarrassing part. “I visited my parents during weekends and stayed at my aunt’s place since it was closer to schools. Well, my aunt was the one taking care of my expenses at school… my dad…” She paused, her expression turning a bit serious. “Nah, I shouldn’t talk about my childhood. There were no wonderful moments,” she chuckled awkwardly, her gaze falling to the floor.
Zack didn’t press on; it seemed not only her death of her parents was her sore spot, but it was obvious she was finding it hard to narrate most of her memories as a child. He decided to lighten up the tension. “My childhood was enjoyable; that was until I turned eighteen.”
Ivy let out a soft laughter, intrigued, wondering what happened that took a sharp turn in his life that countered his merriment. For sure, it wasn’t because of maturity.
“So what happened after you turned eighteen?” she asked, a smile plastered on her face.
Zack chuckled in amusement. “I fell in love.”
Ivy laughed briefly, reflecting on the story of her life. Yeah, her life also took another turn because she fell in love and got cheated on. “She cheated,” she asked, interested in hearing the rest of the story. Her curiosity about Zack’s past love life, which she found hard to believe at first, intrigued her, wanting to learn more about him.
Zack’s shoulder rose in a careless shrug, his expression turned serious. “If that was the only case, it would have been better. She was a demoness.”
Ivy’s eyebrows furrowed and his last statement piqued her curiosity even more. “As in?”
He leaned in closer, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “Never mind; I shouldn’t talk about it if there were no wonderful moments.”
Deep lines etched Ivy’s face as she recalled that it was what she had said to him earlier. She then realized he was teasing her… again. “I told you to stop teasing me.”
Zack leaned back in the chair, his playful expression fading. “I wasn’t teasing you, wifey; I wanted it to be fair,” he said tantalizingly.
Ivy instantly understood what he was hinting at. She sighed, her gaze wavering. “It’s too painful to talk about.”
“Yeah, mine is also too painful to talk about,” he scoffed tantalizingly and lifted the remaining food left on the plate. “It’s the last one; now open up.”
Ivy sluggishly opened her mouth, her mind refusing to downplay their earlier conversation. “Zack, are you upset because I keep… secrets from you?”
Zack didn’t respond immediately. He stared at her for a while before replying. “No, I’m not upset. I respect your emotional boundaries. You don’t want to break down; I get it. Like I told you before, you’ll always have my shoulders to cry on.”
He smiled tersely before picking up his phone from the bedside table. “Be right back; I have to make this call,” he said and left the room, leaving Ivy to her own thoughts.
‘I can’t bring myself to recall what happened; it will only weigh me down, especially now that I have an enormous enemy stuck to my back.’