AUTHORS POV
SYDNEY WAS DRENCHED and shaking from the cold when she collided with a stranger.
With her head bowed, she apologized. “I… I’m sorry.” She tried to leave but the stranger grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Sydney gasped softly when her watery eyes gazed into the hard brown ones of the man she had run into. The same man that she’d met once and was the reason her image was in sham.
Her gaze turned fiery and she disengaged her arm from his grasp. “Don’t ever touch me!” She walked past him and he followed quickly after her.
“You don’t look good, Sydney. Are you okay?” He asked earnestly.
“Leave me alone. I don’t want to talk with anyone, just leave me!” She ran a hand through her hair and cried uncontrollably.
Everything was a mess now. She used to laugh during meetings with divorced women when they’d discuss how their marriages were nothing to write home about. She never imagined her case would be worse. Didn’t Gavin stop to think about how it’d make her feel?
Gabriel didn’t say anything but continued following her. She stopped by the railings of a bridge and gripped the cold rusted iron railing. Gabriel stopped a good distance away from her and watched her sob.
When she wiped her tears with her palm and sniffed, he asked softly, careful not to make her flare up, “Is it your husband again?”
“Why do you want to know?” Her voice held venom yet so much pain.
He took a step forward and she wilted. He noticed the distress he was causing her and retreated. In a worried tone, he said. “I’ve told you, holding it in would make it only get worse. I’m saying this because know how it feels to be hurt by someone you love.”
“I’m certain you don’t,” she bit her trembling lips and released a breath, then turned to look at him. “You don’t know how it feels because if you do, you’ll never be able to heal from it.”
He stared at her for a minute. He knew he wouldn’t be able to convince her to let it out. ” Come, I’ll drive you to your house.”
She gaped at him and burst into laughter. What a funny offer, considering what happened the last time she followed him somewhere! She crouched to laugh. He looked at her in confusion.
“Is there anything funny-”
She shot him a deadly look. If he hadn’t known her, he would have thought she escaped from an asylum. “Yes, it’s funny! What next stunt do you want to perform to ridicule me? Tell me, how much were you paid? Sixty thousand or eighty? You should have just asked for the goddamn money and I would have given you!”
He walked towards her, but she moved backward, nearly tumbling backward into the ocean. Gabriel stopped walking when he noticed that and stretched his hands cautiously.
“If it’s about the scandal, I’m sorry. I had no hand in it.” He said, carefully, hoping she’d leave the edge of the bridge.
“And who else was there with us, was it the squirrels who took the photo?” She was panting now. A sharp pain pierced her chest like a knife. She gripped her chest and wheezed uncontrollably.
Gabriel’s eyes widened and he ran to her. She tried to jump off the bridge but he held her waist, struggling to draw her back.
“Leave me… Let me know how it feels to die.” She wheezed struggling to wrench free from his grip.
“Think about your children Sydney.” He coaxed panicking. Sydney stopped struggling and stood in front of him, breathing loudly.
“You need to go to the hospital.” He expressed his concern. She shook her head in refusal and squeezed her chest.
“No, I need to go home… I need to talk to Gavin.” She stammered, barely able to breathe.
He noticed the stitch on her chest, peeking out of her shirt. It was bringing out blood. “I’ll do as you ask of me.”
She rested her head on his chest and cried. His stomach began to grumble. A wave of possessiveness gripped him, and he wrapped his arm around her and used a hand to smooth her hair.
Her tears soaked his shirt but he didn’t care. Her tried as much as he could to make her relax. He frowned as he rested his chin on her head. He recalled Gavin with Avery.
‘ He doesn’t know what he has.’ Gabriel thought.
She hiccupped and he patted her back, “There, let it all out.”
_______
“She’s all right. She’s just suffering from PTSD and hypertension due to the complications of her last pregnancy and whatever ever stress she’s going through. I’ve restitched the wound. If she doesn’t give herself time to heal, I’m afraid she may develop HELLP syndrome and have cardiac arrest.” Doctor Natasha explained to Gabriel.
Sydney had fallen unconscious in his arm. He took the opportunity to take her to the hospital m
Gabriel sighed and rubbed his temples. “Is she awake now?”
The doctor smiled grimly, ” She’s still unconscious. But, Mr. Patel-”
“Call me Gabriel; there’s no use being formal, Natasha.”
Gabriel and Natasha had known each other since their college days. They were good friends although Natasha was two years older than him. She left India after college, and they lost contact till one dreadful night, Gabriel rushed into the hospital with a half-dead woman.
“Fine, Gabriel. I’m glad you brought her here, I noticed something was off her marriage the very day I did her baby scan.”
Gabriel narrowed his brows at her, ” And why are you telling me this?”
She was glad they were in her office, but she knew sometimes the walls had ears, so she lowered her voice. ” My point is, she’s married, and what she needs is a resolution with her husband. I can see the way you look at her.” Her face read concern.
Gabriel looked away frowning. “I’ll look at any pretty woman that way.”
“With predating eyes and yearning? Come on Gabriel, have you forgotten we were once close friends?”
He scowled at her, ” Okay, maybe I do have an attraction for her. She’s married, and I’d respect that.”
Doctor Natasha smiled grimly. “You are a good man, I just wish you learn how to control that thing in your chest. Try, at least, for her.”
Gabriel sighed and nodded. ” I’ll leave now. Call her husband and tell him to come get her.” The words tasted like lime on his tongue.
“I’ll do just that, Mr. – Gabriel.” They got up and shook hands.
“And yes Natasha, don’t tell her I’m Alfred’s son. If she asks who brought her here, tell her it’s Gabriel, the lumberjack.”