Oh, my sweetheart, you know I am very bad at mind reading. Please be kind enough to tell me what your wish is.", he said that in a mocking tune.
"I want to try Indian cuisine.", She said.
" How about eat out Lunch with whole family? Can call dad and mom and Hanna too. Can you make it at any Indian Cuisine?", she was eager to know his response.
"Sure we can and from there we can go to the hospital to meet Joan.", He said.
The mention of Joan made her eyes sunk into the socket. She turned pale too.
"I am not getting the courage to meet her, mainly because I am afraid she will harm my baby.", she confessed her mind to him.
"Our baby. Not yours or mine. I am there to protect you all dear. None can harm you without finishing me off. Don't worry. Dad is right. We should give her a chance. I personally don't believe that she has become a lady now. Still we should give a try. We should forgive her for now at least. What if you were not willing to give me a chance and forgive me? You can see how happy our family is. You know there is a different unity here. Everything happened after you entered my life. You forgave me. I need to see how will Joan react to it. I was thinking if Charlie did not play such a game with Micheal, he would have been here with Joan as a family of their own. Of course a simple trick, but .....", he was unable to finish.
"Fred, I can understand only one thing now. You lied to me that you are Micheal. Now you corrected. When ever I try to think of the real incidents, I feel like suffocating, more like to be dead than to live. I loved him thinking that its you. He loved me also without a fail so that i had no chance to suspect other than once, the gift issue. Then also I never thought that I have been cheated by you two. Still when I think to the core, I feel helpless and I want to cry. I am trying my best to forget that part in my life. Still I am aware, the man whom I lived with for a few years in the past, he loved and cared me more than anything. He never told me all these. May be he was afraid that I will never trust him.. If he told me the fact, I would have understood that and would not feel this much betrayed. I can't hate him for that. I loved him physically and mentally. Also, you would never know what his wish was... his death wish... I used to feel his presence everywhere. I know he is watching me as a soul. I can see him sometimes. He used to guide me through small words written on papers. But only I used to see them. At first I felt it as an illusion. I now always feel that real. Whenever I feel his presence, his last moments replay in my mind.
" When death comes to me, I want to die holding your hand.
The last words I hear should be your sweet words.
The last view I see should be your beautiful face.
The last thought I have should be your sweet memories.
The last breath I have should have your fragrance,
Enough, this is enough for me to reborn even as a grass leaf to see you and my Hannah again."
When I remember all these, Fred... many a times am feeling myself helpless. Of course a torture for my mind. I feel like it would have been better if I am no more or I went to a coma so that there is no need for me to remember all these. You would never know. Nobody would every understand. Am that much .... she began to sob.
"Don't cry dear. This is life. No one can escape from the turns and tests they poses. Don't cry. It will harm our baby. Don't cry. You are mine. Nobody in between. Forget everything except those days we were together. You will be alright. You are my sweetheart right. "
He was able to console her for the moment. He can adjust to what happened, But her mind,....
Still she is adjusting. If I did not lie to her, it would have been a different case. Even I have a role in her sufferings.
===========================
The Lunch
The Hollands' went inside the Indian restaurant at their city. The waiter asked what they prefer. South Indian or North Indian.
They chose South Indian. She want to taste it out. She had a friend during scho days from India and she had this food from her home..
Lea ate dosa while others order the same as they were not much familiar with this cuisine. Still they enjoyed the meal. Since Lea is pregnant, the whole family was happy to go by her wishes and was willing to taste the news cousine.
Lea really enjoyed the food and Fred also liked it. She was explaining how to eat this. She just took a spoon of chutney and sambar, the two curry that is available along with dosa and she tore up a piece of it and ate it with the mix of two curries... They all curiously listened and did the same...
It was delicious... There is a way to eat every food...
After a happy lunch, they started to the hospital to meet Charlie and Joan. No idea how would they react.
After half an hours drive, they reached the hospital. A mental nursing home.
Fred went to the reception and enquired the room of Joan. Room number 201 in the second floor. They walked towards the life.
Charlie was sitting on the sofa near to Joan's bed. He was reading a fictional novel. He heard a knock on the door. Joan also woke up from sleep. She is under sedation. Charlie opened the door and saw the Holland's.