Her eyelashes flustered as she blinked. Slowly, she opened her eyes and met with the brightness of the room.
"She is awake!"
A very familiar voice of her best friend rang across the room and everyone hurried inside.
'What happened?' She questioned herself but had no answer.
"Claire darling, are you okay?" An elderly woman asked and she turned to see who it was. 'Ah... Aunt Laura' she thought.
"Yes Aunt, but where am I?" She asked looking at everyone. She did not understand why they all looked at her with so much concern. She was supposed to be alright, she thought. Last thing she remembered was that they were a at the fun fair but right now.... What exactly happened?.
"You are in a hospital because—" Rhea started.
"A HOSPITAL!" Claire exclaimed.
"Yeah but—" Rhea continued only to be cut off by Claire again.
"What happened?" She demanded.
"You fainted since yesterday" Carter gave a curt answer and Claire's eyes flew to his direction. She gave him a look that says 'tell me everything'. Instead of answering, Carter looked away from her. He was glad she was awake now. He just did not want to remember her scared look from the day before. It had taken a toll on him. When she fainted in his hands while he tried to calm her, it shook his entire system.
"You passed out from shock yesterday. Why would you even think of doing that! Of all fun places to go, the haunted house? You easy forget how you are easily triggered to fear!" Rhea nagged at her best friend.
When she finally found her way to the family yesterday, she almost had her own shock seeing Carter carrying an unconscious Claire. She could not explain how terrible she felt. Thanks to Jordan who quickly help them to the nearest hospital. Since that yesterday, her best friend just woke up.
"I had no idea the place was so scary, it felt so real..." Claire lowered her gaze and stared at her hands that was becoming sweaty again as she remembered the scene of the haunted house.
'Calm down, calm down... it is not real. There are no ghosts here, it is all fake—' She continually whispered in her head but it was not working. Adrenaline came coursing through her vein and she started hyper ventilating. She stared into emptiness.
Carter was quick to notice her struggles and he rushed to her side. He grabbed her hand and intertwined it with his.
"Claire!" He called and the latter turned to look at him. Her lips moved once, she whispered. Carter moved closer to her to hear what she tried to say. Her lips moved again.
"Ghosts.." she muttered and shut her eyes.
"Claire, look at me!" Carter demanded and the sound of his harsh voice caused Claire to snap her eyes open. "There are no ghosts anywhere, this are your family. Look over there, it's Rhea and she is so scared seeing you this way. Can you see Aunt Laura, you are making her cry.."
The way he spoke made Claire follow everything he said. Truly, she saw the scared look on her best friend's face and her Aunt Laura was at the verge of tears. She was about to speak when she felt a warm hand fell on her cheek. Her head snapped to the direction of the touch and her eyes met with Carter's concern filled eyes.
"And this is me touching you right now.... there are no ghosts here" He said softly. Claire subconsciously leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath as if taking the word 'no ghosts' in. Then she opened her eyes and sat straight making Carter drop his hand.
"I am sorry" Claire apologized in a small voice filled with guilt.
"No dear, it is not your fault okay. You need to rest" Laura said and Rhea nodded in agreement.
"The doctor said you need plenty of rest" Rhea added.
"This is really annoying, it's Christmas day and I have to be in bed all day?" She pouted.
"We can all have our Christmas celebration tomorrow when you get better" Laura suggested.
"That is right, now lie down and sleep" Carter said and began tucking her in bed.
"Even you Carter, you are being so caring, really really caring and it's so sweet" Claire voice. Carter's hands that were tucking her in bed stopped for a moment. Emotions flickered in his eyes. Unknowingly, he smiled before he continued what he was doing.
This action of his did not escape the eyes of Laura. 'Love is about to happen' she thought and smiled. She remembered her old good days when.... Story for another day, she thought and brushed off the developing story line from the past. She should not remember those anymore. It will only bring her nothing but guilt.
They watched Claire doze off and the three stepped out of the room quietly. They met with Madeline and Daniel who were just returning from home.
"How is she?" Madeline asked.
"She just woke up and is fine" Laura answered.
"That is good news. It is indeed luck that she woke up real quick this time—" Madeline was saying but the look Laura gave her made her come to an abrupt. She turned around and saw Carter's probing eyes staring at her.
"Ah..." She sighed. Even Rhea slapped her own face mentally.
"Aunt, what do you mean by wake up real this time?" He was curious. Was Claire usually this way? But he had never seen her that way. His thoughts wondered.
"Actually, our Claire had a fair share of traumatic experiences while she was still little. This made her prone to shock and easily triggered by fear" Laura explained.
'So, that was the case..' Carter thought as he clenched his fist.
"Now, let us eat. It is late already" Laura said. Madeline and Daniel had brought enough food for them. While they prepared to have eat, Rhea's phone rang. She saw that it was Jordan calling and she picked. They had exchange numbers yesterday.
"Hey" She said.
"Good morning, how are you doing?" Jordan's deep voice rang into the phone.
"I am doing well, thank you for yesterday"
"That is nothing, how is your friend doing now?" he asked.
"Mm.. she is fine"
"That is good to hear. You should take care of yourself too. Have you eaten? Do you want me to come take you out for breakfast?" He worriedly questioned.
"Ah.." Rhea laughed at his worrisome behavior. "There is no need for that, I am about to eat now okay. Thank you" She replied.
"Oh.., I think I worried a little bit too much. I will just leave you to eat then" He said.
"Yeah, thank you for calling".
"It is nothing, I will talk to you later so just eat already" He said.
"Okay, bye" Rhea responded and dropped the call. She returned to her family.
"That was Jordan" She told her mother.
"That your kind friend. Did you say a word of thanks to him?" She asked.
"Yes, I did" Rhea answered while placing food in her plate.
"You should invite him over for our Christmas dinner. We will sure have one when Claire is fine before New year" Laura suggested.
"Sure, I will do that" Rhea answered and her mother smiled. It was time to play matchmaker, she thought. The plans cooking up in Laura's head was unknown to her dear daughter who kept on eating her food in peace.
At the moment, on Jordan's end. He kept on staring at his phone with a big smile on his face.
"Jordan, please snap out of it already!" His friend said to him in irritate.
"I understand your pain dear friend, you don't know what it feels like to be in love" Jordan retorted calmly.
His friend who had just taken a sip from his drink choked, he coughed violently. 'In love!'
"What do you mean by 'in love'?" He asked after calming down. "You are saying now that you are in love?"
"Yup, you have a problem with that?" Jordan dropped his phone and looked at his friend with a raised brow.
"Jordan, you have only just met her—!"
"Since that grotto party" He cut his friend off. "I have loved her since then. That was the first time I saw her. I really thought we would not meet again but fate brought us together again" Jordan explained. His friend's jaw dropped while staring at him unbelievably.
"This is utterly unbelievable" His friend finally found his voice. He shook his head in disbelief.
Just then, Jordan's phone beeped and he quickly picked it up. He had only received a text message but seeing who it was, his face brightened. His friend already guessed who it could be.
'Hey, sorry to disturb but I just want to know if you are interested in dinner with my family one of these days? It is okay if you are busy'. The text read.
Jordan quickly typed a reply. 'Of course, I am very free. Just text me the address and time and I will be there'
A reply came immediately. 'Tomorrow at six, Blue hill Street, the second house on the right'
'Okay, see you tomorrow then'.
All the while he typed, the bright smile never left his face. One would think his face might split in two and the way his face brightened whenever he received her message, it could lit up a dark room. His friend stared at him with wide eyes and dropped jaw.
"You will not believe until you experience it" Jordan said as he pats his friend's back before leaving the room.
"..."