Angel base .
In the hall .
Pierce was trying to put a bandage on his hand but he was having problem in doing so . In today's mission , he got some cuts on both of his hands .
" If you don't mind I can help . " , he got a bit startled hearing a familiar voice behind him . He turned to his side and saw Selina standing there .
" Why are you still up ? " , he asked .
" I was working with Rain . "
" Oh . "
" So , can I help ? "
Pierce didn't object and held his hands towards her . Selina started dressing his wounds carefully .
........
" It's done . " , Selina said . Pierce didn't reply so she looked at him and found out that he was staring at her intently .
" It's done . " , she said again , a bit louder this time .
Pierce averted his eyes and said , " Thank you very much . "
" It's fine . I'll leave now . " , she was going to leave when he said , " You came here for something , didn't you ? "
" Oh , I came to get some water . Thanks for reminding . " , Selina took a bottle of water from the table and left without saying anything more .
.........
Pierce sat there for some time before finally getting up . He was proceeding towards his room when he saw Riley standing at the door staring straight into his eyes .
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" Everything was wrong , everything was nonsense.....I never wanted to say those things ...I've never understood my feelings well and neither have I ever paid attention to them . I didn't know what to say against your comments , I just said whatever came to my mind . And in the process everything went wrong . " , she stopped for a while .
Ryan didn't say anything , so she started again , " How much did you insult me just because I had accepted everything you said ....you didn't even think , why I did that , rather ....you jumped to the conclusion that I was used to those kind of things .
Have you ever thought , if I were such woman wouldn't I have accepted Derek's offer too ? Wouldn't I have agreed to sleep with him too , in order to get free from him ? But ....I didn't do that , Ryan .... Did you ever think that there must've been a reason for my different reaction towards you even though your offer was same as his ? " , she looked at him in the eyes and continued , " A woman can feel whether someone is a threat to her or not ...Yes , initially because of your demeanor I was scared of you but then , regardless of everything that you used to say to me back then , somehow I never felt that you would be a threat in my life . "
She started after some time , " I won't deny that I really wanted to be free from you , who wouldn't want that anyway ? But surprisingly enough , when you finally set me free , I didn't feel the way , I was supposed to feel .....For the first few days everything went normal . Then I started realising something ...I started realising that somehow , few things had became habits for me .... In some afternoons when my shifts were over early , I used to come out of the hospital and the first thing I used to do was to look at the tree , you used to lean against . A part of me , still expected to see you there , probably ..... In some evenings when I had to return home , I used to look back time to time , probably to find your protective presence behind me . But... you weren't there . In some short breaks , the first thing I used to do was to check my phone only to see if there was any new message from you ..... those habits never left . " , she wiped her tears , then started again , " At one point , I discovered that your contact was not on my phone anymore ... All the chats were gone too . Probably , they were gone the very day , you had freed me ....The moment , I realised that I can't contact you anymore even if I want to .... I felt an unknown coldness in my heart .
You know , from a very early age , I didn't have any friends , it's not that I was upset about that . Even , all these while I was all by myself but honestly speaking I really never had the feeling of being lonely . But .....on a tired afternoon , while walking home , looking at the people bickering and laughing around , for the first time in my life , I felt lonely .....I missed someone's presence beside me . " she stopped again . After a moment she continued with a sigh , " People has always considered me as an emotionless person , one who is never affected by anything , one who doesn't care about anything people say or do to her . They weren't wrong though , I really never cared about others' conduct with me . But..... I felt bad when you behaved rudely with me . I felt jealous when I saw you with Nia that day . I felt hurt when you said those things in the corridor . I felt pain when you ruthlessly ended everything .
........
I had stopped feeling alive a long time ago . I was living like a soulless body , like a machine . Believe me , I was contented with living like that , I didn't wish for a better life . But then , you changed everything ....Why did you have to come to my life , why did you have to make me feel alive again , only to leave me in a state , more pathetic than ever ?
We parted ways in such a problematic turn that we lost the chance to even greet each other with a smile when we meet next time . We would most probably get past each other like strangers . Please , Ryan , let's not become strangers , I was very hurt when you treated me as a stranger . Please , let's not be like that . " , she stopped and looked at him .
( Silence )
Ryan spoke up after some time , " You deserve an apology from me . Well , I am really very very sorry for everything that I said . Normally , I don't lose my temper like that , but at that time I had many things to take care of . I was a bit frustrated , and probably because of that I said a lot more than I should've . Really very sorry . I hope , you would accept my apology and try to forget those things . "
" No , actually it's me who should apologize . I've said so many things to you which were totally wrong . I knew , whatever I was saying was not true , I regretted for saying them too but still I couldn't manage to say that I was wrong . Everytime my words took wrong turns and things kept on getting worse . "
After a moment , Ryan spoke up , " It's actually good then that I said those things that you finally decided to speak for yourself .
But you didn't really need to take all these troubles just to clarify everything to me . It wasn't necessary ..."
" It was ..... Don't ask me why but I felt , it was really necessary for you to know the truth , to know what I have gone through . I didn't want you to have those wrong assumptions about me for ever . "
" I see . So everything's clear now ? " , he asked . She looked at him hesitantly .
" There is something else that you want to say . Isn't so ? " , he asked again .
She remained silent for a moment and then said , " You are very smart , can't you guess ? "
" I do . But I want to hear it from you . "
Melvine started , looking down , " Ryan , can't we go back to the state , we were in ? "
" And , for what , to have a better ending next time ? "
" Probably . "
Ryan was going to say something but before he could , out of nowhere , a bright lightning flashed around them followed by a loud rumble of thunder . Both of them got startled by the sudden thunder .
Ryan looked at the sky with a frown . Dark clouds were forming in the sky . Occasionally bright flashes of silver lightning were appearing against the sky . The sound of the stormy wind with the slight cracking sounds of thunder were making the weather worse .
" It's going to rain . " , he subconsciously said . He got up from the ground and say , " Get up , the weather is getting bad . "
" Give me an answer at least . " , she said .
" It's not that simple . It's enough for today . Whatever is left , we can talk about that later . It may start raining anytime . "
" But ...."
" Do you know , in this kind of weather the activities of those creatures increase a lot . " , he said in a whispering tone . She didn't say anything more .
He held out his hand towards her and said , " Come on , get up . "
Melvine looked at his hand and said , " It's okay , I can manage . "
Ryan grabbed her hand and pulled her up , then he spoke up , " I'm just helping you to get up . Did you think , I'm going to carry you ?..... Walk yourself . " , with that he walked forward .
Melvine followed behind without saying anything .
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Melvine's friend was in the living room . She was a bit worried for Melvine . Melvine informed her that she would be coming today but it was very late now . She didn't answer her phone when she ( Melvine's friend ) called her . Moreover the weather was getting bad . She was contemplating hard whether Melvine had got into any kind of trouble when she heard the door opening . She sighed in relief , thinking that Melvine must've returned but the very next moment her relaxed face formed a big frown when she saw a man , dressed in all black , entering through the door , carrying Melvine in his arms .
Seeing Melvine in that state , the first thought that came to her mind was that something must've happened to her .
She asked worriedly , " Melvine , what's wrong ? Are you okay ? "
" Yes yes , it's nothing serious . " , Melvine replied .
The man was approaching the couch without paying any attention to the friend .
" Ryan , you can put me down now . I can manage . " , Melvine said to him in low voice but her friend heard her anyway . And then she started , " Oh , so , you are the one , that Ryan ? You made my friend suffer like that ? How dare you force her .... "
" It's not like that ...." , Melvine tried to retort but she cut her off , " Melvine , don't be afraid . Let me speak today . Well , you answer , what did you do this time ? "
Ryan still didn't pay any attention to her words , he carefully placed Melvine on the couch . Melvine's friend continued in a loud voice , taking a few steps towards him , " Why aren't you answering ? Are you afraid now ? Didn't you free her ? Then why are you with her ? Are you going to force her again ? Wait , why her eyes are red ? Did you make her cry ? Look , don't you even dare ...." , she couldn't finish her sentence as Ryan turned to her and looked straight into her eyes .
Ryan said coldly , " Were you saying something ? "
All this time , Melvine's friend couldn't see Ryan's face properly , now just by looking at his sharp eyes , she lost all her courage . She could feel from his aura that this man was not someone to mess with . She took a few steps back .
" What.....lost your voice ? " , he asked again .
The friend stuttered , " Oh ....I ... actually...I wasn't saying anything . "
" Really ? "
" Y...y...yes . Okay , I'll leave you two ... you guys continue . " , the woman was going to leave when Ryan spoke up , " Wait . "
She turned to him nervously and hardly said , " Yes . "
" You don't need to leave . I'm leaving . Take care of you friend . " , she looked at Melvine and then again to Ryan and nodded .
Ryan proceeded to leave , he was at the doorway when Melvine spoke up , " But Ryan ....."
" I said , we'll talk later . " , he replied without turning back and left . "
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Dark Soul Base
It was raining heavily outside . Time to time slight rumbles of thunder were breaking the silence of the night .
Shawn and Aaron were discussing something .
Aaron spoke up , " It's so frustrating . Everytime we have a serious discussion , Ryan has to be missing . " , he looked at Shawn and said , " Where is he again ? "
" Of course , on a date . " , Shawn answered nonchalantly .
" Huh , how do you know ? "
Before Shawn could say something , Ryan spoke up from the door , " It's nothing like that . " , Aaron looked at him questioningly .
Ryan approached the table giving a side glance to Shawn .
He sat down and spoke up , " Since you guys are here at this hour , I guess , it's something serious . "
" It is . We've confirmed our next target . " , Aaron replied .
" And it is ..."
" Daisy Hospital . "