"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" My mom asked me for what could be the hundredth time in the past hour. But before I could respond I was cut off by the announcement 'passengers of flight 180 are requested to move towards the security check area'.
"That's my call," my mom said as she wiped her tears. She is quite emotional.
"Ryan, Mia, please take care of her," she requested them.
"Don't worry Melinda, your daughter is in safe hands," Ryan said in an animated voice.
She hugged me one last time before parting away from me to catch her flight back to Jacksonville.
Seeing her walk away made me emotional and my eyes became moist instantly and I tried to wipe them before anyone can see them, but my two best friends were quick to notice it.
"Aww...C'mon tiger, don't give that wounded look. Cheer up now!" Ryan teased me as he called for a taxi.
He opened the door for me and I got in followed by Mia and Ryan.
The wheels of the car started rolling, taking us to our destination, our home.
It's been one week since I was discharged from the hospital and the doctor said I can attend my classes but I decided to skip it and go to see off my mother at the airport.
It's been two weeks since the incident with Norman. I haven't spoken to anyone about that night, not even to Ryan and Mia. I mean, I do want to tell them but I want to make something of my feelings that have been everywhere since that fateful night, before informing them.
That night Norman stayed with me the whole night and we did nothing but talk about our childhood, our life, our likes, and dislikes. I got to see a completely different side of Norman even though it was me who just did most of the talking and he just sat there taking in every word that escaped from my mouth without any interrupting. Did I tell you how much of a great listener he is? Well, he is. The attitude that he displayed that night was a complete contrast to that cold businessman persona that the media portrays him as. That night was all about getting to know each other and may have involved exchanging a few kisses here and there but other than that it was completely platonic.
Before I know it we have already reached in front of the Blackford towers. We made our way to my apartment and Ryan opened the door and walked inside closely followed by Mia. I would have followed their suit if I would have not stopped by a deep voice calling out my name from behind. I turned my eyes to face the source of the familiar voice.
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"You are just a waste of space."
"Just a weak, pathetic kid.
Mark my words boy, you won't even last a second on the battlefield.
They all will crush you like the insect you are."
"No I'm strong, I proved you wrong," he yelled out as he took the nearest thing to him and chucked it at the mirror in front of him. The lamp slammed into the mirror breaking it into millions of pieces just how his heart was.
'You cannot even protect your sister when I raped her in front of you before cutting her soft and tender body into pieces.'
"Stop, please stop," Norman yelled out in agony, pleading to the voices in his head to stop taunting him for his past failures.
'Do you think your young lady love will accept you? She will leave you once she realizes how sick and twisted you are?"
"No, she won't leave me. I won't let her. I have changed now. I've changed for the better...for her," he cried out as he clawed at his chest, almost drying out his blood.
A sudden knock on his bedroom door interrupted him from further ransacking his room.
"Sir are you ok?" Alexio's voice was then followed by the continuous banging of the door.
Norman didn't open the door even after the repeated attempts from Alexio.
The doorknob jiggled before the door opened letting Norman know that Alexio has used the master key to let him in.
"Sir, calm down," he said in a worried tone as he made his way towards his employer.
"Medications," Norman croaked out as Alexio grabbed him and made him sit on the bed carefully.
As soon as he made sure that Norman was comfortable, he dashed into Norman's bathroom, rummaging through his cabinets, searching for the right medication that he needed to give to his employer. His employer loved to exercise control over each and every aspect of his life including himself and it is in rarest of rarest occasion to see him lose complete control over himself.
Alexio has known Norman for over a decade and he has never, in his whole time with Norman has seen him lose this much control. The last time when he saw Norman in this similar state was on her sister's first death anniversary and he has been taking his medications since then to keep himself sane.
After hysterically searching for a while he finally found the right medicine and gave it to Norman.
It took a while for Norman to calm down after taking his medication.
Norman signaled something to Alexio and he nodded his head and walked into the bathroom before emerging with a first aid kit and handed it to Norman.
Norman took the kit from him and started cleaning his wounds. After dressing himself, he turned to face Alexio.
"Alexio I have a task for you," he announced as he closed the lid of the first aid box.