"I love you..."
Time seemed to have frozen at that moment, being the only ones in the hallway it was extremely quiet.....too quiet.
Dylan's fist clenched tightly as he could not bring himself to look at the girl. For some unknown reason he was boiling with anger and for the first time, he felt repulsed being next to her.
His breathing became erratic and his eyes became unfocused...maybe it was because that woman said those same words to him before breaking his trust and shooting him straight in his heart.
Not many people knew how much she hurt him, she was the first person he had trusted so much in years but she....
Anna realizing how quiet the atmosphere was looked up.
Dylan seemed to be trembling slightly, his breathing was heavy and he was staring right into her eyes.
"Anna...." his voice was hoarse but he tried to make it as gentle as he could.
She had no idea the amount of will power he had gathered just so he won't push her away like the others. To him, Anna was special and he didn't want to hurt her but...
"Anna you're still young.....what you're feeling, its not love" Dylan said. He took a deep breath and nodded "It is not love Anna"
Anna's expression turned gloomy as she heard his words, 'Not love?'
"Dylan.....it is! I've thought long and hard about my feelings and I know....." Anna was sure, she wanted some much to prove him wrong but was interrupted midway.
"That's enough!" Anna got startled when Dylan raised his voice, this was actually the first time she had witnessed that cold side of him everyone spoke of. His burned with anger and it scared her…he had never looked at her this way before…it was unsettling.
"I just....."
"I said stop talking!" Dylan's eyes were cold as he stared at her
"I don't care if your feelings are sincere or not but I will never return them, I will never feel the same way, so just stop this!"
At this point Dylan's chest began to feel stuffy making it hard for him to breath. He knew this feeling all to well, this was exactly what he felt like anytime he got closer to the opposite sex. He looked into the girl's eyes and saw tears in them, he knew he had hurt her.
A whimper escaped Anna's lips when she heard his words, it felt like a bucket of cold water has been splashed on her.
"Go to sleep early Anna" Dylan said deciding to end the discussion here, any longer and he would pass out from lack of air.
He turned around prepared to walk away but Anna held his hand.
"Is....is it perhaps because I'm on this chair?" Anna's voice shook as she asked, she was afraid of the answer…afraid that it could be the reason…her greatest insecurity.
At this time, Dylan's forehead was covered in cold sweat, he wanted to tell her that it wasn't, he wanted to tell her that he was the one with the problem not her.....but his lips wouldn't budge.
'Why did this have to happen now?' Dylan smiled bitterly as he felt the girl let go off his hand, his back was facing her but he could imagine the expression on her face.
Anna smiled sadly "I knew it...." she whispered under her breath. "Thank you for walking me back Dylan, Good night"
This was the saddest he had ever heard her speak, he wanted to turn around when he heard the sound of the door closing but his body soon slumped to the ground and he found himself gasping for air.
This was his weak side, this was the part of him he wanted to get rid of so much, because he felt embarrassed every time. He felt so ashamed because, his greatest weakness was caused by a woman. He appeared to be strong in front of everyone but this was.... a part of him he wanted no one to see.
"Dylan?" Li Chen and Su Chen who were about to come visit Anna saw their friend on the floor. This wasn't the first time this had happened but it had been so long they thought he was already over it.
...
After putting Dylan down on his bed, Su Chen went to his medicine cabinet and brought out his pills.
After swallowing them, Dylan felt calm and drowsy. He could finally breath properly but he was feeling too weak to open his eyes.
"Dylan how did this happen?, you were just fine this morning" Li Chen said worried about his friend.....his brother.
Dylan was not planning to tell them what happened, he just made up a believable story and refused to speak anymore no matter how much they tried to probe.
They would end up telling him to distance himself from Anna if he told them the truth. He didn't want to ever do that. But it was the same thing that happened with every other girl, they always have protected him ever since he was adopted by the general.
Of course no one knew he was adopted by the general. They only knew him as the general's right hand man.
"You should rest well Dylan, I won't probe any further. But I know, you're keeping something from us....''
"And we'll find out what" Su Chen completed his brother's sentence before patting Dylan's shoulders.
Dylan could only nod weakly at his two older brothers before closing his eyes again.
Once the Duan brothers left the room, his eyes fluttered open.....
...
Anna closed the door behind her without daring to look back, tears rolled down her cheek as she made her way to her bed.
She wiped away the tears quickly and and got on her bed, she wasn't going to cry! she definitely wasn't!
'Why was I expecting so much?....he's the general's right hand man and I...I'm a girl on a wheel chair. There must be much more prettier girls than I am....so why am I this hurt?' Anna couldn't really stop her tears no matter how she tried, even though she had a feeling she was going to be rejected, she didn't for one second think it was going to be because of her legs....because she thought Dylan was different. She felt that he wouldn't care about things like that.
But she was wrong....she was very wrong!
She had prepared herself for his rejection but niw she realized it was all futile, it hurt so much that she couldn't breathe. She sobbed into her pillow harder letting out all of her emotions.
She hated herself at that moment, hated who she was, hated who she wasn't….