It should have been a great morning with the sun shining through the window plus, the fresh scent of flowers that the doctor brought in for her. Unfortunately, the doctor was Eli and it ruined everything.
"Good morning." Eli greeted as he stepped inside and placed the flowers inside the vase.
"My morning was good until a few seconds ago."
Instead of feeling annoyed with her cold response, Eli just laughed and took a chair to sit beside her bed. "I am here today as promised."
Ceres rolled her eyes helplessly and pulled the blanket up to her neck. "I don't recall agreeing to such a thing."
"I don't understand." Eli looked into her eyes and clasped his hands together as if scrutinizing her every expression.
She was already guilty as is, now that she was facing him, she felt even guiltier. Not only did she kill him, but now that she was given a second chance, she chose to lie to him.
"Except for your brother, you don't remember anyone else, right? So, why do I feel that you hate me and that you are avoiding me?"
"Your face speaks trouble."
"Hey! That's rude to judge someone without knowing them."
"Whatever." Ceres turned her back on him and closed her eyes. She was afraid of spending time with him. She was afraid that she'd fall deeper into this quagmire called love.
Seeing her lonely back, Eli couldn't help but remember the times that he saw her with the children. She was always vibrant and cheerful. She was someone that could never be associated with the word gloomy - not even when she learned what happened to her brother.
"I'll read the basics to you today," Eli said which was met with silence from the woman in front of him. "Once you can slowly walk, I'll bring you outside." Silence. "You are not sleeping on me, right?"
"Ugh! So annoying! I don't want to hear anything about my work. I'm stressed enough with some other things."
"Then, shall we talk about the people here and the things you did before?"
"You can't read the atmosphere, can you?"
"There is nothing written in the atmosphere."
"Jesus!"
Ceres wanted to punch this man's face for acting dumb and all but because of her guilt, she could only clench her fist and calm herself.
"You were a good nurse." Eli started which stunned her for a moment. She never thought she'd hear this from him. As far as she knew based on Belle's memories, she had little interaction with Eli. Though, this didn't stop the woman from liking him. "You were so good with children." He continued. "You helped others whenever you could and you cheer us up with those candies that you always have."
"I cheered you up?"
"Yeah." Ceres finally turned to face him, but she still covered up her body, afraid he would see her ugly scars. "It happened not so long ago. You would always leave some candies on my table whenever I was feeling down. It actually made me smile. I didn't expect to receive candies at my age."
"I don't remember doing that." She said which was partly truth and a lie. She remembered Belle doing that but as Ceres, that was something she never did before.
"Not only that; you were friends with almost everyone in our department."
"Almost? So, not really everyone. Who were my enemies?"
"I can't say that they were your enemies but you just don't get along with them."
"So, I have to be wary of these people."
Eli just chuckled at the difference of the past Belle to the current one. If it was before, she would surely say defend those people even if they don't get along. She would say that they just didn't have similarities and whatnot. Unlike now, she directly said she should be wary of them without a second thought.
"Times is up!" Ceres said and sat on her bed. "You can leave and continue with your work now."
"I didn't know there is a time limit to my visit and it's not even fifteen minutes yet since I arrived here."
"I say it's over when it's over."
"How will you remember things if you keep me in arm's length?"
"But I don't want to remember anything right now. I just want to recuperate."
Eli placed his fingers on his chin and thought of what he could do for this woman who strongly opposed to his presence. He really wanted to help her. "Hmm, how about I bring Neon here tomorrow?"
"No!"
Eli stiffened at the sudden yell coming from her. He honestly thought that she'd be happy with the idea. "I thought - "
"No!" Ceres rejected the idea once again. The images that flashed in her mind felt like it happened yesterday and she didn't like them. She loves children just like Belle and if Neon will be her brother this time, she didn't want him to see her weak like this. "I don't want him to see me like this. I can't be a weak sister in front of him."
"But your brother has been looking for you. We couldn't tell him what happened to you because we were worried for him. Now that you are here, won't you allow him to see you?"
"Still - "
"Isn't it selfish of you to do this to him?"
Ceres thought about it and placed herself in Belle's shoes. If she was her, would she allow her brother to see her like this? Would she let him see that she's weak and fragile?
"Just because he'll see you like this doesn't mean you are weak. Living for him, doing your best to provide his needs, and being there for him, that's not weakness. You are strong, Belle. Stronger than anyone else."
Ceres wanted to say something but she felt like she was pushed into an endless darkness. She couldn't see Eli or hear his words. She didn't know what was happening.
When Ceres regained her senses, Eli was no longer there. She felt even more annoyed now. "So, what now? Did we reach an agreement?" She asked but no one was there to answer her question. [Sigh. This is frustrating. How can I ever stay far away from him?]