" Maya!" Ken shouted while his pupils dilated and both Clara and Carl turned back and their eyes also widened.
" Maya, what is wrong? wake up" Clara rushed toward the girl who had suddenly felled in Ken's arms and shook her anxiously. ' What is wrong? she was just fine a while ago.'
" Maya! Maya! " Ken patted her cheeks which had already turned cold and nervously looked up at Clara. " W..Where's the hospital? Quick quick, let's take her, " he said anxiously then rushed toward his car with her in his arms and both Clara and Carl rushed behind him.
__ An Hour Later __
" It's alright, she'll be fine." Carl sighed as he gently wiped her tears while stroking her hair with the other hand.
Clara sniffed and tightened her arm around him. Even after they left the hospital, she couldn't understand the sudden things that just happened. Maya had not shown any sign of illness since they returned. how could she suddenly faint?
The room sank into silence and after some seconds, she looked up from his chest. " Carl, what did Lily say to you? how did you find out the truth?"
Carl sighed deeply then sat up on the bed and she also sat down. " I'm so sorry for misunderstanding you, Clara." He gazed at her softly and Clara shook her head.
" It's okay Carl, I understand that you were mad, " she replied softly and watched as he stood up from the bed then opened a small suitcase and retrieved a pen.
" Here." Carl sat down and handed her the pain then she looked down at it with a small frown.
This looks like the pen recorder she had bought for her sister. She presses the button and a voice started playing.
' The first time I met her, it was raining. . .'
" Th..this, this is Jack's voice." She gasped and her head snapped up to look at Carl who slowly nodded while staring back at her calmly.
She slowly turned back to the pen and silently listened to the voice with an accelerated heartbeat.
The voice continued from the first time they met and all the things that happened after, how he had planned to confess his love to her at the hospital when she suffered from depression and the words she uttered in her dream then came down with fever, how he had asked her to accompany him to the business party then she suddenly got drunk and he had to take her to the suite, how she had begged him not to leave her but uttered Carl's name at the end and he realized that she was still in love with Carl. Then what happened the next morning that he found out that they were already in a relationship. and lastly when she told him about their breakup on the phone and he decided to come to look for her.
' J..Jack?' Clara sobbed silently as the voice finally came to a stop. Jack had been in love with her all along? How stupid was she to not have realized? Despite the signs, he had always shown her and the ways he treated her. ' poor Jack.' But she was already in love with Carl.
" It's okay, don't cry." Carl wiped her tears and hugged her tightly. It was a good thing that she now knows. His heart ached as he silently listened to her sobs and he sighed heavily then slowly patted her back.
After some minutes, Clara calmed down and looked up at him as her sobs quieted down. " Carl, does that mean Jack is also here and Lily knew where he is," she asked in a barely audible voice and Carl nodded.
" Mm, " he replied with a sigh and she also sighed and looked down again. Then the room sank into silence.
" Do you want to go home?" He asked after some minutes then chuckled at her shocked expression.
' Oh, no.' Clara gasped and her eyes darted to the wall clock. ' 1:25 !?' It was already past midnight. " I.. I'll stay here, " she stammered and sighed inside. If she goes home now, the scolding she'll receive will still be the same as when she goes back tomorrow morning.
Carl nodded and after some minutes he stood up and went inside the bathroom.
Clara sighed again and looked down at the pen recorder which she was still holding. Although she didn't know how her sister had guessed that Jack also loved her and recorded the voice, she was very grateful to her.
After a while, the bathroom door opened and she subconsciously looked up then a gasp escaped her lips. ' W..what?'
Carl glanced at her and chuckled at her dumbfounded expression then took the towel which was laying on his shoulder and started drying his hair while facing the mirror.
' Oh, no. don't look, don't look.' Clara covered her face but found herself subconsciously peeking at his broad shoulders and well-defined abs now and then. ' Argh! this is torture.' she groaned inside then her eyes darted to his lower back where the towel was hanging loosely.
" Huh?" She frowned and suddenly stood up from bed and dashed toward him." Carl, what is this?"
Carl glanced back at the girl who was now staring at his back excitedly and chuckled. " You want one?"
" Isn't it painful," Clara mumbled as she admired the tattoo on his back. The snake looked so real that she felt like it would jump out at any moment.
" Mm... not so painful, " Carl replied then frowned slightly and turned to face her then a smirk appeared on his face.
" W..what are you doing?" Clara stammered with widened eyes and took a step back as he slowly walked forward.
He chuckled and watched as her back hit the wall. " I thought you were scared, " he said huskily and placed both hands on the wall beside her head.
' Oh, my God ' her heartbeat accelerated and she looked up with widened eyes.' Shit ' she had been totally entranced by the tattoo.