( THE GIRL IN THE PICTURE )
~LOGAN APARTMENT ~
"Time to use my drugs, '' Whitney muttered to herself before making her way downstairs for a glass of water.
There was no sign of Logan. He might probably have gone to his room, she thought as her gaze caught a room.
Ever since she started to live with Logan, she has never been into that room and neither has she seen Logan going into it.
What exactly is there? She thought as she went towards the door.
She was surprised to find the door open and quickly, she went into the room.
A disappointed sigh left her lips when she saw that it's just a storage room. For a while she had thought that Logan had kept something precious of his hidden there.
She was about to leave when she mistakenly kicked a box, spilling its content on the floor.
Quickly she began to put the pictures back in the box but one of them caught her attention.
It was a picture of Logan, a younger Logan and beside him was a girl who also has a bright smile on her face just like Logan.
Turning the picture over, she saw a little note added to it.
ā MY SHINING STAR, LOVE YOU ALWAYS ā
Was Logan in a relationship? She thought as she kept staring at the picture.
"What the hell are you doing in here!" Logan's angry voice startled her.
"Well I....just...I thought...."
"You shouldn't be in here, Get out!" He barked at her and immediately she ran out of the room.
She was using her drugs when he joined her in the kitchen and judging by the expression on his face, she could tell that he's still angry.
"Am sorry. I just got curious about the room and went into it " she said apologizing but he ignored her.
"I promise not to go there again. You should stop frowning, I liked it when you smiled earlier" she told him and that got him staring at her.
"And when did I smile?" He asked airily.
"When you held onto my face at the hospital. A beautiful smile escapes your lips and I wouldn't deny that I was mesmerized by it. You have a beautiful smile, can you show it to me again" she said in excitement.
"I didn't smile, I never smile" he declared softly and that got her shaking her head.
"You did. Do you want me to make you smile?" She asked softly.
"How on earth do you plan on doing that?" He asked in return and immediately she went to stand in front of him moving her face close to his.
Though Logan felt a bit overwhelmed by this sudden action of hers, he managed to hide it perfectly.
"By doing this!" She said as she began to tickle him expecting him to laugh but he just stood watching her.
"What are you doing?" He asked and that got her pulling away from him.
"I thought tickling you might work but it didn't. Anyway, smile often and I don't intend to go back into that room" she told him before going back to her drugs.
"Why are you taking so many drugs?" He asked as he joined her in the kitchen counter.
"This is my immunosuppressant" she replied and when she saw that he didn't understand, she began to explain.
"It's meant for people who undergo heart transplant and since I am one of them, I need to use this to reduce blood clots and infections" she added softly.
"I didn't know about you getting a heart transplant. Since when has this happened?" Logan asked.
"Seven years ago. I was involved in a car accident" she answered looking sad and something in Logan reached out to her, it wanted to comfort her.
"It must have been tragic for you," he said softly.
"Yes it was, I lost my father during the accident" she replied.
"Am sorry I..."
"You don't have to apologize and besides, it happened a long time ago. Am fine now and that reminds me...I will be going home for a while cause it's father memorial service, you don't mind right?" She asked.
"Of course I don't. Just go do your thing, I also have somewhere to be" he replied.
"Okay then. It's time I go to bed" she said as she picked up her drug. " I would really like it if you can open up to me. I don't know who she is but she must have been a very important person to you" Whitney added before going upstairs leaving Logan who kept staring at the door which held most of his precious memory.
****
~ NEXT DAY ~ WHITNEY'S HOME ~
"Do you want the egg boiled or fried?" Whitney, who was busy in the kitchen, yelled out to her mom.
"Fried" Kate Archer replied.
After a visit to her father's grave, she had insisted on accompanying her mom home knowing that her mom would be depressed since today represents the day she lost her one and only love.
"Here you go" Whitney said as she set the food in front of her mom.
"Your father loved eating his egg fried while I liked mine boiled. I thought him a fool for choosing to fry his egg when it's best to boil it. I was the fool because eating your fried egg is tastier than a boiled one" Kate said as she took a bite of it.
"Mom" Whitney called sadly when she saw the tears in her mom's eyes.
"Am sorry. I said I won't be sentimental but look at me, I will stop crying" Kate said wiping her tears while Whitney fought to control her tears.
"I don't only feel sad for your father but for the lady who helped you that day. If it hadn't been for her, you would have died along with your father" Kate said sadly.
"Thanks to her, I got to be here with you and also I got a new heart because she...she died " Whitney muttered sadly thinking about the tragic accident which not only killed her father but also killed the lady who had come to their rescue.
"Today will also be her death anniversary " Kate murmured.
"It will. I intend to go and see her, do you want to come?" Whitney asked.
"No. I need to get some rest, having to visit another cemetery will get me feeling more down" Kate replied.
"Okay. I will go alone" Whitney informed.
****
~EVENING~ LOGAN'S APARTMENT
Whitney got back home with some groceries she bought.
She was about to yell out for Logan when she changed her mind and went in search of him in the two places she knew he will be.
He wasn't in his study which left his room as her last option.
She got there to find the door open, she went in only to see Logan sleeping soundly on the bed.
He was dressed in black and was holding onto a picture.
Moving towards him she successfully pulled the picture out of his hand and it was of the girl she saw in the other picture in the storage room.
This time, she was the only one alone and she had that bright smile on her face.
There's no doubt that she was once important to Logan.
Setting the picture aside, she helped him pull off his shoe and covered him with the bed quilt before crouching In front of him staring at his sleeping face.
He looks like a baby when he's asleep and that thought got her chuckling.
She felt an urge to move back the lock of hair that had fallen over his face but when he stirred a little, she changed her mind and decided to leave him.
When he's ready to open up to her, then he will surely tell her about the girl in the picture.
****
~NEXT DAY~ CEMETERY
Dressed in a plain black dress, Whitney made her way to a particular grave.
When she got there, she set the flower she had brought with her on it.
"Hello. I'm here once again" she began softly.
"I would have loved to come yesterday but mom kept fussing and I had someone to take care of" Whitney said, referring to Logan as the person she was meant to take care of.
"It's been seven years since that fateful day and each day I keep being grateful to you. Not only did you save me from that car accident, you also saved me by giving me your heart"
"You saved me twice and though I can't pay you back during this lifetime, I promise to pay you back when we meet again" she said as she wiped the tears off her face.
"I promise not to cry but here I am, doing just that" she said berating herself.
Pulling out her handkerchief she began to use it to wipe the grave when she noticed a locket someone had put there.
Picking it up, she opened it to see a lady picture and the shocking part of it is that the lady in the locket picture is the same lady she saw in the Logan picture.
Feeling shocked by this revelation she decided to call her mom to help clarify something.
"Can you please tell me the name of the lady who saved me?" Whitney asked as soon as her mom answered the call.
Due to everything that happened back then, Whitney had chosen not to know the name of the lady who saved her cause she only wanted to know her as the hero who saved her years ago.
"Why do you suddenly ask that?" Kate asked in return.
"I just want to know mom. It's urgent!" Whitney replied feeling unedge.
"Her name is Crystal, Crystal James"
"Thanks mom" Whitney said as she end the call and immediately she took to her heels.
****
~ LOGAN'S APARTMENT ~
As soon as she got to Logan apartment, she went to the storage room only to find it locked.
Heading for the stairs, she went straight to Logan room and the picture she had seen in his hands was where she placed it last night.
Picking it up, she compared it with the one in the locket and it is the same person.
Memory of that day seven years ago came to her and she shook her head to get rid of it but she kept remembering how things went that day.
*"Give me your hand. Nothing will happen to you, so just give me your hand"*
*"Have got to go and get your father out of the car, so just stay put and your father and I will be here with you"*
The hero who had helped her during the car accident seven years ago said that the injured Whitney had watched the lady go back to the car which still had her father in it, she could do nothing when the car exploded with her father and hero trapped in it.
Just thinking about it got Whitney shaking in fear and she had to sit on Logan's bed because her legs wouldn't support her.
"You said I should open up to you right?" Logan's voice drifted to her and she turned to stare at him.
"Everyone else thinks that have never been in love but that's what I made them believe. I didn't want them knowing about her" Logan said, staring at the picture she held in her hand.
"She's crystal, the girl I once loved but death took her away from me in the cruelest way possible" he added lightly.
That was all Whitney needed to get her suspicions confirmed.
Crystal is the lady who had saved her, the lady who had given her her heart before dying, the lady who had been Logan's only love.
"Tell me something. Did your Phobia begin right after she died?" Whitney asked, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Yes. When she died, my heart couldn't open up to anyone else" he answered and that got her bursting into tears.
LLogan'sphobia had all begun when Crystal died. If Crystal hadn't saved her that day then she would still be here with Logan.
"Why are you crying?" The surprised Logan asked.
Not being able to bear it, she ran straight into his arms.
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault Logan" she said crying hard while Logan held her to him.
"Crystal de, math isn't your fault" Logan said trying to calm her down but it only made her cry harder.
"It is my fault. Am sorry Logan, ly sorry" she said as she tightened her hold on him.....