Him and Her Part 9: Betrayal and Love

NOTE: If it says I or me, then it means Her, not as in the author, first person is Her…
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  I kept waiting for Jeremy to come walking down the hall. The two twins (NOTE: forgot to put their names, they are Cassie and Debbie) lay next to me asleep in the chairs. Tears began to fill my eyes as the third hour had past since Jeremy had been paged.
  I stood up, wiped tears from my eyes, and walked down one of the hallways; signs everywhere read: ‘RESCUE’ and ‘You Can Help’. I kept wondering where Jeremy was, I am very worried about him. I keep walking, not knowing where I was going. I saw a helicopter landing pad, and went outside to watch one land; they brought in a blue body. I watched them bring the body down and rush it inside, for some reason I followed them.
  I followed the paramedics down to the infirmary, only a few doors down from where I was. I saw them blow oxygen into the body and saw the chest rise up and down. I walked in the room and looked down at the body. What I saw sickened me. It was my neighbor, Donald. Donald had had a crush on me since we were seven. I devastated me to see him in that kind of condition. Though I had never liked him the same way, I felt bad for him, lying there, helpless.
  I felt tears begin to fill my eyes, I couldn’t hold in my emotions any longer. The past few hours began to swell up inside of me like a big balloon, ready to pop. I ran out of the room and sat next to Cassie and Debbie, who were still sound asleep. I threw my hands over my eyes and started to sob.
  I felt a hand fall on my shoulder, the comforting sense made me look up. My eyes were red and puffy from crying, but I could still see. It wasn’t who I was hoping to see, it wasn’t Jeremy. Instead of Jeremy, it was someone else. He must have seen the disappointment in my eyes, for he said “I’m sorry, Miss, am I not who you were hoping for?” he smiled at me.
  “Oh,” I aid whipping at my eyes, “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m waiting for someone to come.”
  “Well, might I suggest paging that person over the intercom?” he was still smiling.
  “I already did, about twelve hours ago,” I tried not to let my voice shake, “I don’t think he’s coming.”
  “Oh, I’m sorry, Miss,” he sounded sincere, “perhaps I can help you find him.”
  “Alright,” I was about to get up when Cassie sat up.
  “Where are you going?” she asked her eyes full of wonder as Debbie sat up.
  “I’m going to look for my friend, the one I tried to page,” I was trying my best to smile for them.
  “You mean Jeremy hasn’t come yet?” asked Debbie eyeing the man suspiciously.
  “He hasn’t,” I tried to sound hopeful, “but this man has offered to help me find Jeremy.”
  “This man has a name,” he smiled at me and the girls, “I’m William, William Ford” he outstretched his arm in greeting.
  “Well, Mr. Ford, I’m Marie Brooke,” I took his hand and shook it. (NOTE: Marie Brooke, is HER!!! As in HER of HIM AND HER, MARIE BROOKE IS HER! SO NOW I GUESS THAT IT’S GOING TO BE CALLED JEREMY AND MARIE? hmmmmm)
  “Marie, really?” he looked at me quizzically, “I would have guessed you to be a Susan, maybe even an Anne, but Marie?”
  “Why, do you not like my name?” I pondered at why my name mattered and not his own.
  “No, just with your red curls, pale skin, and amazing turquoise eyes,” he stopped talking.
  “Just what, Mr. Ford?” I couldn’t help but smirk at me having ‘amazing turquoise eyes’.
  “Just I though your name would be different, Miss Brooke,” his cheeks turned a rosy pink.
  “That’s alright,” I said holding back a smirk, “are you still going to help me?”
  “I offered, so I will,” William flashed a handsome smile at Cassie and Debbie who still looked at William as if he were a thief.
  “Cassie, Debbie, are you coming?” I motioned for them to come along.
  Reluctantly they followed William and me. First we went back up to the desk that I had first paged Jeremy at.
  “Can you page Jeremy…” William didn’t know Jeremy’s last name.
  “Nelson,” I finished smiling at the woman at the desk. This wasn’t the same woman I had asked the first time.
  The loud speaker turned on with an annoying beep, “Jeremy Nelson to the Service Desk,” she said a bit hasty, “Jeremy Nelson to the Service Desk,” she said slower and louder.
  “Thank you, Miss,” William nodded at the woman at the Service Desk.
  “I already tried paging him,” I said under my breath.
  “I know that you have already paged him,” William had heard me, “now that I have, we will go and look for him.” Is it just me, or did William sound a bit stuck up?
  I caught up with his pace, and then stood directly in front of him, “what’s the difference between my paging Jeremy and your paging?” I demanded; my emotions were haywire since Jeremy was gone.
  William looked over at Debbie and Cassie, who were busying themselves with a beetle they found on the floor, looked me square in the eyes, and kissed me, right on the lips, not even the cheek. For a moment I was in shock, and couldn’t even slap him. After I regained my senses, I pulled away and slapped his cheek so hard he must have turned the shade of a tomato. “William Ford, I never met a man as…” I couldn’t find the words, “ugh!”
  A wry smile slid across his face from ear to ear as I took Debbie and Cassie, both completely confused at what William had done wrong, by the hand and led them back to the chairs to wait for Jeremy, again. William chased after us, I’m hoping to apologize. He couldn’t catch up to us until we finally sat down, Cassie and Debbie panting out of breath.
  When he was right in front of me I had to catch my breath, for some reason I felt different around him, but I soon steered my mind away from that, I love Jeremy, and Jeremy loves me, and is probably worried sick about me.
  I told Debbie and Cassie to stay where they were so I could go and talk to Mr. Ford in private, but that I would be back soon.
  Once we were in the hallway, my ‘different’ feeling went away, and anger had replaced it. William stood there, I’m guessing to pick out which words he would use to apologize with. We stood there in silence for a few minutes before I finally broke. “Well?” I was impatient, and still angry with him.
  “Well, what?” he tried to look innocent.
  “You know exactly what!” I yelled in a hushed tone.
  “Actually, I have no idea what you seem to be talking about,” he taunted.
  “Don’t play dumb, Mr. Ford,” I persisted, “you know exactly what!” I was trying to stay quiet.
  “Honestly, Miss Brooke, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he smiled again.
  “Well then, if you don’t remember what you did, or want to admit what you did, then I guess we’re done here,” I teased, “goodbye, Mr. Ford, I wish I could say I will see you again, but I cannot.”
  A look of regret appeared on William’s face, “Wait!” he called as I turned to leave.
  “Yes?” I said turning around to face William barely a foot of space between our noses.
  “I know what I did,” he said reluctantly, “I did…” he leaned forward and kissed me again, only this time, when I tried to pull away, he put his arm around my back, to where I couldn’t escape him.
  I’m not sure why, but after a moment, I eased up, and actually, kind of, sort of, kissed William back. (NOTE: THIS IS WHERE YOU SCREAM WHY?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO JEREMY?!?!?!) I didn’t think it meant that much, but after about five minutes, I noticed what I was doing. William’s hand was off my back, and I pulled away, but slower than before. My face held a shocked expression, while William’s held a more pleased look, as if he had gotten his way. “I’ve got to go,” I said as I hurried down the hallway.
  William followed me, but this time, I wasn’t sure why. I slowed down, my head reeling. I felt faint, so I slowed down a bit more. I had to lean against the wall to stay steady. I felt light-headed, and dizzy. The back of my head started to throb with pain, I felt woozy, and couldn’t control myself. I leaned over and heaved, a spew of water and my last meal fell upon the floor. I fell to the ground in attempt to walk around the mess. My head spun again, and I relentlessly heaved up the little bit of water I had left. My head still throbbed with pain and everything went black again. 
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  I dreamed of Jeremy, he was looking at me, ashamed of me. “Why have you left me, Marie?” Jeremy was upset.
  “I didn’t mean to Jeremy, he…" I was interrupted.
  “Don’t blame him for your mistake, I thought YOU would wait for me, worry about me, and look for me, but I was wrong.”
  Jeremy faded as I called to him, wanting to feel his touch, the taste of his lips.
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  I woke up and was terrified of what I had just dreamt. I vowed that from that moment I would wait for Jeremy before I even looked at another man. I love Jeremy, and I’m sure he loves me too, wherever he may be. I looked around me and saw white walls. Debbie and Cassie were nowhere to be found, neither was William.
  I closed my eyes again; I had a pain in my stomach. I tried to picture Jeremy waiting for me along the beach, his hair close to his eyes, his dimples showing as he saw me approach him. I could imagine his hand in mine, walking on the edge of the water, like we had before the storm hit. I remembered us on the roof. I hade heard something, something important, but what was it? I remember, it was a splash, but who fell off? Suddenly everything came crashing back to my brain. Jeremy! Jeremy had fallen off of the roof! But where was I? I quickly opened my eyes and look around. Then I remembered what had happened recently, William kissing me, twice, and me kissing William back. Cassie and Debbie asleep on the chairs, and Cassie and Debbie waiting for me near the Service Desk. Cassie and Debbie! Where were they? I sat up, but my head hurt so much that I quickly feel back down. The Service Desk…paging for Jeremy, meeting William near the Service Desk, speaking of William, where was the weasel? I remember William kissing me, and me kissing him back, I still can’t believe that I kissed him back, after I had been with Jeremy. I sat up, and ignored the throbbing in the back of my head. I looked around; I was in the hospital part of the Rescue Center. I look at my heart rate on the chart. Though I feel like my heart is no longer beating, as if I don’t deserve to let it beat any longer, I had betrayed Jeremy. Betrayed rang through my head like the siren that had forced me here.
  A knock came on my door, I tried to talk, but couldn’t, my throat felt like a desert. Soon William’s face appeared. “Oh, you’re up,” a smiled crept against his face.
  I could only grunt in reply.
  “I guess your throat is sore.”
  I gave him a sarcastic look.
  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he was about to laugh, but the look I gave him made him stop dead in his tracks. He came over and sat on my bed, too close for comfort. “What did I do wrong?” he questioned.
  “You should know,” my voice was raspy, but he understood it.
  “What, I have no idea,” he mimicked from before.
  “Don’t play that game with me, you know what you did, and if you play dumb I swear that I’ll slap you so hard you’ll go THROUGH the door!” I yelled in a raspy voice.
  “No need to get testy,” he smirked, “and you kissed me back,” he pointed out as he inched closer to me.
  “I know I did, but the thing is, I didn’t mean to,” William looked disappointed, “I have someone, Jeremy, I love him, and I’ve never told him that I do, but I do love him. William, I rather be your friend, me and Jeremy, we have something special, and that’s the reason I’m still here, to look for Jeremy,” my voice started to grow weaker with the last words.
  “If you didn’t mean to kiss me back, then why did you, it’s not fair to lead me on,” William’s eyes held so much pain, so much misery, I couldn’t look at him anymore.
  “I’m not sure why I did, William, I’m not sure, it felt like the right thing to do,” I wasn’t facing him.
  William grabbed my cheek and made me look at him, “Did you feel anything, a spark, anything at all?” he tried to hope that I did.
  “I’m not sure, William, I can barely remember anything at the moment,” I truly couldn’t remember if I had felt ‘sparks’ or not.
  William inched even closer to me, hoping I wouldn’t notice, “If you can’t remember anything, then how do you remember about Jeremy,” his eyes searched mine.
  “William, I can remember things like that, I doubt I ever will remember if I felt any ‘sparks’ though,” I said, looking at the wall behind him.
  William leaned closer to me, and helped me sit up, so I could breathe better, “So you don’t know if you felt anything?” he was hoping with all his might that I would say yes.
  “No, I don’t remember,” I paused to breathe, “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t,” I had a bad feeling in my gut.
  William inched as close as he could, and put is hand behind my back to help me sit up. “It’s alright,” he said as he handed me a drink he had gotten, I’m guessing from a food court he had found. He leaned even closer to me, and I turned away, trying to look out the window. William leaned across me to look at my face; he smiled his ‘famous’ smile. I tried to smile back, but instead grabbed my throat, it was painfully dry. I took a drink from the drink he handed me, and swallowed it agonizingly. William looked at me with sorry eyes. I felt bad for him, like his sadness was my fault. “William,” I started to scoot toward the edge of my bed, “can you please scoot over, you’re a bit close,” I said about to stand up.
  “Yes, of course, I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.
  “It’s alright,” I said about to stand up.
  William rushed to the other side to help me stand up, I was still in the clothes I had on when I was on the roof they felt stiff against me as I started to walk.
  “Need any help walking around?” William seemed worried about me, but so had Jeremy, I felt torn between the two of them.
  “No, I’m fine,” I lied. I tried my best to walk on my own, but with each step the room spun, before I knew it William had caught me and was leading me back to my bed.
  “Are you SURE you don’t want any help?” William seemed like he really wanted to help me.
  “Fine,” I said still trying to stand up.
  “I don’t think you should be trying to walk yet,” William hesitated.
  “You don’t THINK you’re not a doctor.” I retorted.
William suddenly let go of my arm, I noticed a hint of fury in his eyes. I knew I had said something wrong.
“William…I,” he cut me off by walking out the door. I sat alone, completely alone. I heard William walk down the hall. I had never asked him why he was here. Was I being selfish? I’m still alone in my ‘room’, worrying about Jeremy Nelson, the one who I had betrayed, the one who I love! Is love worth betrayal?
I closed my eyes trying to forget about everything that I had just happened. I remembered me and Jeremy in the tunnel. How we had been with each other, how I had told him my hopes and dreams. Then I switched to me and Jeremy in the house. When I had felt him kiss my forehead, and how badly I wanted to lean up and kiss him back…
I suddenly felt as though I should be out there, looking for him. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I got up, ignoring my queasiness, and walked out the door. I remember William’s footsteps heading toward the left. I ran as fast as I could, passing a few doctors, and patients alike. I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around and saw Cassie and Debbie following me. I leaned down and gave both of them a hug, I figured that they needed it as much as I did. “William said something about waiting,” Debbie said.
“Waiting at the Service Desk,” Cassie added.
We headed toward the way William had gone and finally reached the Service Desk waiting area. William was facing away from me. “Wait here,” I hushed Cassie and Debbie.
I walked up and put my hand on William’s shoulder. He looked up.
“I’m sorry am I not who you were hoping for?” I smirked.

TO BE CONTINUED...