"Your Stella? What are you on about?", Jason was dumbfounded. the world couldn't possibly be so small that the first woman he meets and connects with at an emotional level turned out to be related to his fiancé. Liberty's sudden silence surely wasn't helping, the horror in her face certainly sent shivers down his spine and left him with an unsavoury taste. He couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth to her sudden outburst. He had to know, even if his heart was shaken upon hearing the news, he needed to be certain.
He sat up straight and the concern on his face reflected perfectly the gears turning in his head and his twisting stomach. He said a little prayer hoping for the right answer for the question he was about to ask,
"What's her surname?", he asked, "Maybe it's a different one? I mean what are the chances that it's the same person?"
She took a deep breath to calm her screaming mind, his final statement gave her some glimmer of hope, she might not be the same one, she pulled the chair and sat back down, "Black...she's Stella Black...",
His chest instantly untightened, he was right, "Ow...You see? Mine is a McKenzie...", only Liberty's face seemed to darken further causing him to panic, he held her hand, "She's not a Blac-"
She moved her hand away and sighed, "I heard you, but that so happened to be our mother's surname. Let me show you her picture----I just have this weird feeling that we are talking about the same person". His face instantly went pale, confirming Liberty's nagging gut feeling, "It is the same person, isn't it??"
It was indeed the same person. He couldn't deny that smile, the smile he once had the pleasure of looking at. The smile and freckles that once decorated that golden face and glowed brightly in his presence. A face that once held nothing but affection for him - but now all that was left, was a vacuum of what was once his place in her world. Now that he thinks about it, Stella once mentioned a sister who once worked at a supermarket, "Wow....I almost forgot that she could smile like that-", he said with unspoken sadness in his voice.
This was not the first time her heart glitched at the despair that seemed to have darkened his entire world, only now she could no longer comfort him like she wanted to. The urge to save him and colour his world with nothing but bright colours only felt like a burden she needed to get rid of.
"So it is her??", she asked, trying to take the attention away from the yearning that suddenly became louder, taking her aback. She certainly didn't feel like this before.
He snapped out of his bubble and pulled the best smile he could master, only it made her even more aware of his sorrows.
"Yes...so it seems- small world, ha ha", he chuckled nervously. He was certainly the worst human being, engaged to one sister and had feelings for the other, "Please forgive me if I had said anything that may have offended you. Your sister is a great person, and I am sorry for not making time to come meet you as someone who will soon be part of the family."
She was not at ease and it showed. This was certainly not the ending she anticipated for what may have been one of her best days, "It's not your fault alone...." she stood up with a sad smile, heavy with emotions she's never felt before, and one of them was shame. Shame for being too friendly with another's man. Even now, she suddenly couldn't help but want to hug him, just how shameless could she get?
"I think I will go have lunch with my friend,"., she headed out without waiting for his response, and he couldn't stop her - he had no right to.
Suddenly they had boundaries that must never be crossed. Words that should never be spoken between them. Stories they should never share and concerns that must never be said out loud to one another. It was the unspoken truth, they now had rules and a moral obligation - they just knew the shape their reality was taking.
"Why am I feeling like this....?", she splashed her face with water hoping to refresh her gloomy face, "I should be happy. My baby sister met such an incredible guy...so why am I feeling down?", the reflection in the bathroom mirror surely can't be hers. Her eyes were glassy from the welling tears. She clenched her unsettled chest - the source of her sudden conflicting emotions. She was not angry nor annoyed - she just felt like a piece of her suddenly disappeared. Like she was almost part of something far more beyond her imagination. She felt a loss of something she couldn't put to words.
"Probably because you might actually like him-", a voice suddenly echoed the same time one of the toilet doors opened.
Liberty jumped startled, "D-Dr Mors...I didn't know there was someone-", she widened her eyes, "Did you say I like him??"
Dr. Mors smiled, "You are so innocent, it's adorable- there is nothing wrong with liking someone."
"No ...no. Besides, I am not capable of liking someone - I couldn't possibly like him, and if there's nothing wrong with it, then why would I feel so burdened by it. I felt like this before finding out he was engaged to my sister - only now it feels like--like -"
"Your heart is broken...disappointed...hurt..", Dr Mors finished her sentence, and she shook her head
"Well... disappointment is one of it, just like shame- but it's beyond that. I feel - grief...", her eyes suddenly widened, "it's grief that I feel....but it's weird because I didn't lose-"
"You probably did.", she bent down to wash her hands, "So he is engaged to your sister. That's certainly a turn of events. I get this whole depressing energy now.", she whispered in her breath, "This certainly complicates things for them..."
"What did you say?", Liberty asked, and she smiled,
"I said get rid of that sad bubble you have going on. It's bringing everyone down... it's a hospital you know? We don't want such 'grief' filling our corridors...and depressing our patients.", she dried her hands, then turned to her, "Liberty...you and that man will figure things out. I just imagine the shock you both feel - but rest assured - things will work themself out."
Liberty looked back to the mirror in confusion, "What the hell is she talking about and most importantly, why did that help me feel better?? Do I really like him like that??"