Three Thousand Miles (3 page)

“Alanna
,
the last time I spoke to him was after your surgery
.
”

“What did he say
? Y
ou have to tell me everything
!
”

“I will A
lanna but not over the phone are you allowed visitors?”

“I think so my mom was here all day
.
”

“Okay I won’t be long
.
”

I hang up the phone and I wonder what Sophie has to say. She must know more than my mom if she did not then she would just have told me on the phone.

“Miss H
art your lunch
,
” a small older nurse says as she walks in with a tray of food. She slides over the table
and I sit up fully in the bed. Sh
e hands me a tray of food consisting of soup and yogurt I lo
ok at her.

“This isn’t what I ordered
!
”

“S
orry dear but the doctor has ordered this for you
. H
e feels that what you originally chose would have been too heavy for you with the pills you are on
.
” I roll my eyes a little
.
I am starving and this little bowl of soup and the tiniest yogurt I have ever seen are most defi
ni
t
e
ly not going to fill me.

“Thanks
,
I guess
,
” she smiles at me and
then she
heads back out of the room. I sip at the bowl of soup that has no taste. I remember the wonderful meals that Maggie prepared for me
and
I think back to the first night
that
I ate with Adrian.
The massive
,
elegant
,
s
il
ver trays
that were
filled with every kind of food
.
I remember his voice and the way his eyes glowed
. T
he first time he kissed me was that night and it was like fireworks. I am brought out of
my
thought
s by a knock at the
door.

“Come in
,
” I say thinking it must be Sophie. When the door opens it is not Sophie
that
I see,
instead it is the doctor,
the tall
,
dark and handsome doctor.

“M
iss Hart, how are you feeling,” H
e walks over as he talks
.

“I am ok
,
” I say
,
shifting back into the bed.

“N
urse Melissa told me that you made some good progress today
.
”

“Y
es I walked if you
can
call that progress
!
”

“Y
ou have to understand that what you did today was exceptional
. I
t takes most people a lot longer to even get out of bed after something like this,” he says and he moves a little closer to me.

“Miss H
art I haven’t introduced myself yet
…
I am James
.
” I am surprised that he has told me his first name
. I think that it would be
somewhat informal for me to call him by his first name
. A
fter all, he is my doctor and
I feel that there
should be a level of respect in that.

“Nice to mee
t you doctor
,
”

“P
lease call me James
,
” he says again
.

“Ok if I call y
ou James then you must call me A
lanna
!
”

“No problem, A
lanna
!”

“Alanna, can I ask you something,
” I am a litt
le shocked at this guy but I am polite in my reply.

“O
f course
…
what’s up?”

“When y
ou get better and you are ready to leave
hospital do you think that maybe we could go out sometime?” I am very shocked by his words
. H
e is my doctor and it is strange that he feels this way
.
I do not know what to say back to him. 

“I am really flattered but I have a boyfriend
.
”

“You do?” H
e says looking surprised
.

“Yes I do
,
”

“Then where is he?” I sigh as I respond.

“I don’t know
,
I woke up to find
out
that he wasn’t around
. B
ut I still have to be faithful to him so I hope you can
…
understand
.
”

“I do
,
but do you think that he is being faithful to you?” I take in his words and I realize that I never thought of that. I never once stopped to think that maybe he has found someone else. Or even worse perhaps he has gone back to Zara
Thomas. I shake off that feeling and I try to convince myself that he would not do that.

“I hate that he is not
here but I don’t think that he would do anything like that
.
”

“I am sure he wouldn’t and he is probably pining away after you
,
right?”

“I hope so!” I
say. I turn to face the door, as
there is another knock
and this time it is Sophie who
is here.

“Is it ok to come in?”
S
he says in a quiet voice. As soon as she does, Dr James walks over to the door and takes her by the hand in through the door. He smiles back at me and he is gone.

“
Alanna
,
who
was that,” Sophie says smiling from ear
-
to
-
ear.

“That’s my doctor,”

“Wow I wish
he was my doctor!
Oh
A
lanna
,
I am so glad to see you
,
I have been so worried.” She says as she walks over to me and gives me a very ge
ntle hug.

“How did this happen, Alanna?” Sophie sounds as if
she has suspicion in
her voice. I look at her and I try to banish her doubts.

“It was just a random attack it was no one’s fault
.
I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,
” Sophie hugs
me
again
so gently it is almost as
if
she is scared
that
I will break.

“Where is Belle?”

“My mom will be back later Sophie can you please tell me about
Adrian?” Sophie
takes a seat next to the bed and begins
,

“Alanna
,
I don’t know where he is but I was the last person to talk to him before he left
.
”

“W
hat did he say? You have to tell me everything,” I say desperately.

“He came to me before you got hurt
,
he was looking for you at college and I could see that he had much on his mind
.
I talked to him for a while and I did apologise for the way I had acted.”

“Okay but what else?”

“He had a ring and he was going to ask you to marry him,” my heart sinks at her words.

“I don’t understand if he was going to ask me to marry him then why is he not here?”

“Alanna
,
when you had to have emergency surgery
,
he couldn’t handle that
. H
e was scared and he thought he was going to lose you
. A
lanna
,
he loves you so much but he blames himself for this.”

“That’s crazy it’s not his fault.”

“I know and I tried to make him see that but he wouldn’t
. H
e broke down into tears and he looked like a broken man.”

“So did he just leave?”

“Yes he couldn’t stay until you were out of surgery it was too hard on him
. S
o he left but he told me to tell you something
,
if you made it through
.
”

“What was it?”

“H
e said that you are his everything and he will never love another the way he loves you
. A second will not go by when he does not think
of you
,
but he also said that he could not be with you
. H
e feels you would be better without him in your life
.
” I burst into tears
,
I cannot accept this
and
I will not.

“Alanna don’t cry
,
” Sophie says as he hugs me for the third time. I pull back from her
.

“Sophie
,
have you tried to call him?”

“No I haven’t
,
I don’t know what I would say to him
.
”

“What about Michael have you seen him?”

“Yes I saw him when he was at this hospital what he d
id is
beyond words
!
”

“I know and I will always be grateful to him
.
”

“Maybe he knows where Adrian is, have you tried to call him?”

“No not yet.
I have feelings for Michael
and
I care about him a lot
. H
e is a very good friend.”

“After everything that happened with him and Katharine
, I tried not to like him. But after
what he did for you
,
I don’t
see how anyone could slate him.
” Sophie says
emotionally
.

“He did treat Katharine bad
and
I am not going to deny that but that’s not who he is
. H
e is a kind and caring person
.
”

“He loves you A
lanna
.
” I look down at the bed so I do not have to look at Sophie
.

“I know he does he told me many times
!
”

“D
o you feel the same way about him?”

“No
,
I lo
ve Adrian
but there is something about Michael that I can’t explain
.
I know that I wouldn’t want to be apart from him
.
”

“
Alanna
,do
you love both of them
?”

“I love Adrian the most but I have a special bond with Michael that scares me,
” as my words ring in my ears I
feel guilty for being so s
elfish. A normal girl would have just
chosen one
,
but me I want them both.

“I think
that
you need to talk to Michael he is the only other person that is going through what you are
and
he will understand you more than anyone” I know that Sophie is right I should talk to Michael it’s the least I could do after all he did save my life.

“Thanks Sophie
,
” I say
.

“S
o
A
lanna tell me more about this hot doctor,” I laugh at her a little confused
.

“What about Dan?” S
he sighs,

“I don’t want to bother you with my boy drama”

“What? Come on tell me what is going on?”

“Where do I start
?” Sophie
says
quietly
and I can see that she has sadness in her eyes as she begins to talk about Dan.

“We are on a break right now
.
”