A LEAP OF THE EARLY BIRD

A price paid for greed...

What could be said about paying one's debts? There comes a point in life when a payment is due for one's wrongdoing. And it does not have to be one that requires repayment. It may require so much more meaningful, and much more intuitive, much more spiritual and deeper than that. Because it may make the wrongdoer realize not only that they have wronged a person, but that they may end up needing that person again in their life...

Can sat by the campfire. He watched the flicker of the fire dance on burning branches of wood. He listened to the quiet surrender of the wood creatures to the nightly cycle of life. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was serene. But inside, he felt anything but that. The fire that burned before his eyes reminded him of the feelings he still had for Sanem. As the fire burned, he knew his feelings for her could not be quenched either. The day that was coming to an end left him with two very important facts, ones he could not deny. For one, seeing Sanem lay unconscious at the bottom of the pit made him realize how much he still cared about her, and how much in love with her he still was. Kicking and screaming about it, and denying it wasn't so, would not make his feelings go away. He was a practical man, and an honest man. And finally admitted to himself that he still loved her. Now the question remained, what was he going to do about it...?

There was another aspect of what transpired that day. And that was the fact that Sanem still cared about him as well. Juice or no juice, what still burned inside of her heart for him was still there. As powerful as the kiss she dealt him. And it begged a question, what was SHE going to do about it? That part was up to her. He felt that and he knew that. And he began to feel alone again. As he sat there, he hoped she sat next to him while he listened to the song of the night owls and looked shyly into the sky.

While he was lost in his thoughts, he heard Sanem approach. A first, he thought of her being still in pain or still affected by Deren's potion of a juice. But Sanem denied it. She wasn't in pain, she was just restless, and could not fall asleep. He smiled, fully aware of how that felt. She sat beside him, and they spoke for a while. To Can, she would not even have to speak at all. All that mattered was that she was with him, next to him, and it appeared she felt just as lonely as he was. She apologized for the way she acted, unaware how her admission in the woods made him feel. She wanted to explain herself more, but their quiet conversation was cut short by a telephone call. Can was baffled why someone would call him at that hour. He also wondered who would have called him, as the number was unknown to him. Then, his heart felt a painful jab, one he had not anticipated. A representative from the hospital called him and advised him that Emre had an accident. Quite a serious accident...

Can was beside himself. All blood in his body ran ice cold. He felt ill to his stomach. He was speaking to Sanem but he barely saw her. He wasn't dazed, he was afraid. He asked her to stay at the camp and advise others in the morning of what happened. But she would not have any of it. She wasn't going to stay behind in a moment he needed her most. He either understood her intentions, or realized how much he needed her close to him, because rather than arguing with her, he just brought her along.

They rushed to the hospital as fast as they could, or as fast as logic of safety permitted it. When they got there, they were told to wait because Emre was still undergoing an operation. Those minutes waiting for any kind of news from the doctor ticked away slower than Can tolerated. He stood. He walked. He sat. Oh, but sitting made it worse. So he stood. He walked. He sat down, and finally spoke up. He admitted to Sanem that he blamed himself for what happened. How could he not? Sanem, still afraid to touch him, but too affected by his grief and his guilt, braved her fragile heart, and placed a hand on his back. She caressed him as gently as she could. She told him it wasn't his fault. Any of it. None of it. But he was too afraid for his little brother's life to admit she may have been right.

When the nurse and the doctor approached them, Can could not have gotten up fast enough. The doctor gave them the news. And it wasn't that bad. Emre was in pain, but his life was not in danger. His injuried were serious, but the worst was behind him. Most importantly, they were advised that they could go see him. When they got to his room, Can went in first, with Sanem close behind him. And they saw him... Emre rested in the bed, with his eyes closed, and the ivy still hooked up to him. Can sat down in a chair beside him, looked at his little brother, and looked down, no longer being able to see what his brother's injured body looked like. Or what it represented. Emre paid a price for his greed. But was it too greater a price?

Suddenly, Emre epened his eyes. And he looked at Sanem. Truth be told, she was the last person on earth he expected to see. She seemed like a vision, one that went straight to his aching gut. He had wronged her in so many ways, and yet she still found it in her heart to come and make sure he was okay. However he felt about her up until that moment, changed. There was something in her eyes that he could not get past it. He could not overlook it. It was compassion. Something he had not understood before. Or experienced...

He spoken with Can, and Sanem knew they needed to speak in private. She left them, and waited outside. Can was grateful to her for letting them speak, brother to brother. Because that's who they were. That sort of bond was stronger than Emre's past mistakes. Emre waited a long time to ask Can if the bond that they shared would still be there. Hadn't it broken? Hadn't it shattered? Can looked at him, and could barely speak. His heart ripped open not only to see his brother in such a state, but to hear him say that. How had life turned so much against them? He advised Emre to get some rest, and if he needed anything, he would be outside.

Can left his brother's room to find Sanem waiting for him. Searching for him with her eyes. He walked up to her. He thanked her for being there with him. For being there for him. And he finally broke. He took her in his arms, and embraced her. He needed to hold her. Needed her embrace. Needed her hands wrapped around him. He was a man who never needed anyone. But he needed her now. And he held on. And so did she. She held on for as long as he needed, as long as he needed to feel that she was there for him. What they shared at that moment mattered to them both. For the same exact reason...

To pass the time, they went down to the cafeteria. They sat in the corner. Sanem asked Can not to blame himself. But he couldn't find a way not to. So she advised him that he and Emre were both mad at each other. It was Emre who came to the camp, and it was Emre who drove the car. Can paused, totally crushed that it had come to this between them. If Emre died, he never would have forgiven himself. He could not believe that Emre had changed so much, that he wasn't the brother he thought he knew. Sanem tried her best to calm his bleeding heart. She told him that it wasn't Emre, that it was Aylin's infuence that changed him. Can nodded, and admitted that Aylin's dark agenda had reached her as well. He hadn't forgotten how she spawned her web of deceipt and treachery on Sanem's birthday. But Sanem cut his words short. She told him that she forgot that already, she left it to the past. She never fought evil with more evil. And neither should he. Her words were as sincere as they had ever been. She told him that everything could be lost due to anger: life, cash, career. But not family ties. Those were the ties that bind hearts and lives together. And it mattered that one fights for such ties with all that they got.

There was something in the way she spoke to him that calmed him down. There was something serene in the words that she said. She just found a way to break through his pain in a way no one ever did. But when she took his hand, and spoke kindly of forgiving Emre, he realized how special she really was. She told him that everyone deserved a second chance in life. And she was not talking about herself. She meant it about his brother. That act of selfless and sincere affection she showed for the person who caused her so much pain got to him. He felt that her hand that held his hand in actuality held his heart. What he told her then, he meant it. He told her he was glad to have her. And he would not forget it...