Time To Heal [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: OH NO NO NO!

Dev awoke with a start like he'd been jerked from a profound dreamless sleep, something which had always eluded him in the past. Then, something that he could feel even in his deep subconscious had changed.

Ana was gone.

For a panicked moment, a feeling of abject desolation gripped him as he fumbled in the empty sheets trying to get his bearings. He felt like that lost teenager once again caught up in indecision and despair, struggling to adjust to the cruel reality of life.

What appalled him was that Ana had left despite the beautiful intimacy they'd shared, making a point to turn into something sleazy and cheap. Not because she was aiming for retribution – no, that was not in her nature, but she was most probably trying to protect herself from him.

From the monster he was.

Completely wretched, he could only stare blankly at the wall, trying to figure out his next move. How could he offer any future to Ana when he could not even forgive himself? Then, her words from the previous might struck him, awakening a vortex of feelings inside him.

You need to learn about remission too.

You need to make accommodations for others, but most primordially for yourself.

You need to forgive yourself.

Her words echoed in his head, and he accepted the truth of the statements. He had been blaming himself for his mother's indiscretion, for her death, for his father's ailing heath. For everything.

When he was guilty of none of the things above, he was surely the undeniable culprit where Ana was concerned. But she would never heal if he didn't take it upon himself to change the way he was. To forgive himself and love her unconditionally back. No matter what.

Not because he was feeling pressurized from guilt or that the past was too much of a burden for him. No, not at all. It was the kind of love Ana deserved.

Even if it ripped himself to pieces in the process. He would never give her up – he could see that clearly now. If she refused to fight for them, then the onus was onto him to make sure they ended up together, like they had initially deserved.

A loud buzz interrupted his thoughts, and he groped madly around the sheets for his mobile, his heart foolishly soaring at the prospect of Ana calling him.

Acute disappointment whooshed the breath out of his body when the screen flashed the name of Aimee McKenzie, his heart rocketing back to its normal pace.

"Where's Ana?" Aimee barked through his ears without preamble and he winced from the harsh sound. She seemed to have stolen his line. He should be the one asking her the whereabouts of his fugitive lover.

Filled with a sense of foreboding, he gripped his phone tightly in a futile attempt to brace himself against what was coming. Something terrible must have happened.

"She's gone," he replied morosely. "Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean gone? Gone where?" Aimee put in crossly, ignoring his question like he'd not stated it.

Irritated, he flung aside the silk cover, hopped towards the sliding door of the bathroom with his phone held between his right ear and shoulder blade. "Will you cut the suspense?" he rasped hoarsely, fear making him volatile.

"Is there any chance she could get access to the tabloids there?" came the unexpected question and Dev frowned.

Tabloids? Has the McKenzie chick lost her senses? Why the hell was she worried about magazines when Ana was missing? Unless... Dev finally added two and two together. Not being in the same business world as theirs, it was difficult for him to pick up their corresponding lines of thoughts and strategies straightaway.