Loving Him

Chapter 29

One week. That was how long it took for Sophie to crack and she soon found herself in the hospital. Internally, she was proud of herself that she had lasted that long.

Letting out a shaky breath, She walked over to the middle aged nurse at the counter. Sophie recognized her as she'd seen her around a few times but they had never had to interact with each other. "Good afternoon," she greeted.

The nurse gave her an acknowledging nod of the head but nothing more. She didn't even look up from whatever she was doing.

Sophie cleared her throat, trying to get the woman's attention. "I'm here to see someone."

The nurse looked up at her with an irritated look. She was obviously in a cranky mood and was ready to take it out on anyone that was unlucky enough. "Name?" She demanded sharply.

"Alex Adams," Sophie supplied, refusing to be insulted by the nurse's not so welcoming reception.

"And you are?"

Sophie's brows shot up at the question. She knew the nurse had seen her frequently with Alex so the question came as a surprise her. Before she could reply, someone else intercepted.

"Sophie."

Sophie turned and was overcome with relief when she saw Raymond walking over to her, a polythene bag in hand. He stopped directly in front of her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Hi, Raymond," she replied, almost too eagerly.

"I was wondering how long it was going to take for you to get here." He was still smiling at her and she could feel a bubble of hope rising. They just might be okay afterall.

"Am I that predictable?" She wondered aloud.

He shrugged in response, motioning for her to follow him. He started walking towards an elevator. She followed him and when they were inside, he pressed the button for the fourth floor.

The ride up was silent. Soon, they got out of the elevator and she tailed his every step until they finally stopped in front of a room that Sophie guessed was Alex's.

"We're here," he announced.

Sophie's stomach started to roll and she had to take a few minutes to calm herself down. Nothing to be so scared about. It's just Alex. But she knew that was exactly why she was nervous.

"Relax, Sophie. You look like you're about to sign a death statement," he teased.

Nervous laughter escaped her. Trust Raymond to make a joke out of her state. He seemed to be in an okay mood and she felt the need to stall, so she decided to breach the topic that they'd both been conveniently avoiding.

"Are you still mad at me?" She'd come to the conclusion that the best approach to dealing with the Adams was to just attack head on.

He went momentarily stiff and she feared she might have just made things worse. Then that was gone and the initial smile that had graced his features was back. "I'm not mad at you, at least not anymore. I've had time to think about everything and I've calmed down enough to realize that it wasn't your fault," he replied.

"But I--"

He didn't let her finish. "To be honest, I kind of feel bad about how I initial reacted and how I acted towards you. That was uncalled for, I'm sorry."

Sophie stood there with her mouth agape, staring at him. That wasn't how she'd expected the whole thing to go down. At all. How was she suddenly on the receiving end of the apology?

"No,no,no... I'm sorry. I also deceived you, for my selfish reasons. That was uncalled for. I'm really sorry, Raymond." She said with all sincerity.