"Avery! Say yes!" Jean saw Avery's expression, and realized she was unable to fathom what was happening. Jean chuckled and tried to make things clearer for her.
"Hey Avery! Do what she told you to! What are you waiting for? Even I am impressed by Moore's spontaneity!" Juan teased Avery for being so indecisive as she still tried to process what was happening.
Juan was finally relieved as his worries proved to be all for naught. He thought to himself, 'Moore was not going to do anything saddening to Avery! Hopefully, Zed would overlook the false alarms I had been ringing.
For sure, Moore had prepared this for a long while. Even I failed to guess that he was planning to propose Avery! Oh, what a lovely surprise this is!
So exciting and romantic!
But why would he propose to her in a hospital? Gosh, of the hundreds of ways!
Needless to say, Avery has bought the idea. As long as she likes it, what dose it matter?'
Juan felt like he had found a love expert. He continued thinking, 'When the time finally arrives to propose to my girl, I would definitely ask for Moore's help.' He almost burst into laughter as he thought again about this proposal, which was the weirdest he had ever witnessed.
Avery looked around at all the anxious faces, waiting for her response. She blushed involuntarily and raised her head toward Moore. As her eyes locked with his, with a bashful tenderness, she whispered to him, "Yes, I do." In her mind, she added the word 'finally', but didn't speak it out loud. This was the moment she had been dreaming for.
Meanwhile, the entire ward burst into cheers and applause. The joy and delight emanating from the lovely couple traveled fast throughout the ward, granting it a life that was rare to see in a hospital.
Jean added to the general excitement and giggles, almost screaming, "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!..."
Juan joined her little mischief and followed, "Kiss her! Kiss her!..."
Avery's cheeks turned red with embarrassment as they all started to chant the same. Her lips arched into a shy smile. Oh, she didn't even remember how long it had been since she started craving this moment.
Adolf stood at the back of the room, viewing the scene through a film of tears over his eyes, witnessing the surprising transformation of an unfortunate story.
With all eyes on Avery and Moore, he found the perfect moment to escape. Slowly, he opened the door and left the room so that no one would notice.
Somehow, at the same time, Zed happened to look back and caught him leaving. As the door shut behind him, he shook his head, sighing.
Precisely, in that moment, he realized how tricky love was. When it came to relationships, the scale would always loom slightly heavier on one side - never balanced. Sometimes, one would rise because of the weight on the other side. It was clear, in this situation, Adolf was on the downside.
There had been some balance between Avery and Adolf. Now, it seemed like it had changed and one could only hope they somehow find it back soon.
'But, what about Moore...?'
The happiness of one meant loss and grief for another. Zed couldn't help but worry about Moore.
Internally, Zed felt like the proposal was a little out of the blue and didn't have so much weight. He felt like an action taken sheer out of impulse could put their relationship in jeopardy later on.
As much as he wanted to remind Moore of the consequences that might come out of his move, he told himself to believe in him instead. 'He probably knows what he is doing. I hope, he won't give a chance to let my worries translate into reality.' Zed decided to disguise his concern and abandon the thought that loomed over their happiness.
"Avery, I want you to know that I made this decision as soon as the idea occurred to me, which is why I didn't have time to get you a ring. But I promise, when you get better, we will go together to pick out whatever you want. I hope you don't mind." Moore's eyes moved all over Avery's beautiful face as he apologized.
Shaking her head slightly, Avery said, "Don't worry abou
Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex. To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him. "As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses.”She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women...
blunder he had committed. The thought made him frown.
"Are you saying you felt sorry for him because he sacrificed everything for Avery but didn't get anything in return? Well, Juan. No one invests emotions thinking of gains and losses. There are no promises in love, especially unconfessed love. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed for Adolf. But I'm sure, he would think things through soon." Jean sighed and tried to give some balance to his thoughts. She was happy for Avery and Moore but also understood the pain Adolf felt.
"Let's all hope that's the case," Zed said. He too prayed Adolf's suffering would go away soon.
After a brief period of silence, Jean decided to discontinue pondering upon those saddening thoughts. Her eyes shifted to Juan. "Hey you! Since we are already here, why don't we go and say hello to Tina? Tell me Juan, how are things between you two?" she asked.
"We... We are fine, I guess..." Juan started to shilly-shally as his face reddened. Jean's sudden switch to him made him nervous.
"What do you mean by 'fine'? Talk to us in a more humane language, will you?" Jean detected his bashfulness and started making fun of his reaction.
"What do you mean in a 'humane language'! I said we are fine!" Juan snapped. He got triggered easily by Jean's constant pursuit of teasing him as his face blushed. 'Gosh, what dose this woman want!' he thought as he pouted at Jean.
Jean looked back at him with her eyes wide open. Telling from the uneasiness all over his face, she sensed something strange was going on between them.
"Why don't you tell us the truth? I know you stayed with Tina last night. Oh my god, what did you do to her?" Jean faked a flat face and gazed up at Juan. Feigning a solemn look, she kept the questions coming.
Juan had never seen Jean like this. He grunted and mumbled, "What could I do to her? She has just come back from the mouth of death and she is still a patient, right? What can I do to her? You tell me!"
"Tut-tut, Zed, look at this man. Did you listen to him? After all the trouble Tina went through, after almost sacrificing her life for him, this is what he did to her - nothing! He chose to do absolutely nothing to her while she suffers in this stage of illness and weakness. I bet he hasn't even thought of any ideas to make amends to her. Imagine how sad she might be right now, alone and helpless in a hospital bed! Juan, this isn't fake, alarmist talk. If things between you and Tina continue to unfold on this pace, how will you ever reach where Moore has reached today? I must say, you need to learn from the expert. I hope you understand what I mean."
Jean tried to stir things up a little bit, getting his head to go to places.