His Story

It was late in the evening when I finally saw her walking through the cafeteria door. I lied to Michael that I had some records to write, and I was really in doubt if she was interested in me or would even show up. But the moment she did was something to behold. I stood up from my seat, a bit lost in admiring her pretty little face. "Hey! I thought you would stand me up?" she said as she reached over me to greet me with a half hug.

Her sweet floral aroma hits my nose, making me wonder how could he not see her before. "You would be surprised to know that I was wondering the same," I replied with a light chuckle and wondered. How could two insecure people really could get along so well? She giggled as she sat down opposite me. I dragged my chair closer to her. Well, it was a blessing to know that she was already interested in me a lot.

"So... you telling me that, being a rich, Hills prodigy never got you laid?" She said, looking deeply into my eyes and then shifting her gaze to my lips. I have always seen people describing magical stuff about being in love since the first sight, but I could see what they were trying to say as I looked at her innocent face and her most beautiful smile. I was spellbound.

"You a stalker huh? Seem like you know a quiet about me?" I laughed. She shook her head a little before she lowered her gaze. "Do you want to grab something to eat?" I asked her. I have no idea why but having her closer to me made me feel as though my whole digestive tract has stopped working. "Umm... Not really, you can eat if you want," she said. She lifted her index finger to put her wavy strands of hair falling over her face behind her ear. Unlike in class, she had hair down, making my heart race every time I looked at her eyes, meeting mine and the way her hair fell over her shoulders till her waist.

"Well, then let's go for a walk," I said as I stood up, holding out my hand towards her. She took it readily. We walked out of the cafeteria and walked towards the main library, where there were not a lot of people and had a beautiful ambiance to have some deep conversations. "I am happy that you finally did notice me, it's embarrassing for me, but I always had a crush on you," she revealed. I was dumb-struck for a minute.

"What?" I said, I just thought for a second that maybe I was imagining things. "Nothing, so do you want to go to the college exhibition with me?" I knew she was embarrassed, and probably took her a lot of courage to open up about her attraction towards me. Well, playing it cool while sweeping her off her feet at the right moment was my style. I had to wait it out for the right moment.

"Yeah, but Michael would be there too. You mind that?" I asked. I knew I will have to tell him about my interest in this girl. There was nothing that I would hide from him, at least if it means a lot to me. "No, in fact, he was the one I use to notice before. He too is a lot popular with my other girlfriends," she said, unaware that how much it hurt for a second. I felt a pang of jealousy erupt in my inner self. But then I was wondering to myself, how could I feel so strongly about a girl that I just a few hours ago.

"But, when I saw you for the first time, at the basketball court, that was when Michael blurred out for me." I stopped mid-track as she finished her sentence. Did she saw me first at the basketball court? I was more into tennis, and basketball was just an occasional thing that Michael and I did. I never knew that occasional thing could get me this, over fitness. She pointed at a bench that was just below a willow tree that had its branch covering the whole place.

"Can we just sit down for a bit," her eyes twinkled in the street light that was just above us. It was getting a bit dark by now, and I didn't know if it was too early to get close to her in a way I wanted to. We sat down, just a few meters apart from each other. Our silence felt like a rush of many emotions that we both were not able to express fully. How could someone feel this way for someone this early?

Her eyes locked in mine as we looked at each other at the same time. Her face inched closer to mine, making me reciprocate without any thought into it. Our lips touch lightly, as I felt her palm touch my face. She tilted her face to her right, taking my lower lips in between her lips, making me feel every emotion that I could feel for a woman in a moment. As she moved a little apart, looking deeply into my eyes made the heart scream that I loved her already. It was not something I could think through; there was nothing I had to consider, it was an instant realization that I want to spend my life with her, and nothing else mattered.

That semester was the best of my life as I spent days and nights doing everything with her. From studying for tests, laboratory assignments, short trips in and around the city, and she jelled very well with Michael that he started considering her to be one among us.

On a thanksgiving day, I invited her home to meet my family, which she was always fascinated about since we met. She sat next to me, like my mother, father, and even grandma adored her. I have not felt more proud of my own choice of woman until then.

It was about a year after that we started living together; renting an apartment with her, close to the campus. A life without her was unimaginable at this point, there was not one day in my life that I was not seeing her, talking to her, or sleeping with my hands wrapped around her. But one day, suddenly she started acting distant.

I came home after a tiring day at the University, and she had missed that day for some reason I was not aware of. I was worried as I looked around the apartment and not finding her anywhere. I dialed her number again and again, but all my calls were dropping into her voice mail. Even though, it's just been a year with her. I felt like centuries have gone by. Every day felt new with her. So much to do; so much to talk about; so much love to share, but never even once, this had happened.

He called Michael immediately, "Ummm... Mike! Elisha is missing. I can't find her. I don't know what to do!" I was panicking, and my voice was faster than usual. "You come to my apartment now!" Michael said, without any other reaction, which made me suspect that something was off. This was very unlikely of him, especially when I just told him that my girlfriend is missing. My feet were shaking my knees felt weak as I imagined scenarios after scenarios that broke my heart beyond my repair.

I quickly dropped everything and reached Michael's place to find Elisha sitting on his couch, her eyes blood red, and her face pale like a ghost. "What's wrong?" I asked, standing at the door, looking at her and then at Michael. His face revealed a weird form of despair. I was losing my patience at this point. "What is it?" I asked again, this time, my voice a little higher.

Elisha ran to me and hugged me tightly, and started wailing. I stood their ice-cold, not knowing why she was crying like that, nor why she just ran away like that without telling me. I was angry and on the verge of breaking apart. I held her shoulders tightly and pushed her off me to have her look at my face. "You tell me what is going on, alright? Why are you crying? Did he do something? Did you two do something?"

"Dylan, stop it!" Michael warned as he heard my voice trembling and continued to spit non-sense. "Dyl, I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I want to marry you, Dyl. I can't go like this!" Elisha's wailing had these words in them, which I was not able to comprehend very well. Or I was not ready to acknowledge them. "Who the hell is dying, Isha? Why are you crying like this? Can someone tell me what is going on?" I was losing my patience completely.

Michael ran towards us and caught Elisha to take her back to the couch, making her sit down. Then he came to me and said, "can we talk in private?" I looked at him, and then she continued to sob like a baby, which broke my heart even more. I had to fix whatever was wrong with her. Michael dragged me to the island next to the kitchen, made me still over the stool, and poured a glass of water for me.

"Dyl, you will need to be strong for her. She needs you more than anyone at the moment." Michael started his pep talk instead of telling me what was wrong. My blood was boiling already, and he was testing my patience. "What did she tell you that both of you are so scared of telling me?" I asked, my tone slightly raised. Michael placed his right hand over my shoulders as he explained, "she had been experiencing some sudden hemorrhaging for a few days. Though it was a normal period, then she was having symptoms of a pregnancy which she came to me for confirming."

I sat there listening about someone, who lived under the same roof as me, and I was not even aware of any of this. I looked at her briefly, she kept her head in her hands, looking downwards. "So she is just pregnant? Is that why she was crying? Does she not want the kid? Is this what it is about?" I was enraged at this point. Michael rubbed my shoulder as he continued to look at me with his sad eyes.

"I will take care of her and our baby, if that's what it is, Mike! Please tell me!" I was on the verge of breaking into tears now. "There was a benign mass in her uterus wall that's what caused the symptoms. It has spread, Dyl. The doctor said she might have a few months."

His voice just echoed through my head for the next few minutes, I felt my eyes blur, and I had only one thing in my mind that kept on repeating, this can't be, I am just dreaming. There must be some cure, something to do that might get me my Elisha back. This cannot be how I get snatched off my one true love. Life cannot be this cruel. Tears rolled down like a stream as I sobbed, unaware of my surroundings; it was just pain and only pain that I felt.