3. The Beautiful Beginning

Three Years Ago.

Olivia was eighteen years old when she met Louis, a twenty-one-year-old student who was in his final year in the university. Then, she just gained admission into the Grandcrest University, Sevenoaks, which was one of the prestigious universities in the city. At that time, Olivia was leaving home for the first to be away from her family because she was a day pupil all through her high school. Now, her parents had armed her with the counseling she needed to succeed in the university when they brought her to the campus.

“Remember, Olivia, you are born to succeed. If you hold on to the teachings of your mother and me, you will be victorious,” her father reminded.

“Olivia dear, in addition to your father's advice, I want you to know that as a beautiful young girl, you will get love advances from the opposite sex. It is not bad to have friends from the opposite sex, but placing your relationship with them above your future, your studies, is what makes it bad.”

“Thank you father, thank you mother. I promise to live up to your expectations.”

“All right, Olivia, may the peace of God be with you.”

“Amen. And also with you.”

“We will be on our way.”

“Take care, Olivia.”

“Bye father, bye mother,” she said, and watched her parents drive off. She kept waving at them until they were out of sight. Likewise, she dragged her luggage to her hostel as tears trickled down her cheeks. Not only that, she fought hard to conceal it from other students. Later, she managed to comport herself, and settled down.

She met Louis three weeks after her resumption. Although, he was in the same faculty with her, though, but they never met each other until that day at the canteen. She was having her lunch alone at a table in a secluded area of the canteen when Louis walked in. She was not the affable type, so she had not made new friends since she resumed her studies. Meanwhile, her friends had been her books and parents, whom she communicated with daily. Now, Louis spotted her the moment he walked in, and developed a likeness for her. She was beautiful, but that was not what captured his interest. It was the quietness and peace that she radiated that captured his attention. He was also a quiet and principled person, who hated any form of lousiness, and hardly made friends. Olivia seemed to fit into his lifestyle.

Walking straight to join her at her table may be repugnant because there were many empty tables in front of him. So, he sat on one of the tables in the middle of the canteen to have his snacks while he kept his eyes on her. When Olivia was done with her meal, she walked out of the canteen, feeling upset. Then, Louis, who had just begun eating, had to forgo his meal, picked only his bottle of water, and followed her. At his age, he had not been intimate with any lady and had no idea on how to start a conversation with a lady without discomfiting himself. So, it was not easy for him to stop her.

At that point, Olivia became so upset that she could not hold on anymore. Then, she sandwiched herself between two cars and began to puke. She was very uncomfortable that her whole concentration was on how to eject every waste that was discomforting her from her system that she hardly noticed that someone was by her side. Likewise, Louis stood by, and watched her, not minding the stench. After some moments, he spoke, “Maybe you are allergic to something.”

Olivia, who was getting giddy, was startled for a moment before she looked up to see the owner of the baritone voice that she just heard. She saw a handsome young man of twenty-one who was modestly dressed standing by her side. They maintained eye contact for a while, and he continued, “Take water, you will be fine,” he advised, and lifted the bottle of water in his hand, removed the lead, and handed it over to her. She collected it with her shaky hand, and that was all she could remember when she woke up at the school clinic after a few hours.

At the School Clinic.

Before she could slump, Louis, who was moved with empathy, held her, and carried her into one of the cars she sandwiched herself, which happened to be his car, and drove to the school clinic. He came to a screeching halt at the clinic vestibule, and the long, high noise attracted the security guards on duty. He did not need any other announcement to make, as the caregivers came running to the car with a wheeled stretcher. Then, Louis got out of his car, opened the back door where he laid her and the caregivers gently carried her into the wheeled stretcher and moved her to the Intensive Care Unit where the doctor was waiting for her. Louis closed the door before he drove to the students' park and parked his car. He picked her purse and joined her in the clinic, where he waited patiently for a few hours.

“Kindly get some fruit for her,” one of the nurses requested. Then, he jolted, and came off his reverie.

“All right, nurse,” he accepted, and watched the nurse walk toward her seat at the reception. Likewise, he walked briskly to the car park like a man whose wife was in labor. He drove quickly to the grocery in the campus, got a bunch of watermelon, which was the only fruit he could think of that was rich in nutrients. Then, he requested the grocer to be cut into chunks. She did and packaged it properly in a disposable transparent bowl, and covered with a cling film. He returned to the clinic at once, and handed the pack over to the nurse, who was working on some papers at the reception.

“Nurse, here is the fruit,” he announced, and she instructed, “That is good. Kindly take it to her. She is in ward 204.”

There are needs that every human has which would surface naturally when the time comes. The need for affinity suddenly surged up in Louis, and he managed it with joy.

“I got it, nurse,” he accepted, and walked to the ward, following the directional arrows on the wall which led him to his destination. He walked into ward 204 and met Olivia sitting on the iron hospital bed with her head raised by a crank.