Wounds that reopen

Crystal woke up from usual when the sun had started to set, being in the room alone allowed the crystal to remember what happened to her before she lost consciousness.

"That woman, her voice… I'm pretty sure she must be that woman," Crystal said hoarsely, tears streaming down Reagan's pillow. Crystal didn't realize that she was currently lying on Reagan's bed.

Even though she only heard a few words from Angeline who was chatting with Roman West a while ago, Crystal was very sure that the woman who visited the West family's house was the same woman who came to her house that night. Crystal who at that time chose to hide in the living room accidentally turned towards the yard and she saw Angeline standing in front of her house using an umbrella, Angeline's evil smile at that time even Crystal could remember very clearly.

"Why are you doing this to me, God? Why are you sending that woman back into my life? Isn't it enough what she did to my mother at that time, that she had to come back when I was so far from home." Crystal's lips trembled violently as she spoke, recalling the terrible events that night made Crystal unable to stop crying. The night that made Crystal very afraid of the rain.

Being too lost in grief, Crystal didn't notice Reagan's arrival.

"You're awake….hey, what are you doing?! Why are you crying?!" shouted Reagan loudly as he carefully placed the tray of food on the nightstand, Reagan who only intended to deliver food for Crystal looked so shocked when he saw the girl crying with her eyes staring at the ceiling.

"Am I sick? Should I call the doctor again for you?" Reagan, who was already sitting on the bed, gripped Crystal's hand, which was cold, tightly.

Instead of answering Reagan's question, who seemed so worried, Crystal cried even harder, her body even shaking violently because of the amount of trauma that came back to her. Reagan, who was shocked at Crystal's unexpected reaction, chose to grab Crystal's body towards him and hug her tightly.

"Shhh….don't cry, it's okay. I'm not angry, don't cry," Reagan said softly, as he tightened his grip on Crystal.

Slowly Crystal's crying began to stop, not used to being hugged when she was crying made Crystal's tears suddenly stop flowing. Using both hands, Crystal pushed Reagan away so that Reagan couldn't help but release his arms from Crystal's body.

"Better?" he asked slowly.

Crystal nodded slowly.

Reagan smiled, using his right hand he grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand. "Drink."

Because she was really thirsty, Crystal immediately grabbed the glass from Reagan's hand and drank it very quickly, the sound of gulping after gulping could be heard clearly by Reagan.

"Slow down, you'll choke later," Reagan said with a smile, seeing how pale Crystal's face now made Reagan feel sorry for her

Realizing her mistake, Crystal then slowed down her drinking and lowered the empty glass from her mouth until Reagan took it again.

"Now eat."

"I'm not hungry, Reagan," Crystal said quickly.

"Not hungry?" Reagan raised one eyebrow. "You've been unconscious for more than eight hours, the two of us last ate while in transit in Doha. So don't lie to me by saying you're not hungry, I don't want grandpa to scold me again."

Crystal's eyes opened wide. "Grandfather mad at you?"

"What do you think?" asked Reagan quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you into trouble," Crystal said hoarsely.

"If you don't want to get me in any more trouble then you have to eat, your face is already very pale and I don't want to see you fall unconscious again. I really don't want to see anyone making assumptions about the two of us so cooperate with me and eat." Reagan replied firmly.

Crystal lowered her head, slowly glancing at the nightstand to see the food that Reagan had prepared beforehand. Because she hasn't eaten anything for the past 12 hours, Crystal's stomach is surprisingly loud and this makes Crystal's face turn red instantly, she feels very embarrassed because her stomach has betrayed her.

"See, your already very hungry stomach is protesting asking to be filled. So hurry up and eat, don't wait until the food is cold because it will taste bad," said Reagan amused.

Crystal took a deep breath, she slowly stretched her arms trying to reach the plate but because her whole body still felt weak as a result, the crystal could only lift a little part of the plate before finally the plate fell back onto the tray making a loud enough sound.

Reagan, who realized that Crystal's strength had not fully returned, said, "Ok put your hands down, I'll feed you."

"No, I-I can eat by myself."

"Yeah and you're going to make my bed and this room a mess. You can't even lift the plate off the tray, let alone eat it yourself, so don't argue and let me feed you," Reagan said firmly, undeniably.

Hearing Reagan's words made Crystal immediately look around, looking at the place where she was. When she realized where she was lying Crystal immediately panicked and tried to get up but Reagan's big hands held her so tightly that she couldn't move.

"Don't be stubborn, have a good seat. I'll feed you."

Unable to fight back, Crystal finally followed Reagan's orders, sat back on the couch and let Reagan start feeding her food.

"Good Girl." Reagan smiled broadly as Crystal opened her mouth and accepted the food she prepared herself.

Crystal chewed her food very slowly, even though her stomach was so hungry she didn't want to eat too fast. Having a history of bad stomach acid makes Crystal unable to eat in a hurry.

"Want to drink?" asked Reagan quickly when he saw Crystal's gaze on the nightstand.

"Yes."

Reagan put down the fork in his hand and poured the empty glass with water from the glass bottle he had brought with the food, after which he passed it to Crystal, who was waiting patiently for the glass.

"Thanks Reagan," Crystal said sincerely as she returned the glass to Reagan.

"It's ok, it's not hard work. You don't have to thank me so many times."

Crystal smiled, her cheeks flushed back to make her look fresh. Very different from twenty minutes ago when she first woke up from her stupor.

"Reagan."

"Hmm?"

"May I ask you something?"

"Just ask," Reagan answered quickly, placing the empty plate carefully on the table.

Crystal swallowed her saliva, preparing to ask. "Who was that woman from this morning? I just saw her, is she a relative of the West family?"

Reagan immediately turned to Crystal. "Which woman?"

"The blonde woman who was talking to Grandpa when we arrived," Crystal said, making her point clear.

"Oh Aunty Angeline, she is Aunt Laura's best friend. And ah yes, Aunty Angeline is from Sydney. She is also Australian like you."

Reagan's answer immediately made Crystal's blood boil, all her curiosity answered. The woman she saw this morning was the same woman who came to her house that night.

"Angeline, so that woman's full name is Angeline," Crystal muttered subconsciously.

"Hmm, what are you talking about?"

Crystal shook her head quickly, trying to hide her sadness from Reagan. Neither Reagan nor Roman West should know about her dark history with this woman named Angeline, not only for her own safety but also for the sake of her peace of mind. Crystal didn't want to open the huge wound that still hurt so much inside her.

Crystal shook her head. "No, I didn't say anything."

"Oh..."

"Does that woman come to this house often, Reagan?" asked Crystal suddenly.

"Not really, she only comes occasionally when it's the school holidays."

"School holidays?"

"Yeah, school holidays. Aunty Angel only has one child and she's the same age as you, her name is Clarie…ah no her name is Clarine. Yes, her name is Clarine."

Crystal tightly squeezed the blanket covering her body, trying not to cry. As if it wasn't enough to meet the evil woman again, Crystal was again given a more painful reality when she found out that her father had another daughter who was the same age as her.

"Mommy." Crystal's tears flowed without realizing it, after eight years had passed even now the evil woman was hurting her again.

"I'll put this tray out and you go take a shower, have a warm bath. You'll feel a lot better after that," Reagan said quietly before finally leaving Crystal alone in the room.

As soon as the bedroom door closed, the cry that Crystal had been holding in for a long time finally broke. Crystal even squeezed her left chest tightly. "What should I do Mom, what should I do? I'm afraid Mommy…I'm afraid…"

To be continued