Memoirs Of Visual Delight Ch. 02

Small clicking sounds woke me. I struggled to open my eyes, the pain was still sharp but I could manage to keep my eyes open this time. A smiling face met my gaze. A woman in hospital attire was approaching me. I was in a laying position.

"Hyia love, you alright? How is your neck? Can you try to sit for me please?" Her voice was calm and she moved her left hand towards me, slid it under the pillow my head was resting on.

I used my elbows for leverage while she was looking over me. Her eyes were locked on my every move.

"Where am I? Is this a hospital?" I barely managed to produce the questions as I was trying to sit.

"Yes, dear. My name is Ashleigh. Do you remember what happened?" She took a step back after placing the pillow behind my back, for me to be able to lean on, as I sat.

"I don't know... I remember getting ready for my flight. I took a shower... but it all gets blank after that."

"What time is it? I need to catch my flight! I have to go home!"

Her hand held mine and she showed a slight concerned grimace, then resumed.

"Love, I need you to be calm. Please take deep breaths. Good."... "You had a little accident at home 2 days ago. You slipped in the shower and you were found unconscious. Your boyfriend called an ambulance and you were brought here. Relax! You only suffered a concussion and a sprained ankle. You will be all right." She checked her clip on watch, then smiled.

"Your boyfriend should be here soon. He didn't leave your side until we begged him to go home and get some rest. He is the one who found you and then called the ambulance. I will check on you in about ten minutes. If you need help, use this button and a nurse will come in. See you in a bit." She then exited the room and left me with my thoughts.

"Boyfriend, ambulance, unconscious? Two days?" I was thinking out loud, trying to put things together.

Alex walked in and his face lit up when his eyes met mine.

"You're up! Hey, you! You gave us quite a scare there!" He approached the bed and leaned in to gently kiss my temple. A sharp pain made me stiffen a bit.

He drew back and apologised.

"No, Alex. It's the head. I have this nagging pain. What happened? Do my parents know about this?"

"Yes, they do. They spoke to the doctor and he explained you needed bed rest. I offered to look after you. How do you feel?" His eyes were warm and his face showed genuine concern.

"I'm okay, I guess. Except for the pain. It's bearable, but still... Tell me what happened, please!"

He reached out for my hand and held it while he spoke. I focused on his eyes- so warm.

"Ally, the day you were leaving, I knocked on the door but there was no answer so I came in like you told me to. I couldn't find you in your room, nor Andreas'. Then I went into the bathroom. I found you lying on the broken glass! Ally, I was so scared! You were breathing but you wouldn't wake up! I then saw blood at the back of your head. You must have hit the shower seat somehow and fell. I then called for the ambulance and they took you in. They said you suffered a concussion and that your left ankle was sprained. I called your mum and told her about it. I'm sorry, maybe you didn't want her to know, but the doctor asked for a relative and I wasn't allowed to see you. I... Oh, Ally!" His eyes spoke more than he did. I saw his fear and concern. He was genuinely scared. His hands were shaking but he didn't let go of my hand. He showed he cared... allot.

He went on and told me that my parents had called my uncle and he came to the hospital. The doctor had informed them that I needed bed-rest and supervision for the following two weeks while my head would heal. It was mostly precaution but I needed to be assisted to avoid any more accidents.

Alex offered to take care of me for that period of time. Andrea already agreed to him moving in, if it was necessary.

My uncle visited briefly before going to the airport. He was relieved to see I had help. He was flying back home to see the family so he took it upon himself to explain why I would not be there for the holidays.

He hugged and kissed me, gave me all his assistant's details so I would have someone to call when I needed help while Alex was out.

Alex had handed me my beauty bag when he left. He made me smile when he told me I didn't need it to be beautiful. He was so kind to me. He had always been, I just didn't see it until then.

I opened the bag to find the mirror. My face was a little swollen and my eyes were slightly puffy. I looked like a train hit me in full force, or at least felt like that. The face staring back at me showed fear and remorse.

Then the line appeared on the back of my mind. The red background and the white text: "Think of me when you look at yourself in the mirror."

The mirror flew to the wall in an instant! It bounced to the floor with a loud protesting sound.

The private chat incident came back to me in full force. I couldn't focus on something else as I would remember how that person made me think he could see through me. He affected my judgement ever since.

A familiar scent filled my nostrils and immediately interrupted my train of thoughts.

Alicia was standing in the doorway, looking back at me with an expression in her eyes that instantly made me freeze. A vile smile lingered on her face as she slowly approached my hospital bed.

The fact that she was there only meant one thing and that thought sent a chill down my spine.

"Hello Ally, or should I say... Delight! I hear you go about many names these days." She had triumph in her eyes. She knew I had started on my own. She handed me an envelope, without saying a word.

My hands were shaking furiously as I was trying to take out the contents. Just as I would extract the piece of paper that was enclosed, she went to the door, closed it in a swift motion and returned next to my bed, keeping eye contact in the process.

The image displayed on the paper made me gasp in horror. It was a low resolution picture of the snapshot that the stalker had taken!

Realisation hit- that stalker knew me in real life, knew who I had worked for!

"Yeah, well I had the same reaction when it arrived at my place, this morning. Help me understand something Ally. When you left, you assured me that you'd be out of this business, for good. Now, this picture, the time-stamp... How do you explain that? I am dying to know!" She paused as she looked at her phone.

"Well, this is to be continued at my office. I have to go now. Make sure to see me after you get released from this place. If you don't find me, I fill find you... But you don't want me to find you, so be a good girl and do the right thing!" She then stormed out of the room, leaving me alone with the picture.




Thank you so much for reading!

Part three will follow in two weeks time.

I would really love to hear your thoughts in the comments bellow.