Ethan looked at the spaghetti in his hands and chuckled. "Izzy, is this all the pasta we've got?"
"Quit your whining, Grandpa said you need to starve for a bit," Ines said, sounding a bit annoyed. Then she shoved an apple into his chest. "If you're still hungry, have another apple."
"What's up, you seem a bit down."
"It's all your fault. I bumped into Dad on my way out. He saw the food I made and laughed. It was so embarrassing when I grabbed an apple in front of him." Ines glared at Ethan, sitting down in a huff.
"No worries, you're not more embarrassed than me. Just think about the fact that I got spanked at my age, it'll make you feel better. Plus, Dad knows the apple was for you, it's all good." Ethan pinched her cheek, trying to comfort her.
Ines pouted, knowing there was no point in dwelling on the past. She told Ethan, "No matter how bad my cooking tastes, you have to finish it, or my embarrassment will be in vain."
Ethan grinned. "I will."
Although the food seemed a bit chaotic, it tasted decent. Ethan started to chow down.
Ines ate very little that night. Seeing Ethan eating so heartily made her feel hungry. Ethan chuckled and fed her a bite. After tasting it, Ines laughed. "Hmm, seems like I haven't lost my cooking skills. It tastes pretty good."
Sharing bite after bite, they finished their meal in no time and then shared the apple.
After dinner, Ines had nothing to do and was sleepy. She fell asleep soon after. Ethan put the plate aside and cuddled Ines to sleep. However, he was woken up in the middle of the night by a piercing ringtone. He picked up the phone and saw the caller ID said, Silvia. Without a second thought, he hung up.
Silvia called again persistently. Ethan frowned and shut off his phone. He then cuddled Ines and tried to go back to sleep. Not long after, there was a loud knock at the door. He could vaguely hear it was Erica. "Ethan, something happened to Silvia, get up now."
Ines also woke up, nudged Ethan, and said, "I think I heard mom say something about Silvia. Go check it out."
Ethan frowned, got up, and opened the door. Erica was standing there, looking flustered.
"Mom, what happened?"
"I got a call saying Silvia slit her wrists at home. She's being resuscitated at the hospital. Her neighbor, who knows we're close, called me."
Ines looked at Ethan seriously. His face was calm and emotionless. She wasn't sure what he was thinking. The situation seemed severe, and she didn't know if Silvia could survive.
"Ethan, think carefully. Don't regret anything. You don't have to worry about me feeling uncomfortable. The situation is different now." Although she didn't like Silvia, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
"Izzy, I've thought it through. I know what I'm doing. You don't need to persuade me." Ethan smiled slightly.
Seeing Ethan so determined, Ines stopped trying to convince him and went back to sleep.
Ethan held her like usual. Ines tried to listen to his heartbeat, which was as steady and strong as always. There was no sign of panic. It seemed like he really didn't care about Silvia's life or death. Ines intended to sleep, but she couldn't. She kept thinking about Silvia.
At the hospital, Erica and Trenton rushed in. Silvia was still in the emergency room. The couple who brought Silvia in were her neighbors, a couple in their fifties. They were covered in blood, looking horrific.
Erica recognized them. They had taken care of Silvia before she went abroad.
"Miss, what on earth happened?" Erica asked. The woman was still in a bit of a fluster, and she slowly recalled the events of the evening. "When Silvia got home this afternoon, I noticed something was up. My hubby and I had dinner all set, we called her over, but she didn't have the stomach for it. Later, we thought we heard some banging around, we knocked on her door, then it went quiet. We didn't think much of it at the time. Late into the night, I got up for the loo and saw her lights were still on, that's when I started to get the jitters. Luckily, they’ve always trusted us, I've got a spare key to her place. I got the key and opened the door only to find Sylvia lying on the couch, with blood still dripping from her wrist. There was a kitchen knife next to her, and she was out cold."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Broken Memories, Intertwined Hearts