Chapter 63: Chapter 63

"Nothing is in the middle of somewhere, surrounded by everything, where everyone is someplace and still lacking someone I need the most."

-Anthony Liccione-

***

Just like what Celine had told him, two hours before the party started somebody picked him up from the hospital, and Celine had arranged for a nurse to watch her for the night. He should have known his family was not going to give up on persuading him. His ties with them were quite strong after all although he was not feeling particularly excited about it. At first Raphael was still doubtful about his family's decision since his gut had told him that something just did not feel quite right, yet he did not wish to disappoint his family members. Thus he decided to go.

It's just one night.

He arrived at the Desroches family manor, the main house where his parents resided in. Once he stepped in he could already see the work of his sister that had decorated the place in a white winter wonderland theme. The Christmas tree that year was white with silver decoration, they even removed some of the furniture to make space for the decorations and he could tell it must have taken a lot of effort to get everything done. His sister's work was always marvelous, there was simply no doubt about it.

The place could easily host over fifty guests inside. Every year, his extended family from all over France and Europe would come to enjoy a nice meal hosted by Archard Desroches. They would hire the best chefs to cook meals for the whole family and sometimes they would hire entertainment team as well. Last year they hired a group of church orchestra, he was looking forward to what they were doing that year.

Of course as the handsome son of the family, his appearance did steal the spotlight. Some of the older family members swarmed over him to make a conversation or to exchange hugs, forgetting that he was already a grown man who did not really fancy physical affection from people other than Clara.

"It is good to see you." His half British aunt, Magda hugged him tightly. She was the wife of his mother's eldest brother who had passed away a few years ago.

"You are getting big so fast." She grabbed his shoulder and showed everyone a shocked look when she felt how hard his muscle was.

"Archard, what do you guys feed him. This boy is stone hard." Everyone in the room were trying their best not to laugh. She was a bit of an eccentric woman. She had too much money than what she could spend in her entire life, without knowing how to spend them, it messed with her mind a bit.

Then there were his cousins, as well as his family from his father's side, all which he liked better, not because of any particular reason, but it was simply because he was far more familiar with them since his childhood. Not everyone in the room was exactly on a friendly term with him. Of course, some of them simply did not click with him as an individual.

When the food was served, each had been properly seated according to their own places, each family for each side, Raphael was seated right beside his father. It did help in calming down his thought a bit, his father had always had a righteous aura around him, one could feel it when being close to him.

However, despite all the cheerful laughter and the festive air, there were still some things bothering him inside, his mind constantly wondered to the hospital room, where Clara was there. There was an empty seat in the dining table, and it is supposed to be for Clara, she was supposed to be there with them that night along with Dennis Bellavance, they had invited him but the man had gone back to his place because he could not bear to continuously see his daughter in such state, it reminded him greatly of the time before he lost his wife, all he asked for before he returned was for Raphael to give him constant updates on Clara and had God been kind enough to him and allowed Clara to wake up, he wanted to be the first one to know.

It was all Raphael could do. He would do anything for Clara, partially out of love, partially to atone for his sins. He was aware that she did not deserve any of those, she was a great woman, most importantly, she was innocent.

His cousins could see the gloom on his face, some of them were oblivious, some did not care, and some had known why.

There was a time when everyone was busy exchanging presents to each other after the meal was over. They all gathered on the living room, which could easily accommodate fifty people inside, and one by one, the handed over their gifts to every member of the family. Both sides, from his mother and father, were on good terms with each other, it was to be expected as their families were friends to begin with. Thus, it was no headache matters to figure out what gifts to give to each other.

Raphael had gotten himself some presents as well. It was considered rude for them to open up gifts in front of the gift owner, so they kept them all sealed tight until they arrived at their own places.

The went up until late, and when the clock stroke at 11 P.M he decided that he had joined enough, and some of the guests had left, thus it was the time for him to go back to the hospital. He drove his car and gone through a little bit of traffic but he managed to get in there right before midnight.

The hospital staff who had familiarized themselves with him no longer questioned his intention and let him in right away, he rushed to Clara's room which was dark, the windows was closed, and despite the heater turned on, the room was still slightly cold.

"Clara, I'm back." he went straight beside her and took her hand in his.

"I am sorry I left. Today we had a Christmas Eve's part at papa's house. All of my family members came."

"I wish you could have joined us, I wanted to introduce you to them. Some you have never met before. I am sure they would be happy to see you." He spoke to her as if she could hear him.

"Clara, do you know, I regret every single thing I have done to you, I was a fool. I was an impulsive, idiot. I was stupid. I should have listened to you. You are right, you have always been right. I was wrong, Clara, and I'm sorry." Warm tears accumulated around his eye rim, and for the first time in a while he cried. He released all of his sorrow which had built up throughout the past few weeks. It had been hard for him, the joy from the party was not enough to erase his misery. He was still feeling awful.

A drop of his tears fell on her hand, and he remained in the state for the next ten minutes. A misconception people had of strong alpha men like him was mostly based around their emotions, ones would think men like him could not cry, but they had forgotten that at the same time he was human, and the little boy in him was crying in pain. He was like a little boy all over again.

The next morning Corentin came early to pay a visit to her right before he left to celebrate Christmas with his friends and relatives, with a bag of present and a bouquet of flower for her. When he had entered however he saw a quite pitiful scene to his eyes.

Raphael his eyes were slightly swollen from tears, but of course, Raphael had put on his tough facade once more.

"Merry Christmas. You look awful." Corentin placed his gifts on the desk and walked over to them. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes when he looked down on Clara who was still laid unconscious. He pulled another chair and took a seat on the other side of the bed.

"It has almost been three weeks, hasn't it? Gosh, It has been an eventful month."

"It has been, indeed." They were staring at each other awkwardly, if it was not for Clara, none of them would be at ease with each other's presence. Clara was the sole reason why they were even willing to tolerate each other's presence. Without her, they would not even speak to each other.

"How was your Christmas' Eve party? I heard the Desroches had a grand party at your father's manor" Corentin tried his best to put on a smile because he needed to be friendly with Raphael around Clara, though she could not see it, the last thing he wanted was for her to figure out that they had fought each other during her absence.

"It was just okay. Honestly, I don't care. Nothing really matters if she's not there. I just want Clara to wake up, that's all." He did not know if Clara subconsciously had listened to him or what, but after he stated the phrase, something miraculous happened.

All of a sudden, Clara's eyes twitched along with her fingers that started to move slowly, it was very slight, but noticeable, and both men rushed to her side to see if what they were seeing was real. Once again, her eyes twitched and her fingers moved. It was confirmed, Clara was showing some signs of consciousness. Upon the sight, Raphael held her hand and a glimpse of hope surfaced within him.

"Clara?"