Chapter 64: Chapter 64

"Quarrels are a natural part of relationships. Making up is always the best part."

-Maureen Johnson-

***

Clara slowly opened her eyes, her light green eyes had darkened slightly, perhaps due to the effect of the poison on her body, although her head was still pounding, she did not allow it to prevent her from coming back to reality. When she was unconscious, she could hear voices of people calling out for her. She did not know if she was dreaming or not, all she knew was she needed to wake up.

It took her a couple of minutes to fully took a grasp of her surrounding, first when she opened her eyes completely, all she saw was a blank hospital ceiling mixed with white hazy fog which she assumed came from her eyes trying to adapt to light again after being closed for God knew how long. Then a few seconds later she tilted her head slightly to see both Raphael and Corentin's face near her. She blinked her eyes several time to take a good look at their facial expression and found Both of them having a huge smile on their face, as if they could not believe that she was finally awake.

"Raphael? Corentin?" she opened up her mouth to speak, although her voice was still low and weak, they could hear her well. Her whole body felt like it was being pierced by ice. She was cold, but he body was already covered by the blanket. She turned to them, about to ask for help when Raphael spoke again.

"Clara, oh gosh, you are awake, Mon Amour." Raphael lowered his head to kiss her palm and Clara was staring at him with confusion. What had happened to her? Why was she there in the hospital? Her memory was still blurry and she could not remember everything quite clearly yet. She tried to sit up but her body was still very weak.

"Don't move around to much, I'll get the doctor and the nurse. You wait here." Corentin rushed outside, leaving Raphael and Clara alone. Raphael thought this was the perfect time for him to talk to her alone. There were so many things he wanted, no, needed to tell her. His heart felt like it was about to explode.

"Clara, thank goodness you are awake. You have no idea how afraid I was of losing you" Clara stared at him with an emotionless gaze. Her mind was still fuzzy from the long slumber she had. However, in an instant, there was a sharp pain in her head which caused her to groan, Raphael held her shoulder, asking her what was wrong, but the pain slowly dissipated on its own and afterward, her memories returned back to her. She could still remember what he did to her back then, the day when he kicked her out.

"Why are you here?" Her words pierced through him like needles, it hurt him quite a bit but not enough for him to back away from her. He had no choice but to tell her the truth.

"I want to apologize, I have found out the truth, and I know I am wrong, I should have known better, I should have listened to you." Clara could feel genuine sincerity from him, and judging from his messy appearance, he looked like he had not gotten enough sleep lately.

"My belongings?" She just remembered the last time she had left her case at the hotel but Raphael immediately assured her they had gotten it out from the place, it was fortunate that he had connections inside the hotel where she resided. Because apparently, her belongings were the first thing she cared about. Clara sighed in relief when she heard that her stuff was safe, she leaned back on the pillow and turned her face away from him.

"Clara, I am sorry. I was a fool. I love you. Please give me one more chance."

"Raphael, you sound like my ex." She spoke with full sarcasm. When did she become so good at double entendre?

"Don't do that to me, Mon Amour." Clara wanted to kick him out of the room if she could, but she could not, she could barely sit up. She was still mad at him, but at the same time she pitied him. She knew she should not, he started it after all, she did not know if it was because of his damn good looking face or because of the way he had treated her before their fight, on the other hand any rational woman would walk away after being mistreated like so.

"I was not myself, I was possessed by jealousy. It was all because I loved you so much. I could promise you that from now on, no matter what you do, no matter what I see, I will always listen to you, and I will always trust you. Please give me a second chance."

Before she could say anything else, the door slammed open and the nurse just went straight over to her, she indirectly gestured for Raphael to moved away to do some checkups on her. The doctor immediately went over to her side as well and did some checking while Corentin and Raphael were anxiously waiting on the couch.

"The effect of the poison has subsided from her body, however she still needs to stabilize, she may need to stay here for the next few days until her condition improved, and and if all goes well, she should be able to go home before new year."

The doctor left them alone after telling everything that needed to be told, and she once was left with the two men.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Almost three weeks." Raphael answered.

"What happened?" The last memory she had was when she visited Corentin's house, she remembered going through some really great pain before that. After that everything was blank, and she fell into her own unconscious world. Both of them were silent for a brief moment, exchanging gazes to one another, and Clara had to give both of them a demanding look, she needed to know and they were going to give her an answer.

"You were poisoned." Corentin admitted.

"What? By who?"

"Renee." Clara's eyes widened when she heard the name. She shook her head in disbelief. Never in a million years would she ever guess that someone who had been so kind like her would do such cruel despicable thing to Clara. She was trying to search for her own fault and found none. She tried to find reasons why she might do such things yet again she found none.

They had been on a very good term, she would suspect someone like Giselle to do it, Renee had a kind manner, one would have never guessed of her capable of doing such a terrible thing. Yet we often forgot that appearances could be very deceiving.

Clara had asked them what happened to her afterward, of course, there was no way they would tell her what they did to her in the name of justice, Clara was too pure and innocent for her own good, such a kind soul could not forgive them even if they did it for her own sake, keeping those as secrets were the best way to go.

Instead they told her she had been arranged for arrest on murder attempt, and they would make sure that she received what she deserved.

Just because she was a woman, did not mean she could get away with everything.

"You should just rest for now." Raphael was about to cover Clara's body with a piece of blanket, but she pushed his hand away.

"No, I could do it myself." she spoke in a low tone, then Corentin came in between them and took hold of the blanket.

Corentin gave Raphael a look of pity and he had to admit even if he had been jealous of Raphael in the past for being the one who Clara was in love with. A tiny pride surfaced in his heart, because for once Clara chose him over Raphael, but at the same time, he did not want to get his hopes too high. After all the possibility of him being with her was extremely low.

"Does my father know?" Right, Raphael had forgotten to inform Dennis like he originally planned to, he told Clara her father came to visit her and he had returned back to Bordeaux. He assured her he would tell him about Clara's condition. He definitely needed to do that later on.

She stared at the clock inside the room, it was past 9 A.M.

"Don't you two need to go to work?"

"Clara, actually, it's Christmas today." She let out a small oh. The news only meant one thing, that year she had to stay in the hospital for Christmas, it was just great, as if things could not possibly be worse.

"Merry Christmas, then." She forced a smile. She had planned a great Christmas day on the beginning of the month, in fact she had planned everything since the beginning of November, but sometimes plans just could not match reality.

"I brought you a gift." Corentin took out the gift he brought for her, he did not expect her to wake up on the same day but he had prepared it anyway. He opened the box and it was a burgundy designer winter scarf. He asked her if she wanted to put it on and she nodded. He gently wrapped the scarf around her neck, giving life to her tedious hospital outfit she would need to get out of as soon as possible.

"Thank you, you don't have to."

Raphael's competitiveness jumped out of him, he nearly let his possessive side took control but at the moment, he said absolutely nothing. He waited for Corentin to leave to have some time with Clara. Both of them looked awfully close, which made him felt really uncomfortable. After a while he decided that he wanted her right then, he politely kicked him out of the room. Surprisingly enough, after everything that had happened, Corentin understood. He kissed her hand and walked out of the room, sparing her once last glance before disappearing from behind the door.

It was such a short encounter, yet she knew Corentin had always cared for her, it brought tears down her eyes.

"Clara." Raphael approached her. He gently cupped her cheek and licked away the salty tears from her face.

"Clara, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it, I-" before he could continue, she lifted up a finger and placed it before his lips. A faint smile appeared on her face. He froze where he stood, and smiled.

"I know, I forgive you." It was not an easy decision, but Clara had been thinking about it. It was all just a terrible misunderstanding. No one was to blame. She knew after that day he would never do such a thing again to her. Was it easy for her to forgive him? No, no  it was not. Truth to be told she wanted to punish him for what he did, for he had hurt her so bad. At the same time she still loved him. Her feelings for him was far more powerful than her hatred and disappointment.

Their relationship could still be fixed. She knew that much. Upon hearing her response, he leaned in closer with teary eyes and kissed her lips. It was probably the most thoughtful thing anyone could ever do to him. He had no idea how grateful he was that she was willing to give him a second chance. It was the best Christmas gift he ever received, and there was no way he would let her go ever again.