E COLD-HEARTE
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reathe properly. He placed his hand on a low marble table to support his weight as he tried to stand up. Slowly and unsteadily he made his way to the bathroom in the gym. Leaning over the sink he stared at his image in the mirror and he could hear her voice in his head, "Dirty! You're as dirty as that mother of yours." He looked at the tap and had a strong urge to wash his hands and he didn't try to resist it. After washing up, he dressed leisurely in baggy grey trousers and a sweater. Hanging a short white towel over his neck, he stepped out to the balcony. Silently watching the city lights, the starless sky, and the gathering dark clouds, he felt a moment of peace. Whatever it was that nagged his mind he was going to find out in a few days. Till then, Daryl pushed his thoughts aside.After a while, it began to drizzle. It started as a light shower but the thick dark clouds betrayed its intention. A heavy downpour was on its way. In another part of the city, a girl raced against time and the incoming downpour as she rushed in and out of a nearby store, with her brown leather handbag over her head as a makeshift umbrella. She hurriedly walked toward the bus stop but before she could make it rain began to pour down heavily. She brought her bag down and protected it with her body instead as she stood at the bus stop, waiting for a bus along with the handful of other people there. Eventually, a bus came to a stop, and she struggled to get on the bus with people pushing and shoving each other aside to enter the bus before it got full. Chelsea sighed in relief. Her bag was soaked, and she was drenched and bruised from the shoves while struggling to get on the bus. It didn't help either that she ended up standing and holding onto one of the iron bars on the bus. The vehicle lurched and moved forward accelerating gradually. The rain got heavier with each passing minute. Chelsea could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. An elderly woman sitting by her side tapped her, " Miss? Are you related to Elena Willows?" It took Chelsea a while to reply, " What?" She said, amused. "No, I'm not. I look a lot like her, don't I?" "My word, you do. I..." Before she could complete her sentence the bus skidded and careened across several lanes of traffic, making everyone on the bus move unsteadily from side to side. After a while of chaos and screaming, the driver regained control of the wheel and everything was calm once again. The old lady put a hand on her chest, " Are you okay?" Chelsea asked in concern. " Of course I am! My bones aren't as old as they look y'know" She replied with a smile. Chelsea returned the smile, turning her attention to the window she heard a commotion in front. Someone was saying, "Driver! Move out of the way!!" and someone else added, " Are you a drunkard?! Turn f*ck*ng left !!"Then a bright light assaulted her eyes through the window with car horns honking and passengers in the bus shouting, cursing, calling on God. Chelsea's heart leaped, but before she could make a sound their vehicle got slammed from the side and spun off the highway and down the hill in a deadly summersault. Everything happened so fast and her last thoughts were, " Is this death?" Chelsea woke up to the beeping sound of a life support machine, with her head buzzing and her vision blurred but she could vaguely identify the place she was as a hospital. There was so much noise around her. She felt her consciousness slipping gradually and for the third time, she found herself embracing the darkness. Chelsea didn't know how long this process kept repeating or how much time she had spent in the hospital, but she couldn't care less about the latter. No one was coming anyway, not her father, mother, or sister, and Chelsea herself had absolutely no way to pay the hospital bills which left her with only one option. For the umpteenth time, Chelsea was awake. This time she couldn't see or hear the beeping of the life support machine instead, she was placed on a drip. She sluggishly pulled the syringe from her hand and made to stand up but suddenly felt light-headed and weak. She placed a hand on her forehead