FELICITY

I wake up this morning feeling extremely weak. I hardly ever fall sick, but the few times I do it is unbearable. I can barely get up and I am sweating profusely. I hope Madam comes down soon so that he can take care of me, she always takes care of me when she goes too far with the beatings, she takes care of me because she still loves me. My body is burning up, but at the same time, I feel very cold. I bring my blanket up to my chin but still, I shiver. I moan as I move on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in.

The basement door creaks open and relief washes through me. Madam walks down the stairs with my tray of food balanced in her hands. She does not spare me a glance, she must think that I am still sleeping. "Madam," I croak, but she does not hear me, she is already on her way up the stairs. I look around frantically and when I spot one of my novels I pick it up and with the little strength in me, toss it toward Madam, it lands at her sandals-clad feet. Madam spins around instinctively, she looks at the book and then at me. Her mouth is spread out it a thin line, she is breathing heavily. She comes down the stairs and walks toward me. She hovers over me and crosses her hands under her chest and her gaze is demanding an explanation from me.

"I am terribly sick," I pout. She crouches to my level and places the back of her hand on my forehead, she sits beside me on the bed and then she swoops me up in her arms. She dances her palms around my head and then she starts rocking back and forth.

"I didn't have the guts to kill you," she cries. "Maybe I'll let it happen naturally. Yes! When you die he'll come back. I love you Felicity but I have to let you go, to be happy," she says and I start crying. She gently places me back down on the bed and plants a long warm kiss on my forehead before standing up. "Don't worry, it won't hurt," she coos. "You'll sleep and you won't wake up," she smiles in a sinister way and cries again. "I love you my beautiful daughter, but for me to be happy, for me to have Edward, I have to let you go."

I stare at her in great disbelief. "Please," I scream. "Please," I cry, weakly. I stretch out my feeble hands and she takes them in hers and places them back down. "Goodbye Felicity," she says, and then she turns around and climbs up the stairs. I painfully listen as the door shuts behind her. She has abandoned me and I cannot believe it. I never thought she will go as far as to leave me to die. Why can she not understand that Edward is a married man with children? I am sure he has a lovely, sane wife. He will never leave that life to be with her. I do not know who to blame for all that has been happening to me. I can blame my father, I can say I hate him but how do you hate someone you do not know? Same goes for Edward, he must have had a good reason for abandoning Madam when he found out that she was carrying me in her womb. The only person I should hate is Madam, but I cannot bring myself to do that. I hate the fact that I cannot hate her, I hate myself.

I struggle to sit up but I cannot achieve that easy task, my body is too weak to respond to my needs. I cannot even go to my table to eat my food. I desperately pray that Timothy comes today, at the same time I pray he does not. If he comes, I know his love will be enough to heal me, I also know that he will insist that I leave this place. I wish he can understand my reasoning. I just want my mother back. I know there is still good in her, he will not understand because he did not know her as I did. He does not know her story. I do not want the suffering I have endured for so long to be in vain. Surely, someday she will come to realize that she does not need Edward and that I am enough.

I hear someone trying to open the window. I smile; Timothy. He is always here to save me whenever I need him, he is an Angel; my Angel.

I try my best to sit up and this time, I am successful. He looks very handsome, as always. When I look at him, I see perfection. It is like everything around us disappears and it is just us. Madam described her love with Edward the way I would describe mine with Timothy. I should be scared that my fate will match hers but I am not. I now know that Timothy is different. He is genuine, he will never hurt me the way Edward did Madam. He smiles but the smile quickly turns to a frown when he notices how weak I am, he runs over to my mattress and sits beside me. "What's the matter my love?" he asks worriedly. His voice is like medicine to my soul, I feel better just by looking at him.

"I woke up feeling incredibly sick," I say "but not so much now that you are by my side," I smile.

He takes me in his arms and then he places his hands on my forehead. "Good Lord!" He exclaims. "You're running a fever, love, you're warm enough to bake a cake," he exaggerates. I laugh weakly. "Why are you laughing?" He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Have I ever told you that I find the way you talk amusing?" I ask cheekily.

He feigns hurt by gasping and placing his hand on his chest. "I'll forgive you for saying that because you're sick. I do need to take you to a hospital, I don't like seeing you this way.'' I smile at him, he cares for me too much. "And what did that wench do to help you?" He scoffs.

"She said she will get me medicine when she returns from work," I lie. If he knows that she left me to die he just might carry out his promise of killing her.

"You can't stay like this till she's back, what do you say I take you to a hospital and bring you back before midnight strikes?" He suggests. I shake my head, he frowns. "What do you mean no?" he asks, incredulously. "You're burning up here," he touches my forehead again. "You must come with me to a hospital," he insists.

"I just want to stay here with you," I try. I am really not strong enough to go anywhere. And I am scared that if I go anywhere, somehow, Madam will know. He sighs in defeat, he already knows how stubborn and persistent I am. "My uncle's a pharmacist, I can get you some medicine to stop the fever. I am not one to support self-medication but that's all I can do now."

"Thank you," I place a kiss on his cheeks, he places one on the back of my hands. "I'll be back soon," he says and then he walks to my table and gets my bottle of water for me.

-

It has been a while since Timothy left, I wonder why he is not back. I take a gulp of my water and I set the bottle down by my mattress. I feel cold without him, I hope he gets back soon. I close my eyes as I patiently wait for him to return.

After a while, I feel something hovering over me, startled, I open my eyes to see my Timothy smiling down at me. I did not even hear him come in. He helps me sit up and beside him I see a big bag, I wonder what he has in there, I am very sure medicine is not that big.

TIMOTHY

I set my bag on the floor and then I sit beside Felicity, admiring her sleeping beauty. Her eyes flutter open and they widen as she sees me. Her sleepy eyes travel down to my bag and then back up to me. I place the back of my palm on her forehead, she is still burning, I am terribly worried but I try not to show it. I have noticed that she hates feeling pitied. I was very worried when I saw her this morning but when I saw her smile, my worry vanished. I know she'll be alright, it's just a fever. My uncle gave me some medicine to give her, I just told him that a mate of mine was unwell.

I pull out the pills from my bag and a bottle of water. She sits up and moans in pain. I hand her the pills as ordered by my uncle, she takes them in her hands and she puts the first pill in her mouth. I help her bring the water up to her lips, she swallows, and she does the same for the last pill. As soon as she's done, she rests her back on the wall behind her. I will like to get a queen-sized bed for her, I hate this flimsy old mattress she sleeps on. When I get her out of this place I shall buy her a house befitting a queen, I will buy the world for her if she wants!

"Thank you," she smiles weakly.

"I wish you'll let me do more," I frown. "I wish you'll let me take you out of this place," I look around in distaste. There isn't proper ventilation in this place and it is certainly dangerous for her to continue to live here.

"You've done more than enough, Timothy," she gently wraps her hand around my arm and smiles.

"Sometimes I wish I could just kidnap you and force you out of this place."

She laughs and I see the sides of her eyes crinkle, "has it really come to that?"

"Yes, but I know you'll never forgive me if I drag you out of here against your will." I pick my bag from beside me, she looks at me curiously and eagerly, she resembles a wee child waiting to see what they've gotten for Christmas. I move closer to her and she shifts a bit to give me ample space. I pull out everything that's in the bag and lay them on the mattress. She looks at everything wide-eyed.

"What are these?" She smiles.

"These are some things I'm sure you're being deprived of in here," I say, looking around the room. Before us is an assortment of goodies, fruits, and delicious meals. When I got back from the pharmacy I asked the maids at home to pack the best treats and food they could get their hands on. There's also a camera which I pick up. I bring it up to my eye and then I take a picture of her and then she starts blinking. It seems I've caught her off guard.

"Why did you do that?" She asks, still blinking her eyes.

"Every night before I sleep I think of you, now I can stare at you instead," I explain as I gently caress her face, she blushes. I love it when she blushes, I love making her smile. I move closer to her and then I take one of both of us. "You are quite strange," she giggles.

I place the camera on the mattress and I pick up a box of chocolate. "Have you had chocolate before?" She shakes her head, "perfect!" I say, delighted.

I open the box and then I pull out one enticing milk chocolate, she opens her mouth and then I place it on her tongue. She closes her eyes and then she experiences the taste of chocolate for the first time, I can tell that she enjoys it from the way she's smiling and nodding her head. She picks one but I take it from her hand, she frowns and then I place it in her mouth. I enjoy feeding her. I feed and feed her until she is satisfied.

"I am much too full," she complains. "Madam will kill me if I do not eat the food she left me," her eyes travel to the tray on her table.

"I'll toss them before I leave," I assure her.

We sit up for a while and I take a few more pictures of her, and then some of us. She looks much better, I can still tell that she's slightly weak and is trying not to show it but I do know that she's a lot better. I love seeing her happy, I wish she could be happy all the time. Anytime I think of what she's been through I feel anger and pain, no one should have to suffer what she has been going through.

Together, we laugh, eat some more, and take some more pictures, we talk for a while about the silliest things. I really don't care what we're talking about, we could be talking about something as mundane and uninteresting as wood and I'll be fully immersed in the conversation.

As long as I'm with her I'm happy, as long as my love is happy, I'm overjoyed.