Lost and Found (A Novel) (22 page)

“I know...I know...” Wynne said ruefully. “Can I see her then?” He looked up at Wilburn with hope.

“You can see her but you need to know that Caelie is no longer the same.”

Wynne had a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean? Did she have a memory loss?”

“No, she remembers perfectly well. Too well that all the emotional trauma of her past that she had suppressed came surfacing out.” Wilburn assessed Wynne before continuing. “When Annetta first found Caelie, she was a wreck and needed psychiatric treatment. It took her a long time to recover and be the person whom she was when she came to Mirage as an intern. The incident with Dale caused her to have a relapse. Physically, the doctor had given her the all clear but emotionally, she is unstable and had been referred to her old psychiatrist for treatment. Just be very careful about what you say to her, Wynne. I do not know how much more she can take before she breaks down totally.”

Wynne gripped the cup hard in his hand, almost as if he wanted to break it to pieces. His anger at his friend rose to a new level for what he had put Caelie through. Wynne vowed that he would help Caelie to get back on her feet, whether she wanted him to or not. He owed her that much.

Caelie looked out the window at the small garden in the hospital. Some of the patients were strolling or sitting around with their family members. She hated being in the hospital, especially after she had been transferred to the psychiatric ward. The last time she was admitted there, Annetta had been around to help her pick up the pieces. Oh how she missed Annetta, her heart cried out forlornly. She had met with her psychiatrist, Dr. Scrabeck, and had been more forthcoming in relating the whole incident than when she had first met the kind elderly doctor years ago.

There was a soft knock at the door before it slowly opened. Caelie hoped that it was not Wilburn. She had already told him to go home and rest, knowing that he had not left her side since she was admitted. When the door was fully opened, she was surprised to see Wynne stepping into her room. Wilburn had told her that Wynne had came over to help fend off Dale before the police came. What she was curious to know was why Wynne had even been at her house.

“Hey.” Wynne said softly. He seemed to be nervous.

“Hey.” Caelie replied with a blank look.

“Um, how are you feeling?” Wynne rubbed the back of his neck. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation that they were in. He had never thought that it could be this hard to talk to someone when he was feeling guilty. And the guilt he felt for all the things that had happened to Caelie was huge.

Caelie shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “Could be better.”

“I’m...really sorry about what happened.”

“Why should you be sorry? Rather, I should thank you for coming to our aid.” Caelie said casually, still with the blank look. She turned back towards the window when Wynne did not make any move to say anything else.

Deciding that it was best if he just said it upfront, Wynne braced himself as the words rushed out of his mouth. “I was the one who sent Dale to you.”

That statement finally illicit a reaction from Caelie. She turned around sharply, her eyes narrowing slightly as she regarded Wynne. “What do you mean you sent him to me?” Sure Wynne was the one that introduced her to Dale but that did not translate to him sending Dale to her, if that was what he was worried about.

“Look, I’m really sorry Caelie. Please understand that it was never my intention to hurt you.” Caelie’s eyes only became narrower hearing this. “I asked him for help to find out who you are.”

“Why would you want to find out about me?” Her voice was now barely a whisper as thoughts swirled around her head at Wynne’s words, making her feel dizzy. She grabbed hold of the window ledge for support. Wynne made a move to help her but Caelie only held up a hand to stop him. “Just answer me.”

“Because I have been trying to find you, Hayley.” Caelie’s eyes widened slightly at his confession. “Hayley, it’s me, Judd. Do you remember me?” The hope in Wynne’s voice was apparent.

Caelie blinked her eyes in disbelief. Her eyes traveled over his face, taking in his features. She had never bothered to really look at Wynne before but now that she was clearly observing him, she could see that his features bore some similarities to Judd. Sure the hair was neater and different now, but his eyes were still the same grey eyes that used to peek out at her from underneath his fringe. “Is your real name Wynne or Judd?”

“Both. My full name is Wynne Judd Grant.” He replied softly. He could see recognition in her eyes and for that he was glad.

Once the shock had subsided, anger began to course through her veins. Caelie’s body started to tremble and she had a hard time trying to hold herself up. She saw Wynne making a move towards her again and she hastily put up her hand. “Stop!” She hissed. Finally her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor. “Don’t come near me,” she warned, her eyes shooting daggers at him, “just go, I don’t want to see you.”

“Hayley...what’s wrong?” Wynne looked on perplexed.

“I’m not Hayley.” Caelie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.” Hayley is dead, you understand me? Hayley is dead!” She shouted agitatedly.

Wynne held up both hands in a pacifying manner. “Okay...okay...Caelie, I understand. Come on, let me help you.”

“No! The last time you offered to help me it landed me in trouble. I trusted you, Wynne...Judd...whatever. But when I needed you the most, you left me. You betrayed my trust. You know, I always thought that perhaps, if I had never listened to you, then maybe things would not have turned out to be so bad.” Caelie said wistfully, tears glistening in her eyes now with a faraway look on her face.

Wynne dropped to his knees as he looked helplessly at Caelie. Her words tore through his heart like a sharp knife. He knew what it felt like to be betrayed and was sure that he had hurt Caelie really bad when he made the selfish decision to leave that time. “I know it’s my fault, Caelie...and I’m really sorry for it. Please let me make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?” Caelie gave a short laugh. “How could you when you had only ended up hurting me again? It wasn’t enough that you saw me suffered years ago, you had to make me suffer again, didn’t you?” Caelie’s tone was accusing now. “You made my life miserable from the moment you met me at Mirage. But that’s okay, I was still perfectly fine the way I was until you had to ruin it by sending Dale to me. Why would you do such a thing?”

“Caelie-”

“Don’t you get it? You will only hurt me again and again if you come into my life. Just go and leave me be. I’ll stay far away from you.”

“No Caelie, please. I’ve been searching for you for years, and now that I’ve found you, I’m never letting you go again.”

Caelie’s agitation had rose to a new level. “I am nothing! You understand? Just leave!” Her tone had increased a few pitch higher. When Wynne made no move to leave, Caelie started shouting and throwing things at Wynne. “OUT! GET OUT! I HATE YOU!”

The commotion caused nurses to rush into her room. They gathered around her to calm her down while one nurse pulled Wynne to his feet and practically dragged him out of the room with a reproachful look on her face before closing the door on him. Wynne slid down to the floor and cried like no man had cried before. Caelie’s words had truth in them. He had been a jerk to her through and through. He had expected that it may be hard for her to forgive him for what happened but he never thought that she could have hated him so much. For once in his life, he felt utterly defeated.

For the next few days, Wynne mopped around his house like a lost puppy. Wilburn had advised him to stay away from Caelie for a while to give her time to recover. Wynne knew that would be the best thing for her but he still could not help his restlessness at not being able to see her. So he took a few days leave from work and drowned his sorrows at home. And every night without fail, he would stare longingly at the kite before falling asleep with the box of kite beside him.

As much as Elise felt like knocking Wynne’s head for his stupidity, her heart went out to him for the predicament that he was in. She had been there by his side when he first lost her and through his search for her right up until he found her again. No matter how much Wynne denied it, Elise knew that his heart was with Caelie. Elise loved Wynne despite his stubbornness and childish behavior. So, she decided to try persuading Caelie to at least give Wynne a chance to explain himself.

Caelie flipped through the magazine that Alex and Chanell had brought for her with concentration. She was bored at being cooped up in the hospital room and her only visitors so far had been Wilburn, Alex and Chanell, all three of whom had already left for the day. That meant she would be without company for the rest of the evening. Thankfully, Dr. Scrabeck had told her that she was showing remarkable improvements and thus would be able to go home soon provided she did not have another relapse in the immediate future. Caelie was indeed feeling much better and was convinced that she was now better able to contain her emotions.

A knock sounded at her door and Caelie looked up in surprise when Elise walked in carrying a fruit basket in one hand and a large paper bag on the other.

“Hello Caelie.” Elise smiled, handing the fruit basket to Caelie.

Caelie accepted it with a smile of her own and motioned for Elise to sit down in the chair beside her bed. “Thank you for taking the trouble to visit me, Ms. Kerbs.”

Elise placed the paper bag against her drawer as she settled herself into the chair. “It’s no trouble at all, Caelie. I would have come sooner if not for work and family matters that have kept me busy. Now, how are you feeling?”

“Much better now. I’m really sorry, Ms. Kerbs, for always being away from work. I know my internship is due to end in a couple of months and with the rate that I’m going, there wasn’t much projects that I had managed to complete.” Caelie said apologetically.

“Oh, don’t worry about work, just concentrate on getting well. Whatever happened was beyond your control. I just wished that life could have been easier for you.” Caelie could see the kindness that shone from Elise’s eyes. She would have loved to work for Elise permanently but with the way things are going, she doubt Elise would want to offer her a permanent position.

“Thank you Ms. Kerbs, you are so kind.” She said earnestly.

Elise gave a small chuckle. “I hope your opinion of me doesn’t change after you hear what I’m going to talk about.”

Caelie looked on questioningly. “What is it?”

“Wynne.” Elise saw Caelie’s face dropped at the mention of his name. “I’m sorry if this would upset you, Caelie but as a sister, I just thought that there are some things you should know.”

Elise pulled out a rectangular black box from the paper bag and handed it to Caelie. Caelie felt her heart constrict when she saw the familiarity of the box. Opening it, she gazed at the kite that lay neatly in the box. Her fingers traveled over the structure and material. It was still in a good condition despite the years that had passed. This was her kite, the one she had never had the chance to fly.

“I saw how broken Wynne was over what had happened years ago. He could not stopped blaming himself. Both the guilt and the fact that he had lost you ate into him, so much so that he became withdrawn. Each night he would look at the kite longingly and cried himself to sleep. It was only years later that he finally woke up and decided that the best thing to do was to look for you. He changed his appearance, keeping his hair neat. He said, that was what you would have wanted him to do. Although his nightly routine stopped, he never quits looking at the kite now and then. Of all his possessions, your kite was the only one that he takes very good care of. In fact, when he realize that the kite is missing right about now, he would go crazy looking for it.” Elise paused and smiled. Caelie could see how much she loved her brother even though they were not related by blood.

“I know he made some bad choices and I could have smack him myself for his stupidity but his intentions were good, Caelie. He would never have intentionally wanted to hurt you. The price he had to pay is killing him now. He may not have said it out loud, but I know that you are the most precious person to him. All these years, he shun away from girls because you are always on his mind. That was what made him the way he was when you first met him as Wynne. But deep inside, he is a great guy and I’m not saying this just because I’m his sister.”

Elise leaned forward then and squeezed Caelie’s hand. “For years he had been looking for you Caelie and now, fate finally brought you two together again without you even realizing it. I’m not asking you to forgive him now. I know the hurt he caused would take time to heal. I just hope that you could at least give him a chance to explain and redeem himself.”