Charmaine entered the hospital room and found Joe lying abed staring up at the ceiling. He must have heard her for he looked up when she walked in. Scrunching his face with pain, he pushed himself to a sitting position and held his hand out to her.

Charmaine rushed to his side but did not give him her hand. Instead, she sat down on the chair next to his bed, “How are you feeling?” she asked.

Joe reached down and took her hand, pulling her up to sit with him on the too small bed. “I feel better now that you’re here.”

Charmaine managed to give him a soft smile despite the guilt she was feeling. Not too long ago, she was in Raymond’s arms and kissing him. The memory made her feel warm and fuzzy.

Joe saw the flush on her face and wondered why she was acting so strange. He squeezed her hand and said, “Are you okay? That incident must have scared you to death.”

“It did especially when I saw you lying on the floor with all that blood,” she admitted. “But now that I know you’re going to be fine, I feel relieved.”

“Just a few scrapes, nothing serious,” Joe said. “It’s you that I was worried about. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I have to thank Raymond for protecting you during the assault. Did he get hurt?”

“He suffered a cut to his arm. The doctor stitched it up already and he’s fine,” Charmaine answered.

“Good. During the attack I kept thinking about you. I was so scared that you might have gotten hurt,” Joe said as he looked at Charmaine.

“As you can see I’m fine,” she said softly. “Let me get you something to drink,” she said as she started to get up.

Joe did not let her go. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her ear, “Charmaine, you know how I feel about you right?”

Charmaine froze at the question, her heart hammering. She nodded her head slowly in response.

Joe continued to hold her as he looked down at her, “I know this may be a bit sudden but I’ve been thinking about it for some time now. Will you marry me?”

Charmaine didn’t know how to react to the unexpected question. She couldn’t possibly marry him knowing that she could only love Raymond. She avoided his eyes as her mind worked frantically to come up with an excuse to turn him down.

Joe sensed her hesitation and tightened his arms, “What’s wrong? You don’t want to be with me?”

Charmaine looked up at him then, her mind made up to tell him the truth. That she can never be with him because her heart belonged to someone else. She squeezed his hand as she began, “Joe, you’re a great guy but I…”

Joe placed a finger on her lips to prevent her from continuing. His expression was unreadable. “Don’t say another word,” he ordered.

Raymond walked in and saw Charmaine sitting on the bed in Joe’s arms. His eyes darkened as he scanned their faces. Charmaine attempted to get up but Joe had a steady grip on her barring all her movements.

Joe noticed that Raymond’s eyes seemed to linger on Charmaine and he felt a flash of anger. Holding Charmaine securely in his arms, he said, “Raymond? How nice of you to visit me?”

“I take it you’re on your way to a full recovery,” Raymond said casually, his eyes kept darting to Charmaine.

Joe laughed, “Yes I am. I suppose that’s bad news to you. Since you’re here I want to thank you for keeping Charmaine safe.”

Raymond looked at Charmaine who hasn’t said a word. “No thanks needed. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her either,” he said, his eyes soften as he continued to look at her. She met his eyes briefly and smiled gently at his reply.

Joe knew then that what Raymond felt for Charmaine was not mere attraction. It was something deeper than that and he will put a stop to it once and for all. In a casual voice, he said, “I thank you for visiting me but if you don’t mind I want to be alone with my girlfriend.”

Raymond turned to Charmaine, her expression blank. He didn’t know what to make of her. Just earlier, when they were in the waiting area, she had looked at him with love. Now here she was sitting in Joe’s arms and not saying a word to him at all. “Sure,” he said and as he walked to the door, he turned around once more to look at Charmaine, before quickly leaving.

When Raymond was gone, Joe relaxed his grip on Charmaine. “I’m sorry for holding onto to you so tightly. Whenever I see Raymond, I keep thinking that I’m going to lose you to him. Just like when I lost that other woman to him.”

Charmaine felt a pang of guilt as she sat down on the chair next to his bed. She knew she had to get it over with, “Joe, I have to tell you something.”

Joe shook his head, “Please don’t tell me that you want to break up.” Suddenly he gasped for breath as his hand clutched at his chest. His eyes rolled upwards as Charmaine stood looking at him in fright.

“Joe!” Charmaine screamed then dashed to the door and screamed out for a doctor. A nurse came running in with a doctor. The doctor gave the nurse some instructions and she left only to return seconds later with a syringe. Joe’s breathing returned to normal a minute after the medicine was injected. He opened his eyes and searched for Charmaine. When he saw that she was beside him, he lifted his hand out to her, “Please don’t leave me.”

Charmaine sobbed as she nodded, her eyes fixed on Joe’s pale face.

Joe spoke then, “Can you get me some water? My mouth feels very dry.”

When Charmaine was out of the room, Joe turned to the doctor and grinned, “Nicely done.”

The doctor chuckled as he shook Joe’s hand, “No problem at all. If you need anything else, just let me know.”