Chapter 13

She saw a small smile played on his lips at her apology. He looked so innocent, a boyish man, she mused. She finally gave in to the urge and smiled too. He looked at her with something like fondness written in his eyes. Was it really what she saw there or she was hallucinating, she had no idea. He was done and patted it for emphasis.

She turned her head sideways to check out what he did and smiled in satisfaction. She really liked it, kudos to him, she thought in humor. She spined around a few times and he moved back a bit, protecting his poor self from being hit by the energetic little lady. Ava knew she was being dramatic but couldn't stop herself from acting that way. She tried a few pose and judging from the way his whole face lightened up, she knew he would have laughed if he could but unfortunately, no sound could come out of his throat. Ava felt her eyes clouded with tears but she blinked them back rapidly. She couldn't allow him to see that. She did a few more styles and finally plopped down on the chair when she felt her energy getting drained up.

Alex watched her collapsed on the chair with folded arms. She was one boisterous woman, he thought.

She closed her eyes and took in multiple breaths to calm her racing heart. After some minutes, she cracked one eye open to look at Alex. The action was funny really and he would have bursted into laughter if he could.

Ava met his gaze on her and she smiled sheepishly, sitting up " Thank you for your help " She said and patted her hair lightly.

He nodded, taking the seat next to her. She avoided his eyes and looked at the picture hung on the wall above her head. It looked like she wanted to say something but was terribly failing at keeping it hidden.

Summoning up courage, she reached out and took his hands in her small ones " Alex? " There was no answer so she teared her gaze away from their intertwined fingers and looked up at him to find him already looking at her. What had she expected him to do? Answer her in words? She was being silly, she knew.

" Alex? " She called again and he raised his eyebrows this time.

" Jack told me you would going for a surgery that will make you talk again, he said you're going next week " She took a pause and searched his face but it remained expressionless. She frowned, remembering Jack had told her he would refuse but here he was, listening attentively like a kid.

" You'll go, right? " She asked, smiling at him warmly.

He stared at for a while, his gaze unwavering before he finally nodded.

She squealed happily " Cool! That's cool, Alex! I'm so glad you agreed without having me to pull your ears out! " She exclaimed jokingly and pulled him in for a brief hug. She drew back and ruffled his hair.

She continued " But we have a little problem " She took a pause and smiled sadly.

His eyebrows furrowed at that as he waited patiently to continue and she did.

" Jack said that the possibility of the surgery being successful is ninety nine percent but... " She exhaled a long breath.

" But you'll lose your memories of us and will only remember some certain events " She finished. His expression changed to one of annoyance and he started to get up.

Ava quickly prevented him from doing that " Wait Alex! That's not all " He seemed to calm down a bit when she said that and sat back on his chair.

Ava heaved a sigh of relief and muttered a quick thanks to the heavens.

When she didn't talk immediately, he raised his eyebrows as if to say ' Well? '

She coughed slightly and continued " He said you'd lose your memories only for a month or so, you would definitely regain your memories back but not immediately after the surgery. I think that's the after effects of the surgery maybe " She ended her words with a small shrug.

His gaze bored into hers like he was staring directly into her soul. She managed to hold his gaze without breaking eye contact.

" It means after you lose your memory, you won't remember who I am but I'm glad. Ask me why? " She asked teasingly.

He raised his eyebrows in question and she gave a small laugh.

" I'm glad because even though you wouldn't remember me, you'd get to speak again and that's a victory for me too " She said and smiled.

She saw something flicked across his eyes but it was gone quickly. She frowned, knowing she would ponder on that particular look later. She had never seen an expression like that on his face before. What was it exactly? She had no idea, yet.

She stood up " Come on, it's late already. Let's go have some food, I'm famished " and she rubbed her little, flat tummy.

Alex agreed and stood up too. Together, they went down to the dinning room and met meals laid out already for them. Bless Maggie's soul, Ava thought gratefully as she sank down into the chair and started digging into her food. Oh my! It's so tasty and delicious, she thought and increased her pace.

She looked up after some minutes and her mouth dropped opened when she saw Alex was still on his feet. Because of hunger, she had forgotten all about Alex. She dropped the spoon and her mouth hung down in a guilty way.

" I'm sorry " She said quietly and stood up.

" Come on " She said and led him over to his chair. His food was already set so she sat next to him and was in the process of feeding him when he shook his head and gestured for her to go finish up her food. She was not sure why she felt like crying, but she really felt like crying. He had seen how hungry she was and had offered to feed himself rather than to make her feed him.

Giving him a grateful smile, she went to her side of the table and sat down. Surprisingly, he picked up the spoon and started eating like there was nothing wrong with him. Ava watched him for a few minutes before she picked her own spoon and started eating too.