I'm enjoying writing this story! I'm not sure how long it'll be at the moment, but it'll be a few more chapters at least. Please like, favourite and review if you enjoy and also send me any suggestions/requests for oneshots or chapters! I'll be trying to make my chapters longer after this one as well. Thanks for reading :) - W
On the 22nd day, she woke up from her short coma and found Ethan sitting beside her.
"You came." She resisted a smile as she spoke, not wanting to reveal anything unnecessarily. He nodded.
"I did." He replied. Silence fell upon the two.
"I'm sorry." He added quietly. She tilted her head in question.
"Why?"
"I abandoned you for two weeks." He explained.
"20 days, actually." She corrected before berating herself for sounding obsessive. He gave her a strange look and she blushed slightly.
"I didn't have much else to do but count the days." She explained, hopefully correcting her mistake. He nodded, and silence fell once more.
"You're looking better." Ethan remarked. Had she the energy, Vanessa would have laughed.
"One would hope so. I looked... not my best, last time we met." She replied. Suddenly she recalled what Sir Malcolm told her.
"It was you, was it not? Who helped... my predicament? I do not remember." She asked quietly. Ethan didn't acknowledge her question for several seconds, instead focusing on the floor.
"Yeah it was me." He said eventually.
"It's okay Ethan, we need not discuss it yet. I simply would like to thank you." She assured him, wishing she had the energy to reach out and take his hand.
"No need to thank me." He replied. Neither said a word to each other for several minutes until Ethan stood to leave.
"Well, I'll just be going then, I guess. Goodbye, Miss Ives." He said as he left. Vanessa's heart sunk as she imagined the next time she saw him being another several weeks away.
"Wait!" She called. He stopped and turned to face her. "I... come back whenever you'd like, alright?" She internally groaned at her words.
"Sure." He replied with a small smile, before leaving. Alone with her thoughts once more, Vanessa contemplated her next movement. She likely did not have the energy to walk downstairs once more, and the others did not seem ready to speak with her anyway. A tapping at the window drew her from her thoughts. There he was again, her little bird friend. Vanessa smiled and wished could will her body to sit by the window with him.
"I should give you a name, I suppose. Would that be nice?" She whispered, knowing the bird would not respond. She watched the bird as it flapped its wings and flew away.
"I shall need to think, my friend." She muttered. She chuckled suddenly.
"I think I'm going mad." She thought, deciding talking to a bird outside her window was bad enough, let alone talking to herself. Madness, however, was not an unfamiliar aspect of her life. In fact, some days it seemed sanity was a more insane prospect.
"Vanessa? May I come in?" Sir Malcolm asked from the doorway, breaking her from her thoughts.
"Of course." She replied with a small smile. He pulled up a chair beside her bed.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Better. How are you feeling?" She asked carefully, unsure if even she was ready to discuss the events of late.
"I'm not sure, if I am honest. All this time trying to find Mina, save her... only for it to end this way. It's difficult to grasp, I suppose." He sighed. Vanessa nodded.
"We lost Mina long ago, though. Long before he took her from us." She said. Sir Malcolm nodded. Vanessa bit her lip nervously, afraid to ask the question she longed to ask.
"What is it?" Sir Malcolm asked.
"What did you mean?" She replied.
"When?"
"You know when, Sir Malcolm. Please tell me." Sir Malcolm sighed, and raised his face to look her directly in the eye.
"I meant exactly what I said, Vanessa. As you said, we lost Mina long ago... and I had a daughter all that time staring me in the face. It just unfortunately took you being in danger for me to realise." He responded with a sad smile. Vanessa smiled in return.
"I've always considered you like a second father, you know. Your returns from your trips were the most exciting of times when we were kids. Mina and I, we'd-" She cut herself off with a gasp as it hit her. Peter and Mina were dead. Her parents were dead. She had no one except those of Grandage Place. A tear rolled down her cheek and she turned away from Sir Malcolm in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." She whispered as her shaky hands rubbed tears from her eyes. Sir Malcolm shook his head and reached out to wipe a tear from her cheek.
"I just... I haven't even thought, I haven't..."
"It's okay, Vanessa. Everything will be okay." Sir Malcolm replied, his own eyes watering at the thought of his lost children. He pulled her into a hug, and she allowed tears to steadily roll down her face so long as no one could see her cry. After many minutes like this, they broke away.
"I promised the doctor I would assist him with something. Will you be alright if I leave?" He asked gently. Vanessa nodded, no longer crying but her face evidence to her tears.
"Ill be back later on." He added, before leaving.
Vanessa sighed. What a terrible thing it is to be alone.