Her body was stiff and unmoving. It did not want to move, yet at the same time, it begged to do anything other than simply sit in the chair the doctor had provided her. It wanted to run, swim, and play, not sit, sleep, and worry. Her eyes fluttered open only to cringe upon seeing the bright white light above her. She stretched her arms, trying to remove the rigidness from inside her muscles. She groaned, her eyes falling upon the familiar form in the familiar hospital bed. The routine of the last two days, sleeping for minutes, stressing for hours, was already getting old.

Kyara stood up slowly, arching her back. She hated what she was seeing, watching the closest thing she had to family slowly waste away from the common cold. She had never taken seriously the danger it could pose despite her biology teacher going into great detail about the outbreak in 1918. She shuddered, remembering the gruesome details.

She pulled out her phone, wondering if anything had happened. There was one missed text message and one missed call. She checked the text first. It was from Carrie.

I got him.

Kyara felt her heart jump a little. Her feet felt a little lighter. This meant that there was a chance that little Rohan might survive. She nearly danced, but stopped as she saw a nurse passing by in the hallway. She glanced at the missed call. It was from Nanna, the town's grandma and innkeeper. She had taken in Kyara at first until Carrie and Kyara had found more permanent living arrangements. She was also one of the only other people on the island with a phone. Kyara listened to the voicemail.

"Kyara, I don't care what's going on. As soon as you get this message, get your ass over here now. We need to talk about the boy."

Kyara's brow furrowed with confusion. However, no one denied Nanna a visit, especially when asked by the great matriarch herself. As she let a nurse know she was leaving and to take care of her son, she wondered why Nanna would want to talk about Rohan with her. Nanna had been his grandmother in essence as she had been to almost everyone on the island. She had every right to be concerned. Perhaps she was just curious as to how Rohan was doing. She must have heard that he was sick and was now curious as to how sick. This was the conclusion Kyara came with as she left the hospital and made her way down to the inn.

The inn was old, but it had the charm that old buildings often had. It was made of stone which kept the oppression of the heat of summer outside and keeping the rooms cold. During the winter, the hearth in the lobby was was fired up, keeping everyone warm. The inn was not particularly large, only allowing room for the few out of town families to stay while visiting and the few unlucky tourists who imagined the island to be an exotic Mediterranean paradise. As Kyara walked into the spacious lobby with the heart acting as no more than decoration, she prayed that nothing would happen to Rohan while she was gone.

"There you are, girl." A small woman not even five feet tall came out. She wore brightly colored shawls and skirts with many jangling bracelets on her wrists and clinking pearls around her neck. Her hair was pulled back with several beads adding to her look of exoticity. Her eyes were a piercing blue that stared into everyone's soul and her mouth was filled with gold and silver teeth. She looked ferocious upon first glance, but she was as caring as any grandmother and her chocolate chip cookies were ten times better.

"Yes, Nanna. I'm here. What did you want?" Kyara asked, mindful to keep her tone polite and considerate.

"What this?" From within the many layers of her garments, she pulled out a small photo of a man and a woman wrapped in each other's arms smiling as if they were the happiest couple in the world. Kyara recognized it instantly as the photo she slept with every night and the one Rohan had been asking about. It was the same one that held so many painful memories for Kyara. It was the same one that was a constant reminder of the dangers of falling in love. her hand flew up to her neck where she still wore the same necklace.

"Where did you find that?" Her voice wavered and cracked, threatening to give way any moment.

"In your place after you took Rohan to the hospital. Is this him?"

"He's no one."

Nanna smiled. "If he was no one, you wouldn't have kept his picture all this time."

"He's caused me more pain and frustration than I have ever known. I've tried to forget him." Kyara became defiant. She pulled her shoulders back and jutted out her chin.

"Do you still love him?" Nanna always knew who someone was even if no one ever told her anything. She could tell by Kyara's facade that this was someone important to her. She knew that even though Kyara would answer no and deny her feelings, Kyara had never stopped loving the man in the picture. She never would, no matter how much her brain told her heart otherwise. Nanna knew that Kyara would eventually have to face her feelings if she ever wanted to move on. Nanna knew that this man was the reason that Kyara had never married Rohan's father even though they had both known it would have been best for Rohan to grow up with a real mother.

"He left me almost seven years ago. Why would I still love him?"

The response was simple for Nanna. However, she was interrupted by a buzz from Kyara's cell phone and the giant roar from jet engines outside. Kyara looked at the text, smiled, and ran outside, presumably where the noise was coming from. Nanna shook her head and before Kyara ran through the door, Nanna called her name. Kyara turned, obviously not wanting to hear the last convicting words.

"Because you never left him."

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter's a little short and it took me a while to update. I've been working on all my other fanfics which have kind of been hanging for a while. So here we go! Finally, the plot is about to thicken and finally! we have the meeting of Cesar and Kyara. Any predictions as to what will happen next?