So here we have the first part of the conclusion of Far From Perfection. Enjoy! I really hope it wraps a few characters lives up for you, with anticipation for the rest.
Now I really, really hope that the editing is okay as I was feeling quite dizzy and lightheaded when I was editing parts of this chapter and the next, so who knows what could be in this chapter haha! Not to mention, I don't know what I was thinking at the time, believing it would be a good idea to edit it while I was in that state.
Anyway, I hope that everyone who received the bonus POV's enjoyed it and enjoy the rest of what comes next!
Chapter 38 – Endings and Beginnings: Part 1
-One Month after Chapter 36-
Lewis's POV
I am bursting at the seams. I am ecstatic. I am feeling everything that I haven't felt in months, and every emotion that I haven't expected to feel again for a long time into my recovery.
This is the best sort of happiness... The sort that takes you completely by surprise in that awesome feeling of joy, all the while in awe of the surprise and your own reaction to the unanticipated expectancy of it.
I can't say that I don't deserve it, though. I can't say that both of us don't deserve it as I know that that is as untrue as a politician claiming that they have never lied. Over the last few months Cleo and I had been through more than some people are put through in a year...
Although our reasoning had originally been a factor kept to ourselves, we had swallowed our pride and asked to move back into Cleo's family home and I had needed to find my feet in the Sertori household where my wife fit in like a glove.
While Don and Sam had originally believed our story of trying to move away from unnecessary expenses to give up our first marital home and save our butts off for the future by simplifying our lives now, the truth didn't take long to come out when we finally confessed just how badly Cleo and myself were at being able to stick to a budget in the beginning of our marriage, managing to rack up debt within mere months.
While I eventually found my feet in my new home that I had seemed to forget had acted as home away from home for most of my life, our financial struggles were a different story. Habits are hard to break and they are even harder to undo.
When overspending wasn't my fault, it was Cleo's and when it wasn't hers, it was mine. We just could not catch a break.
Between the financial struggles, she had a pregnancy scare and in hindsight I had overreacted to the fact that I only discovered that news second-hand, and from Will of all people. Add to that a serious health and medical issue with my diagnosis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (and I hate to think of the hospital bills that it has amounted to) which has resulted in additional mental and physical turmoil for myself on my road to recovering, while my poor Cleo was helplessly left to deal with the ongoing mental distress of my condition, while I was blissfully unaware from the induced coma.
But for once, today is different.
Today I have seen the light at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel for the first time in months.
Since I woke up discovering I was no longer able to move, the morning after a fight with Cleo, I have been living without that beacon of hope.
Admittedly, I have had the odd flickers of light during my hospital stay with the small milestones I had reached. My smaller achievements had come from the first movements in my hands and more recently, by speaking the first words I was able to utter again for the first time in months and progressing to the point that I can vaguely say some words.
But today, this is the first time that I have really seen and felt a sense of light. A light that is bright enough and strong enough for me to be able to hold onto...
As Cleo entered my room with a big smile on her face, coming to visit me around the same time that she always would after finishing a day of work, I couldn't help but smile too.
She's glowing.
Despite all the stress and drama that my condition has created, since she had returned to work, started socializing again, catching up with the girls more and leaving my hospital bed to go and do things for herself like the odd swim or a movie, I could see the balance in her life and the positive effect it has been having on my life, her mood and her abilities in confronting my recovery... Cleo is doing so well.
She hurried over to my side from the balance bar I was standing up against with a firm latch onto as she gave me a kiss and settled by my side.
"Doing your exercises?"
I nod; another improvement in my physical movements that I have made and managed to achieve.
While Cleo wore an excitement that I could tell is gluing her mouth shut over whatever I could instinctively tell she is dying to tell me, I figured that my news could wait until she released what she needed to say before she bubbled over from her poor secrecy skills.
I just smile and wait, seeing how long it will take before she spills the beans to enable me to have her full attention afterwards.
"So, my day's been pretty awesome. A higher-up worker quit his job earlier this week, right, so a few people have moved up before they employ someone else... Then, when I went on my lunch break, I overheard Laurie talking to someone and going off of what I heard him say, I'm getting a promotion! I'm jumping up to Laurie's position!"
Cleo squealed, enveloping me in an excited hug and I couldn't do much but let my smile translate my pride in my wife and attempt to say: "Well done" which is a far easier verbal feat than trying out: "Congratulations".
After she stopped bouncing and her smile reduced to a normal degree, I decide that it is the best time for me to reveal my own little source of happiness and self-pride as we both worked our way to self improvement in completely different ways, so we could share our highs with each other.
Almost instinctively, Cleo took a step back and I gave her a look for her to focus her attention on me as I loosen my clutched grip of the handle I have been firmly attached to, moving and using every muscle in my body as though in an intense work out session to make a movement that is so normal. Unfortunately, this move is made to feel seemingly impossible by my condition, until I am able to let go of the bar and show off my own trick...
Cleo's POV
And he takes a step! Plural! Steps! Lewis is walking!
I had been so caught up in my own excitement, at the prospect of getting a much needed promotion in the career that I loved, but in my position which had almost come to a standstill since I first earned it years ago, that I had all the while been oblivious with no idea what monumental milestone Lewis had been bottling up in his very literal steps to recovery.
I had no idea of Lewis being able to take those few steps, just as I had no idea how to react to that exciting piece of news which my husband had just delivered to me through a firsthand display.
At the time, I felt like I was going to burst at the seams if I didn't get to the hospital and into Lewis's room fast enough to tell him my news which I thought could be classified as our most exciting in a few months. However, I'd just learnt that my news of an unexpected promotion is majorly overshadowed by Lewis walking...
Not that I mind.
At all!
My husband's life and health is worth far more than a promotion or even a career ever could be.
Lost and caught up in my thoughts, my flurry of excitement, it is only when I notice that I haven't moved a centimetre that I realize my present inner joy had failed to translate to that, physically.
The poor guy is still standing there idly with his enthusiasm fleeing from his face as he awaits my reaction.
In a hurry to react, I unintentionally go from one extreme to the other, throwing my arms around Lewis and momentarily forgetting about his reduced strength and resistance due to the condition, almost knocking my husband over in the process.
I know how hard these last few months have been and I knew about all of the blood, sweat and tears that had been poured out and drained from my husband in his struggle and fight to recovery, in the hope of attaining a somewhat-normal life again.
"I'm so proud of you" I mumble into Lewis's neck from the embrace that I had initiated and pulled him into, holding him with a tight squeeze, sharing my excitement with him as many different ways I possibly can to make up for the ways, like discussing it extensively, that the condition had temporarily disabled Lewis from being capable of doing.
After a while, we return to Lewis's room and the minute that the nurse entered, I began to smother her with my build up of excitable questions and queries.
"So now that he can walk again, does that mean he can do the more intense exercises to speed up recovery? How long until he can be discharged? Will he require any additional rehabilitation measures? Is there anything else that walking means he'll be able to work on doing again? What should he be working towards next?"
... That is just naming a few of the many and likely repeated, but reworded, questions that I high jacked and spammed the poor nurse with.
Now that Lewis and I have this newfound and refreshed hope, it felt like anything could be possible now. All of a sudden, my forgotten and left behind hopes of miracles, too, have now become a source of re-evaluation.
After months of being stuck in a rut, stuck with Lewis's illness controlling us, the newfound hope meant that for the very first time, we are, or at the very least feel in control of it. That is what counts, right?
For months, we had been doing our best to roll with the punches in our life as newlyweds, but for months we had slowly been worsening at doing so. From our decreased control with our finances, the trend had been set and progressively declined to the point that we had no choice in having to ask to move back in with my family – unable to cover the cost of rent expenses.
Those same issues had continued, infiltrating into every aspect of our lives and became a difficult focus and burden in our lives, in our careers, in our home lives and in our marriage. My pregnancy scare, which I unintentionally kept from Lewis until I had it confirmed or in this case not, had just been the last straw and tip of the iceberg in our gradual breakdown of communication. However, it was those events that had led to our mutual realization of just how bad things had become, before they became even worse with the Guillain-Barré Syndrome reaching its peak we were oblivious to, the morning after our unresolved argument.
But we got through it.
We had gotten through all of it.
After so many hard times, it is so, so completely satisfying knowing that after our rough patch in the recent months as we shared our lives lows with one another and after working so hard to pull ourselves through those harder times together, that finally we had gotten through the bad stuff -for a while at least- to reach the point that we are now... Reveling in the happiness of good times.
... Together.
At any point over the last few months I would have done anything and given anything in order for a role reversal to take place... anything to get me out of the situation we were in which had seemed hopeless for a while there. But now, in hindsight, I've truly come to learn and appreciate the truth of the words 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'.
We –both Lewis and I- are stronger for all the difficulties –emotional, physical or both- that we have been put through.
Additionally, if our marriage and our love has survived, being reaffirmed and re-established more than ever, then I think that is a pretty good indication of how strong our marriage really is...
I have never been one to easily be able to control my excitement. That was indicated by my speechlessness at Lewis's surprise for me, then my reaction which almost knocked him over (with the potential to make matters worse), and then by failing at controlling my tongue and taming my enthusiasm as I grilled the nurse for every little detail about what happens from here. Just to unbridle my excitement further, I remember the others and that I should let our families and friends know about Lewis's latest and most recent development.
I selected a few particular names and composed a new message to share our excitement with our nearest and dearest.
"Lewis is getting better! HE WALKED!"
Will's POV
I heard the alert jingle within my pocket and extracted my mobile device from my pocket, all the while not bothering to halt or slow my speed as I uncertainly made my way through the unfamiliar and high-security hallways. I didn't know where exactly I am going and whether I am even headed in the right direction, not to mention the fact that I am still uncertain whether or not I should be here at all. Would it really make things better, for anyone, or would it just aggravate the situation even further?
Before reading the message I had just received, I held my breath momentarily in the hope that it is not another message of desperation from my recently ex-girlfriend, Amy, begging for us to rekindle our very brief relationship. I knew she had been clingy and into me to an extreme, but the amount of calls and messages that I still received from her daily was uncanny, like nothing I'd known before. I'd met up with her a few times since I broke up with her, but every call and every meeting had been the exact same as she pleaded for another chance.
I had never loved Amy and while I had been trying to find a way to end things after a month, she had already jumped the gun and been looking into wedding dresses. Even though I felt detached from Amy, after shamefully only starting a relationship with her to gain information on Bella, it had still been the most draining and long-winded break up I'd ever been through.
However as I did read the message from Cleo on the small screen, it proved a useful distraction to shift my thoughts onto a better path than my worries. I couldn't help but smile at the words and feel the joy that is being sent along with the message, despite feeling the prod of a reminder within my conscience over what a lousy friend I have been recently and how greatly I had neglected my other friends like Cleo and Lewis when I'm sure they both needed all the help and support that they could get through Lewis's illness recently.
I drag my eyes away from my phone and make a mental note to reply later, and continue counting, anticipating and reading the numbers on each of the doors that looked the same, just repeated over and over again down the long, cold corridor, looking for the one door and door number that is set aside from all the others, due to my purpose for approaching that one.
I knock on the door after reaching door number 52; the number I'm after, before the door is answered within under a minute. The door swung open to a familiar face, but a face that I could clearly see all confusion and inquisitiveness from regarding my visit.
"What the hell are you doing here? You're the last person I would pick for visiting me. Seriously, the late Steve Irwin is higher up on the list than you."
I smile marginally at the remark from someone I had never experienced humour, in any sort from, in my past, brief experiences with him.
"If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you for a few minutes. I'm not here to cause trouble or make you feel worse, but there are a few things I've been thinking about that I need to tell you."
Daniel appears to ponder my words momentarily before shifting the door to his temporary, high-security psychiatric cell that I could only imagine was far more lavish than a jail cell, open further to allow me entry into the room too, before we both settle in our consecutive seats silently, waiting for what I have to say.
"I want to thank you."
Dan's face and expression is visibly overcome by even further confusion at my comment.
"You are joking, right? What could you possibly want to thank me for?"
Don't get me wrong. There was a part of me, a very strong and dominant part of me that wanted to bash the guy to a pulp or worse, putting him through the physical pain that he had made Bella endure through alone. However, that was until I really realized that it was a stronger pain to let him suffer mentally, knowing that while a bashing might balance the scales in a tit-for-tat manner, the best way to let him suffer was in his own mind, knowing there was no way he could possibly compensate for what he had done.
"Listen. Although I do not agree with the way treated Bella, at all, and I am completely against any form of abuse, but I think I owe you a thank you or two for everything that you've done for Allie. Bella isn't my duty, per se, but Allie is my responsibility and you looked after her and provided for her when I should have been. You were a father-figure to her when she needed one. Despite everything else, Bella has never had a bad word to say about the way you treated or how you dealt with and cared for Allie."
I watch as he shrugs nonchalantly, and I can tell the guy I am talking to currently is a very different to the aggressive and seemingly egotistical person that I had first met. He seemed calm... humble even. My present impression of him far exceeds that of my original one. Maybe there is a partial amount of the guy that is human after all.
"Allie's a good kid" he shrugs again before continuing to reply. "She's easy to look after and not much trouble at all... That would have more to do with you and Bella's genetics than any of the raising I ever did."
In my initial compliment to the other man, I saw several ways that he would have been able to take what I told him...
He could have smugly accepted the remark, as though I was just repaying what was owed to him.
He could have showed that he agreed with what I said, but thanked me for drawing attention to the praise.
... Or, as he did, he could brush off the compliment and turn the attention away from himself.
"Well yes, but haven't you heard of nurture versus nature? Both are applicable and mould the sort of person someone becomes. So, I guess we've both played a part in Allie, while Bella's just done an all-round amazing job."
"You're right. She is one incredible woman." Daniel's face brims with a smile while I'm left to feel somewhat uncomfortable knowing that he is smiling about Bella, which felt especially wrong and impermissible after the way he had treated her.
I nod.
"Yeah... She is. Anyway, I just wanted to pop past and say thanks but I should get going" I comment, remembering my scheduling of briefly allowing a very small amount of time to visit Dan before I was due to met up with the girls at Surfer's Paradise.
"Alright... Thanks for coming anyway. You didn't have to do that."
Again, I take a moment to nod at his comment before I reply. "I am really sorry that everything had to come to what it did in order for you to start getting the help that you needed all along. I hope you recover in here well and bounce back from facing all your demons."
"Thank you. I mean that. You didn't have to come here and I know that I don't deserve a thank you from you for caring about them or anything like that. I guess it just shows that at the end of the day, you're the better man."
I trail off with a: "thanks...", as I once again begin to leave, before being stopped, again, as Daniel continues to speak.
"The next time you see her, would you please be able to tell Bella that I'm never going to forgive myself for the things I've done to her and the way I hurt her. No one, and especially not Bella, deserves that... I know an apology is nowhere near enough, but can you also tell her that I promise to leave her alone so that she can move on with her life."
Daniel pauses, looking away from me regretfully and away from my eye contact before continuing. "She deserves the best in her life... I don't even deserve for her to think about me."
"I'll let her know" I say, informing the guy with a nod, really not too sure of what else to say to him. "Anyway, I'll see you around. Bye."
With a goodbye from Daniel, I left the room, with a final glimpse at the man who I had witnessed putting my ex-girlfriend through hell. Even if he is remorseful and even if he is on the road to recovery, all I did as I left is hope that I never have to see the bastard again.
That one guy had marked a source of extreme turbulence in the last few months, which looking back on it now; I realize it had been rather extravagant, but not in a good way...
Just months ago, I'd seen Bella for the first time since our break up, as well as Rikki after she moved in with Zane and I for the first time since cutting contact with Zane shortly after school had wrapped up, and then myself too when Bella and I's relationship had ended. My former friend moving in had led to working on rebuilding that friendship with Rikki, which with a person like her is way harder than it seems. All the while through that time too, just pop in a few other details that can hardly be classified as a 'big deal' to have to deal with... Details like discovering Daniel was abusing Bella, forming a new relationship (which before last week, I thought was impossible to end!) with an overwhelmingly attached girlfriend and not to mention the discovery and aftermath of learning that I had obliviously fathered a child the year before last.
Being torn away from my thoughts and remembering my tight timetabling, I glance down at my watch and note the time, which had crept past faster than what I had realized, noticing that at this rate, I am likely going to be running late for the catch-up.
... To be continued.
So after 38 turbulent chapters, how does everyone feel about Cleo & Lewis's conclusion? Will is going to be featured a little more in Bella's so although he is close to the end, it's not quite over for him yet! What did everyone think of Cleo and Lewis's little silver linings after a fair bit of darkness? And who thought Will would see Daniel? What did you think about that meeting?
Now, I have most of the plots and storylines for the sequel locked in already so it's highly unlikely to change things, but I'm curious to know what my readers are hoping for with the characters in the sequel? As always, I'm very interested in your feedback and thoughts.
Also, if anyone missed out on the initial review incentive and really wanted one of the POV's from the second half of the final, then let me know if you want to know which chapters you didn't review from chapter 34 or review them all and I will be happy to send either Bella, Zane or Rikki's POV through to you!
Don't forget that the more feedback and reviews, the sooner the final chapter will be up! xox