Hello, readers. I didn't expect this story would be this much controversial. I appreciate your feedback, whether positive or negative. I especially thank strong supporters. I'd like to keep writing for you to finish up what I once started. Thank you for caring.

Owen kept walking till the girl went out of the sight. Something was wrong, Cristina felt. He seemed to be upset. Cristina followed him, senselessly. She was aware that she might be hurt again, but she couldn't help.

First of all, she needed to know who the girl was. Cristina thought she had a right to know. She could sense that he was breathing hard. He entered in on-call room. Right after the door was slammed, she opened it and came after him.

It was patent for her that he was overcame by trepidation. It also seemed that it was unexpected for him to see her there. "What are you doing here?" His breaths were getting faster, and his round eyes were getting severe.

"Who was the girl you were talking with?" "That's nobody, stay away from me." He turned his back toward her. "Are you…are you alright?" She asked, concernedly. "Just leave me alone. I might hurt you…again…"

His breaths were getting even harder. That made her assure that he was in panic. "Your respiration is getting higher, you should calm down." She tried to grab his arm, but he shook it off, strongly. "No! Get out from here, please. I don't…I don't want to hurt you again."

"You have to breath more slowly." Despite of his words, she held him from behind. "No, no, I can't do this now." He irately tried to release himself from her, but he couldn't because of her strongness. "I'm a mess…" His voice was becoming like a blubber.

"I know you are…this is to relax your sympathetic nervous system." She was clinging to him, quite tightly. "Aren't you scared of me?" He was crying. "I'll decrease your metabolic rate." She didn't answer his question."Cristina, I'm sorry…"

"You will try to resist this panic attack. Eventually you will feel your plus rate slow." She kept explaining what to do. He opened his mouth, however, he was not able to utter a voice anymore. She was feeling his breaths and his torment. "That's OK, I'm OK…" She whispered.

A few hours after, he was resting his head on her lap on bed, with his face upward. She was gently stroking his head. He was asleep for some time, then awoke. "You have an issue, right?" She murmured.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just…" He wanted to protest, but that was faint. "You asked me out, although you have someone." She kept talking. "No, she's…no, we were engaged once, but that's past." He owned up who that girl was.

"You say that's past…you know what, it isn't for her." "I can't believe you were seeing us." He exhaled. "Well, I don't assault you with verbal abuse to know what happened between you and her." She said, a little tauntingly.

"Cristina, about last time…I'm really…" "You have to control yourself." Cristina interrupted him and said frigidly. He got up to face her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do such a thing… "

Without a word, she started at him. He was staring at her as well for a while, then slowly put his hands on her shoulders. His lips touched hers. "Owen, don't!" Immediately, she turned him down. "Cristina, please…"

"Stop! It was the first and the last time. It won't happen again, never ever." "But…you helped me." "Yes, as a doctor. Just go back to your fiancee. I can imagine how painful she is now." She unfettered her body from looked shocked. "I think…we just pushed on too much. I though we could make it."

"OK Owen, I have to make it clear that we don't know each other well. We didn't twenty years ago, we haven't for this twenty years and now we still don't. We feel like we know each other, but that's actually afterimage, not real or enough. I'm sorry, but I'm not an innocent unsophisticated virgin girl that you assumed anymore. Now, let me go."

She stood up to leave. "I'll be a better man for you to get back this twenty years we lost." He was shouting while she shouted the door. As she walked away, her eyes became full of tears.

She realized she was still in love with him of the afterimage. What was more, she couldn't easily let him go knowing he was this much broken. He might have been a womanizer since high school age, but he was supposed to be nice and healthy person. She wondered what made him so.