"Tessa. Tess."

David's voice sounded like a distant memory.

"You have to stop messing up and passing out after." He whispered, and he touched my hand. I could feel something between his skin and mine, and, as I opened my eyes, I spotted a thick bandage over my injured hand.

"I punched him." I confessed, and I smiled. David was smiling as well. He didn't seem to be mad at me for having been a reckless psycho, once again. He seemed amused.

"You punched the guy." He said, nodding, and he laughed so deliciously that I wondered how he managed to be so serious and serene, and so full of sunshine at the same time. "And, guess what? The police officer spilled the beans, and I found out that... you broke his nose! We absolutely have to drink Dom Perignon to celebrate that tonight."

I laughed lightly, and, as I observed his square jaw and exquisitely arched lips, the feeling that he was a unique combination of impeccable poise and irresistible impishness made me think of a conversation I had once had with Africa. It was a breezy Brighton morning, and we were sitting outside my house, trying to figure out why I had slept with Luke if I didn't have feelings for him anymore.

As those thoughts filled my head, I looked up into David's vivacious eyes, and felt an urge to hit myself for having let memories that were related to Luke invade me when I was trying to figure something out about him.

But they had something in common.

That morning, Africa had suggested I hadn't fallen in love with Luke genuinely. She had made me see that I had chased him, and craved him, because I had projected my dreams and wishes on him. I had longed to be reckless, and venturesome, and I had tried to precipitate into imprudence by drowning in Luke's green eyes.

I had never considered that it was possible that the same thing had happened with David. I admired him. I cherished his intelligence, and his elegance, and I treasured his impetuosity and his contagious joy. As I looked at him from the hospital bed, as I felt his graceful fingers caress my cheek, I realized that I considered all the things that I admired of him to be features of my own as well. However, they were correctly organized in him. He was a brilliant balance of everything that was important to me. Was that the explanation of why I loved him, or did it mean that, once again, I had just tried to free myself of my chaos through another person?

"Look who's here!" he said, taking me back to reality.

Alex appeared beside me even before I had time to guess who it could possibly be.

"Oh, hey, Alex! I didn't know you were working today."

"Yes, I am. And, apparently, you should have been too; at least, you don't punch people around here."

David laughed, and they looked at each other and shook their heads. She wouldn't have doubts. If she were me, she would be sure her feelings were authentic, because she didn't admire anyone but herself. She didn't project herself onto others, because everything she wished could not possibly have a more accurate and outstanding expression than herself.

I spent a lot of time with her, and I considered her to be my friend. We were the youngest doctors in the hospital. When I had recuperated the rights over my discovery, the university had suggested that, instead of completing the nine months of clinical practice that I needed in order to obtain my medical degree, I should take a fast track and graduate in two months. They needed me at the anti-aging research laboratories. They needed me to treat the patients that didn't thoroughly understand how the treatment worked, or why they should submit themselves to the world forever.

Alex considered herself to be a key factor in my findings — she considered herself to be the epicenter of everything — and she had stated so when I had been offered a shortcut to graduation. She had wanted it for herself as well, and, just as she always did, she had managed to achieve it.

Therefore, we were the youngest doctors in the hospital, in the country, in the world. We were the youngest doctors, and we worked hard to infest every corner of the world with the youth that we possessed. We swore by freshness and terse skin. We indirectly proclaimed, absentmindedly but boldly at the same time, that what we had was a panacea.

"Speaking of punching people, did you kick the asses of the people at the immunology lab? I told them I needed the results by yesterday, and I still haven't received anything from them." I told her.

I hadn't thought about work for the whole day. Abbey had saturated all my efficient neurons.

"Yes, boss." Alex said, and she rolled her eyes ironically. She definitely didn't like that, after all, she worked for me and because of me. "And I came up with something fabulous to reduce the amount of injections needed in the treatment."

Her expression shifted completely. Enthusiasm and pride conquered her evidently tired eyes. We had been working on finding ways to polish the treatment. We wanted to make it quicker, and more solid, unbreakable and magical than it already was. We worked together, shared ideas, and ate popcorn while we read gossip magazines together when we were so exhausted that we couldn't think straight anymore. We supported each other, we depended on each other; we loved each other. And, still, whenever one of us was about to be responsible for a step forward, for a new achievement, something darkened in the other one's gaze, because, even if we worked together, there was only one winner, and one medal, in every battle.

David saw the shadows in my eyes after Alex's insinuations of triumph, and he wisely recommended that it was time to go home.

We didn't talk on the taxi ride home, but he didn't let go of my hand for a second. The Boltons welcomed us with their gleaming luxuriance, and, as I inhaled the soothing smell of roses and lavender, my breathing finally encompassed.

"I am so glad we chose this street to live in. It is a constant reminder of why we must never stop searching for the purest form of beauty." I told David as I opened the door to the terrace in our bedroom.

I took a seat at the white leather sofa that overlooked the park, closed my eyes, and tried to figure out what birds were saying to each other. Their sound was always soothing to us, but what if they were in trouble? What if the betrayed each other, lied to each other, and never managed to truly understand what love was? Why did we believe that we were the only race that struggled? Narcissism was definitely an intrinsic factor of our souls.

When I opened my eyes again, David was walking towards me with a Chardonnay wine bottle. He took a seat by me.

"Abbey told me today that, in everything I do, my ultimate goal is always to solve my narcissistic problems." I said, looking at the park.

When he didn't respond, I turned to look at him, and he mirrored my movements and stabbed me with his hazel eyes. His lips arched, and he started laughing.

"Come on, Tess, are you actually going to let a man that prevented the world from living together just to get into a woman's pants call you a narcissist? Are you crazy?"

"I know it sounds ridiculous... But what if he's right? What if, in my every action, I am just trying to redeem myself, or to please my ego, instead of doing it for others."

"You are not."

I sighed deeply and opened my mouth to ask another question. I hesitated. I considered whether I had lost my mind. But, even if it was crazy, even if I didn't know what on earth I expected him to answer, I had to ask.

"What if I don't love you?" I whispered, shyly, and his lips parted, and the glow in his honey eyes faded. "What if... I just find you so brilliantly, outstandingly, breathtakingly intelligent, and elegant, and caring, and beautiful, and honest... that I believe that being with you will make me like that as well?" I paused to look at him. He didn't seem scared anymore. He was astonishingly calm. "Oh, God... it's... it's like I'm a vampire. I want to suck your distinctive, smart blood. I want to feed from it!"

He was smiling.

"Why are you smiling?"

"You just said that this place reminds you of why we should always keep searching for the purest form of beauty. Well, your reminder isn't this place." He said, and his smile turned wider and even more refulgent. "It's me."

I couldn't help to laugh.

"Wow, do you always have to be so boastful?"

"I am not. I just stated the truth that you feel scared to confess."

I looked at him in the eye and found myself nodding, unwillingly. I loved his arrogance; his boldness. He didn't feel the need to apologize for being so unreachably fabulous, and that was brave.

"Why are you so sure?" I asked, but it wasn't a real question; I didn't need an answer, I just wanted to hear the explanation from that mouth.

"Because you just shared all that twisted theory with me. You wouldn't have done it if you... if you didn't love me. You love me."

I moved closer to him. He took my face in his hands, and my cheeks ignited. The birds kept singing beautifully, it was really hard to believe, at that very instant, that they could be in trouble.

"You love me, Tessa Blake. Yo do."

I laughed, and almost jumped when I felt a tear run down my cheek and over David's hand. It had been an overly emotional day. My body didn't know how to react anymore.

"I do." I said, nodding. "I love you, David Wellesley."

He leaned in and kissed me fiercely. I instinctively climbed on his lap, and he run his fingers along my back as I tangled mine in his hair. He parted our kiss and moved his mouth to my neck, setting me on absolute fire.

"Do you want to go into the bedroom?" I asked, panting.

He didn't answer, he just swiftly took me in his arms, and kept kissing me until he let me fall on our white duvet. I giggled.

"I'm going to make you feel so good, Tessa..." he said, as he lay on top of me.

My phone rang, and David froze. I had to take it. I looked at the screen an sighed; it couldn't possibly be her.

"Alex?"

"Tessa, I hope you are feeling better. You have to come to the hospital. Now. There's a patient that's insistently refusing the treatment. And I think you know her."

What did you think of this chapter? Do you think that Tessa just admires David, or do you believe she actually loves him? And what about Alex's and Tessa's relationship? Do you think it's a healthy one? And who do you think the person that's refusing the treatment might be?

Let me know in the comments! If you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to vote :)

The next chapter will be up on October 30th. 

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