Love Story – A Twist of Fate: My Destiny
Photo credit: taliesin from morguefile.com
My name is Carly Owens. I’ve been living on my own since first year college. I used to live with my aunt when I was in middle school and high school. You may be wondering why I’m staying with my aunt instead of staying with my parents. Well, there is a reason behind it. My mother died while giving birth to me so I lived with my father then. It must have been hard for him. I remember a few things about him bringing me to his work everyday because he’s scared that I might burn the house down again if he leaves me alone at home. (You can’t blame me, I was 4 after all and I was just planning to cook for my dad. What’s so wrong with that? Don’t judge me.)
Back to my heart-breaking story now, on my fifth birthday on July 1, 1998, I was at home with my aunt who came a long way to celebrate my birthday. I was really excited for dinner and a few of my friends came to my party. It was past 8 already and my dad’s not home yet, I didn’t want to start my party without my dad but my aunt persuaded me by saying that my friends are starting to get all grumpy, impatient and hungry so being the good and caring friend I am, the party started and after blowing out the candles on my cake, I took a slice and saved it for my dad but while I was on my way to our fridge I hit my toe with one of the legs of our table and you know how that hurts a lot. The slice of cake fell of my hands and the plate shattered to pieces.
My aunt immediately came to my rescue and cleaned up the mess i made at the same time, she helped me save another slice for my dad. It was past 9 when the party came to an end and my dad’s still not home. I waited for him all night long and even fell asleep on the couch. Around 11pm someone was knocking on our door and i woke up and ran as fast as i could to greet my dad but to my surprise it was a police officer, my aunt let him in and they talked for a while until my aunt fell on the ground crying, i stood there glued on my place, trembling as tears came running down my face. My dad was in an accident and was found dead.
(Enough with the heart-breaking story now and back to the present.) I am now 21 and is now working at a 5-star hotel as a chef but I also own a little cafe where I work on during the weekends and even after my shift at the hotel. I am now living at a penthouse in California that’s just a few meters away from the hotel and cafe. And sad to say I don’t have a boyfriend but I am attracted to this guy that keeps on spending time on my cafe sipping a cup of black coffee while being in deep thought. He is cute, actually that’s just an understatement he is gorgeous. I just found out that his name is Dylan Carter. (Hey just to get it straight, i am not a stalker. It’s not my fault that the book he brings with him has his name written on it.)
One day, I gathered all my courage and walked my way to him with a steaming cup of black coffee with a slice of blueberry cheesecake. He looked up to me saying that he didn’t order the cake so I sat down in front of him and told him that it’s a gift from me for being a loyal customer to my cafe. And that moment, he smiled a genuine smile and thanked me. We talked about random stuff while getting to know each other. I admit, he is actually fun to talk to but as the clock strikes 8 we had to part ways but I am really looking forward to meeting him again.
It’s a Sunday afternoon and I’m eagerly waiting for Dylan at the cafe but sadly he’s nowhere to be found. I guess he’s having a day off as well. Everyday after my shift I immediately head to my cafe to wait for him but a week has passed without a sign of him. I felt like I’ve been dumped but we aren’t even dating and we’ve only talked once. (Here I go with my fantasies again).
After my shift at the hotel, I walked my way to the cafe without hurrying since I’ve already stopped expecting. When I got there , I saw him sitting by the window again and i felt so glad so I sat by him again. I noticed that he seems to lost quite some weight for the past week but I brushed it off thinking that he may have been working out. Things between us have been going on smoothly for a few months now. We constantly keep in touch and he’s the first and last person I talk to everyday.
One day, we lost contact again and he’s stopped coming to the cafe. It went on for a week and by the time he showed up, he lost weight again and I’m getting really worried so I asked him while we were talking but he dodged the question and asked me another question instead. I think he’s hiding something from me but who am I to force him?
Things between us has been well until the day that we started being official. We’ve been together for a month now and I think I’m really starting to fall in love with him. There’s only one problem, the fact that he’s being gone for a week has been happening constantly and he still won’t tell me anything about it so I got really frustrated and went to his house to personally ask him the problem. No one’s at home so I keep on coming back every afternoon after work to check if he’s home. I’ve never been this frustrated in my life. If he’s tired of being with me and if he’s already found someone else, at least be honest with me and say it straight to my face. I gave up on looking for him thinking that he’ll never come back. It was hard at first but actually it’s still hard to forget him even though 3 months has passed already.
My 22nd birthday is approaching and I decided to visit my parents’ grave and it was a 12 hour drive going to Arizona. After spending time with my parents’, I stayed for a few days at my aunt’s place before heading back. While I was on my way back, I started feeling sleepy until it actually happened. The last thing I remember was the loud siren and people talking rapidly and then I’m out.
After a long sleep, I woke up and got really scared as everything’s so dark and then I heard my aunt’s voice saying that she’s glad that I’m already awake. “Auntie can you please turn the lights on?”, I said. And that was the biggest revelation to me, that I lost my eyesight during the accident. I felt so useless, the people around me are doing all the things that I should be doing. I’m having constant breakdowns and would usually be put to sleep. My aunt’s the only one I have now.
One day, aunt said that I have a visitor and it’s Dylan. I don’t know what to do. All my emotions are mixed up. I’m ashamed, mad, happy, sad and lost. I started crying and yelling at him. I tried to ask him the problem. What he didn’t like about me? What have I done wrong for him to leave me alone without any idea where he is going? And the only thing he said was, ” I love you”. I got so furious with him because how can he say that after leaving me for a long time. If he loves me why can’t he tell me the truth. I got hysterical and threw everything my hands landed on so the nurses came to stop me and calm me down. Dylan left saying that he’s so sorry but I was already put to sleep.
After a few days since the incident, the doctor came to talk to my aunt in private and after talking in private she told me that he has good news for me. My aunt and I have been waiting for a donor and our prayers were answered. The surgery will be in 2 days and I’m really hoping to get at least the donor’s name to thank them for choosing me and for giving me the chance to see again.
On the day of the surgery, i felt so scared. What if things suddenly go wrong during the surgery? What if it doesn’t work out? And I think the nurses noticed it and reassured me that everything will get better soon. I was not able to talk to the surgeon as the anesthesia has put me to sleep already. After the surgery, I waited for a few days before the bandage was removed and to know if the surgery went well. My aunt held my hands to keep them from trembling. The doctor silently started to remove my bandage and told me to slowly open my eyes. As I started to open them, i see tons of people around me but i can’t clearly see their faces yet since my eyes are still adjusting to the light so i blinked a few times. I can’t help but cry when i started seeing all things around me and my aunt’s crying face. I looked up to thank the doctor but he’s already left. Later, that day a bouquet of blue roses came with a letter and it came from Dylan.
“Dear Carly,
I really am sorry for keeping things away from you. I never thought I’d be able to smile until the day I’d met you. You brought light in my dark life and changed my views about the world. I am so happy that you’re able to see again. I hope you can forgive me and if I could turn back time, I’d be completely honest to you. I hope it’s not too late but I just want you to know that I love you.
Dylan”
After reading this, I immediately rushed to the nurses station and asked who the donor is. I was shocked to hear who it is. I can’t believe it. I tried to walk back to my room but my feet just gave away and I started crying so hard. I’m blaming myself for being so insensitive and for jumping into conclusions when all this time he’s done nothing wrong against me and the he’s sacrificed a lot for me. After getting discharged from the hospital, I immediately went to the cemetery to see him. After seeing him, I ran to him and cried my heart out. I dropped to the ground and kept on banging it saying that I’m so sorry for being so insensitive and naive. It seems like the sky felt my sorrow and the rain poured so hard on us.
Dylan pulled me back on my feet and told me that he’s sorry and thankful. I hugged him for a long time and then looked at the grave of his sister who just died and who decided to give me her eyes. I am really grateful to her for clearing all the doubts I had of her brother. I also found out that Dylan was my surgeon and that all the times that he was gone was that he was by his sister’s side taking care of her. She personally decided to be my donor after hearing what has happened to me from Dylan.
I think life has played me so well but I’m still thankful to the Mighty One for giving me all of this blessings. It certainly is a twist of fate.
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