Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Rachel whimpered as she tried to move. The bright lights in the room were blinding her eyes, she closed her eyes tightly. It was like needles were pricking her eyes. After a long time, she blinked several times and opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy and sore all over. She tried to pull her hand, she saw an intravenous injection on her hand. All the memories came back to her like a movie reel. She remembered the accident as well as the other car which had made a double flip after the collision.

Rachel panicked. With great difficulty, she pressed the bell beside her. It took away all her strength just to do it. A nurse came running to her immediately.

"Miss Carter, how do you feel? Do you feel any pain? Do you want something? Wait a minute, I'll get the doctor." The nurse ran away after making sure Rachel was fine. After five minutes, she returned with Ian.

"Rachel, how do you feel?" Ian said as he checked her vitals.

"Like a truck has run over me."

"That's normal," Ian said writing something on the patient record. "Do you feel any pain? Do you want me to give you some painkillers?"

"No I am fine. By the way, what happened to the person in the other car? How many people were injured? Are they fine?"

"Relax Rachel. There was one lady in the car and right now she is in the operation theater."

"What?" Rachel was shocked.

"Yes, she has hurt her head quite bad and she had to be operated immediately."

"What have I done?" Rachel cried. She never wanted something like this to happen. She did not want an innocent person to lose their life just because of her mistake.

"Rachel, calm down."

"No Ian. You don't understand. It was me who rammed into her car."

"Rachel, Rachel calm down. It was an accident."

"I hurt her." Rachel cried.

Just then, loud voices could be heard from outside the ward.

"Rachel." Hailey ran inside and hugged her.

"Mom." Rachel groaned, she was in pain.

"Hailey, careful. You are hurting her." Samuel said, pulling her back gently.

"I am so sorry, dear." Hailey was crying now. She looked miserable.

"Mom, Dad, I am fine."

"How is her condition son?" Samuel asked Ian.

"Mr. Carter, she is fine. She hurt her head and suffered a mild concussion. Other than a few scratches here and there, she perfectly fine." Ian assured them.

"Samuel, why is this happening to us? In just a span of a month, three of our family members have been to the hospital."

Everybody remained silent.

"Ian, how is the other patient?"

Ian realized that Samuel was talking about the other woman who was involved in the accident.

"Her condition is quite critical. She has hurt her head quite bad and right now she is having surgery."

Samuel could only nod, he did not know what to say. Hailey had calmed down. She looked at Rachel and patted her head.

"When will Rachel be discharged?"

"She has to stay in the hospital for two days," Ian said, sighing.

"Mom, where is grandpa?" Rachel looked behind Samuel.

"He is at home. When he heard about you, he wanted to come with us. However, I forbade him. He had become ill recently, he needs rest."

"True."

"I think you should go now Dad." Rachel said, after a while.

"Don't you want me to be here?" Samuel asked, a little shocked.

"Dad, I did not mean that. I am a little sleepy."

"Okay. We will go for now. Take care alright."

"Okay Dad." Rachel lied down and dozed off immediately. She was too tired and the narcotics were making her drowsy.

"Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Carter," Ian said and exited the ward with them.

By then, the operation had ended.

"How is her condition doctor?" Ian questioned the neurosurgeon.

"She is out of danger, although it might take some time for her to wake up."

"Is she in a coma?"

"Umm." The doctor pondered for a while. "Not exactly, she might wake up within four to five days."

Ian nodded. "Thank you, doctor."

The doctor smiled and walked away. The door to the OT opened and Valarie was wheeled outside. She looked sickly pale and her head was covered with bandages. She was immediately shifted to one of the VIP wards.

The news of Rachel being injured had already reached Joshua, Noah and Daniel.

As soon as Noah heard about it, he got his chartered plane ready. Anxiety was killing him. Although Ian had assured him that his sister was fine, he couldn't rest until he saw his beloved sister with his own eyes. Nobody could get away after hurting his sister, be it intentional or not. But when he heard that the other woman had been hurt more than Rachel, he felt guilty. Also, Ian told him about her working for the Intelligence. This assured him that it was just an accident.

On the other hand, Daniel was worried to death over Rachel. He had rushed to the hospital when he heard about it. When he went to see her, she was deep in sleep. It had been just an hour since her parents had left her alone.

Daniel held her hand and took a deep breath. He had been scared out of his wits when he heard about her accident. He kissed her hand every few minutes to calm himself.

"Rachel, you scared to me." He said to the sleeping woman.

"Don't ever do this to me again. I cannot live without you. I think I am falling in love with you." He said to the sleeping woman.

"What did you say?" Rachel voiced out immediately as soon as she heard his confession.

"How long were you awake?" Daniel was perplexed. He did not know she was listening to him.

"As soon as you first kissed my hand, I woke up."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to listen to what you wanted to say. Is it true that you love me?"

"Yes, I love you. I don't know when that happened, maybe when you accepted me even when you found out that I was adopted. But I don't know."

"I love you too," Rachel replied, silencing him completely.

"Aww, look at the love birds," Joshua commented from the door. He had heard everything and he knew everything. Noah had told about the two to his friends.

"Joshua, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to file a police report at the hospital."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Daniel, this is Joshua, my brother's friend."

"Hey." Daniel held out his hand which Joshua shook.

"Since you have the strength to confess your feelings to each other, I'll not ask if you are alright. You must be in heaven right now."

"Yeah right." Rachel scoffed while Daniel chuckled.

"Your friend is quite interesting," Daniel commented from the side.

"See, I have fans. I have told her many times, yet she denies to accept it." Joshua boasted.

"He is not your fan. He is just giving you a face. Right darling?" Rachel said as she placed her hands on Daniel's chest.

"Sure."

"What? No way." Joshua exclaimed.

"How did you get into an accident?" Joshua changed the topic.

"It was my mistake, I was not being careful." Rachel made a gesture that she would speak about it later which made Joshua to shut up.

"Okay. Okay. Be careful from on okay. Your devil brother is on the way and I think from now on he will not allow you to drive at all."

"What? Who told him? Ian." Rachel answered her own question.

"Joshua save me please. You know what will happen to me now. Please." Rachel prayed with her hands.

"I am sorry Rachel. I cannot face the devil, you brought this upon yourself."

"Shit, I am done for."