*THE HOLLEN SERIES 03*
????????????EPISODE 27????????????
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*?? MORE THAN FRIENDS ??*
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Ethan Junior’s POV
I sat still in the chair as my mom and dad sat down on either side of me. I was de-ep in thoughts and memories of Zenia.
She was really an incredible young lady with the personality of no other. Her smile was what I lived for and everything about her, I nee-ded. I was so foolish again, always throwing the damn blame at her when I really was to be blamed for every bad thing that ever happened since our encounter.
I loved her. I never said it to her but now that I was on the verge of losing her and never seeing her again, I knew my feelings was true.
_________
Tapping my feet impatiently on the tiled floor, a doctor walked up to us, the same doctor who had been talking with Miss. Blackman before rushing away.
“Hi, you’re here in care of Zenia Blackman, right?” he asked.
“Yes,” mom answered.
“We’ve revived her heart rate, we hadn’t lost her but we came very close. She nee-ds the blood transfusion. Where is her sister?”
“She should be here very soon,” dad answered before retrieving his phone. He was calling Evan.
~
After three hours, Evan and Jasmine came running down the aisle towards us.
“I’m so sorry we couldn’t get here sooner,” Jasmine begun. “Where’s Zenia, how is she? Where’s my mother?”
“Zenia is alive, however, she nee-ds the blood transfusion and we’re all hoping you could give her some. Your mom fainted,” mom answered her.
Jasmine began crying and Evan pu-lled her into his arms and comforted her.
“You nee-d to be strong now Jasmine. Your sister really nee-ds you,” I said.
She nodded her head and dad went to seek the medical doctor. Jasmine was ushered into the room with Zenia to conduct the immediate blood transfusion. Jasmine was the only person who could of saved her but she wasn’t allowed to give the entire amount of blood required for Zenia.
Zenia’s b©dy would really have to pu-ll throu-gh and produce the other pint and a half for her better health.
__________________
After another long hour, Jasmine arrived back at our sides. Evan wra-pped his arms around her.
“Are you okay baby?” I heard him asking her.
“Yeah. I’m really glad I could do this for her but I’m so worried.”
“It’s okay. The doctor said it was safe so you don’t nee-d to worry about it too much. Lets just try to think positive now sweetie.”
Something was weird between Jasmine and Evan. I knew he was protective of her and their son but there was a telling about him.
I narrowed my eyes at them. “Is there something wrong Jasmine?” I asked with concern.
“No. Nothing at all. Why?,” she answered.
“Oh I don’t know, it’s just that you guys are acting weird.”
Mom and dad studied them too.
“Actually, we were waiting for better circ-umstances but since EJ is so curious, Jasmine is pregnant.”
Mom and dad beamed and so did I. In the midst of everything, there was still some good news.
~
“Excuse me everyone, Zenia is awake,” the doctor interrupted as we were de-ep into talking about the new baby.
“Oh thank God!” Jasmine exclaimed as she stood up. “Can I see her?”
“Yes but only for five minutes. Her b©dy is still recovering and she nee-ds to rest.”
Jasmine turned to me. “EJ, I think you should go and talk to her instead.”
“Really?” I asked with pure excitement. Without waiting for an answer, I was on my feet and sprinting towards the recovery unit with the doctor leading the way.
______________
“Five minutes,” he cautioned again before I pushed throu-gh the door.
Zenia was laying motionless on the b£d but her eyes popped open when she saw me instead of her sister.
My heart melt for her, seeing her such in a bad state where she almost met her grave.
“Baby,” my voice broke as I got closer to the b£d and sat down in a chair. Her hand- the one she used to cut herself- reached out for mine and I held onto it as the tears sli-pped out my eyes.
“I’m so sorry EJ,” she croaked out. Her voice low and patched. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Babe, it’s all my fault. I drove you to this but I’m just so happy that you’re still here and I’ll get to see your face again. I’m sorry for everything I’ve said to you. I take back everything, Zenia. I don’t ever want to lose you. I love you.”
Tears welled up in her eyes too and she tried to hu-g me and her other hand flin-ched when it to-uched me. Her wrist was carefully bandaged but it seemed she was still in pain.
“Don’t you ever do something like that ever again,” I said and placed a ki-ss on her forehead. She settled herself in the b£d, never taking her eyes off me. They screamed ‘sorry’.
“Do you forgive me?” she asked.
“Yes I do. Do you forgive me?”
She nodded her head yes.
I quickly wiped away the tears that wanted me to look like a big crying baby but I was so emotional, I had no control. My heart swelled in my che-st with mixed feelings but happiness was certain.
“You’re about to become an aunt again,” I said, trying to brighten the mood and change the subject.
“Really, Jasmine is pregnant?”
I nodded yes.
She smiled.
I had longed to see her smile so bright and so cheerfully.
“Tell her I said congratulations,” she mumbled before drifting off to sleep.
I looked at my hand, holding onto hers. I took off my ring and placed it on her middle fin-ger.
“I promise I’ll never do or say anything to hurt you again,” I whispered softly. I gave her one more ki-ss on the forehead before getting off the chair.
I looked at her one more time and opened the door.
“I love you too EJ,” she said. She opened her eyes and locked them on me.
“Get some rest sweetie. I’ll come see you tomorrow.”
She nodded yes again and shut her eyes.
_________________(The Next Morning)
I walked into Zenia’s room. She was smiling and looking at the television. As I entered her room, she turned and smiled at me.
“There’s someone here with me,” I said to her.
“Who?” she asked.
Ashley walked in, holding a bouquet of red roses. She slowly walked up to Zenia.
“Zen, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. I’ve broken our girl code and you have every right to not forgive me for doing something so awful to you for no valid reason. I just want you to know that I’m sorry and I miss you.”
Zenia extended her good hand and Ashley took it.
“You’re my best friend. I forgive you girl.”
Ashley hu-gged her carefully and wiped tears away from her eyes.
“I spoke to the doctor. You’ll be able to come home by the end of the week and I’ll have a big surprise for you when you get home,” I told her.
“A p@rty?” she asked.
“No. It’s much bigger than a p@rty.”
“What is it?”
“If I tell you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Ashley, help me out here.” She turned to her best friend.
“I can’t. EJ would have my head for this.”
We laughed and spent the entire morning together. Zenia was recovering well but the doctors nee-ded to keep her for observation. Her situation was still a delicate one and they weren’t taking any chances of releasing her without setting up a thera-py session for her. She almost died at her very own hands.
I was just happy that she was alive and doing well. I couldn’t wait for her to come home and see the surprise I had in sto-re for her.
*THE HOLLEN SERIES 03*
????????????EPISODE 28????????????
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*?? MORE THAN FRIENDS ??*
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Ethan Junior’s POV
“Son, are you sure about this?” My father asked for the hundredth time on Thursday evening.
“Yes dad,” I growled.
“There really isn’t a rush. Your mom and I love having you around the house. You’re still our little boy.”
“I know that but I really nee-d my own space and my own rules now dad. I’m growing up and I really want a solid life and a serious relationship.”
“Okay. I un-derstand that. But as you know, you wouldn’t be given the mansion until you’re twenty one.”
“I know that too dad but can we plea-se go see the luxury villa now? Zenia is coming home from the hospital tomorrow and I want to surprise her with our own house.”
~
My father and I had been ‘house hunting’ since Tuesday. I wanted a house, not too big, not too small, luxury feeling and look to it, and one that was within the distance of my family.
Cindy Peters, my father’s real estate agent, had met up with us at the last property I was desperately hoping to settle for.
Dad had dismissed all the others:
“That’s too big.”
“That’s too small.”
“There’s no swimming pool.”
“Why is everything in glas-s?”
“That house looks like thieves could easily break into regardless of the security systems.”
Sometimes, dad could be so overly protective. Both Cindy and I were getting frustrated.
~
“This one is the last on my list,” Cindy said as we pu-lled up to a very beautiful villa with a swimming pool to the front.
“This looks like a cheap as-s vacation home,” dad said as he got out the van and looked at the house with dre-adful eyes.
“Dad!” I scolded him.
He was only hating on the houses because he didn’t want me to leave home and start my own.
“It’s really not that bad and it’s only half an hour away from home. This is ideal for Zenia and me. I like it and I think she’ll like it too.”
“If she likes this, then she doesn’t have good taste in houses.”
“It’s only for a while dad. I’m turning twenty one soon.”
“Exactly. So why don’t you just wait until you’re twenty one to have your mansion like what Evan did?”
“Dad, my girlfriend is in a very unpredictable state of mind. I want to be there for her.”
He settled down, turned down his tone of voice and mild temper and flashed a smile. He pu-lled me into a hu-g and we walked side by side as Cindy began describing what the villa possessed.
~
“I do think she’ll like it. It’s nice and suitable for the both of you. We’ll take it Cindy. Get started on the paper work immediately because they’ll be occu-pying it tomorrow.”
“Of course Mr. Hollen,” she said and began making phone calls.
_____________________
Zenia’s POV
I was so anxious to be going home today. EJ had offered to take me home and I must say, I was seeing a complete different side of him since the incident.
He had taken a leave from the office to see me everyday at the hospital.
“Good morning Zenia, how are you feeling?” Dr. Summers asked as he walked into the room and saw me gathering my things.
“I’m re-ady to go home,” I said with a smile.
“Sure. I just nee-d one final inspection to be certain that everything is the way we expect it to be.”
I un-derstood what he meant. I came to a very close death. My heart had stopped functioning altogether and at that moment, they felt like they had lost me.
~
“Perfect. You’re re-ady to go home,” he said after ten minutes.
“Thank you,” I answered.
“plea-se remember your thera-py sessions.”
“I’ll go to every one. I promise.”
“Excellent, now who’s coming to get you?”
“My boyfriend,” I said as I looked down at the promise ring on my middle fin-ger.
′I EJ Hollen, promise to always be there for you. To love you, cherish and adore you in every way possible. I don’t ever want to lose you again.′
As if on cue, EJ appeared in the room.
“You’re here,” I squealed and ran into his arms. He wra-pped his arms around me and ki-ssed my forehead.
“re-ady to go home?” he asked.
“Yes.” Tears of joy alre-ady building in my eyes. I missed home.
“She is discharged Mr. Hollen. You can take her home now,” Dr. Summers said.
“Thank you for everything Doctor. And behalf of myself and my family, we’ve made a donation for form of equipment and supplies to the hospital.”
“Really? That’s very generous of you and the family. The staff and patients thank you.”
EJ smiled and I smiled too. I had the best boyfriend ever.
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“Where are we going? This isn’t the way to the penthouse EJ,” I said as I looked at the window.
“I know baby. This is p@rt of the surprise I’ve been telling you about,” he answered.
He held onto the steering wheel with one hand and took my hand into his. He quickly brou-ght it to his li-ps for a ki-ss, keeping his eyes alerted on the road.
I sat quietly, observing the new surroundings. It was such a beautiful day outside and I was dying to get into a pool to cool off.
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After two hours, he stopped the car on a pavement.
“Where are we?” I asked.
He pointed to an extremely beautiful villa with a glorious swimming pool. He must of been re-ading my mind but we couldn’t randomly stop and get into someone’s swimming pool.
“That’s a beautiful place,” I said calmly.
“It’s yours baby. That’s the surprise.”
I br@ced myself in the car seat. I heard his voice from a far distance in my ear. The bewilderment I was surfacing was making it ha-rdto believe what he just said to me.
Mine?
But how was it mine?
“You brou-ght us a house?” I asked, turning to him.
“Yep. Zenia look, I know this is sudden and might be a really big step but I want you to see that I’m sorry for hurting you. I really don’t want to lose you. I want to be there for you. I want to come home to your beautiful face everyday after work. I want to wake up and see your messy hair.”
I laughed lightly.
“I don’t care if we have to adopt a hundred kids to become a family. Baby, I just want to be there for you. I love you, Zenia.”
I teared up.
“Baby, don’t cry. Come here.” He pu-lled me into his arms, laying my head on his che-st. I felt safe, I felt happiness and I alre-ady felt at home with him.
“I accept,” I said, wiping the tears away with the back of my hand.
“You really don’t have to accept right away. I can take you back to the PH and you could sleep on it. I don’t want to rush you into it. I just wanted you to see how serious I am about you.”
“I know you’ll never pressure me into anything but I really do want to live with you. I love you too.”
Our li-ps clashed together. He ki-ssed me hungrily but slowed it down and became pas-sionate. I knew he missed me.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered against my li-ps.
“I missed you too.”
We ki-ssed again.
_____________
He showed me around our new home and I loved every inch and corner of it. It was lovely, inside and out.
“Are you re-ady to leave now?” he called from a lounge chair.
I was swimming around in the pool and he was looking on from the poolside.
“No! I don’t want to leave. I want to stay.”
I heard him chuckled.
“Get in the pool EJ!”
“No thank you!”
I got out the water and ran up to him, throwing my w-et b©dy onto his. I was in my un-derwear but I didn’t care. With EJ, I felt like a different person who wasn’t afraid of doing different things.
“Zen, you got me w-et.”
“That was the idea. Now get in the pool with me.”
He picked me up as if I was made of paper. He carried me bridal style, into the pool. We swam around, had a heated make out session and pla-yed like two little kids. I was loving the new and improved EJ more and more.
__________________
“Mom, I’m home!” I called as I walked into the penthouse suite.
I was hearing an argument between her and someone else. I peered into the kitchen and saw her with my father. Their backs turned to me.
“You’re not going to tell them anything until I tell them! They’re my daughters. Not yours!”
“There’s really no lying in you anymore Susan!”
“You left them.”
“How the hell was I supposed to stay when you sle-pt with my own brother and threw it in my face that Zenia might not be my daughter? You broke me Susan. You hurt me. I couldn’t stand looking at you anymore and I feared Jasmine wasn’t going to be my daughter too but that didn’t stop me from se-nding you three thousand dollars every month for eighteen years!”
Mom got silent.
“Of course Jasmine is your daughter,” she said after awhile.
“And Zenia?”
Mom got silent again and something in me lit up with anger.
Jasmine and I may be half sisters?
TO BE CONTINUED……