What Separates Me and You

"Go to sleep," Lewis said softly as he caressed her face. Josephine blinked twice and stared at him for a while before she turned away from him. Studying the back of her head, Lewis fell silent and reached out to switch off the lights. As the room was plunged into darkness, a tear fell from Josephine's eyes.

The sound of the rain outside the window gradually got smaller, but in the silence of the room, they both heard it loud and clear. Josephine knew that he was sitting right beside her, so she stayed curled up under the sheets, not daring to make a single move. As the seconds ticked by, both of them remained in the same position, unmoving. In the end, Josephine succumbed to sleep.

By the time she woke up, it was already bright outside. She opened her eyes to see the lush green leaves outside her window still dripping wet from the rain. She immediately scrambled to get out of bed. But the moment she turned around, she found Lewis sitting right beside her, staring at her with his deep, dark eyes. She was so shocked she froze up. "Why is he still here?" Josephine thought to herself.

A look of disappointment came over Lewis when he saw her expression. "Here, have something to eat." Lewis looked away from her and picked up a tray laden with food. Josephine's gaze shifted to the tray, which had a bowl of oatmeal and a selection of pastries on it. She swallowed at the sight of the delicate and appetizing pastries, but still she snuck a wary glance at Lewis.

Lewis passed her the tray. "Are you not going to eat?"

She hastily reached out for a pastry, but before she could take one, he moved the tray away. She frowned and dropped her hand sheepishly, thinking to herself how mean of a person he was.

"Go wash your hands first." That caught Josephine off guard, and her head whipped upward to look at him. He lifted his chin. "Over there." Josephine looked in the direction he gestured and found that there was a door. She thought about it for a moment before she clambered out of bed and headed toward the washroom.

The washroom had everything she needed. When she saw the two toothbrushes there, she picked up the pink toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto it before she began to brush her teeth. Then, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, and her movements halted. The reflection in the mirror looked very foreign to her. Somehow, she did not think that that was her.

With the toothbrush still in her mouth, she raised a hand to touch the mirror, only to find the reflection in the mirror mimicking her actions. Her hand overlapped with the image in the mirror. Startled, she swiftly pulled her hand away from the mirror and began brushing her teeth as fast as she could. After she was done, she washed her hands and picked up a pink washcloth to wipe her face. Her actions were so smooth it was as though she had done them countless times before.

Lewis leaned on the doorframe, watching her silently with a questioning look in his eyes. When Josephine was done cleaning up, she turned to find Lewis standing by the door. She was so shocked she blanched.

Lewis then turned around and went back to the bedroom. Upon following him out, she found that he had already left the breakfast on a table and seated himself on the couch.

As she was famished, she plucked up the courage to go over and sit down opposite him. Then, she picked up a pastry and tucked in. As she ate, she peeked at the man seated opposite her. Engrossed in the newspapers, he paid her no heed. Josephine was relieved. She grew bold and began stuffing herself with the pastries on the table. She ate like she had been starving for years on end. In the end, because of how fast she was eating, she even choked on the food and had to pound on her chest to get the food down.

Lewis looked up at her and saw that even in the state that she was in, she still refused to spit out the food in her mouth. He picked up a glass of milk and handed it to her. Josephine took the glass of milk and started chugging on it, forcing down the food in her mouth.

He sighed silently as he put down the papers in his hands and reached out for a napkin to wipe the milk from the corners of her lips. But her eyes instantly widened as she frantically cowered in fear. Lewis frowned with his hand suspended mid-air. A brief moment later, he chucked the napkin on the table and said, "Wipe your mouth." Josephine awkwardly reached out to pick up the napkin and did a haphazard job of wiping her lips.

"Are you going to run off?" Lewis asked her.

She lowered her eyes and remained silent. She had intended to go out to meet Quintin. She preferred hanging out with him compared to this cold man.

Lewis' expression gradually darkened as he stared at her. After a long while, he suddenly stood up and went outside. Josephine heaved a sigh of relief when she heard the click of the door closing and continued scarfing down the pastries on the table. Food was the only thing on her mind now.

When Lewis got downstairs, Dr. Halliday stood waiting for him and went up to greet him the moment he saw him. "How is it, Mr. Alvarez? Has Mrs. Alvarez forgotten everything that happened yesterday?" Lewis shot him a glare. Seeing how displeased he was, Dr. Halliday already had his answer. It seemed like she hadn't forgotten. So, he continued, "That's a good thing. Otherwise, I'd say it'd be quite dangerous if things were to progress so speedily."

Lewis' expression looked slightly better when he heard that. But only just a little. "So, Dr. Halliday, what results have you got from your extensive research?"

Dr. Halliday sweated profusely at Lewis' questioning. "Well, her condition is always changing, so I-I need more time."

"So you mean to say that you've made no progress?" Hearing the menacing threat in his voice, a shiver ran down Dr. Halliday's spine before he quickly answered, "There's progress. Sure there is! Um ... Well, I've made some discoveries in the past few days."

"Spill!"

"Well, think about this. Mrs. Alvarez's condition acts up every time you're not around or when you do something to hurt her. On the contrary, she's very stable when you're around her or when you treat her well. Lewis' gaze bore into him so much so that Dr. Halliday hung his head low. A moment of silence later, Lewis asked, "And what about now?"

"Now?" Caught off guard, Dr. Halliday said, "I need to look more into her condition now. She doesn't remember anyone, so she won't experience much emotion or feel any sort of sadness or happiness. Simply put, y-you probably won't have much of an effect on her anymore." Lewis' brows furrowed as his expression darkened more than before. Dr. Halliday went on, "Well, maybe this will get her condition to stabilize giving her a clean slate of memory. Maybe things will get better."

Lewis chuckled mirthlessly. "Better? You think that this is better?"

"I mean... As long as her condition doesn't get any worse, it's for the better. Why did you ..." Dr. Halliday meant to ask why he drove her out yesterday, but he did not finish his sentence as he could feel the murderous intent coming off Lewis.

After shooting the doctor a cold glare, Lewis turned and left. Dr. Halliday released a sigh of relief when he heard Lewis' car start. He wiped the sweat off his brows and turned around to face Mrs. Larson. "You've got to keep a watchful eye over Mrs. Alvarez, Mrs. Larson, or we'll both be in deep trouble."

She nodded. "I got it. Don't you worry. I won't let her out." There were security nets all over the place, so there was no way Josephine could leave.

Just as Josephine finished up the food on the tray, she heard a faint sound come from the window. Astonished, she turned around to take a look and saw a pebble thrown on the window pane, producing the faint sound that she just heard. Wiping her hands on her clothes, she quickly went over to the window and looked down. She saw Quintin waving at her from below. Her eyes lit up as she beamed happily at him.