415 A Decision (1/2)

Anguish!

It was certainly a sense of anguish because it felt worse than just pain. And this anguish was slowly starting to rule inside Xiu's heart. Her head was pounding just a moment ago but now, she felt extremely light-headed.

She felt stuck in a helix which was slowly turning as it unraveled the feelings and memories that didn't belong to her. Her mind was slipping through the gap of emotions and she felt like drifting and drifting and drifting away. Or was she really drowning?

She wanted to breathe and yet she couldn't catch her breath. The darkness was threatening to swallow her whole. And just when she thought she'd lose herself to this overwhelming feeling, someone held her shoulder and shook her violently.

”Oi! Look at me! Why are you scaring me?”

Dylan's voice was loud. At first, he had only seen her tears falling down but when he came close, he observed the abnormality. She was sweating profusely, her eyes weren't focused at all and she didn't respond to his voice. He had called her name several times but she didn't react as if she was in her own world and she couldn't even hear him.

Meanwhile, Xiu felt like someone had poured a bucket of cold water all over her as her trance was broken. She was breathing heavily when a glass of water appeared before her eyes, she lifted her eyes to look at Dylan who seemed really worried.

”Drink it. Don't scare me with that look.” Although he was grumbling, Xiu could still hear his concern in his voice. Xiu took the glass from his hand and tried to give him a small smile. ”Are you okay? What happened?” Seeing how she calmed down after drinking some water, he questioned.

Xiu leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes saying, ”Nothing. I overestimated myself.” Indeed, she thought she could read those letters anywhere without losing herself but she really overestimated herself. Just a moment ago, she had felt trapped in that sense of anguish when the snippets of Destiny's memories flashed past her mind.

”Do you need a hug?” asked Dylan and when Xiu opened her eyes and frowned at him. He smiled awkwardly saying, ”Ma says a magical hug is enough to fix everything.”

”I do need a hug,” nodded Xiu in agreement surprising even Dylan. ”But not from you. I'd prefer my Baobei's hug.”

Oh, there she goes again. Dylan should have expected something like that from her. Why was he even surprised? No, he was feeling more bitter now.

”But seriously, what happened?” he again focused on the main point here which was her odd behavior. He couldn't tell why or how but the look in her eyes was solemn even more so than ever. She took a handkerchief and languidly wiped her sweat off of her face. ”Were you having a panic attack?”

”Maybe,” she sounded uncertain. ”Maybe not.”

”Can you please answer me straightforwardly? I'm worried right now.”

”What's with the perspiration? And those tears? Are these also the result of daydreaming?”

Xiu nodded her head seriously. ”You have way too many questions.”

”And you have not answered even one.”

Dylan noticed her chewing on her nails and furrowed his brows. She didn't have this habit before. But since she was not answering him about anything and seemed like she was again in deep thoughts, he decided to change the topic, ”I told you to send the pictures to me. Why did you send those pictures to my mom?”

”My hand must have slipped,” replied Xiu distractedly.

”Are you for real?!” exclaimed Dylan. He knew she did it to mess with him and she wasn't the kind of person to shy away from accepting it either. But even before he could say anything else, his phone rang. He pulled it out from his jacket and his eyes sparkled seeing the caller id. ”Hi, Cali! I can't believe you're calling me.”