Chapter Fifty One: Retying The Bonds

They got out of the car and Lorraine was a couple of steps ahead from Aiden until her stopped her in her tracks by calling her name. She turned to him and he noticed how her long dark brown hair fell on her face slightly. “I missed you, Lorraine. I thought you should know as much.”

She gave him a smile of her own, “I missed you too, Aiden. I really did.” He nodded with a satisfied smile, that he tried to contain so it wouldn’t turn into a grin. They walked side by side, grabbing the attention of some of the students. Lorraine ignored their looks and leaned slightly on Aiden to whisper, “We have to find Judy.” He agreed with a hum and a curt nod. Aiden knew he had to put his mind in the game, there was no other way around it, but he couldn’t stop that feeling in his heart when she told him that she missed him as well. There was a part of him that thought she had forgotten about him. He felt replaced in a way with Cedric’s presence in her life.

They arrived at Bates’ class, both their eyes had been roaming the hallways in search for Judy but she made no appearance. They entered the class, and Aiden eyed the empty chair, which Judy was supposed to occupy then took his seat next to hers. He felt Bates eyes on him, a silent question, before he started the class. While Bates was updating him on everything that had taken place, he told him to be a good friend to Lorraine, because that was what she needed him to be.

Over ten minutes into the class, there was a knock on the door and Judy walked in. She gave Bates a small smile, “I’m sorry, I’m late. I had an errand to run.” Bates nodded and let her inside. She waved at Lorraine excitedly with a cheerful smile, as if nothing had happened. Lorraine shared a look with Aiden, then turned to look ahead at the class. Judy furrowed her eyebrows at the grimace on Lorraine’s face but decided to ignore it.

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Suzan had a very busy morning, and somehow she didn’t feel right. It was like something was missing, but she couldn’t figure out what it was exactly. However, being around patients and running around the hospital distracted her. She was standing at reception handing a file to Lucy Anderson, who once saw her, her eyes brightened, like she had been looking for her. “Dr. McMillian was just asking about you.”

Suzan let out a sigh; she had been trying to evade the man for some time now. She remembered their last encounter when he came to her place, and she couldn’t figure out why she behaved the way she did. “Where’s he?” And Lucy told her that he was in trauma one. She went to him and before she knocked on the door, she inhaled and nodded to herself. *“You can do this, just apologize and all will be well.” *She entered the room after two knocks, and saw him sitting and talking to a patent. The woman thanked him and left. “Lucy said you’re looking for me?”

The earlier smile he had on disappeared and was replaced with a worried look. “I wanted to talk to you.” He got up, and closed the door along with the blinds. “How are you feeling?”

She nodded, “Don’t worry, doctor. I’m okay.” With her eyes casted down, she said, “I wanted to apologize. The way I acted the other day.”

“Suzan, we’re friends. You should just call me Steven. And there’s no need for an apology, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” It was the sound of his tone and the way his eyes took her in that made Suzan feel slightly nervous, and she fidgeted on her own feet. Steven had been acting different with her for some time now, but she had opted to ignore it. She wasn’t well-versed on relationships, but she knew enough men in her life to distinguish the look given to a friend from others.

She gave him a polite smile, “Thank you, how’s Melissa and Judy?” Suzan thought that bringing up his wife and daughter would snap him out of whatever he was doing.

He nodded stiffly, “They’re well.” Then a smile came over his face, “The strangest thing just happened this morning. I woke up and found Judy in the kitchen, making a pie! I never thought I’d live to see that day.”

Suzan chuckled, “Maybe she’s giving it to a boy she likes.” Her phone rang, and once she saw it was one of the doctors, she looked up at Steven. “I’ve got to go. See you around.” Steven nodded with a small smile. Once Suzan was out, a deep frown formed on his face.

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It was lunch time, when Lorraine left her class to find Aiden. Before she could do that, Maria and Jake found her and took her to the cafeteria. “You’ve been so not around lately, busy with a certain Aiden Aetos.” Maria suggested, wiggling her eyebrows.

Lorraine chuckled awkwardly, “It’s nothing like that. We’re just friends.”

Jake hummed, “Well, I don’t think Judy thinks so.” When her name was mentioned, Lorraine perked up and asked him what he meant. “I don’t know, it just seems that she’s been a bit off and I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s because you and Aiden are kind of together now.” His eyes glanced at Maria for confirmation and she nodded her head.

Lorraine furrowed her eyebrows. *“Maybe this is a chance to get more information.”* She thought, and looked at the two feigning confusion. “I thought she had a new boyfriend, didn’t we see them together the other day?”

Maria shrugged, “I’m not sure what’s going on there. But she started showing up a bit more, which is good I think.” She looked thoughtful for a second then said, “The other day when we were talking about Mike’s funeral; it should be held next Sunday, she seemed slightly off.”

“Almost disinterested.” Jake added with a grim look on her face.

“And did you notice her sudden change in fashion?” Maria asked the two, who shook their heads. “I mean scarves are all nice and great, but she’s been wearing them awfully a lot. I tried to tell her they were not even in season. She should wait till November.”

Lorraine didn’t need to hear more to know that Mark is probably feeding on Judy, maybe even forcing her to behave that way. Before she got up, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned, she found Aiden standing behind her, “We have to get going.” She excused herself and left the cafeteria with him.