Heartstrings On Fire

Agnes cheeks were flushed, like two clouds ablaze with the setting sun.

She fidgeted in her seat, mumbling to herself in a restless undertone

Chapter 819

After Ryder got into the car, he managed not without difficulty, to buckle her into the seatbelt.

But he didn’t just start the car and drive away Instead, he turned to study her face intently

It felt like ages since hed allowed himself such a luxury in the past, he never dared to gaze at her so openly After all these years, he always felt shackled, and each stolen glance was a secret treasure

To be honest Ryder was tired of that feeling. He was tired of lurking in the shadows, aching for the sunlight. It was blinding, it hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to settle in the dark corners where light never reached

He didn’t know how long he watched her. Memories flooded back as he looked at her face–most from their school days

rehearsed a play together it was “Romeo and Juliet” He

after night, they practiced their lines in

just collapse into the hammock chair and doze off

watch her then, much like he did now, as if only when her

were rare sparks of joy in his life–a celebration of youth and dreams

Ryder started the car He drove along the city’s elevated roads, with

living with Jared now, at Maplewood

past it twice, and never stopped But in the

ended up taking Agnes to his high–rise

entered the elevator, they bumped into a neighbor from

one Ryder had rented during his internship at Hope Hospital

building was mainly occupied by former colleagues from the hospital. Though it had been years, Ryder’s return had rekindled old

downstairs neighbor was Dr. Kermit, the neurology department’s former anesthesiologist

his curiosity. Dr. Ryder, finally brought a