Chapter 17: Cramps

Lance Storm

"Ahhhh!"

The screaming from my torture chamber was like soothing music to my ears. These doctors and nurses weren't that talkative and brave, unlike what Ember had told me. However, I really couldn't understand how someone could hurt a pure soul like Ember. Yes, she was a walking chatterbox, but she had a kind and clean heart.

"That's three," one of my men announced when the nurse who they were torturing to talk finally took her last breath without being unable to handle the pain.

"Let's continue this tomorrow. I have lessons with Ember today," I said and started texting Ember to see whether she was up for the practice yet or not.

I walked directly outside to go to my car when I got a reply from Ember.

Crazy Lady: Period. Too much cramp.

I rolled my eyes and dialed her number immediately as soon as I got into the car. We only had a lesson yesterday, and she was saying that she has period cramps. Did she think I was actually going to buy it?

"Hey—"

"L-Lance... Can't make it. Argh!"

My eyes widened a bit when I heard her wince on the other side of the line.

"What's that? Are you okay, Ember?" I asked when I heard something like a glass shattering. Sebastian stared at me confusingly in the rearview mirror. I gave him a curt nod by which he understood he didn't have to stop driving and everything was fine.

"F-fine. But I really can't go anywhere right now," she said, and I heard the line ended with that.

I stared at my phone blankly, and an image of Ember crying in pain crossed my mind.

"Stop," I hollered abruptly when I saw a convenience store. I was sure as hell that those things related to periods were there.

"Should I get something for you, boss?" Sebastian questioned, and I shook my head.

"No, you stay here, and tell the others to not follow me inside, either," I said before getting out of the car without waiting for Sebastian to open the door.

I entered the store and grabbed a lot of chocolate and a gallon of ice cream. I didn't know what else to do, so I thought this would be better than appearing with an empty hand.

"Is this all?" the old cash counter lady asked me politely, and I nodded. I paid for it and grabbed the bags before jogging to the car.

"To Ember's," I ordered Sebastian who nodded at me and drove to Ember's house.

###

I rang the bell, yet no response came. I randomly touched the doorknob, only for it to turn and open.

"Don't tell me this crazy lady didn't lock her door," I muttered in disbelief and opened the door wider. "Ember, I'm coming in!" I announced and entered the house, keeping my shoes at the entrance.

I didn't know why I expected Ember's house to be loud and chaotic like her, but only a peaceful silence welcomed me. As I looked around the empty living room, a gush of lingering loneliness seeped out and I realized something.

Living alone has always been my choice, but this... Ember didn't choose this loneliness for herself. It was because she had no other option, more like, no other person in her life. It made me feel sad for her.

I was scanning the living room until I heard a loud groan from the room in the small corridor across from me. I rushed to that room, and my eyes widened at the sight I saw.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as I found Ember on the floor, trying to crawl to reach the door to get out, most probably to get the main door since I rang the bell.

"L-Lance? You're here?—Why are you here? How did you open my door? That's creep—Ahh!" she screamed when I got to her in an instant and threw her on my shoulder. "O-ouch... Lance... M-my tummy, it hurts." I dropped her on the bed. "Hey, drop me a little gently, would you? I'm not a potato sack."

I rolled my eyes and instructed, "Stay here." As soon as I said that, she relaxed and closed her eyes tightly.

I walked out of the room and fished out my phone and immediately dialed the number of the only woman who could help me in this situation.

As soon as the call was received, I immediately asked without even bothering to greet, "How do you make someone feel better when they're having period cramps?"

"Well, hello to you too, Lance. I knew you were PMS-ing, and now, you have cramps as well. I knew something was wrong with you. But Elian wouldn't believe me. I pity that sweet girl who is stuck with you. What will happen to you, Lance?" Alena sighed dramatically in disappointment, but then she brightened on, "On the bright side, though, you two can suffer from cramps pain together. Aww, I already envy you. Elian says he would take my pain in a heartbeat if he could, but he can't, which is sad. But look at you, Lance! You can share your pain with that sweet girl."

Alena didn't usually talk this much, but she always did it intentionally to get on my nerves. "It's—" I didn't get to finish my sentence when Alena spoke up again.

"Whatever, listen." She shifted to her professional tone and started giving the actual guidelines, "Taking a bath with warm water will help, but you might be too tired to do it. Oh, and don't do it if it's your first day of periods. So you can just put a hot compress on your lower abdomen and lower back; that should relieve some pain. Take some acetaminophen if the pain is too extreme. Oh, and hot soup will help as well; warm food is preferable, though not everyone has the same choice. If the pain still doesn't subside, consult a doctor."

All the while Alena was talking, my eyes were glued on Ember from the open bedroom room. How could an energetic girl become this? She was too tired to even open her eyes. Period really was scary.

"Who are you on the phone with so late?" I heard Elian's voice in the background.

Oh, great, just the person I needed.

"Baby, Lance is having period cramps!" I heard Alena shout from the other line.

"Who is drunk? You or Lance?" Elian deadpanned in the background.

I couldn't help but wonder if Alena was still sane. Was she really thinking I was going through menstruation which isn't even biologically possible for me? Did she not study science in high school? Or, they didn't teach common sense at the university she studied? How was this woman even the COO of my brother's company?

"It's not about me. It's about Em—thanks," I immediately stopped when I saw Ember opening her eyes.

"Huh? Em? Am I finally getting the name of that sweet girl you like so much?" she pried. "By the way, I never asked, are you guys already dating? Or no, you would have told me, because of course, you wouldn't date and not tell your favorite person."

"I swear one of these days he's going to block you, and don't say I didn't warn you," Elian said, and I was pretty sure I was on speaker right now.

"I will have you know, he is the one who called me," Alena protested. "Anyway, since you said it's for Em. Are you with her right now? Oh, my God, are you in her—"

I rolled my eyes and decided to cut her short, "Mind your own business. Bye." I placed my phone back in my pocket and went to Ember.

"Take some more rest. I'm going to wake you up when the soup is ready," I said, and I didn't even know if Ember heard me, but she nodded tiredly at me.

I went directly to her kitchen and silently thanked her when I saw that there was a lot of stuff in her fridge. I went through survival training before I was handed over to the gang, so it was only natural that I knew how to cook.

I quickly finished cooking the soup and placed it on the kitchen counter.

"Wow, is that soup?" A voice suddenly crept up behind me.

"Geez, Ember, you look like a zombie," I commented when I saw her leaning at the kitchen counter, sniffing the aroma of the soup.

"And you look like a mafia leader, which you are. A mafia leader in my kitchen cooking—this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

My eyes widened when she suddenly pulled her cell phone out and took a bunch of pictures of me wearing her pink apron. Great.

"Do you like that apron? I have another one, don't worry. If you want, I can give it to you—Fine." She stopped teasing me when I looked at her disinterestedly.

"Here, Bon appetit." Ember started eating it happily, but when I looked at her again, she already had this sad smile on her face.

"Is it not good?" I asked her, and she just shook her head, staring at me with watery eyes.

"It's just that, ever since my family died, this is the first time that someone cooked and took care of me. And luckily, it happened to be you. So Lance, thank you."

I couldn't stare back at her for a long time when she was wearing that kind of expression—the expression she always wore whenever she talked about her family or her past.

I was doing anything I could to punish those people who hurt her in that asylum, but I never could do anything when it was about her family.

"Then, why aren't you calling your friend, Candy? Did she not want to come?" I asked after clearing my throat.

"No, I just didn't want to burden her. She had work last night, and I know she needs to sleep as well. Plus, I am strong enough to handle myself."

Well, yeah. I could clearly see that from her crawling or her trying to open the doors. But she said proudly, and then, returned her attention to her soup, so I couldn't really pop her bubble.

"Then, why do you bother me?" I asked seriously, even though she never said that I needed to come and take care of her.

"You? You don't count," she said with an annoyingly innocent smile on her face.

"Okay, now finish your meal. I'm doing it for free, so enjoy all you can."

I felt something warm blossom inside my chest when she sincerely smiled at me. After eating, I made her take a pill for the pain.

I stayed at her place until late. I cooked and took care of her from time to time. Thankfully, the pain was already subsiding, so we were now sitting on the couch talking to each other.

She was talking gibberish as always, only her voice was a bit exhausted and her usual chirpiness was down by a notch. It was weird to see her not talk a mile per minute.

We got to the topic of her family, and her expression turned sad again. I realized I hated seeing this look on her face. Only bright, annoying smiles looked good on her.

"Do you know what I want to know the most in this world?" she asked me, smiling, and I shook my head. I grabbed a tissue beside me and carefully reached out for Ember's lips so that I could wipe the ice cream from there.

"No. What is it? I may or may not know it." I joked and threw the tissue in the trash can.

"I want to know why my dad did that to my mom and to me. We were such a happy family back then. I knew he loved Mom and me more than anything, but when my dad was staring at my mom's lifeless body, it felt like he felt nothing. I'm not even sure if he truly loves us or if I'm just young and know nothing about love," she said, cracking a sad smile.

I only hummed in response and rubbed her shoulder, not knowing any comforting words to say. I didn't think anyone except her father could comfort her about this.

It was almost morning when Ember finally fell asleep on the couch. I carefully lifted her in my arms and went to her room with light steps. She wasn't that heavy for a person who was crazy about food. Maybe she burned calories from talking so much.

After putting her down on the bed, my phone suddenly rang, and I quickly received it, afraid that it would wake Ember up.

"What?" I whispered to my secretary before putting a blanket over Ember's petite frail body.

"Sir, we have news..."

My hand automatically stopped what I was doing when I heard what my secretary found out.

"Fuck!" I cursed and went directly to the front door, but when I heard Ember groan, I immediately came back to see her, but she was still sleeping. I stroked her hair and placed a light kiss on her forehead before heading to the kitchen.

'Call me if you feel sick.'

I magnetized the note on her fridge and carefully went out, ensuring that her door was locked.

"Let's go," I told Sebastian and dialed Elian's number.

Even after receiving the call, Elian muttered something incoherent in his sleepy state. I waited till he actually got his mind functioning. "Alena? Where are you? Alena?" His voice was distant, which meant he wasn't talking on the phone. "Hey, are you in the bathroom? No, no, the lights are off. Where is she? Her phone's not here. Oh, shit, I got Lance on call." I could feel him scrambling for his phone which he must have put somewhere on the duvet. When he finally put it to his ear, he tried to sound cheerful as he said, "Hey, Lance. What's up, bro? What's the special occasion for you to call me at five in the morning?"

"I have horrifying news," I said, trying to calm myself down. "I have a visitor."

There was a long silence from Elian's side. "What? D-don't tell me...?" he asked like he had an idea of what I was talking about.

"You are right... Alena, as in your girlfriend, is in Las Vegas."