Saving Justice

Chapter Three

I'm blow-drying my hair before getting ready for bed when Cole walks out of the bathroom, with only cotton shorts on, after taking a shower. His fresh masculine scent and mint aftershave tickle my nose.

He smells so damn good. I suddenly have the urge to cuddle with him.

"I heard you talk to my mom about Justice's mental health," he says while putting on a white shirt.

Done drying my hair, I turn the blower off and look at Cole's reflection in the mirror. He is also looking at me through it.

"I did..." I confirm and turn my body to look at him properly. "Anyway, are you close with her?"

"Not really," he answers and sits on the edge of his bed. "We have quite an age gap, so we didn't hang out often. But Natalie's close with her before."

I purse my lips and decide to ask more questions, though I'm not sure if Cole can provide me the answer I need because he's not close with her. If ever I'm not satisfied with the information he'll give me, and I'll resort to asking Natalie afterward.

"Does she usually act like an introvert?" I ask him.

"Well, as I recall, she's outgoing and friendly just like Natalie; that's why they were close before. Now, I don't think I've seen them hang out together." He tries to look back. "One time, I asked Natalie to invite her to watch a movie with us, but she declined and reasoned out that she's busy."

"So, she always stays inside her room?" I follow up with a question.

"She does." Cole nods. "She will only come out if it's time to eat or go to school."

Her changes are already alarming for someone like Justice if she was once a social butterfly. She's trying to shut everyone out of her life because she may be thinking that it's the best for her, but she's pushing herself closer at the edge of the cliff.

In my opinion, there are two types of silence: One is calming, one is disturbing. The calming one can bring peace into your life and encourage you to become better. While on the other hand, disturbing silence can be very dangerous. This demon pushes us to harm ourselves and triggers our suicidal thoughts.

I have no clue what type of silence is speaking through Justice's mind while she shuts and excludes herself from everyone; that's why she needs counseling as soon as possible.

Cole heaves a deep breath and walks up to me. He lowers himself by squatting in front of me and holds both sides of the armchair, locking me in place.

"You worry yourself too much," he says and lightly pinches my nose. "Stop overthinking about it, and let's have faith instead. I have faith in you."

I frown at him. "Why is this suddenly about me?"

"Because if ever Justice needs medication and therapy, if you're going to handle her, I know she'll be in good hands." Smiling at me, he quickly stands up and reaches my hand. "Let's go to bed now and continue talking about this tomorrow. I know you're also tired from our trip."

With a sigh, I nod and let him pull me to bed. He tucks me in and pulls the comforter up to my chest before he turns off the light. The room is now dimmed, and only the ribbons of moonlight flowing through the window give us light.

After a few seconds, Cole comes to bed with me and slips under the blanket. He moves closer and envelopes me with a securing embrace. His chin is resting on the crook of my neck, and his warm breath touches my cheek every time he exhales.

"Good night, babe..." he whispers so softly.

I smile and say, "Good night."

Since I'm physically tired and mentally exhausted, it isn't hard for me to sleep. However, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night with a dry throat, feeling thirsty. It usually happens to me because of fatigue, so I expect this to happen.

Careful not to wake Cole up, who's in a deep slumber, I slowly remove his hand on my tummy. He groans and jiggles a bit when I successfully escape from his hold. For a while, I stop moving and wait for him to settle down in his new position and return to a peaceful sleep.

And without making any excessive movement, I reach for my phone to check the time. It's only quarter to two in the morning. We went to bed at almost midnight, and I'd been asleep for only two hours.

Trying my best to be cautious, I lightly drop my feet on the floor and tiptoe my way out of the room. Cole can be very sensitive when it comes to noise while sleeping. I do my best not to create a loud thud when closing the door, which I successfully pull off.

The lights in the hallway are not on, so I use my phone's flashlight to light my way. With light steps, I walk downstairs and straight into the kitchen.

After turning on the light, I pull the drawer below the sink, grab an empty glass, and get water from the fridge's external dispenser. I fill it almost to the brim and stop before it overflows.

I'm about to drink the water when I hear the floorboard creaking. Frowning, I stop, put the glass on top of the aisle, and remain silent. I check if anyone else is up, but the creaking stops just when I take a peek out of the kitchen.

My forehead creases even more.

I see no one in the hallway or the living room. I stay looking out for a few more seconds, but then I convince myself that I may just be hallucinating. And so, I spin around to drink my water and get over it. However, just a second after turning my back, I hear another creaking sound.

My heart pounds hard and fast because of the eerie feeling. I don't easily get scared, but I get chills and cold shivers this time.

And because of the uncanny thoughts running around my head, I drink one glass of water in one go. Having no thoughts of staying here for a minute more, I plan to just leave the glass on the sink without washing it and run back to Cole's room.

Ahead of executing my plan, the glass almost slips from my hand. Someone suddenly appears in front of me when I'm halfway in turning my body to the sink. The silent heart attack produces a loud bang against my chest that hurts. I want to cuss, but no words come out of my lips.

I try to calm the f**k down and finally get a better view of Justice, who's just two or three feet away from me.

"Justice!" I almost cry out her name in relief. "Thank God, it's just you!"

She quietly blinks a few times while staring at me.

I smile at her after the fear subsides. "Did you wake up in the middle of your sleep, too? Or are you having a hard time sleeping?"

I have to ask that because insomnia can be one of the symptoms of depression and PTSD.

Still clammed up, not bothering to answer my question, she moves past me and goes straight to the fridge. I turn around and watch her get the fresh milk.

Though she's not giving me any reaction or response, I try to start a conversation with her for the second time. "Do you like drinking milk? Does it help you sleep?"

I still don't get any response from her. She continues doing her thing ― getting a glass from the drawer where I got mine earlier and pouring the milk on it. She fills the glass half full and returns the milk carton to the fridge.

"Uhm..." I suddenly feel awkward because of the silent treatment that she's giving me. "I'm sorry if you think I'm annoying. I just really want to get to know you."

Not paying me any attention, she closes the fridge door and heads over to her milk.

She must be staying here to finish her drink, right?

I list down different entertaining topics inside my head, but it is all in vain because, I guess, she can't spare any second being here with me. As soon as she's done, she walks back, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

I'm completely blown away by how she ignored me like I wasn't in the same space as her. She treated me like air!

Shaking my head, I just hand-wash the glass I used earlier and head back upstairs afterward. The moment I lie down on the bed and slip through the covers, Cole opens his right eye slightly.

"Where did you go?" he asks with a husky and sleepy voice.

"I just drank water because I'm feeling thirsty."

He nods his head and closes his eye again. "Let's sleep..." he says and pulls me closer to him for a warm embrace.

I also nod and hug him back. Wanting to feel more of his warmth, I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes.

•••

When the clock strikes 9 o'clock, Cole and I have already taken a bath and got dressed. Even though he's still on leave at their firm, he still has a meeting with a client at lunch, so he'll go straight there after driving me to my apartment.

"Good morning, lovebirds," Eleanor greets us with a smile.

"Mornin'." Cole heads over to kiss the top of her head.

"Good morning," I simply greet her.

Cole pulls the same seat on the dining table where I sat last night. I whisper a 'thank you' to him before taking the seat.

Sipping on her coffee, Eleanor asks, "What plans do you have today?" That one question is for both of us.

"I'll drive Venice back to her apartment and have a lunch meeting with a client," he answers his mother, then turns to me with the coffee pot. "Coffee, babe?"

"No, thank you." I smile and point the glass of water right in front of me.

He nods then looks at his mother again. "Then, I'll head over to the firm."

"I thought you were on leave until today?"

"I just need to sort out some files; then I'll take Venice to dinner," Cole reasons out and put two strips of bacon on my plate while I reach for a slice of French toast. "We'll discuss the date of our wedding."

When we were getting ready earlier, we also decided to eat dinner outside together and talk about our wedding plans to start with the preparations.

"That's good. It's better to start with the preparations earlier." Eleanor looks so pleased, but her expression becomes serious as she turns to me. "By the way, Venice, I already got to talk to Justice earlier before she went to school."

"What did she say?" I still ask, even though the answer is already evident because of her worn expression.

She looks hopeless as she sighs in despair. "I did my best to persuade her, but she said she doesn't need it."

Of course, she'll say that.

Looking back on our earlier encounter, I expect that it will be hard to deal with her. In her case, it's not surprising that she refuses to get help. She doesn't want anyone's help, and that's also the reason why she's pushing everyone out of her life. However, it's not enough reason to give up on her.

We should never give up on someone who needs help because we might be the only one who has the heart to do it.

"Let me try to talk to her." I decide to take responsibility. "I'll make sure that she'll agree."

Eleanor smiles at me with gratitude. "If that's the case, thank you for taking the initiative, Venice."

"No problem. It's a pleasure of mine to help."

•••

After eating breakfast, Cole and I didn't waste any more time and hit the road. Usually, my apartment's thirty minutes away from their house, but since there are only a few cars on the road, it will only take twenty minutes or less for sure.

"Are you sure about persuading Justice?" Cole starts asking about his cousin. "If my mom can't get through her, I think it'll be two times harder for you."

"I know..." I say under my breath. I already experienced trying to approach her last night and earlier. "But you know me so well, Cole. You know I won't just be able to stay still without doing anything. And besides, I've dealt with a lot of difficult patients. I'm sure I can talk it out with Justice if given more time."

Patients like Justice can be hard to deal with at first. But once you extend your patience and show that that you're genuine about helping them, you'll be able to gain their trust eventually.

A smile touches Cole's lips. "Thank you..."

I look at him skeptically. "What was that for?"

"It's because I can see that you're really willing to help my cousin," he explains. "You genuinely care about my family, and that means a lot, Ven. I know my mother also feels the same way." He replaces his right hand on the steering wheel with his left hand so that he can reach and hold my hand.

"It's my job," I tell him. "And I don't know why, but I feel attached to Justice even during our first meeting. There's this look of longing on her face which makes me want to protect her and fill that emptiness she feels inside."

It must be due to the nature of my job. I'm sensitive when it comes to other people's feelings; that's why it's easier for me to get attached and sympathize with them. But I think I'm more concerned with Justice because she's a family.

"Yes, I know... So, thank you." Cole glances at me, then looks away immediately and chuckles. "Damn it! You're making me fall for you even more like I've not fallen deeply enough."

I laugh because he's too cute whenever he's embarrassed. I wish I could spend the rest of the day with him, but he has a meeting. I have to be a good girl and wait for him until dinner.

"I'll come and pick you up later before six, okay?" he reminds me as he pulls over in front of my apartment's building.

"Okay, okay..." I lean forward to give him a peck. "Drive safely."

He speeds up when I get off the car as he only has an hour left. Concern about his driving speed, I pull my phone out of my pocket and message him to slow down a bit before entering the building and going up to my apartment.