True Intentions

After Callie returned with the serum, she sterilised the needle and promptly administered the medicine to Elias’s arm. Once that was done, she noticed that the wound on his hand had stopped bleeding, so she helped him bandage it. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ Callie asked, concern etched in her voice. ‘The medicine I gave you last time...’ ‘I gave it to him, and he took it,’ Harriet replied with a sigh. ‘But he didn’t follow your instructions. He worked more than usual, and that’s why his fever has become so serious.’ There were unspoken words in Harriet’s reply. She sensed that Elias had reverted to his former self in Callie’s absence. But there was something more troubling in Elias’s demeanour. ‘But...’ Callie mumbled, ‘He was the one who pushed me away.’ ‘Exactly why he’s regretting his decision,’ Harriet observed. ‘What does he want from me?’ Callie’s eyes welled up with tears. ‘I know he likes me, but Harriet, the truth is he’s distancing himself from me. Even if it’s all an act, it st