Beautiful Stranger Ch. 08

I know you all probably hate me and I'm sorry for that. I didn't expect it to take so long to update this. But now that I finally have I hope that you will all read it and enjoy. This starts off with Izzie remembering her intervention and goes on from there. Feel free to leave comments and votes. And once again I hope you enjoy it.

-theonlinestalker

*****

The rain caressed my skin, coaxing me to sway with it to an imaginary beat. The soft rapping of each drop bouncing off my flesh only to slowly trail kisses down my body. The water only reminded me that the tingling that I felt was due to Michael's touch. I still hungered for the promise of something more from him and I was furious at myself for not allowing it the release my body had dreamed about.

My eyes glanced back at Aidan and for the first time I noticed that he was smiling at me. I must look like a fool to him standing in the pouring rain with my eyes closed. But even with him staring at me, I closed my eyes once more and tilted my head back. The torrent of rain melted against my flesh as I tried to erase my thoughts of Michael. The way he looked at me when he had opened his door to find me standing on the other side was nothing short of shock. And then the way he pleaded with me just with his eyes to stay and talk to him. But that was something I couldn't do. Some doors were meant to stay locked.

And this was one door that I couldn't afford to open.

Doors that I should let stay shut forever and yet the more that I thought about it; the more I wanted to drive back to his house and jump into his arms. But that was something I wasn't willing to allow myself to do.

Even as thoughts of him bombarded my conscious, I compelled myself to just feel the droplets of rain falling around me. There was something about the rain that seemed to soothe me in this moment. I couldn't put my finger on what that was, but I knew deep down that there was something magical about it. It was as if it were washing me clean of my past and giving me a fresh start at a life I didn't know I wanted.

Of course, technically, I didn't know what I wanted because I didn't know anything about my past.

Irony can be a bitch sometimes.

I let out a small gasp as I felt a hand grasping my arm. My eyes opened and I couldn't help but smile at Aidan as he pulled me towards his home. My feet led me towards the door to the huge house in front of me, trailing mud up each step. The sound of the muddy water squished under my feet with each step I took making me smile.

It took a lot of focus to keep one foot in front of the other as Aidan dragged me behind him. A few times I actually slid, but at the last minute had managed to get my balance. That had caused him to laugh out loud at me.

As the doors swung open to the foyer, the smell of apples and cinnamon collided with my nose, pulling me further into Aidan's home. My eyes went to his automatically as I tried to fight off the goofy smile that crossed my face. Instead I found an identical one plastered on his face, but there was also something else.

He knew that apple pie was my favorite desert, and to say that his was absolutely divine would be an understatement.

I took a small step forward towards the hypnotic smell allowing my hand to slip from Aidan's. A piece of apple pie was just what the doctor ordered. Especially after the encounter I had just left with Michael. Apple pie and ice cream.

The smell pulled me closer to my destination, wrapping around me with each step I took. I looked back to see that Aidan was fidgeting. What was his problem?

As I made it to the door, I stopped in my tracks. The sight before me made all the tension in my chest disappear. Sitting at the kitchen counter was Thomas. I smiled at him and walked towards him to get a much needed hug. I wanted to tell him about the day I'd had, but stopped when I realized that Thomas was here in Aidan's house.

Why was Thomas here? He never came to Aidan's place.

"Aidan called me," Thomas signed. "And before you ask?no, you didn't say anything out loud. I just know you that well.

My eyes moved back to Aidan. If only that were true, I mused. The truth was that I didn't even know myself that well. How could anyone else?

It was then for the first time since we stepped foot inside his house that I noticed Aidan was actively avoiding my eyes. I squinted as I tried to read his lips, but he had turned his body sideways towards the opposite side of the kitchen.

It was then that I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. In the corner were two more people sitting at the kitchen table. Stephen and another man I had never seen before sat there patiently waiting for a reaction from me

I blinked rapidly as I stared at the group of men I had come to think of as family. Their faces now held an array of emotions ranging from trepidation to guilt. My gaze left Stephen as I turned once more to Aidan. The look of confusion on my face was obvious enough fikirtepe escort to cause him to drop his gaze from mine.

In the background flashes of icy blue electricity shot through the night sky. Each streak of light cast through the window behind me; momentarily drawing my attention to the storm before I turned back to Thomas.

I watched with confusion as he lifted his hands and signed, "This is an intervention."

"Intervention?" I signed back. "For me?"

The nod was the only response I received. Scanning the room again my eyes landed on the face I wasn't familiar with.

"Aidan," I signed as my body turned to him. "What the hell?"

"That's the friend I spoke to you about. Izzie it's time to at least consider your choices of surgery. We've talked about it for a while," he signed.

Taking a step back I shook my head. The betrayal I felt was more than I could take. This day wasn't getting any better for me.

"How could you?" I cried, casting my eyes at everyone in the room. "All of you? How could you?"

The touch of a hand caused me to stop, but when I looked down there was nothing there.

"Don't you think you've waited long enough Isabelle? We've already told you that you are the perfect candidate," Aidan's doctor friend signed. "You could have your hearing back in a matter of weeks. Why won't you let your friends and family help you?"

"Because, I'm scared!"

My body tossed gently as I tried to move away from everyone. The movements become harder forcing me to look up. Rays of sunlight greeted me as I blinked my eyes rapidly. Their warm glow contradicted the harsh darkness of the storm I had remembered. Even though I didn't know how the storm had passed so quickly I couldn't help smiling to myself.

I tried to close my eyes to remember the feeling of content when my body was once again moved. Opening my eyes again I frowned and looked up at the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

Michael.

Of course I would see him. He was always the first thing I saw in the morning. This time had been stranger than the others though. This dream had involved me being bound to a hospital bed, but Michael had been with me and that had more than made up for it.

What was even better than his presence was that he had told me he loved me. He had always loved me and no matter how hard he tried, he could never make those feelings stop. Those words were like music to my eyes. I chuckled at my lame joke and closed my eyes once more. His words made me want to remember a time when we were friends, so that I could understand the man he had become.

The soft touch of fingers made me open my eyes once more to see a concerned Michael staring down at me. His vibrant emerald eyes stared at me and for the first time I noticed that his hands were moving. Was what happened real? Did he really profess his love to me? And where was I?

For the first time, I allowed my eyes to roam. The pale white walls greeted me in my quest to search my surroundings. A picture was thrown up here and there for good measure. Each pastel landscape accentuated the horrible flower motif beside them. No sane person would ever dream of buying these things if they didn't have to.

The machine beside my bed waved up and down as it monitored my heart. It wasn't a dream.

My eyes once again found Michael's before I lifted my hands and then let them fall back to my sides. I wasn't sure what to say. And as if reading my mind, he lifted his hands and signed, "You're in the hospital. The doctors warned us you'd be pretty out of it last night, so that's why you probably don't remember much."

I remember you being here.

"You pretty much passed out after I talked to you. Thomas and Aidan are outside, they needed coffee," he signed before adding, "And the doctor said only one of us could visit at a time. They let me go first."

The smile on his face made me smile in return. He looked so young when he smiled. He should do it more often.

I couldn't help but smile at the mention of them both, they were the reason I was here. The reason I could get my hearing back in a matter of weeks. At first, I was upset and amazed at how they had gone behind my back and orchestrated this whole thing. But then as time passed, I realized what they said was true. And even though there was no sign that read Intervention, it was an intervention that I truly needed.

"What are you scared of?" Michael signed. I hadn't realized that I had screamed those words out loud. The expression on his face let me know that he was concerned.

It was then that movement caught my eye. Craning my head up and to the left a little, I saw three smiling men. Each one looking at me like kids at Christmas just before their parents tells them to rip into their presents.

It didn't escape my attention that Stephen's arms were wrapped protectively around Thomas' waist. He must have been terrified with me in surgery. If there was one thing that Thomas gebze escort hated, it was the not knowing part. Add me in the mix and he was probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Come in," I signed with a smile on my face.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I saw Thomas push Aidan behind him and make a beeline to my bed. It reminded me of the three stooges the way they were fighting to get to me. Each one stopped short of the bed breathing theatrically hard. And then there was nothing.

As I waited for one of them to say something, I noticed that each of them avoided my eyes. Even going so far as to look above me. All of them but Michael and Aidan.

Rolling my eyes I snapped my fingers, thankful that the sound couldn't add to the pounding in my head. My hands raised slowly as I signed, "What? You never saw a deaf chick before?"

"Finally," Thomas signed as he sat down on my bed. "Something funny," he smiled.

The looks on their faces told me that the joke had the desired effect as all of them smiled at me. How did I get so lucky that I ended up with all of these men in my life?

"Hi to you too Tommy," I signed back.

"I'll even let that slide right now," he smiled although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Don't ever make a decision that big and not let us know Elle. When they told us that you were in surgery I almost had a heart attack. It was supposed to just be a simple exam and consultation."

"Thomas, stop signing so fast. I'm still doped up on drugs," I signed back to him.

"Sorry Kiddo. Can't help it," he laughed.

My eyes drifted towards Aidan and saw that he was standing back from the rest of the group. "Come here," I signed. I watched as his eyes moved from my hands to Michael and then back to me again. I frowned as I watched the interaction between the two of them. Then taking my hand, I pointed at Aidan and then furiously pointed to the spot in front of me.

I watched as a smile erupted on his face and he came over to stand beside me. And then I took his hand and wrote on it with my finger. He looked back at the group and then nodded. I smiled and finally mouthed, "I thought so" before opening my arms for a hug.

"Wait. What did she just say to you," Thomas asked interrupting our moment.

"So when can I leave," I asked ignoring him.

"I need to learn sign language," Stephen huffed as he looked at Thomas to translate.

A smile spread across my face as I looked at him and signed the same words. Thomas looked at me as if for confirmation before I nodded and then he too smiled.

"Today," Michael signed answering my previous question. "We just have to talk to your doctor and then sign some papers."

"Good. I could use a nice hot bath," I signed and then frowned as I saw everyone in the room pause and look at each other. Stephen's face was even turning a rosy shade of pink.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Taking a step forward Aidan looked down at me and smiled. "Not at all," he signed while looking over at Michael. "Everything is perfect."

****

Michael watched as she had each of them come into the room and the way that Thomas fawned over her as if she was his child. He really was a good friend. It was that Aidan guy he didn't trust. No matter what anyone said, there was something more beneath his best friend act. And Michael knew from experience that even if you started out being just friends those feelings could easily escalate.

They had for him.

Isabelle obviously sensed the tension because she demanded that Aidan come up to her. And then she talked to him the way she used to talk to Michael when she didn't want anyone to know. She wrote small letters on his hand in a code that they had made up. And yet here she was using it with him.

Did the fact that she could remember that code mean that she was getting closer to remembering him? It wasn't until Stephen proclaimed that he needed to learn sign language that Michael tore his gaze from the two.

It was then that Izzie asked when she could leave.

"Today," Michael answered before anyone else had a chance to open their mouths.

"Good. I need a nice hot bath."

The groan that left his mouth had been purely accidental, but still it had left. The thought of her naked in a hot bubble bath had popped into his head as soon as she signed the words. He had never seen Izzie naked but from the glimpses he had gotten from just the hospital gown, he would bet she was even more gorgeous without clothes.

The smile she plastered on her face hadn't helped. If anything she reminded him of the young girl he used to know. He loved who she had become, but part of him missed the old Isabelle Jones too.

Michael slowly looked around as he noticed the expression on Isabelle's face. She might not have heard him, but obviously everyone else had and their body language must have told her something was up, because the next thing she signed was, "What? Did I say içerenköy escort something wrong?"

"No," Aidan had smiled at me, turning back to look down at her. "Everything is perfect."

"So who's taking me home?"

The question was spoken out loud which caught Michael off guard. Her voice still sounded as musical as it had all those years ago. It was a little different, but still very much Isabelle.

"I am," he nearly screamed.

All eyes fell on Michael as he blushed and signed, "I am."

"I guess Michael is," Thomas smiled while shaking his head.

"Yeah, I guess I am," he smiled back.

****

The car bounced slightly as it cruised down the pot hole ridden road. My eyes remained closed the entire drive, even though I wasn't really asleep. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to muster up the courage to talk to Michael.

His emerald eyes always seemed to melt my heart and after our declaration of love, we needed cooler heads to prevail. And my hormones seemed to imagine him dripping water off his body every time I looked at him.

And so I pretended to sleep until sleep actually washed over me.

I had closed my eyes and allowed the pain medication to lull me into a calm state. And daydream. In them a younger version of me sat in a field looking at a wagon. The crimson glint of the metal had been rubbed off in places to reveal rusted metal beneath. And yet I stood there looking at this child's toy as if it was something magical.

The sound of someone behind me made me smile as I turned my head and looked at a younger version of Michael. And even though he looked manlier there was something just as boyish about the older version as there was the dream Michael.

"I knew I'd find you here," he smiled as he kissed the top of my head.

"How'd you know that?"

"Because you find beauty in everything and everything sees the beauty in you," he whispered in my ear.

"Mikey, that sounds like a riddle," I laughed. It had been years since I'd actually heard the sound of my laughter, but I could still remember what it sounded like.

Dream Michael just spun me around and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder as he ran further into the thicket of grass that had grown around the red wagon.

That had been the exact moment that I had felt his hand shaking me awake. Back to reality where I knew very little about him except for the fact that I loved him and wanted to be with him as much as he claimed to love me.

Seconds later the car came to a halt, and I could feel the low vibrations of the engine turn off. My eyes opened into half lids as I stretched my arms and legs. Opening the door, I took a deep breath and then decided it was best to leave the car and scurry into the house before anything awkward could be said.

One foot touched the ground before I realized that I wasn't at my house.

"Where are we," I signed to him looking around. "This isn't my house. Or your house."

"It's my villa. We're taking a little vacation from the world for the week."

"I can't take a vacation; I need to find a job. What about Thomas? I can't just go off with you to who knows where and just stay for a week," I signed furiously.

Closing his hands over mine, he kissed each one slowly and then pushed them down to my side.

"To answer your questions and concerns," he signed with a smile on his face. "You have a job. Thomas and I spoke about this in the hospital and he's okay with it. He has my phone number and said to tell you he'd be checking in on you every day. And you do know me."

"And when were you going to tell me all this?" I signed glaring at him.

"Now," he smiled.

"You ass--"

"Izzie?I know you won't remember this about me, but I don't listen to you often.

"I can see that," I frowned.

"Come with me," he signed walking as quickly as he could towards the walkway. All around me the sky had begun to change. Fuchsia clashed with tangerine ribbons as the sun sank into the horizon. Within moments everything would be encased in darkness. At that thought a shiver ran down my spine. Could I handle being alone with him for a week? And in the middle of nowhere at that.

My hand reached out to grab his and I was reward with a quick glance from those emerald jewels I dreamed about. Three steps later and a mini maneuver through a hallway, Michael and I stood in the main room of his villa. Or as he liked to call it, his Great Room.

"Michael," I spoke out loud, waiting for him to turn towards me. "What are we doing here?"

A half smile graced his face as he took a step towards me and then lowered his face within inches of mine. His eyes caressed my face as I watched them dart from my eyes to my lips. And then his lips covered mine in the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced.

Time stood still as I melted into his body. The vibration of a groan echoed through me and the only thing I could think of to do was grab on and enjoy the ride. Soft lips trailed kisses to the corner of my mouth, slowly moving down to my jaw line. My head lulled back as I felt the same feeling I had when I was at his house. This wanton needed to give myself over to him taking over and threatening to grab hold of me.