She looked at the watch all astonished, unable to believe that he would wear a watch with her face on the dial.

Looking at her puzzled and awed expression he said,

"I am kinda wearing my heart on my sleeves. Don't you think?"

He smiled and looked at her, expecting her to say something, but she stood there all stupified, without saying a word.

Running his finger through her hair he said,

"I look at it every single second of my life, and that's how I know it's you".

A drop of tear rolled down her eyes and before she could even wipe it, Raymond said,

"David got it made for me by the way. He got it custom made so that I can remember you this way".

He wiped the tears from her face and then holding her cheeks in his palms, he said,

"I was so scared of losing you. But you know what was even scarier?"

"The thought of not being able to remember you. The thought that I won't be able to recognize you even when you are standing right there in front of me. And more than that I don't want you to go through the pain of seeing me, not able to recognize you, not able to know that you are the love of my life".

"I... I can't bear to see you in any more pain Akira. I just can't".

Akira stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe that he would think of her love as so shallow. She gripped his hands which were cupping her face and pushed them away.

With a tone filled with resentment she asked,

"Is that why you decided to avoid me?"

"Is that the reason why you even denied to acknowledge my existence?"

"Is that why even after waking up, you didn't try to seek me even once?"

.

"You think, I didn't want to meet you? Do you think I didn't try to seek you? I was there right behind you, 24X7 but like a shadow. Not together with you, but always behind you. I followed you everywhere, every corner of the world that you tried to set your foot on Akira. My entire existence is based only on you. Without you, I cannot exist and I just hope you know that".

Taking a deep breath and drinking up the bitter pail of anger she asked looking directly into his eyes,

"What else are you hiding from me, Raymond?"

He shook his head feeling all helpless and then pointed at the file which was lying on the bed.

"Maybe you can read it and you will understand why I took such a decision".

Hearing his words, Akira immediately picked up the file, for she was unable to bear this whole charade that was ongoing.

PREDICTIVE_ANALYSIS_WEEK27 - Chances of partial paralysis 27.376 %

Rate of increase = 0.76% week on week

Memory loss ratio = 0 : 0.0069

PREDICTIVE_ANALYSIS_WEEK28 - Chances of partial paralysis 29.16 %

Rate of increase = 1.065 % week on week

Memory loss ratio = 0 : 0.0073

After reading the last two weeks report itself, her throat started to choke. She felt like she was struck by lightning at that very instant, immobilizing her and rendering her all helpless.

She threw the report back onto her bed and took a few steps back and leaned on to the wall for support. Her breath had become all shallow like she was lost somewhere in the unknown lands.

Seeing her all helpless like this, Raymond took a step ahead to hold her, to tell it was going to be ok. But she raised her palm indicating him to stop then and there.