A Graduation Gift

Cassandra stood at the side of the road, holding the phone in her hand and dumbfounded. She didn't know what had just happened.

She heard something loud. Where could it have come from?

Suddenly, she had a good guess on what had happened so she turned around and ran back to the Garden Villa immediately.

The wind blew across her face as she breathed heavily and quickened her pace.

Her heart was beating rapidly and she could only see darkness but she held on to the one person who was keeping her going.

It was Rufus! Rufus!

Rufus could feel his body aching all over when the terrible car accident happened. But nothing could compare to the ache his heart was nursing.

"Cassandra..."

Rufus murmured the little woman's name. A glimpse of a familiar figure was suddenly running towards him.

Was it Cassandra? Or an illusion?

Rufus couldn't tell who the figure was because he couldn't even open his eyes. Before he knew it, he had already fainted.

Cassandra saw Rufus's Range Rover crash into a wall from a distance—the front of the car looked quite damaged.

Her chest tightened at what she'd seen; her heart began to beat so fast that she felt it would jump out of her chest anytime soon.

She ran and ran until she'd closed the distance between them.

When she arrived at the car, she saw Rufus slumping over the wheel. His legs were stuck inside the car and he looked terrible. It was hard to digest the entire scene.

Cassandra felt as if someone had grabbed her heart and crushed it—she couldn't breathe.

She tried to ram the door open but it was locked and she couldn't break it from the outside.

She then tried to smack the window hoping that Rufus would wake up to the noise but he didn't even flinch. He wasn't moving at all. Did he just faint or was he...dead already?

Cassandra was crying and shrieking, "Rufus, wake up! Don't leave me! Rufus!"

What Rufus had said before came true.

Cassandra leave him was if he

do this, Rufus! Wake up!'

way to break inside the car. However, they were in

number and hoped that the ringing would

didn't work. Rufus just

up! Please! You're scaring

Rufus had already stayed in

up with another idea—she used her keys to try

just kept trying and trying. Eventually, the window started to show some cracks, but her hands

cracks had shown, she took a deep breath and landed a clenched fist through the window. The

the while, her hand was shivering.

was short

anyway—this was an emergency after all. She gathered all her energy and

resuscitate him—she tried pumping his chest hard and fast with her hands, then blowing air into his

she wished in her heart that Rufus would open his eyes to look at her.

through the bitter taste in her mouth; she fought through the exhaustion—but to no

She was crying,

you, I'm so sorry! Open your eyes and look at me! I won't leave you anymore, please don't leave me

in her heart that was filled

would never have attempted to break up with him. She thought she was doing the right thing. She'd

with me, I'm

as she continued to breathe life

heaved.

pump his chest and blow air into his mouth. She had

a cold, dark place. Everything about him felt stuck and frozen

Cassandra! It

eyes and hold her in his arms. He wanted to tell her, 'Cassandra, I'm yours

do so as

pumping his chest and blowing air into his mouth. Rufus could tell that it was Cassandra's lips that had touched his cold ones; as soon as their lips met, Rufus felt his

you, Cassandra? Are you saving

the tears that ran in Cassandra's mouth. He couldn't help but

and tell her that he loved her so much. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay. Hard as he tried, he just couldn't make himself move. He felt disconnected from his body as

he sensed how scared Cassandra was.

be scared, darling. I'll protect you, I'm here, '

bawling only motivated him to push his body more—he wanted to speak to her, feel