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.

let Cassandra leave him was if he

Rufus! Don't do this, Rufus!

inside the car. However, they were in a deserted area and no one was even passing by. She

came to her. She dialed Rufus's number and hoped that the

work. Rufus just

up! Please! You're

open the car. She was starting to get worried as Rufus had already stayed in an oxygen-deprived space for too long and his legs

with another idea—she used her keys to try to break the window

trying and trying. Eventually, the window started to show some cracks,

took a

open from the inside—all the while, her hand was shivering. She reached inside the car and grabbed Rufus's body in an attempt to

short and slim—she wasn't strong enough to move

didn't stop Cassandra from trying anyway—this was an emergency after all. She gathered all her

on the road and started to resuscitate him—she tried pumping his chest hard and fast with her hands, then

Rufus would

fought through the bitter taste in her mouth; she fought through the

lose hope. She was

I'm so sorry! Open your eyes and

heart that was filled

with him. She thought she was doing the right thing. She'd been thinking over this

with

continued to breathe life back into

Rufus's chest heaved. Cassandra

air into his mouth. She had

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

couldn't see anything in the darkness but he could hear a familiar voice. Cassandra! It was Cassandra's voice!

his arms. He wanted

energy to do so as he couldn't feel his body

where he was and someone started resuscitating him. Someone was 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

Are you saving me?' Rufus thought to

the bitterness of the tears that ran in Cassandra's mouth. He couldn't help but feel his heart ache at

eyes, reach out to touch her hair, 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 if everything was too

when he sensed how scared Cassandra was.

you scared? Don't be scared, darling. I'll protect you, I'm here, '

push his body more—he wanted to