Chapter 2 : the imprisoned maiden

In his hands he held the medical diploma. Her name was Sophie Young, a graduate of the most important and prestigious University in England.

He put the sheet aside on his desk.

Most likely, he would never be able to practice that profession, as long as Gerald Young did not allow it.

She had lived her entire life locked in the tallest tower of the Young mansion. His twenty-five years old.

He didn't even have the right to have a balcony. The windows were blocked with thick gilt bars. He could open them, to let in currents of air.

He let out a heavy sigh and wondered to get up from the red velvet chair. He had already spent a long time contemplating his library, with books read and reread several times.

His grandfather refused to bring him any more novels, at least not until he finished his majors.

He wanted to help people, heal wounds. She dreamed of being a researcher, finding the cure for deadly diseases. Not that she intended to discover a way to live forever, but she had no trouble daydreaming. Perhaps her grandfather was right, novels made her fantasize too much.

The only person she knew, besides the characters in the books, was him. He knew that there were cooks, gardeners, cleaners in the mansion, but he never saw their faces.

His grandfather brought him food, clothes and helped him clean his room. He was his teacher. He taught him everything he knew. Sophie was a quick learner and as educated a doctor as he was. Her parents died when she was just a month-old baby, and even then she lived in the tower. He used to feed her with a bottle of nutritious milk, as her mother refused to breastfeed him. Her parents considered her a phenomenon, and for that reason they abandoned her.

He carried an extremely weak immune system. The outside world was his enemy.

At the age of four he could already read and write. While looking for a novel in the library, the dust filled his nose and eyes. He was in bed for six months, always presenting one complication or another.

Recovering, he clumsily climbed a ladder to reach the top shelves of the library and fell on his back. He injured his head and spine. Her grandfather was horrified at the pool of blood and the girl unable to move a finger. She spent two years invalid.

If she was in danger inside the tower, what would happen to her outside?

For some unknown reason, there was a laboratory in the tower, where he carried out his medical practices under the strict supervision of his grandfather. He falsified some papers, so that he could legally practice medicine. He had the possibility of giving distance classes and telemedicine consultations, thanks to his computer. But she wanted to go out and explore the world.

He let out a sigh again, sad this time.

He turned to see the window, the golden bars that formed his prison.

He managed to see woods and a part of a charming and colorful garden.

When it was open, birds flew between the bars.

His singing amazed her, made her feel less alone.

"You came to see me again," she said sweetly to that little blue bird that had been visiting her for a week.

If her grandfather found out she was touching them, he would make a fuss.

I hugged the bird against my chest, its plumage was soft.

She wanted to be like him, or her, because she wasn't sure of her gender. To be free, to have wings to fly out of the tower.

She let the bird go, she didn't want it to be a prisoner like her.

The smell of cigarettes filled the double room. She let out huge puffs of smoke, ignoring her husband's warning. A year ago he had recovered from malignant lung cancer. He even swore to have seen the angel of death, flying overhead.

"Again?" he asked reluctantly. Gerald knew the answer, he lost count of the number of times he heard it.

"Yes, again," replied Virginia proudly. She was wearing sheer black pajamas, sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed trying to look sexy.

Gerald was on duty when an unconscious woman lying on a stretcher arrived at the hospital. She was dirty, with torn clothes and full of bruises.

The X-ray showed the worst result, the malignant cells covered part of his left lung, which was removed to save his life.

Virginia confessed that she took the vice in her adolescence. She was once married to a good man, Andrew Brown. He was very sweet, and did everything he could to get her to give up the cigarette. The couple adopted three children, and not even they were able to help him. For that reason, he preferred to get away from his family. He got lost in seedy bars and clubs, while Andrew had custody of the minors. It was on one of those nights that he had the misfortune of falling into the hospital.

Virginia married, seduced by Gerald Young's fortune, and he out of pity. In this union, where they had been together for more than twenty years, none of them loved each other.

"Do you want to make love, darling?" Virginia asked, behind a gray cloud.

- You worry me, I tried very hard to save you just like my colleagues. You can die. Gerald warned him with pitiful eyes.

"I don't care," she said resignedly.

Gerald flopped down on the edge of the bed. He was wearing a black suit.

"Do you want some massages?" she offered, rubbing her shoulders.

"Could be," he accepted with a muffled voice.

-Did you have a bad day? - questioned without much interest; I was just looking for topics of conversation.

"Sophie," he confessed.

Sophie, Sophie. Always Sophie- she blurted out bored with the same subject.

- I would like him to leave the tower, have friends his age, work treating patients face to face, go to the movies, talk about books with other people, get married and have children - he revealed, letting out some tears

-Mathew and Jessica are a year older than Sophie. If you let them into the damn tower...

- No, only I go in there. I am your family. Also, Mathew and Jessica aren't exactly the best influences in the world...

-Well, they are young and like to have fun. They are working in a very important company all day - she defended them, very angry at her husband's comment. He wanted to tighten the skin, but held back

-It was your fault, they saw you. They copied you. How did you get them to let you adopt it if you are addicted to cigarettes?

- Well, the judge found out and that's why they took me out of custody, in court when I divorced Andrew Brown.

-Yes, at least. You have to be blind not to notice it. I imagine you in the same way, with more discreet clothes filling the courtroom with smoke.

- Andrew Brown was a good lawyer. He made the mistake of meddling with dangerous people and was killed for it. He was so noble, that he gave his life for the innocent. And he was handsome- she remembered his blue eyes like the ocean.

They heard a knock on the door.

Young, you have a visitor. They are waiting for you in the lobby.

-And what the hell does he want?!- shouted Virginia angrily, that everything annoyed her.

-Marry Sophie Young, and live locked up in the tower.

"What?!" They exclaimed at the same time, their eyes widening.