5

When I was there, time was moving really fast. It was like morning and night would just pass by in the blink of an eye. My everyday routine was basically just waking up, getting cleaned up with the nurses' help, having breakfast, and then getting ready for therapy because it turned out that my legs weren't able to support my body.

The nurse said that was just a side effect of the too-strong meds. Afterwards, I just sat in my wheelchair, staring at the bluish-white sky in the room. That afternoon, he took me around the garden in a wheelchair.

I don't have any thoughts about it at the moment.

It's been a week since I left this room for the first time.

I was surprised because it was such a big house. My bedroom's on the third floor. My old house was pretty big, but this one is way bigger. I only see the maids.

It seems like he's living by himself.

If you look in the corner of the room, you'll see an elevator that goes down to the lower floor. I take the elevator because I use a wheelchair.

This house is perched on the mountains, so from my balcony, I've got a clear view of the sky, no buildings in the way! This house has both a front yard and a big backyard. I was totally blown away by the view when I went outside the first time.

When I got outside, I was greeted by a big, shady tree, a cool breeze, and a green carpet of grass. This house has a lot of trees around it. There's a greenhouse with gorgeous flowers to the west of the house. The flowers are arranged in an orderly, colorful way.

When I accidentally coughed and a petal fell out of my mouth, the man laughed and said, "If you sit between those flowers, I can't find you."

I looked over at him when he said something like that while laughing.

Did he realize how terrible his humor was?

The man'll be leaving in the morning and coming back in the afternoon. When he got back from outside, the smell of cigarettes mixed with the sweet pheromones hit me. When he was just hanging around at home, I never caught a whiff of that cigarette smell on him.

He'd even eat with me in my room sometimes. But sometimes he also eats by himself in the dining room.

The maids would often talk to him and call him by name, “Mr. Gruvv.”

"He'll be back on his feet in no time, all the bruises have gone down, and he's doing a lot better. He's also gained weight, but that'll balance out." After the doctor gave me the once-over, he had a big grin going on between his beard and his long mustache. His face was pretty old, and I didn't detect any pheromones.

It seems pretty obvious to me that the doctor is a Beta.

"So, what about that other stuff, like the injuries?" He asked again, this time standing next to the doctor with a serious face.

The other part?

"He'll be back to normal in a week." The doctor smiled and replied, gently touching my hand. "Good job, Shiloh." He mentioned that.

I gave him a puzzled look, having no idea why the doctor had said that.

"And what about the Hanahaki?"

The doctor didn't immediately answer. He thought for a minute before finally taking the man out of the room. I mean, there's got to be something they're keeping under wraps. I think it's about time I started asking that guy a lot of questions.

A little bit later, the guy came back. I was in bed reading the book he got me a few days ago.

"You'll bounce back soon," He said with a smile. He started the conversation by sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"How long has it been since I was here?" I put the book down and looked at him.

"Two months."

I blinked. Time goes really fast.

He glanced down, fidgeting with his fingers. I know he's waiting.

"What's your name?" I asked then, trying to change the room that suddenly got so tense.

"Gruvv." He replied calmly, but he still wasn't looking at me. His huge body with muscles looks so small at the same time. That's strange.

"Mr. Gruvv, do you know my dad?"

Gruvv lifted his head, and I could see that he was clearly uncomfortable. I don't understand, I wonder why he put on such a face.

"Your dad owes us money. You've heard about the company going bankrupt?"

I nodded, "Yeah. That's why..." I paused for a second because I felt a pain in my chest when the bad memory came back. I was like, "That's why he sold his only Dominant Omega son. For money."

Gruvv gave a slow nod.

"So, are you going to sell me too?"

I could tell he was uncomfortable. He shook his head slowly. "No, I'd rather not. I brought her because I needed to know where your father was."

I sat in silence for a moment, and the pain in my throat came back. I feel that tightness in my chest again, it's so familiar. It always happens when I think about my dad and everything he did for me in exchange for money.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you out. I have no idea where my dad is."

Gruvv didn't seem too surprised. He ran his fingers through his hair and lowered his head again, this time just enough for me to see the top of his head.

"You want to hold me as a hostage?"

"Excuse me?"

"Honestly, I don't have any idea where my dad is. I'm not even sure if he's here or not, so I can't give you that info. You can use me as a bait to draw him out from his hiding spot." I said.

I looked into Gruvv's eyes and felt like I needed to apologize because I wasn't helpful at all. "You've been working hard to get me back on my feet and back to normal. I'm not sure what else I can say to express my gratitude."

My voice made me shudder when I heard it, it sounds so desperate. I'm seriously considering whether I even want to keep going with this. If this guy finds my dad later, will he throw me away? I'm wondering if he's going to send me to jail too, like he did with my father.

I'm not really sure.

Honestly, I'm not looking for an answer here. I just wanted to lend a hand. I could really smell the man's pheromones, and the effect was powerful. I want to breathe in more.