I looked around and saw the tube of drips hanging on the left side of the bed next to my head. Its tube was connected to my left arm. If I have been sleeping for days, this liquid must have been my food for the whole time. Looking at the pack of colorless liquid that drops slower than a second in between the next drops, a thought suddenly flashed in my mind.
This thought traveled from my brain down to that specific part of my anatomy. I felt like a marionette with a string being pulled away to make me move. I sprang up, but the pain in my left side made me pause. I couldn’t even lift a finger due to the extreme pain I felt at my sudden move.
“Do you need a hand?”
I heard a man’s voice speak softly as he walked closer to my bed, opposite where the lady was leaning asleep as she sat on a chair. In my pained face, I stared at the man. He looked like he was in his mid-fifties. He had pepper and salt colored hair. I could tell the man was a gym rat somehow. He has a fierce-looking face, and I find it hard to believe he was the same man speaking so calmly and cautiously at the moment.
“She had been watching over you for two nights straight. I guess her body is collecting all the sleep she had been lacking,” the man said, looking at the lady, who was now softly snoring.
“I’d like to use the bathroom,” I answered with the same small voice as the man had to avoid waking up the sleeping beauty.
“You have a catheter on you, but since you are awake, you won’t need it anymore. I believe you can remove it on your own, but as a medical practitioner, I can also help you if you find it challenging to do.”
“No, sir, thank you. I… I have never done this before, but I am confident I can manage,” I answered politely.
“The toilet is that way. Marco, right?” he said, pointing at a door by the corner.
“Yes, sir. Marco Alfonso.”
I extended my hand for a formal handshake and verbally expressed my gratitude.
“Thank you so much for saving my life. Please let me know how I can repay you,” I spoke with utmost sincerity.
“Let’s take about it when you’re done,” the man said, pointing his chin in the toilet’s direction. His face showed an indescribable expression or emotion. I was not really sure of what. But I nodded in response. I looked around to see if I could find where my clothes.
“Use the set of patient’s clothes Skye brought home for you. It’s in the rack inside there,” he said without even sparing a glance at me as he squatted on the cabinet next to the bed, and I saw him take a fresh bedsheet and blanket.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
I wanted to ask where my clothes and things were, but I did not want to sound arrogant, so I just thought about asking bout them later when we talk. I sautered my way to the door the man pointed I should head to, and standing in front of the mirror, I realized I was wearing a blue set of cotton fabric pajamas.
“Am I in some sort of a private clinic or something?” I thought when I saw the same set of clothes on the rack, just as the man had told me to change into. “Everything looks fancy and expensive. But the man doesn’t look like a medical practitioner despite what he had said earlier when he offered me assistance to remove the… Ah, right! I should remove it now!”
I kept murmuring as I did my thing in the bathroom. I saw my bandaged wound. It made me fall into deep thoughts about who could have been so bold enough to install an automatic gun in my office. It only meant one thing. Whoever did it is within my people.
“But who?”
This question is so challenging because I know I have a lot of enemies. And despite loyalty, my men might still fall into a trap and have no choice but to betray me if they get threatened with harming any of their families and loved ones.
“Was it on purpose not to kill me with that one shot?”
This thought also bothered me. I was literally vulnerable. Had whoever placed that gun under my desk wanted me dead, they could have installed the weapon somewhere I would get shot at a fatal point. Or maybe I was just lucky?
I blew a deep breath. I couldn’t move at my usual speed due to the pain in my waist, but I did it anyway. I washed my face and noticed my stubbles had grown over the days, but I was not in my place to feel free doing everything I wished to do, so I left them untouched. I folded the dirty clothes I was wearing earlier and placed them neatly on the side since I did not see any laundry basket anywhere in the room. Then I slowly walked out.
The moment my eyes roamed. I saw the man covering the lady with a blanket. She was now lying on the patient bed I used to lay down on in the past three days, if I am right.
“I am afraid to interrupt her sleep, so I just changed the beddings and laid her there. I am sure you don’t want to be on your back for the next few hours, so until then, why don’t we talk and wait?” the man walked away from the bed and headed out the door.
I did not say anything, but I followed his lead. I saw the man cross the distance from the side of the bed to the door with only a few big strides, but I was taking it more slowly. I was curious about what I was going to see outside the room I was in for the first time. It gave me the motivation to ignore the pain and reach the door with haste.
“A house?”
I felt like my feet were nailed to the floor when I arrived at the door. My eyes roamed around. It wasn’t as big as my villa. Simple but homey. From where I was standing, I could see the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I turned to look at another corner. There was a plight of stairs going up.
“You must be hungry. Come this way,” the man said, popping his head behind a pillar in the dining area.
I did not know I was hungry until he mentioned it. My stomach reacted with a growl. I ambled and sat on the chair only after the man took his seat at the table.
“I will have my tea while you have your soup. Solid food is not an option for you to eat just yet, so bear with the taste. My daughter isn’t that bad in the kitchen,” the man said.
“Thank you, sir,” I curtly nodded, then started to spoon the soup after he had his first sip of the tea.
“I will be honest with you. We are speaking man to man here, so I am going to be frank and straight to the point,” the man started.
I just nodded and gave him a complying look. I owe this man my life. I am not in any position to be rude, whatever he has to say.
“My name is Theodor Christoff, and my daughter is Shecaina, but we call her Skye. I want you to remember these names so when the time comes, we ask for your help, and you will know who we are. Are we good?” the man said.
I was not expecting this kind of conversation at all. The words sounded simple, but I could not avoid feeling there was more to it than what it appeared to be.
“I will never forget such indebtedness. If you would allow, I would also want to pay every penny you spent for me, but rest assured that doesn’t end there. Please let me know how I could ever express my sincere gratitude,” I answered humbly.
“There will be a time for that. For now, you have to regain your strength before you leave this place. I have your things in my office, over there,” Theodor said with a hand pointing at a door behind the stairs. “My daughter did not see or touch any of them. But I saw your weapons and personal identifications. I also turned off your mobile phone just to make sure you are not being tracked, or whoever wants you dead might find out where you are and finish not only you.”
“I am so sorry to have brought so much trouble unto your home,” I answered.
“Who knew my daughter would even get to help an injured man like you?” Theodor chuckled. “I believe fate has a big role in playing this silly joke on us all, so we just have to flow with it, I guess.”
“Dad!? Marco?!” We both looked at each other as if we were asking each other if the other heard what one had just heard. “She must have realized it wasn’t her bed,” Theodor said soon after we heard a feminine voice calling our names one after the other. “She sounds like someone I have known or someone so close to me as a family or something with the way she would yell out my name,” I thought. “And I can’t disagree with you on that. I am beginning to feel jealous, young man!” “Huh?!” I was stunned. I did not know those words slipped off my lips and made the father hear of them. “I’m… Uhm… My apologies, sir…” I stammered in response. “What are you guys doing here?” the lady asked while rubbing her eyes off, one after the other.“Skye, honey, you should have taken more sleep. You look like a zombie, don’t you agree, Marco?” Theodor spoke with a hint of teasing to his daughter. “Dad, please…? I told you, it’s not like that. Stop it. You’re making me feel embarrassed in front of our
“You’re an injured man. My daughter can subdue you easily if you two get into a physical fight, and if you are trying to say you might take advantage of my daughter, I am telling you, with that injury you have, I doubt you have the ability to enjoy the moment,” Ted chuckled mischievously as he turned his back on me to walk out of the room. I was stunned at the father’s response. “Not that I am going to take advantage of your daughter, but I hope you don’t do this just to anyone,” I sincerely stated, trying to walk behind Ted. The father stopped in his tracks and turned around to face me. There were only halogen bulbs on so it wasn’t too bright, but I saw a bemusing smile sporting his mien. I waited to hear what he was going to say.“I haven’t done such things to my daughter. I haven’t had the chance to tease her about a man I think she is interested in, although she keeps saying I am mistaken. And I haven’t entrusted her to anyone before. But I know you respect her as you do to me
“I am not here to judge you. I see you as a light of hope beaming for me that whatever trauma I had in my childhood, I will get through all of them just like I am not afraid to see you bleeding. It makes me hold my grip on sanity knowing someone needs me or my help so I have to stay conscious and not faint despite the color of red seeping out of your wound. Whatever you do or whatever kind of person you are, I am not concerned at the moment. The victory over this fear that had been in my life ever since I could remember is the only thing that matters to me right now. So forgive me if I am behaving weirdly in your eyes. I know this too shall pass, but as of now, I wanna enjoy it.” I did not know why Skye was being so laid-back in front of me. But I could also feel the pure honesty of her words. Before I could even respond, she was talking again. “You might feel as if I am treating you like a newly found pet. I want to take care of you. I want you to get better as soon as possible. L
Skye'S POV“Hey!” Marco yelped chuckling. I could only hear his voice as my eyes were tightly shut in disrelish of the liquid as it reached my tastebuds and my brain declared it was a feeling of burning in my mouth and throat.“Agggghhh! What an agony,” I groaned and grimaced at the alcohol flavor. “Why did you do that? I did not even get the chance to enjoy the aroma of it,” Marco whined as if he was helpless.“I told you, you’re not allowed to drink. Not even a drop. Remember?” I squinted my eyes as I reprimand him. “I wasn’t going to!” Marco retorted defensively. He looked so cute as he pouted that I could not help smiling again. “I need that drink now, more than ever!” “Fine! Fine!” I exclaimed defeatedly. I poured another shot and handed it to him. “Here is another glass! Now don’t dare try having even a tiny sip of it! Ugh! I don’t even understand what taste this has,” I pulled a face as the aftertaste of the forty percent alcoholic drink’s flavor lingered in my mouth. Marco
“Are you trying to say I am a homosexual?” Marco asked with immense disbelief sporting his mien, but his tone remained gentle. “Or maybe a bi-sexual?” I asked again aiming to clarify.“Nope and no!?” This time he responded with his voice raised. “I can prove it to you but not for now. I am more worried that with you around I might suffer from too slow progress in recovery as you seem to enjoy making me yell every now and then. Whenever it happens, I feel my wound stretched and freshen up again,” Marco complained. “I’m sorry,” I apologized again. “We can talk about something else, you know?” I heard Marco inhale deeply. I think he is frustrated that he could not get rid of me, but I did not want to go up to bed just yet. And to be honest, aside from my dad Ted, Marco has been the only one I am very comfortable being with me around. He won’t be here for a lifetime, so I am going to avail myself of his presence while I can. “What do you wanna talk about?” Marco asked casually. His
I didn’t understand why my dad was so amused watching us. Or maybe me. If he was upset that I drank without him when he had offered me a lot of times to join him as he watched his favorite baseball team play the game every league, why would he look amused? I can even see him holding his laughter. He did not even fail to let his reactions hidden at times. But I had no time to interrogate him for the answers right now.“Bye, for now, dad, we are going to talk when I get back, okay?” I groaned as I walked away after giving him a kiss on his right cheek.“I will be waiting,” dad replied with a breathy laugh. Then he turned to Marco. “Drive safely, young man. I don’t want to see anyone bleeding when you return,” dad added.“Yes, sir!” Marco res
“Do you mind if we tell your dad we will be home late tonight?” Marco asked all of a sudden.“What? Where are we going? It’s just mid-morning,” I answered wondering.“I don’t want to lead whoever is after me to where you live and your dad,” Marco answered as he drove with speed. I could swear he was way past the limit, but I could not tell him to drive slow or abode with the law. If I remember the people after Marco correctly, they had deadly weapons. I don’t want to take any chances of being shot by a gun.“We will lose them first and change vehicles then when it is safe, I will send you home,” Marco said. “I can no longer be seen near you or around you. As much as possible, I cannot drag you and Ted into the mess I am because
Marco’s POVI did not want Skye to see the brutal death of her dad, but I guess I was too late. She saw what she wasn’t supposed to see and she lost it. She fainted in my arms.“Think! Think!” I knocked my head for what is best done in my situation.My car was parked at a distance and carrying an unconscious full grown woman with her whole weight in my arms might get us both dead before we reached the vehicle to leave this place alive.“I will be right back, Skye. Stay here for a while,” I whispered to Skye despite knowing she wouldn’t have heard whatever I had just said. I will use the element of surprise to avenge Ted’s unnecessary death at the hands of whoever was after me.