Chapter 33

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height



"The bullet just went through my arm, didn't stay embedded," Victor said, smiling as he looked at Kate. "And it didn't even hit the bone. Kate, stop worrying. Those lines on your forehead is giving me a headache now."

Kate blinked and opened her mouth to say something but Victor cut in.

"And don't even dare say it is your fault, because it is so damn not." Victor gave her a firm look.

His eyes said he knew what exactly had been going on in her brain, like always.

How was he able to do this every time?

"Had it hit your bone, you might have lost your arm!" Kate shook her head, trying hard to remove the disturbing mental image from her mind. "And what if you were hit in the heart or any other organ. I could have lost you Victor."

Earlier, when the police arrived, a thorough investigation commenced in the orphanage. The function was ruined. At least they were at the end bit of the day already and in a twisted way it brought massive popularity to the orphanage because of the media coverage.

The surrounding buildings were searched without wasting a single moment, especially the tall buildings in the direction where the red laser pointer beam Victor had detected coming from. And at last, evidences were found on a building rooftop that determined that a sniper had been there. 

Police settled on the result at the earliest that someone had put a hit on her.

Kate realized Alex was so right. Also, there was no doubt who was behind this.

A shiver ran down Kate's spine. 

It seemed, insanity in the name of love and revenge ran through the Ashworth genes.

Kate's eyes furrowed when she noticed Victor was quietly staring at her, an obscure look on his face.

"What?" she touched her brow, then down her cheek. "Something on my face?"

He seemed to snap out of it. In a second, his cheeky smile was on. "No," he cleared his throat before adding nonchalantly, "So..., you and Alex?"

"Do not pretend," Kate narrowed her eyes. "That you didn't hear it all."

She almost gaped seeing the tips of Victor's ears turning red. "Well, I did, okay," he shrugged, picking at the edge of the bandage around his wounded arm. "And thank God for that, you are safe now."

"Victor!" Kate chastised, getting reminded again what a foolish leap he had made to receive that bullet meant for her.

To ease it off, he lifted the corner of his mouth and threw her a playful smirk. "Relax, babe! If you had lost me," he put pressure to those words, his eyes twinkling. "Then I would have still come back to you... as a ghost. Imagine me creeping in the corners of your apartment, scaring the crap out of you every once in a while."

Kate's brow ticked, one of her common habits when she was dangling in between getting irritated and bursting out in laughter.

Pressing her lips against the smile, she whacked hard on his good arm.

"This is not funny," she said, trying to scowl.

"Ah, but it so bloody was, when I took you and Ellie to watch this horror movie. What was the name...," he paused to think for a second.

"I didn't scream like Ellie!" she protested in the meanwhile, with indignant eyes and a smile.

"I beg to differ," he repelled calmly.

In truth, she hadn't screamed at all, just those occasional gasps of shock when every time the ghost in question had popped up out of nowhere. Victor would still tease though. It was still a mystery how he knew and had leaned in every time she gasped, and said in her ear, "Scared?"

"Besides," Victor sighed lazily, slumping back a little bit more into the pillow. "A psychic back in my hometown had said that I'll die drowning in the water, not by getting shot or something."

Kate frowned. "A psychic?"

Victor clucked his tongue. "Just a weird gypsy woman my mother is acquainted with. Mom has got this crazy bunch of friends I tell you, and you wouldn't believe how unconventional it gets when she throws a little party or a dinner when I go home."

Kate was about to inquire more about the subject of psychic, drowning and his mother's crazy parties, a cute frown mixed with equal amounts of worry and curiosity marring her forehead. But then a staff with hospital food arrived.

Victor made a face at that and Kate chuckled, "Oh hell, it's your time to enjoy the yummy food now."



--





Alex sniffled, feeling fleeting dust in the chilly wind tickle his nostrils. His eyes shot up, and just as he'd doubted, there were clouds. 

What was it with this city, with Asthel? 

Without a care for the season, out of nowhere rain would befall on unaware victims here. It was not like this back in South-hills, rain was limited there in the boundaries of seasons. People would know what to except and how to be prepared about it. Asthel, on the other hand, was more like a land filled with unexpected instances - of surprise grunts in the sky, of the darkening of clouds, of wet trickles down one's shoulder, a mighty cold sweep of breeze, of feeling caught off-guard and frantic search of a shade.

As the first drop fell on Alex's right cheek, he shivered, goosebumps filled his arms. This reaction was a first, he detected of himself. 

He took a few reversed steps, walking backwards and then turning around to storm up the steps and into the hospital building. He stopped only after he was out of the light drizzling.

The police officer that was with him was a few steps behind. 

"A police car will patrol past her apartment building every half-hour," the officer said, removing his hat and began shaking it fiercely to have the loose drops of water fall off from it. 

Alex stepped away a little, not wanting to get himself drenched. 

But then again, why was his throat getting so dry?

"Doesn't sound good enough security measure to me," Alex scowled. "What if she gets attacked in between those half-hours."

"We have checked the security arrangement of her apartment, it sounds good enough. There're CCTV cameras, a security guard sitting just inside the ground floor entrance," the officer said. "Look, if you still think we're not doing enough, then, please, by all means hire a bodyguard from one of those professional detective and security companies."

Alex's lips pressed into a thin line. The suggestion grating at his skin, his stomach dropping in humiliation. For he was no more able to provide for the woman he loved, nor he could anymore arrange the things that were so desperately needed to protect her. 

His state was equivalent to a handicap, and the excruciating knowledge a burden on his shoulders, weighing him down each moment, incessantly.

There was once a time when he had it all, and for the best part of it he had taken for granted all that wealth. Now he found, how it felt like being almost penniless. 

But then again, it was not like a middle class man can't save his woman, only the process was far more difficult. 

Without money, every struggle becomes like an attempt to barricade a f*cking Tsunami

Alex was learning it the hard way.

The officer had told him that they were going to interrogate the senior Ashworth, at last. The shooting incident had them putting more trust on what Alex had been screaming since a while now. 

As the officer left, Alex took a seat on a gurney that was snug against the wall, beside the cantin. The endlessly running escalators became the subject of his blank stare. Rain had picked up speed outside the glass front of the hospital, giving him chills that was more than a physical reaction. The goosebumps were still on his arms, his haywire mind telling him -- he was never going to be the same again

Alex was so lost in his thoughts or in the lack of it after that out of the blue instinct had collapsed on his head, he did not notice more than an hour passing by. Time seemed unimportant to him, and day by day, he was figuring out that there was a kind of thrill in this. This... just sitting in one place, doing nothing and let his mind drift off to wherever it pleased, careless about the world that spun around.

He only snapped out of it when the familiar scent of Kate and simply just her presence stirred his senses. He looked up to see her walking towards him. His face tilted to the side in concentration, noticing the duskiness underneath her eyes. Her face lacked the light he had witnessed back in the orphanage, until she'd heard him play the guitar. 

"How's he?" Alex asked when she came to a stop before him.

"Good now, he's going to have to stay here tonight. The doctor's want to be sure he won't end up with an infection, a fever."

They stood in silence for a whole minute, just looking out the glass front of the hospital as it rained outside. 

Alex looked away first, flinching. Kate, however, seemed like was still drowned into some kind of haze. 

"You should go back to your hotel now." She seemed not so lost in reality though. Looks could be deceiving.

"You should go back to your apartment as well," he said. 

Kate nodded.

Visitor hours were over now, she wouldn't be able to meet Victor until tomorrow. But then again, he was going to be getting discharged tomorrow morning. It was a no-brainer that Kate would be here and she was definitely going to take Victor to her home. 

Alex sighed. 

To his relief, Kate accepted his offer to drop her home when he had instead expected her denial and was ready to insist her as much he could. But he didn't have to. When he looked at her face out of the corner of eye, he detected the moment she let loose the exhaustion on her face. That explained. She was way too worn out to raise a protest at the moment. 

They found Ellie at the front steps of the hospital, drenched like a homeless cat in the increasing rain. They tried taking her home with them as well, however, this one had strength left in her to snap in protest, saying she was fine wherever she was and that she needed to be here... stuff like that.

Of course, Kate didn't let Ellie sit so that the girl could acquire seizures due to the cold. 

"Then I'm going to sit here with you until your hunger for this madness ends," Kate had announced. The threat worked well.

Alex knew Kate could die for her friends. It was the side of her that in the past used to make him jealous, now after the worst was over, he suddenly saw the trait in a way that instead made him feel pride. 

Some changes are fated to happen a little too late.



--



"It doesn't sound like a good idea," Kate said, her voice dropping in exhaustion. Ellie was a weirdly quiet creature snugly joined to her elbow, and Kate didn't know who was supporting who.

Alex grunted, his face blank. "Why? Because you think it's going to be awkward, letting your ex-husband stay under your roof for a night?"

"I'm surprised how well you can read my mind, Alex," Kate grumbled, returning the ironic sarcasm, knowing that both of their skins were cutting sadistically with the exchange.

Earlier, Alex had pulled over before his hotel, made the two women wait inside the car while he jogged away... not giving any form of answer despite Kate's asking what was going on. A short while later he came out with his hands full with luggage, a hotel staff behind him carrying more suitcases and bags that they disposed inside the car's trunk.

"I've just checked out," Alex had simply replied to Kate's confused stare.

"Don't worry," he'd added seeing her troubled look. "I just want to stay the night over at your place, I'll leave tomorrow."

"Excuse me! I don't really recall inviting you for a sleepover." Kate'd shifted forward in the backseat while Alex pulled out at the road.

"Kate..," he'd sighed dubiously. "I don't really trust the security arrangement the police made for you. Nolan is dangerous and you need to bloody trust me now."

Silence had reigned between them after that for a minute before Ellie opened her mouth for the first time since leaving the hospital premises. "And guarding Kate required you to entirely check out of the hotel? One would say you're planning to move in with her."

After another full minute of silence, Kate waited with bated breath until Alex's taut shoulders slugged from the driver's seat in front. "I'll be moving into a cheap motel."

Back to the present, as Kate opened her apartment door, she was still drowned in confusion... not wanting to believe what it was sounding like to be. She was aware that Nolan had stricken back at Alex hard, that his business was collapsing. But didn't he have any personal savings or something? Because as much as she knew, almost every businessman has a backup plan, for which despite getting bankrupt sometimes, they still manage to stand up again - sooner or later.

The possibility of Alex being brought down to his knees like that sounded so odd to even her own mind. The other alternative that he was just trying to make a way to enter her home seemed more likable.

Dinner was a quick event that evening, and a quiet one, too.

Ellie sat at one end beside Kate at her square, little kitchen table. Kate watched her picking at the food on her plate rather than eating. Sitting across the table, Alex was on the other hand doing the chore of biting, chewing, and swallowing quite robotically.

Kate sighed. "Look, I understand that the tuna fish sandwiches are not that good considering how hurriedly I made them and the tuna was just cut out from the can. There's some pasta in the cabinet, I—ah—better cook them but you guys need to wait for a while—"

She was interrupted by strong voices simultaneously.

"Nonsense!"

"Hell no!"

Ellie and Alex stared at each other, they tried again,

"This tuna tastes like heaven."

"I freaking love whatever you cook."

Both sighed irritatedly. Kate's eyes widened.

"I'm just still shocked that Victor's arm is toast."

"I'm just stressed about what Nolan might do next."

Ellie grunted and Alex huffed.

"Stop it!"

"Speak later!"

Ellie threw her arms up in frustration, and Alex crumpled the sandwich in his hand.

Kate shook her head, lips twisted into amusement. And before their tuned-up talking began again, Kate quickly said, "Okay, everyone, let's just enjoy whatever we've got on our plate right now. Huh?"

They did. Quietly again. And they figured it was better this way.

Alex took it upon himself to clean the dishes, though Kate protested.

"Go, take your medicines, Kate," he had said softly instead, gently swatting away her advancing hands towards the sink. "You've had a rough day. Take the medicines now and go to bed."

Kate stood beside him, inching away a step. She watched him doing the dishes and it was not hard to tell that he wasn't used to doing the task often. They always used to have a maid back then when they were together, he had a maid coming twice a week while he lived in his apartment as well.

Turning around, she briskly left the kitchen the next moment. For there was something disconcerting watching him doing a task like washing the dishes. It seemed so private, like they were playing house all over again - and not like it ever used to be before.

Kate went to bed, slipping off her bandana, and breathing out a relieved sigh. She was sliding inside the comforter when Ellie's voice made her pause.

"One would say, you're getting way too used to being bald."

The corner of Kate's mouth lifted into a smirk. She moved her hand onto her scalp, feeling the subtle spikiness of small hairs already coming out from the silky bareness. "Well, I'm, it seems. After the initial misery and shyness wears off, it feels oddly liberating without the heavy mass of hair and the additional task of cleaning and taking care of them."

Ellie shifted on the side of the bed she'd taken for the night. On Kate's insistence, she'd decided to stay the night.

"You make me want to shave all my hair off, Kate."

Kate just smiled, slumping into the soft pillows, her mind drifting for a small moment off to the sofa Alex had claimed for the night.

"Ellie—" Kate called a few minutes of silence later when both of their breaths became too loud.

When we're too tired, too sleepy, the chances are more we'll lay wide awake for hours after hitting the bed, getting irritated over why sleep won't just happen. The brain is such a cruel thing, never showing mercy to the suffering of the body. 

Kate had secretly named it the owl syndrome.

"Hmmm...," Ellie's voice came out muffled for the comforter was over her face, the end of it tucked below her head securely. Her entire body lay straight, one would get frighted if they didn't look out carefully for her breathing.

Kate watched in amusement as her friend's sleeping style resembled more of a dead body resting in fresh peace. She'd once heard that how one sleeps reveals their very inner personality. Now, what exactly does Ellie's sleeping style reveal about her?

"I wanted to ask you something," Kate said, a bit hesitantly.

"Ask away," Ellie muttered. "Just don't propose to me."

"Do you like Victor?" she asked softly.

There was a long pause, and it felt like Ellie had stopped breathing for real.

Kate's mind drifted back to the earlier phone conversation she had with Neil, the guy was berserk over there at South-hills, hearing the news of the attacks on her. It had taken some time and effort for Kate to calm him down and convince him not to book the next flight to Asthel. The surprising thing, however, was how he'd cleared his throat then and asked her about Ellie... about how she was. 

The query otherwise was normal but it was Neil's extra effort to make it normal that stuck with Kate. 

And then, there was Ellie. Kate had never seen the woman so distraught, quiet, and so opposite to her persona. 

Why feelings can never be simple? And why do they often have to be left... unrequited?

"Ellie?" Rising on her elbow Kate called out again when no reply came from her friend's top to bottom-covered body.

"I'm sleeping, Kate! Sush..."

Kate fell back into the pillow sighing in amusement. She was too exhausted to bring up an argument by pointing out that a sleeping person couldn't possibly reply.

And some questions must be left unanswered, some secrets  concealed. 


~

Why I'm so late uploading this one? Because I've written Kate and Victor's conversation like five times, from two different POVs and many other angles. I was so sad when I had to reject Victor's perspective because his feelings were so intense, and I was surprised that his heart has such depth in it. But for my initial plan for this story to play out accordingly, it's harmful to reveal too much of Victor. That sucks... big time!!! :'(

Don't forget to Vote and Comment! Fan/Follow me to get notified of updates. :)


Take care till later. Lots of love,
Lara.


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net