I woke up, opened my eyes, and stared at the fluffy white mass gathered above me.
How pretty. It reminded me of the clouds. I blinked my eyes as a hammering sensation ached in my temple.
I slowly turned my head to the side, and the blue sky beyond the window and the curtains reassured me that I wasn’t dead yet.
My gaze continued wandering to every corner of the room as I tried to think or remember where I was. I got to that place, but the harder I concentrated, the more confused I became.
I then decided to sit up and see if it could help my stressed brain. With a slight groan, I attempted to sit up, but I couldn’t feel my arm. My arm felt as if there was no life in it.
I tried again, this time supporting my weight on my left hand, though I didn’t know how to use my left hand very well.
When the second attempt failed, an icy blast of fear gripped me, driving me crazy. I tried to wave off the idea and overcome the fear, but I couldn’t contain the cry of anguish from my lips.
The sound of my cry was loud enough to attract someone to my side.
A lady dressed in white, obviously a nurse, who looked like she was in her early twenties, came in.
“Good heavens! You are awake. How are you feeling?” the nurse said, her face bearing an expression of relief.
“I feel terrible. My body hurts, and I don’t think I can move my hand at all,” I stuttered in fear. My voice was a croak.
The nurse touched my shoulder comfortingly to console me.
“I will get you a drink. It will help with your voice,” she said, and I nodded.
I watched silently as the nurse got a bottle of water from a refrigerator by the wall and brought it to me.
“Here, have some,” she said softly, lifting my head slightly and holding a glass to my mouth, though she allowed only tiny sips.
“Are you better now?”
“A little,” I answered, then lay back on the bed, my head elevated by the pillow, tired from the effort.
“Now, please, can you tell me where I am?”
“You are in the hospital—Silver Crown Special Hospital.”
“Silver Crown?” I muttered thoughtfully.
Then my eyes opened wide as I remembered the incident and also the flashes of our new boss’s corpse mixed with reality.
“Mr. Prince! Is he dead?”
I cried, struggling to get up, but the nurse’s firm hand restricted me.
“I got shot, right?” I panicked.
“Please, ma’am, calm down. You need to rest. Please don’t worry about it. You are being taken care of,” the nurse tried to calm me.
“Taken care of? Is it too bad? My boss… was he shot too? Please, tell me!” I queried restlessly.
“No, he is fine. Now, please close your eyes and stop worrying.”
I had so many questions that I wanted to ask again, but I didn’t have enough strength. Then I felt cool fingers soothing my brow—it was the nurse trying to put me back to sleep.
Slowly, I closed my eyes, and long, thick lashes shaded the bruises beneath.
Later in the evening, I opened my eyes again, aware of the difference in time and weather. I turned to look beyond the window. The sky was no longer bright blue but deeper and cloudy.
My gaze shifted back to the room, inspecting every corner. Then I decided to sit up in spite of the pain.
This time around, it was even worse. I felt no better because I was now aware of a soreness not just in my arm but all over my body, as if I’d been used as a punching bag.
“Good evening, Val.”
The soothing words brought my attention to the man who had spoken to me.
It was Daniel!
“Dan!” I shouted. It was so good to see him here and now.
“Thank God you are awake. Look at what you put yourself into because of that fool!” he replied annoyingly, referring to our new boss.
I smiled back weakly. He came to me and hugged me.
“I am fine, Dan. You don’t have to worry so much about me,” I teased him.
“What if it was your heart?” he replied, pissed.
“You don’t know how happy I am that I made a change. God didn’t bless me with this gift to sit and watch the people I know die like that.”
“But if that brat had listened, this wouldn’t have happened at all. If you saw the way I confronted him back then, I don’t even care about his status or my job anymore.”
I smiled back.
“I am glad I have you by my side here, Dan.”
I looked around the hospital room.
“This hospital looks quite expensive,” I whispered.
“It’s not more expensive than one’s life. Most importantly, I’m glad you are safe, Val. When I heard about it, I literally screamed. If anything happens to you, I will blame myself for not stopping you earlier at the company,” he continued.
Daniel cares so much. That’s one thing we have in common, so I understand he is being sincere.
“About the boss and his sister—are they safe?” I asked.
“Of course, he is safe. The ungrateful fool is not even here to thank you,” Dan replied with a grimace.
That was a relief to hear about their health status.
“Maybe he is not as strong as you think. You need to see him at that moment. He was very scared. He even cried like a baby.”
Daniel stopped, paused, and glared at me coldly.
“Are you sure this isn’t affecting your thinking?”
“Of course not! I know what I’m saying. Before I blacked out, he was so scared and full of emotions.”
“Maybe you saw it in your unconscious state—hallucinating, not reality. That emotionless devil cry? I doubt it. He is a sadist, a cold-blooded sadist with no emotion.”
Just then, two young-looking nurses entered the room. Daniel nodded as they greeted him. One started checking my blood pressure and all that.
“Where is the man that was here throughout last night?” the first nurse asked.
“He is the one,” the other replied.
“No, not him. The tall one—that biracial one, I think,” the first nurse insisted.
Daniel and I looked at each other in confusion.
“Are you the one that slept on the visitor’s bed last night?” she asked Daniel.
“Well, I just came in a few minutes ago, but if it’s anything that has to do with Val, you can talk to me about it,” Daniel insisted.
“No, please. We advise you to call the man that brought her here,” the nurse insisted.
“Wait, you mean Mr. Prince?” the second nurse called her attention.
“She was brought here by the boss himself?” the first nurse asked.
“Yes, I am pretty sure of that.”
As they tried to reach an agreement, I noticed Daniel’s awkwardness.
“It’s okay, Dan. I will be fine. It’s just my arm. Try calling the boss’s assistant.”
Daniel sighed. He stood up and patted me softly on the shoulder.
“I will go let him know that the doctor wants to see him.”
I nodded and smiled back.
“Take good care of her, please,” he instructed the nurses. They smiled back at Daniel in a flirty way. Who wouldn’t? Daniel is a tall glass of chocolate juice.
“It’s our job,” they chuckled.
He waved at me and left the room.
The nurses removed the bandage and dressed it with a new one.
I closed my eyes, enduring the pain. A few minutes later, they cleaned up and told me to rest.