"Why isn't she awake yet?"
"Didn't you say she'll wake up soon?"
'Damn, who's that now...'
'I can never rest in peace...'
'Hm... Let's see...'
I'm not fully awake, but I can hear what's going on around me.
I try to move a finger. 'Hm... it seems to be moving.'
'Hmm... I'm sleepy.'
'I must be in the hospital... let's get some sleep...'
///
I feel my consciousness slowly returning.
I think I'm ready to wake up.
I gently open my eyes, keeping them narrowed for a few moments while they adjust to the light, and then I open them fully.
'Apparently, I'm all alone...'
I look around me. 'It doesn't look like a hospital room...'
I try to get up, but a sudden sharp pain stops me.
'Ah, that's right... I'm injured.'
Being limited in my movements, I look around and see a small remote control on the table next to me. 'Oh... flowers.'
I grab the remote control as best as I can, examine the object, then press the button that must be the one to raise the bed.
'So I wasn't wrong. Good.'
I adjust the pillow and my position, ignoring the pain.
Finally in a sitting position, I can look around me.
'My body seems to have healed from the wounds of battle...'
"Well" I groan slightly, my voice hoarse.
"I'm thirsty," I whisper.
I lower my head and look at my upper left side.
With my right hand, I pull down my hospital gown.
'It looks like it hit just above my collarbone. A scratch?'
A memory comes back to me of the moment I pulled the trigger, and the boss trying to stop the man's action. It must've have help my case.
'I wonder why... I don't think the boss the safety catch was on.'
'Is it trust? There goes my mind wandering again.'
'Let's take a look at my arm.'
First, I try to move my fingers. 'Okay.'
Then my wrist, without making any big movements.
Then I think about raising my forearm toward my biceps without moving my shoulder. I stop, surprised by the pain, even though it's bearable, then continue little by little until my forearm is completely contracted. Of course, there's pain.
But I have a bad habit: the more it hurts, the more I try to move despite the pain. Of course, I know my limits.
I slowly lower my forearm and then continue what I was doing before.
I do the movements a few times and then stop.
I decide to tackle the big fish: my shoulder.
I move it a little, "Argh..."
'Okay, I've had enough.'
I sigh and then lift my head when I hear the door open.
A nurse enters, looks up and sees that I'm awake, and smiles.
"You're awake!" she says, surprised.
She comes closer to me with her cart, and I watch her.
She leaves the cart and goes to the dresser across the room, then comes back with a glass of water, which she offers me.
I took the glass and started drinking. She unbuttoned my T-shirt.
The buttons were right where my wound was, probably to make it easier to treat.
She removed my bandage, which hurt a little, but I don't let her see that.
"Good, it's healing perfectly."
After seeing my wound, I turned my head away, no longer interested in looking at it.
'It's going to leave a scar.'
'I'm sleepy...'
I start thinking about everything and nothing, not realizing that the lady has finished.
"Okay, everything looks fine. A doctor will be here shortly to assess your condition."
I wait before lifting my head and realize she's gone.
'I want to get out of here.'
I hear the door open again, but I don't pay any attention, thinking it's probably the doctor.
'Correction. Several doctors.'
I lift my head after the footsteps stop.
And—
I finally prefer to lower my head. 'This is definitely not my day.'
She sits down and I hear her tell her sister and the other men, who are surely her bodyguards, to leave us alone.
After hearing the door close, I raise my head and look at her.
'You've become more beautiful.' I think to myself, but seeing her reaction, I realize that I must have spoken aloud.
'Fuck...'
She recovers quickly from her shock, then told me softly, "Thank you."
I feel shivers running down my spine, but luckily I don't show it.
I don't want her to know that she still has an effect on me.
She looks at me as if to study me, and I think I'm doing the same thing.
'She really became a femme fatale.'
And as soon as she finishes observing me, which I haven't done yet, she says,
"We need to talk."
I notice that her eyes are downcast, I don't understand why, and in a way, I'm disappointed that she's not looking at me anymore.
"We have nothing to say to each other, as far as I know." I hear myself say.
She looks up.
I feel my heart skip a beat.
She has a look on her face that says, "Are you serious?"
Her expression tells me to pull myself together.
I close my eyes and sigh, "Okay, it's true that I shouldn't have pointed a gun at you, but I remind you that the safety was on, so there was no danger, but I apologize. After all, what kind of idea is it to kidnap me and order someone to beat me up?"
I look at her and see shame and regret, and a little anger. ' How odd.'
"My bodyguards misunderstood my instructions. I—"
I interrupt her. "Honestly, if they misunderstood your orders, it means this isn't the first time they've kidnapped and beaten people up for you."
She looks dejected. "But whatever, what's done is done. So what do you want from me?"
She lifts her head and looks at me as if searching for the right words to say.
"Be direct with me, because I'm clearly having the worst month of my life, and I'm not in the mood for you to beat around the bush."
Then both of us heard a commotion and the door opened with the little boy running towards her, shouting and smiling.
"Mommy!"
I know a smile formed on my face when I saw him; he's so cute. Everything he does is cute.
'Fortunately, he was unharmed that day.'
As I watch the little boy and I start to talk to him after he notices my presence, I don't realize that she is observing our interaction.
She sees how my face lit up when the child arrived.
"It's on Mom's phone."
"Really buddy! Show me."
Eren approaches his mother and asks for her phone, which she has already unlocked.
Eren stands between his mother's legs as she helps him look for photos of his car collection.
"Look!" he says, smiling as he shows me the phone screen.
"Wow, you have a red car?"
"Yes, I have lots!" he says, jumping up and down excitedly.
I am completely focused on Eren describing his cars to me. She is the only one who notices her sister entering the room.
Her sister enters, all smiles, and sees my interaction with Eren, which surprises her because the "Eren" they knew was a very shy child around others, even his own family except for his mother and aunt.
I feel someone's gaze on me and look up.
Eren does the same.
"Auntie!" he says with a smile, and I smile back.
I notice that she is frozen in place, staring at us. I don't understand why, which makes me tilt my head slightly.
"Hey, lady!" I say, still smiling.
"Hey!" she replies, looking shaken.
"Shouldn't we stop meeting when I'm injured or when I hurt myself?" I joke with her. A smile finally appears on her face.
'Cute.'
"You mostly need to learn to stay out of trouble. I swear, you're stubborn like no one else."
"Hey, no! I'm not looking for trouble. Trouble comes to me. Especially since I met you." I say my last sentence, looking at her suspiciously.
She rolls her eyes and smiles at my nonsense. "Believe what you want..."
After saying that, she comes over to my bed and sits down on the other empty chair.
"Okay, now that we're all here. I guess? What's going on?" I say, regaining my seriousness. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eren playing the game I showed him on the phone.
"Why did you leave that day?"
I look at the sister, "Before that, can you tell me your name, love?"
She is surprised by the way I address her, then nods and says, "My name is Rosalie Reine La Jolie, nice to meet you."
"I don't know if you know this, but let me introduce myself. I'm Hayley Andrea Valdez. Nice to meet you, too."
"And to answer your question, I left because there was no need to thank me, and in a way, I understood that she is your sister," she points at her sister with her head.
"I didn't feel like seeing her again."
Rosalie frowns slightly and looks at her sister, my eyes remain on Rosalie. I know I've just said something hurtful to her. So I avoid looking at her so I can avoid feeling even more regret and guilt.
"So I left, but luck wasn't on my side, and I ran into her in front of the hotel lobby."
"Then out of nowhere, I got kidnapped, as if I hadn't been beaten up enough already, and I found myself facing people who were hitting me to find out some information I apparently had. In the end, it turned out to be a misunderstanding, and I realized this as soon as your sister appeared, looking surprised and frightened by the situation and the state I was in."
"I was scared when I had to save Eren, which I don't regret, I was scared when the other guy punched me, I was scared when I realized you were her sister, and I was even more scared for my life when I was kidnapped and beaten up."
I turn to her, finally looking at her. "Yes, my action was impulsive, but I wanted you to get a little taste of my own fear. Of course, I feared for my life when I was shot. Every time, and many times over, my life literally flashes before my eyes. And almost every time, it's connected to you in the worst possible way, except for one."
I feel anger rising within me, so I take a deep breath and add,
"Now I just want to know what you want from me once and for all, so we can get this over with."
I look at her to make my point. I don't want her to see me break down. She who managed to rebuild her life. In just a few hours, she managed to completely destroy me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Rosalie watching us. Her sister gives no response and prefers to lower her head.
I sigh, "Fine. Then you can leave me alone." I say, pointing to the door.
Rosalie ignores me and turns to her sister, "I swear, Valentina, if you don't tell her the truth, I will."
Val- She raises her head and looks at her sister in shock.
Rosalie responds to her shock, probably, "You'd have to be blind not to notice."
As for me, I ignore them. I quickly glance at the little boy playing on the phone and grab mine.
I unlock it quickly and start searching.
"Hayley..."
I hear her say, then continue my search, saying, "I'm listening."
"So..." I sense that she is having trouble expressing herself, so I stop my search and give her my full attention.
I think this gives her the courage to continue, and she says with finality, "Eren is your child."
I look at her with a slight frown to show my incomprehension.
She understands and says, "He's your son."
"Oh... can I exercise my rights over him or not?"
Now it's her turn to frown, and I say, "Can I have the same rights you have with him? I'd like to be able to spend time with him and be recognized as his other parent."
"Oh..." she says softly.
"Are you serious?" Rosalie says.
"Well, yes. I have to take responsibility."
"But I want to understand how this was decided."
"I don't think she gets it, or maybe it's a bit too much. Go into detail," Rosalie says to her sister.
And her sister nods before speaking, looking at me, "Some time after our last meeting, I..." I notice that she is fidgeting with her fingers.
"...I found out I was pregnant."
"Okay?" I say softly.
"You're the only one I've had sex with." She whispers the last word.
"Oh..." I say, not knowing what to say.
My gaze falls on Eren, still distracted by his phone, sitting on her sister's leg. 'We have to work this out.'
'Oh, I'm starting to think like a parent.'
'But how is that possible? The only possibility is that...'
I stop the flow of my thoughts and lift my head, finally noticing two pairs of eyes on me.
But I focus on the sister to whom my question refers.
"Did you take the medicine?" I ask.
"I didn't take it myself, they made me take it without me realizing it," she says, lowering her head.
My eyes widen. "I'm sorry."
She looks at me, not understanding why, but something tells me that she understood the reason for my sympathy right after.
'She finds herself pregnant against her will. And it's a horrible way to be.'
"At first, I took it badly, but it quickly became my only source of strength to face the world," she says with a smile, looking at her son, our son, and wrapping her arms around him, resting her chin on his head. Eren smiles and puts a hand on his mother's arm.
"What's more, I didn't even know I'd been given the medication, but I was lucky to have been able to choose my son's other parent, in a way," she says, looking up and then at me.
I feel my heart skip a beat. She still has an effect on me.
I feel my cheeks flush and my heart beat faster. 'I have the sensation that my palms are getting sweaty...'
"So, you're okay with me being his other parent?" I ask, regaining my composure.
She lifts her head from Eren's and says softly with a slight smile, "Of course."
"Very well," I begin, nodding my head, "then why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out?"
"Why did it take you four years to tell me?"
"If we hadn't bumped into each other in the hallway, or if I hadn't saved Eren, would you have kept the existence of my son a secret?" I ask seriously.
Just thinking about the possibility that I would never have known about my son's existence makes my heart ache. I feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I don't want to let them fall.
She looks at me sadly and lowers her head, then quickly raises it again to look at me, her mouth opening as if she wants to say something, then stopping.
I frown.
I see her turn to her sister and she asks, "Can you take Eren and leave us alone? I'd like to talk to her alone."
'I forgot she was still there...'
Her sister nods, picks up the child, and gets up from her chair.
"Take the phone away from him. Find him something else to do besides staying on the phone, like drawing, for example," I say suddenly.
Eren looks up at me and frowns sadly.
"You've played on the phone enough, buddy. Play with your aunt now, okay? Then we'll play together."
He reluctantly nods his head and gives the phone back to his mother, who takes it, and then they leave.
She gets up and comes closer to me. She sits on the edge of the bed and leans toward me.
'Calm down, stupid heart...'
Having her near me prevents me from functioning normally. 'I'm still lusting over her...'
I turn my head away, but she places two fingers on my chin and turns me toward her.
"Don't avoid me," she whispers, her lips brushing slightly against mine. 'She's a goddamn succubus. Fuck!'
She puts her arms around my neck, being mindful of my injury, and pulls me closer to her. 'Don't freak out... don't freak out... help...'
"Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't my intention to hide it from you?" She says this while looking me straight in the eyes, as if she wants me to read her. 'You won't get me, succubus! Damn...'
And that's what I do, she lets me read her like an open book. ' Fuck...'
'Her gaze is too intense.'
The more I look at her, the more I feel changes within myself. I won't be surprised if she can hear my heartbeats.
'Dammit... she got me.'
"Yes... I believe you," I say, lowering my head to avoid her gaze. 'She intimidates me... wuwu.'
"Why are you lowering your head?" I can hear a smile in her voice.
She lifts my head again, but I avoid meeting her gaze. 'It's a bit too much for my little heart... this... this... seductress...'
She places her hands on my cheeks and says softly, in her damn seductive voice, "Look at me," and adds, "please."
'No, I am not whipped. Nope.'
"No..." I say in a trembling voice.
"Why?" she says, still in her seductive tone. 'She's enjoying herself, too.'
"You intimidate me..." I say softly, 'Well, fuck!'
I hear her laugh, which makes me lift my head and look at her.
'She's drop dead gorgeous...'
She stops and looks at me as if contemplating something. She caresses my cheek at the same time.
Then she sighs, puts her left arm around my shoulder and continues to stroke my cheek with her other hand, then takes my hand.
She's probably afraid of aggravating the injury on my shoulder.
"When I found out I was pregnant, I was extremely scared. I knew I had to find you, but I was also afraid of your reaction since I had left you that day."
She starts playing with my fingers. "But what I was most afraid of was my family finding out about my pregnancy and telling me to have an abortion."
"When I found your tracks, I quickly went there to find you, but you had already left, and I later learned that you had moved out of town."
I feel sadness seeping through her. I want to take her in my arms, and that's what I do. 'Damn desire... damn it...'
I put my right hand on her hips and pull her closer to me. "Come on, don't worry," I say to calm her fear of hurting me.
She is finally on my lap and I give her a hug.
"My family found out about my pregnancy because of Mason. He told them he was the father. They asked me to marry him."
"They gave me an ultimatum: either I marry him or I have an abortion. If I didn't choose either of those options, I knew I would end up on the street, and no matter what career I wanted to pursue, my father would make sure to put obstacles in my way."
"I had no choice but to marry him to protect our child." I feel my shoulder getting wet.
"The marriage was no picnic because, on top of not loving him, Mason turned out to be very abusive." I start stroking his back.
"As I said, the only person who kept me going was our son. So I started secretly building my own empire to surpass my father's, which I finally managed to do despite the many times people tried to make me fail."
"Mason and I are finalizing the divorce papers. I wanted to make sure he got nothing from me."
"After finalizing the divorce paperwork, I wanted to devote myself entirely to seeking you out."
She rests her face on the crook of my neck. "I was apprehensive that you had moved on with someone else."
My movements on her back pause, then continue. Her words catch me off guard.
"But you left that day..." I say in a sulky tone, not proud of it, but oh well.
"My father has quite an extreme personality, as you know by now. I didn't want him to hurt you. Especially since he had planned an arranged marriage for me."
"How did Mason find out?" I ask in a whisper.
"He's the one who gave me the drug-"
"That bastard!"
"Calm down, sweetheart," she says softly, stroking my head. 'Damn it! I'm not whipped, okay!'
"Mm-hmm."
"And apparently, he had looked up the effects of pregnancy, which matched up with what I was experiencing, but it was just a guess. After telling my father, I was forced to go to the doctor to confirm my pregnancy."
"Mason believed it was his because he was intoxicated that day, the day we first met, and slept with someone who then left, and he thought it was me."
"But the thing is, when he started to lose control from drinking too much and tried to kiss me, I left and met Henry, who helped me get rid of him and took me to his bar."
"Does he still believe that Eren is his son?" She looks up at me. I help her wipe her tears.
"Yes, but I let him remain in denial. And I made sure to let Eren know that he's not his father."
I nod and ask, "Is it legally official that Eren is his son?"
"That's one of the things I managed to stop my father and Mason from doing before I had all his businesses under my control."
"Good." I nod and kiss her on the forehead.
"You've been very brave, sweetheart."
'Okay, I'm whipped, so what?'
She looks at me and gives me a light kiss on the lips.
'Ah, I'm alive finally.'