"Be careful not to wet the bandages on your hand" Mira told Andriana as she headed to the bathroom.
After Karlye left with David, Mira convinced her to take a bath and come out of the room since she was feeling much better.
She cooked and prepared it for her to eat, and Andriana came into the living room looking fresh.
"The doctor will be here later to check your hand " she served her the meal.
As she enjoyed the food, Mira watched her quietly.
"So what exactly happened , you do get sick but I don't think it was entirely cause of the burn " she said.
Andriana gulped meeting her gaze.
"You're clumsy, but not that clumsy to hurt yourself that badly. And you only get like this when you're so stressed or worried about something. I told you to stop keeping those hurtful feelings inside and just let it out or come to me and cry it out " Mira breathed.
Andriana blinked.
"The last time you got this sick was after that bastard hurt you. So who was it ..and don't lie. If it's Mr Lockhart, I don't care if his ..." She stopped.
"It wasn't him " she said.
Mira scoffed, "So you only speak up when defending him. But your response means someone did hurt you, let it out now "
She fell silent.
"You promised to stop letting people take advantage of you or push you in the corner for no justifiable reason, so tell me why you let that happen ?" asked Mira.
"Cause his a superior at work and when I did say something about it , it only got worse " she muttered.
"What do you mean it only got worse ?" Mira questioned.
"He used to inappropriately touch some of my colleagues at work, and decided to report him but nothing was done. And he somehow found out it was me and since then I become the object of his harassment" she explained.
Mira clenched her fists.
"He started piling me with work, preventing me from taking any breaks that I sometimes starved cause I missed lunch . And if he was in a bad mood, he would hit me too ".
Mira deeply breathed trying to hold back her anger.
"I held back and kept my mouth shut for I knew reporting about it would only make it worse. " She placed the spoon aside, "but then it stopped after Mr Lockhart defended me and he even got transferred to another department "
Mira sighed.
"So what happened this time ?".
"He heard my conversation with the others about my relationship with Mr Lockhart . So when I bumped into him, he insinuated I gave sexual favours to Mr Lockhart to be protected by him ".
She stopped glanced back at her friend. Mira took her hands calmly, urging her to go on.
"I denied it, but he went on and touched me inappropriately, I got scared moving back and that's how my coffee spilled on me ", she finished.
Mira asked, "Did you cry alone in the washroom again "
Andriana nodded.
"So how did Mr Lockhart get to know ?"
"Oh he dropped by and got me flowers, a smile played on her face, and that how he saw my hand and took me to the hospital , but I dozed off so he brought me back ".
Mira walked around the counter to Andriana and pulled her in for a hug.
"I am sorry I broke the promise, Mr Lockhart was angry too, "Andriana said.
"He has the right to be angry. Why do you let those losers hurt you? You have us to protect you, so use us ", said Mira.
Andriana smiled.
"I know but I don't want to take advantage of our friendship "
"Listen to me, we permitted you to use us the moment you made the promise of taking care of yourself. So please....if you get the chance to use us take it ,we will gladly protect you "Mira kissed her cheeks.
She nodded, "Thank you for loving me ".
Mira giggled filling her cheeks with more kisses.
"How can I resist such beautiful charm, no wonder he's head over heels for you ", .she commented.
"Ah, who is ?" laughed Andriana.
"Mr.lockhart ..don't tell me you're too blind to see the signs . His literally screaming it with his actions ".
Andriana paused.
"But ...."
"Shh, don't overthink it, he probably knows you're still healing from your past relationship, that's why he's taking things slow But that doesn't mean you hold back too much, okay ?"
She nodded.
The doctor came in later with David and changed her bandages and left a new prescription for her too.
Mira had to leave because she had a dinner meeting, so she left with David, who said Karlye was on his way back and had been caught up in a small meeting.
She smiled thnking of all the assurance she had got from Karlye and Mira. They seemed to care for her so deeply, and when she was in pain, they wanted to protect her.
But the last people who had fully protected her ,one was dead, and the other was now lying in a hospital bed, stuck in a coma for three years now. She didn't want to lose anymore loved ones , so she had chosen to stay quiet on most of the cases.
But when she saw how hurt they were upon finding out what had happend to her , Andriana promised to stop getting hurt.
"I will confront ,Mr. Worm when I return to work and make him apologise," she said to herself.
The doorbell sounded, and she got up. That must be Karlye, she thought, rushing to the door.
"You're back ", she muttered, but her smile disappeared upon seeing who was at the door.
"Hello there my angel " he smiled.
She stumbled back gripping onto the door.
"Dad ?!" she let out.
"Yes, it's me ... I'm back ", he laughed.
Andriana gripped the door handle with trembling hands. Her misfortune just never ceased to exist.