“Great, have a good one then,” Mikhel said before hanging up. I worried a little about the issue he was having. But knew if it was bad, he would have said so. For now, I had to concentrate on Sophia.
Heading to her room to check in, I considered taking her out on my yacht. I felt guilty for pulling her into this situation. She didn’t deserve to be traumatized or punished. This entire situation was my doing. I should have done thorough research. I should have made sure of my facts before acting.
As I neared her door, I noticed it was half ajar. Pushing it open, I peeked inside. The bed was empty. Glancing around, I realized the room was empty. She wasn’t there. She was gone again, slipped out somehow.
Turning on my heels, I headed downstairs. As I got to the front door, one of my guards entered. “Have you seen Sophia?” I asked in a rushed tone.
“I saw her wandering at the back, sir,” he replied quickly.
Nodding, I turned and headed out the double glass doors. I had an idea of where she was going. The back gate was the least guarded as it was bigger than life. No one could get in or out, but Sophia seemed determined to try.
Nearing the gate, I saw her about to re-climb the back gate. I moved closer but stood watching. It was amusing, and I knew soon she would realize it was an impossible task. As she climbed higher and higher, I started moving closer. She was getting higher than I had anticipated.
Maybe I should reconsider the gate's security after all. Before I could formulate another thought, Sophia lost her grip. She came down like a lump of coal. Rushing forward, I tried to cushion her fall.
My arms wrapped around her quicker than a rocket. One arm caught around her waist as my other arm cradled the back of her head. I bent my knee, taking most of the impact, protecting her from colliding fully with the ground.
Her tiny figure fit perfectly into my arms. It felt like she was meant to be in them. A soft scream escaped her voluptuous lips as I stood upright. For a second, there was silence. Looking at her, the world still turned.
I exhaled sharply as I gently lowered her to her feet. “How could you be so reckless? You could have gotten seriously injured or killed yourself!” I heard the harshness in my tone, a bit more than I intended, but my heart was beating a million miles an hour. I could even feel it beating in my throat.
Holding onto her, I felt my breathing starting to calm. It was nice holding her. “You could have been seriously injured if I hadn’t been here,” I repeated in a softer tone, staring into hereyes. My stomach was in knots of fear and anger. There was a strange pull in my heart, a dull ache I couldn’t explain.
“Get your filthy hands off me!” Sophia screamed as she pulled back with force. Her tiny fists were beating my upper arms like drums.
Chapter 6 - Sophia
He let go, almost sending me backwards. As I placed my full weight on my feet, I felt an intense, sharp pain radiating through the one. It was so bad that I fell back and landed on my butt. I grabbed my ankle as I bit back the scream.
Kolya swiftly bent down. I flinched, waiting for him to get angry and fight with me. Instead of fighting, he tenderly wrapped his arms around me and stood up. I didn’t dare move as I wondered why he wasn’t fighting with me anymore.
Maybe he didn’t want to do it out here, seeing that the neighbors could hear us. All I could think about as he carried me inside was how angry he must be at me. I braced myself for what was ahead.
I didn’t know if he was so angry that he was going to hurt me. Closing my eyes, I breathed deeply. I was scared of him. Opening my eyes again, I noticed we were heading upstairs.
He was surely going to lock me up again, I thought as he stepped onto the second-floor landing. I was surprised when we passed my room and headed further down the hallway. Close to the end, he turned with me into another room. This one I had not seen before.
The room appeared empty and full at the same time. It was so white, it almost sparkled. The light was blinding for a second until my eyes adjusted. It looked like a clean sheet of paper with dabbles on it.
I noticed the bed before the floor-to-ceiling window first. It looked like a kind of hospital bed, perched by the window. The room wasn’t very big. But big enough to still move in. It had a strange chemical odor, which was unsettling.
Next to the bed against the wall was a large double-door cabinet. And on the other side stood what looked like a mini fridge. Above it were shelves with white towels, a bucket, and bottles of cleaning materials.
Carefully, he placed me on the bed. I was surprised at his gentleness. He cautiously removed my shoe and sock. Pain shot up my leg. I had to bite down on my lower lip to prevent the scream that wanted to escape. Turning my head, I focused on the view outside. It was magnificent. It was peaceful. I could see the lovely flower garden and even outside the walls.
Past the walls were fields of trees and nothing else. I wondered what neighbors he spoke of earlier. But I wasn’t going to ask. I watched in anticipation as he turned and opened the cupboard. I could see some of the items stacked on the shelves. It was all medical supplies.
There were a couple of creams, bottles with tablets, and some bandages I could see. He collected a couple of items, closed the doors, and turned to face me. He pulled out a tray from the bottom of the bed and placed the items on it. There was some cream, a bag, and a bandage.
Kolya pulled out a chair from beneath the bed. He adjusted the height and sat down. He looked at me as he spoke. “This might hurt, it sure as hell isn’t going to be pleasant, but trust me, it is for your own good. I need to attend to the swelling and wrap it properly. You don’t want problems with it later on, do you?”
I nodded in reply, unsure of what to say. This was a side of him I had not seen before. He studied my ankle, gently moving my foot one way, then the other way. Then he opened the bag and pulled out a thin cloth. He rubbed my ankle and foottenderly. I wasn’t sure why he was cleaning it as I had my shoes on, but I left it.
Once he was satisfied with his cleaning, he dropped the cloth in a bin or something under the bed. Opening the jar of cream, he used a wooden spoon to scoop some out. This was all very odd as I had never seen anyone handle an ankle injury like this.
After placing the cream on my foot, he reached past me and pulled out a pair of gloves from somewhere. I felt a tad agitated as he pulled them on. At this point, I couldn’t believe he was this crazy. I mean, really, did he think I had a disease or something? Why didn’t he just rub my foot and ankle? The pain was driving me crazy.
“I can assure you I have no diseases!” I shot at him.
