Stay away
Loukas POV
I woke up gasping for breath and I felt the softness of someone’s hand on mine. My eyes fluttered open, but I quickly closed them, trying so hard to adjust to the light above me. After a few blinks, I was able to open my eyes, and when I looked to my left side, I realized that it was Hilary sleeping with her head on the bed beside me. I knew she wasn’t comfortable with the way she muttered in her sleep. I looked around me and realized that I wasn’t in my house in the mansion. Instead, I was in the hospital in the room where I had spent most of my life.
I heaved a sigh when I thought of what happened on the night of the hotel opening. I remembered how Amanda talked about my accident and it triggered me to a point I couldn’t remember. I didn’t remember what happened after that, but I knew that Rotimi and Hillary had taken me to the hospital. I winced in my pain when I tried so hard to remember what happened the night before, and in the process, I screamed out loud when a wave of pain hit my head.
Hillary jumped to her feet and rushed to my eyes. “Are you okay?” She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “You’ve woken up!” Her eyes widened and she smiled.
I looked up at her and, through my hazy vision, I could see the weary look in her eyes. Her face was dull, unlike the night of the party when I couldn’t stop staring at her beautiful face. She was still in the same red dress, which means that she stayed beside me all through the night. “Are you okay?” She asked and touched my forehead.
I didn’t bother removing her hand following my no-touching rule. I couldn’t stop staring at her and wondered why she chose to spend the night with me when Rotimi could have done it. “You ain’t saying anything,” she said, and her voice soothed the pain in my head, and I wished that I could continue listening to her. “Do you want me to call a doctor?” She asked and removed her hand from my forehead. She turned to leave the room, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her into my arms.
She gasped as she was surprised by my sudden attitude, but being the good person that she was, she wrapped her hands around my waist. “Thank you,” I whispered into her ears, and she shivered under my touch. “You stayed with me all through the night?” My voice croaked as I struggled to speak. My throat felt as if it was on fire, and when I tried to say something again, Hillary shushed me.
“That’s enough.” She let go of me and faced me. “The doctors said you’ll have trouble with your speech for a couple of days, so don’t stress too much,” she advised and smiled at me.
I didn’t respond to her and only stared at her. I swallowed an invisible lump in my throat and moaned in pain when my sore throat reacted badly to my actions. It felt as if someone was strangling me and I was gasping for breath. “It’s okay, “Hillary patted my back. “You sure you don’t want a doctor?” She asked, and I shook my head in response.
Watching her was enough for me, and I didn’t care about any doctor at that moment. I just wanted her around me and didn’t want her to leave. Her presence was electrifying, and each touch sent a spark to my entire body.
What is she doing to me? I thought as I continued staring at her. We both continued staring, and I couldn’t resist as I made the move. I placed my left hand behind her ear and leaned in closer to her. She didn’t turn away and also leaned closer to me.
It was as if she also wanted the kiss. I looked into her eyes, looking for any sign of discomfort from her, but when I didn’t see any, I placed my lips on hers. Our lips moved slowly in rhythm, but it was cut short as I heard Rotimi’s voice outside the room. He was arguing with someone, and my headshot to the entrance when I heard the door open. I pushed Hillary with so much force that she fell to the ground beside me. I cleared my throat and tried to adjust myself on the bed, but I couldn’t because there was no help and Hillary, who could help me, was on the ground glaring hard at me.
“Why won’t you let me see my stepson?” I heard Amanda’s voice as she walked into the room.
“He is your step son and you have no right to see him after what you’ve done!” Rotimi retorted as he entered after her.
“Don’t talk to my mother like that,” Caleb’s voice also sounded from the entrance as he walked in. None of them realized that I was up and they started arguing pretty loudly at the entrance, “You are not even family. How dare you stop us? ”
“Coming from you who jumped on his inheritance the instant you found out that he was discharged from the hospital!” Rotimi yelled at him and stood at the entrance, blocking him. “I’m not allowing any of you to enter this room!” He declared.
Hillary and I exchanged looks and she mouthed a few words I couldn’t hear and pointed to them, but I just smiled because I found their actions amusing. Hillary muttered a few incoherent words and rose from the ground. She whistled so loudly that I had to cover my left ear because of how loud she was.
They all turned to face her, and she pointed toward me. Hillary cleared her throat again and pointed to me. “And who the hell are you?” Amanda pushed past Rotimi and walked towards Hillary. Her eyes roamed around Hillary, and she suddenly laughed. She pointed at Hillary. “I know you. You escorted my stepson yesterday and I…”
“And I remember you as the stepmother who revealed her stepson’s accident in front of everyone yesterday, triggering an attack that almost cost him his life. Yes, I also remember you, ” Hillary spoke back to Amanda, and I chuckled out loud.
I found their interaction funny because I know Hillary to be sassy, but I never expected that she would put Amanda in her place. All eyes turned on me as I continued laughing.
“You find this funny after letting your dogs come after me?” Amanda scoffed and walked towards me, but Hillary quickly stood in front of me, shielding me from her.
I understood that she was acting as a good therapist would, but I wasn’t a weak man who would allow a woman to become a shield for me to lean on. I could fight my own battles. “Move!” I said to Hillary. She turned to face me. She gave me a questioning look and I nodded in response, acknowledging what I had just said. She moved out of the way, and then Amanda moved closer to me. “Wh… what…” I struggled with my speech and held my throat.
“Stay away from him!” Rotimi pushed Amanda away and rushed to my side. “He can’t speak at the moment, and if you have anything to say to him, do that later, but I don’t think he’ll want to speak to you!”
“How dare you push my mother like that?” Caleb yelled at him and walked towards Rotimi. “You have no respect, your dog!”
“You are the one barking here, Caleb. How dare you show your face after everything you’ve done? ” Rotimi scoffed and clapped his hands. “You have no right to be here,” he pointed his fingers at Caleb and Amanda. “You put him in this situation because of what you said last night!” He threw an accusation at Amanda.
Instead of feeling remorseful for what she did, she laughed hysterically and blew air on her perfectly manicured hand. “Why should I care about him because of what I said?” Amanda scoffed. “He is just a weak, disabled man who got triggered by what I said! What do you call a man like that, huh? I did what I had to do because he was unfit for the company. ”This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.
“How dare you talk about the company like it was ever yours?” Rotimi balled his hands into fists and moved closer to Amanda. “You are a pathetic woman who is scared of this man here!” He yelled at her, and what followed next was a deafening slap.
Hillary gasped as Amanda slapped Rotimi hard on the face. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t, and the only thing that I could do at that moment was watching their argument. Amanda pointed a finger at him. “You should know your place, you pathetic servant,” she said. “The next time you try this in front of me, I’ll make sure you regret ever exchanging words with me!” She threatened ”
“Take your finger away from my face,” Rotimi said through gritted teeth as he moved her finger away from her face. “The next time you raise your hands on me again, I’ll cut them off!” Rotimi threatened her, and she raised her hand to slap him again, but he grabbed it and pushed her hand down. “I already warned you!” He shouted at her and gripped her hand pretty tight.
“Hey!” Caleb tried to hit him, but Rotimi was faster. He grabbed Caleb’s fist and pushed him backward. Caleb fell to the ground and quickly jumped to his feet. “What are you doing?” He shouted as he watched Rotimi tighten his grip on Amanda’s hand while she struggled against him. She tried to free her hand, but she ended up moaning in pain.
“Let’s go with my hand!” She yelled and cursed under her breath. She looked behind Rotimi, and when our eyes met, I smirked at her. “You are watching how your servant is assaulting me!”
I was enjoying the show because watching Amanda in pain made me happy because she had done much worse to me in the past, but the argument had to end. Because I couldn’t speak well, I took a deep breath and when I breathe out, I screamed at top of my lungs, not minding that my throat would hurt me. “Stay away from me, Amanda!” I shouted her name. I started coughing. “I need…” Hillary rushed to my side and grabbed my hand. She rubbed it gently and whispered in my ears.
“Do you want them to leave?”
I nodded in response. “Please leave,” she said, pointing towards me. “He doesn’t want you here,” she said, pointing towards Caleb and Amanda.
“You heard him,” said Rotimi, finally releasing Amanda’s hand. “Stay away from him. Never show your face to her again. ”
Amanda rubbed her wrist and chuckled. “Very well then, It’s what I wanted to hear for years, “Amanda revealed. “Since you don’t want to be a good stepson, this is you saying that you’ve handed over your company to your brother, right?” Amanda asked.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to speak up. “This… This is me declaring war on you, Amanda. In six months, I’ll come back for everything. “I started coughing again.
“Are you bluffing?” Caleb laughed. “You can’t even stand on your own without your dog’s help,” he mocked.
Rotimi approached him, ready to strike. “No need for that,” Amanda shouted. “We shall leave but…” she paused and adjusted her bag on her arm. “I’ll be waiting for you in six months. Until then, “she turned to leave and grabbed her son’s hand as they both walked out of the room.
I stared at them as they walked away and then looked toward Hillary, who also had her eyes on me. I smiled at her and she also returned the smile. Having her around me was a great blessing that I thought would never happen for years.