A few hours ago at the hospital ~~~
“Even the flowers she didn’t like are scattered on the floor. The person who kidnapped her knows her really well,” Dominic said before he looked at the flowers and the milkshake again.
“Could it be – could it -” Dominic’s lips trembled at the scenario.
No, how is that even possible? He left her side only an hour ago, and she was sleeping peacefully. Dominic shook his head.
“Boss, I am really sorry about what happened. I will go and check all the bases personally. Please don’t break down like this. If you will be like this, how -” Colton started but paused when he saw Dominic’s dark eyes filled with pure hatred.
“Leave me alone,” Dominic said, and Colton left him before closing the door.
Dimitri and Bryce looked inside the room through the small window on the door and felt their heart breaking when they noticed Dominic was becoming too anxious.
“He won’t let us anywhere near him right now. Let’s find out who dared to take Aaliyah first. There is CCTV in all corridors. The person who took her must’ve been captured,” Dimitri said, and Bryce nodded before they rushed to the security room.
Meanwhile, Dominic, whose body was trembling with the thought of not being able to see Aaliyah ever again or someone hurting her again and him not being able to do anything, grabbed his hair in anguish.
“How could I?” Dominic growled before kicking the bed away, and he was about to throw the chair across the room when he heard a weird voice.
It was as if someone flushed something.
“Who is there?” Dominic shouted, unsure if someone from the team who had kidnapped Aaliyah was still there.
He took out his gun and walked towards the washroom, pointing the gun at the person as soon as the door unlocked.
“What’s with the noise?” Dominic heard her voice before he saw her face, and he fell to his knees in shock.
“Aaliyah?” Dominic asked, and Aaliyah blinked twice before looking at the person in front of her.
“Who dared to place those flowers in my room that I hate so much?” Aaliyah’s gaze was tired but dark.
“W-who are you, mister? Why are you in my room? Where is my mom? Mom!” Aaliyah shouted, looking panicked, and Dominic’s pupils dilated.
The doctor had talked about something like this when he announced her coma. She might lose some of her memories.
“I… I am… A bodyguard?” Dominic said, unsure, and Aaliyah walked closer to him.
She wanted to touch his face, but her legs gave up, and she fell into Dominic’s arms.
“Easy, Ms. Aaliyah,” Dominic immediately went into the bodyguard pretense, and Aaliyah looked into Dominic’s concerned eyes, which were so happy upon seeing her awake.
“You are here for my every need?” Aaliyah asked with great difficulty, her voice was slightly different due to hoarseness, and Dominic lifted her before placing her on the bed and nodding.
“Yes, mam. I will deal with all your demands. Let me call your family and inform them,” Dominic said.
Though he was acting normal, he was anything but calm right now. His heart was happy that Aaliyah woke up, but his mind wasn’t able to comprehend that Aaliyah didn’t remember him.
All the happy memories they created together were enough for him to spend eternity, and he would make her fall in love again, but what if – ? Dominic came out of his thoughts when Aaliyah held his hand and interlaced their fingers.
“My mom chose a handsome bodyguard. Just my type,” Aaliyah said, and Dominic didn’t know how to react.
“How about a kiss?” Aaliyah asked before pointing to her forehead, and Dominic looked at her for a few minutes before gritting his teeth.
“F*ck it,” Dominic said before he cupped Aaliyah’s face and kissed her lips. Though he was touching her lips, it was more than enough for him.
“Mr. Bodyguard! You are very naughty!” Aaliyah said before she smiled, and Dominic observed her expression, unsure of anything anymore.
Though she doesn’t remember him, why does it feel like her expression was very familiar?
“You wanted a kiss, Miss,” Dominic was happy just hearing her voice, and Aaliyah hummed.
“You are as messy as ever. Aren’t you, Vulcan?” Aaliyah asked, pointing to his clothes with blood all over them, and Dominic looked back at her with wide eyes.
“This feels like deja vu,” Aaliyah murmured.
“Are you -”
“Pretending? Well, I am a better actor than you,” Aaliyah said before hugging Dominic, who didn’t waste a second pulling her infinitely closer.
“Easy there, Mr. Killer. I am still recuperating,” Aaliyah smiled, rubbing her face on his chest.
“Aaliyah, never, and I mean never dare to play this kind of joke on me again. You have no idea what I went through this time,” Dominic’s voice broke down, and Aaliyah’s heart ached for her man.
Honestly, she had been slipping into consciousness for some days, but she couldn’t move. It was as if she knew what was happening around her, but her brain wasn’t reacting to anything, or maybe her brain knew what was happening but couldn’t send the signal to her body to react.
She wasn’t on medical terms and didn’t know what was happening, but she could hear Dominic’s voice from time to time. It was only today she was finally able to move a finger.
When she opened her eyes, Dominic was nowhere in sight, and the nurse had come to change the bed sheets, and she immediately called the doctor, who checked on her.
The first word Aaliyah spoke felt foreign to her ears. She could barely move, but with the nurse’s help, who ran a few tests on her, she went to the washroom herself.
It was already humiliating enough that someone else had been attending to her basic needs for the past two months. Aaliyah didn’t want to continue this humiliation even after being awake, and thus, she tried to use the restroom herself.
When she heard the commotion outside and Dominic’s voice, she wanted to hurry up, but getting up from the seat wasn’t as easy, and she didn’t want Dominic to see her in this condition.
“Take me home. Please. I hate it here,” Aaliyah looked at Dominic pleadingly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I didn’t expect to see this when I returned home,” Aaliyah’s cold voice reverberated in the silent house.
Laura’s lips trembled as she looked at Katherine to confirm what she was hearing.
“Aaliyah,” Katherine whispered, and Lily, who had closed her eyes to save herself from seeing the horror of Laura scolding Katherine, opened her eyes and looked at the girl standing there.
“Aaliyah?” Lily asked, immediately standing from her place, and she was about to go there to hug Aaliyah when the latter raised her hand to stop her.
“No,” Aaliyah said.
She wanted her mom to be the first to answer and hug her.
“Is – is she -?” Laura asked Katherine, and they forgot what they were talking about as a new wave of emotions took over their hearts.
“Yes, Mom. It’s Aaliyah. It’s my sister, Aaliyah,” Katherine said as she stepped forward and held Aaliyah’s hand, but before she could pull her in for a hug, Laura practically pushed Katherine away, holding Aaliyah’s hand.
Everyone thought she would hug Aaliyah, but rather than that, Laura slapped Aaliyah, shocking everyone in the room, including Dominic, who entered the house.
“Mom!” Katherine shouted in horror, and Aaliyah raised her hand to stop everyone from reacting.
She wanted her mom to take out all her anger and frustration.
“I am sorry,” Aaliyah said, looking straight into Laura’s eyes. The apologetic expression in Aaliyah’s eyes immediately melted Laura as she broke down and fell to her knees, making everyone feel her emotions.
“You are sorry? The f*ck you are sorry! Do you have any idea what I went through in this time when you were sleeping there peacefully, not giving a f*ck about everything!” Laura shouted, and Aaliyah’s eyes brimmed with tears before she chuckled.
“Language, Mom. Is this what you are teaching your kids?” Aaliyah joked and sat down, and Laura sniffed before she pulled Aaliyah in for a tight hug.
“If you ever did something like that again, I will kill myself. Do you have any idea what you three mean to me? My life starts and ends with you three. You were lying on the bed, your sister stopped smiling and eating properly, your brother immersed himself in work, and your father was barely holding it. What was left to this family?” Laura shouted, and Katherine’s eyes brimmed with tears again.
She thought her mom stopped looking at her because she blamed her for Aaliyah’s condition, but Katherine had no idea her mom was watching everything.
“Mom,” Katherine hugged Laura from behind, and the latter hugged her daughters.
“Why did you come home directly? What did the doctors say?” Laura asked, and Aaliyah shrugged.
“If I hadn’t, how would I have saved my sister from domestic violence?” Aaliyah mused, and Laura widened her eyes while everyone smiled at her choice of words.
“Stupid girl, always joking about things. When did you wake up? You should’ve at least informed us,” Laura said, looking at Dominic, and he sighed.
“Don’t look at me, Aunty. She nearly gave me a heart attack today,” Dominic said before remembering what happened at the hospital.
“Well, I am here now. That’s what should’ve Matt -” Aaliyah’s eyes drooped, and she fell unconscious.
Dominic was quick to hold her in his arms.
“Aaliyah, Aaliyah,” Dominic patted her cheeks before he lifted her in his arms and rushed outside.
“Dominic, what’s happening? She was alright just a minute ago,” Laura rushed to the car with Dominic, and the latter only pressed his lips into a thin line.
“I will call you if it’s something urgent,” Dominic didn’t wait for Laura to get inside and sped up. He didn’t want Laura to worry uselessly. She was a mom, after all.
He had asked the doctor if it was really alright to take her home, and the doctor had said she would be fine. Then why did she fall unconscious like this? Why isn’t she responding to them again? Don’t tell him that her consciousness was temporary. Dominic’s knuckles turned white as he drove the car with his mind completely a mess.
Once inside the hospital, he immediately took her to the doctor’s room who was treating her.
“Sir, you can’t enter. A meeting is going-”
“Does it look like I give a damn?” Dominic roared before opening the door nonetheless.
“She fell unconscious,” Dominic looked at the team of doctors.
“Miss Aaliyah? Place her on the table. Let me see,” the doctor was completely calm, and Dominic didn’t like it.
However, he didn’t know anything about it, and it was futile to fight anybody.
“Mr. Dominic, right? She is completely fine. You can’t exactly expect a person who woke up from a two-month coma to be running around like a normal person, right? It was already a miracle that she could move, walk, and talk so smoothly when many patients needed therapy for it,” the doctor wrote a few medicines.
“She isn’t exactly unconscious. You can call it a nap. She will wake up soon. Meanwhile, I have prescribed you some more vitamins to help her strengthen her brain and body. Make sure that she doesn’t stress her body or brain too much,” the doctor smiled, and Dominic slumped on the chair, relaxed.
“Thank you,” Dominic gulped.
Picking Aaliyah again, he walked out of the hospital before placing her on the seat and then leaned back in his driver’s seat.
“What is with you giving me a heart attack today again and again?” Dominic sighed before he started the car.
“Dominic, what was it? Did she -”
“She is just sleeping,” Dominic cut off Laura and placed her on the bed in her room.
“She is perfectly fine. I have brought these medicines. It’s for strengthening her brain and body. She might feel tired and get fed up with things easily. Please bear with her till she recuperates. Don’t let her stress her body or mind too much. No physical activities or exercises, apart from a little walking or moving of muscles,” Dominic explained everything, and Laura nodded at his instructions.
“My schedule is still packed. I will ask for leave soon, but can you ensure you take care of Aaliyah in the mean -”
“I am leaving, Mrs. Laura,” Dominic said, his eyes watering but not shedding any tears.
“Yes, it’s getting late. You should leave. You must be tired after what happened today. I heard about it from Bryce. At what time will you be coming back tomorrow?” Laura asked, and Dominic went to Aaliyah’s side before he kissed her forehead.
“I am leaving her side, Mrs. Laura. I promised her I would protect her from all the problems, and when the time to fulfill that promise came, Aaliyah saved me. She might not be in a coma because of me, but she almost lost her life because of me. If I can’t even protect her, what use am I in her life?” Dominic held Aaliyah’s hand.
“I am the leader of the most feared gang in New York City. What are the chances my rivals won’t target her, and what if I won’t be able to protect her in the future, either? I turned out to be a failure once already. I don’t think I will be able to live with that guilt,” Dominic said, a rogue tear slipping from his eyes that he quickly wiped.
“I decided to leave once I saw her smiling at me again. She woke up, and she would be fine too. It’s my time to leave,” Dominic’s words shocked Laura, Lily, and Katherine, and they looked at the man, waiting for him to say he was joking.
“Are you out of your mind? What would we tell Aaliyah if she asked about you? She loves you, Dominic. Are you breaking my sister’s heart just like that?” Katherine grabbed Dominic’s collar, and the latter removed her hand gently.
“It’s better that her heart is broken rather than her life. I will always be here, just not like her boyfriend. Don’t worry. She will understand things slowly. You won’t have to go through that pain. I will be busy with the gang most of the time because I neglected it for two months. I will be there at most functions, just not like her boyfriend,” Dominic explained before he kissed Aaliyah’s hand.
“I don’t think I would be able to leave if I don’t do it now,” Dominic looked at Aaliyah’s sleeping face one last time before standing.
“Dominic, you -” Laura didn’t know what to say.
“You are always welcomed,” Laura hugged him, and he nodded before leaving Aaliyah’s room.
Katherine turned to Aaliyah with a sad look when she noticed a tear slipping down the corner of Aaliyah’s eyes.
It was as if Aaliyah unconsciously felt Dominic leaving.
“It won’t be easy,” Katharine whispered and sat beside Aaliyah, lying her head on Aaliyah’s hand, pitifully, feeling sorry for her sister.