Chapter 73
Ariel
Guilt gnawed in my chest at my selfish act but the peace of mind that filled my heart since I absconded from the hospital overshadowed it.
Once again Guilia came to my rescue. I wouldn’t have been able to succeed without her help. Before the time Dmitri came into my ward, I’d considered coming to Chicago with my parents, but after he came, I realized that my plans to leave might not be successful if I included my parents.
So I did what I was good at doing which was running away and I’d never felt more at peace.
The only person I missed was Liora. We had already bonded strongly and I hoped to see her once again, but right now, I had to focus on healing both physically and mentally.
Guilia and I were in a cabin that overlooked a sparkling blue lake in a remote area that belonged to Raphael. She’d chosen this place since it was quite remote and no one would suspect me to be there.
She stoked the fire and brought down the window blinds while I sipped my coffee.
“Are you supposed to be taking coffee? We don’t have a doctor around and your dad is going to kill me this time if anything happens to your stitch,” She warned me.
“I don’t think the wound is that deep. Being here will make me heal faster and I have you so that helps, but I have several questions to ask you…”
She smiled broadly and raised her hand to interrupt me. “You don’t have to ask. I’ll explain as fast as I can then I’ll make us something to eat,”
It was already late in the evening and the sun was beginning to recede so I was more than ready to eat.
“Well, I intended to come here as soon as my father permitted me and fortunately, he gave me a go-ahead this morning. As for the plane tickets and all, I had to coax one of Raphael’s rich friends who had a chopper,”
My eyes bulged out almost to the point of falling off their sockets. “How did you get to know all these rich people?”
She shrugged with a sad smile plastered on her face. “We snuck out a lot when Raphael was still alive and father was more focused on his mistresses than me and his wife, so all I had to do was tip the security guard and he’d let me out. The rest was quite easy because Raphael was my bodyguard,”
“Yeah, true, but I hope his friend won’t be in trouble for this,” I asked worriedly.
She waved it off and stood up. “Nah, he won’t. He’s a politician’s son and it won’t be wise for my father to have problems with a top government official,”
“Okay,” I replied absentmindedly.
“So what would you like to have for dinner?”
I heaved a sigh and huffed. “I don’t know, girl, but whatever you prepare needs to contain a lot of vegetables,”
“Ma, yes, ma,” She threw a mock salute and went into the little kitchen.
~~~
The morning breezed in unexpectedly and I stirred up, feeling much better than yesterday. Sleeping with my camp friend-that’s how I referred to her at the moment, had never felt so good.
Being in this cabin meant I got to live as I wanted even if it was for a few days.
Guilia, who slept on the same bed as me turned to the side and her eyes flipped open. She sat up quickly and scrutinized my body.
When she saw that I wasn’t having any health challenges, she relaxed.
Her eyes flitted to the wall clock and her mouth stretched in a yawn. “It’s just six am, why are you up? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”
“I feel like going on a stroll,” I replied and slipped out from the bed.
Her brows became furrowed as she stared at me with suspicion. “A stroll? Ariel, there are several people who can’t wait to have my head once they find out that I helped you to abscond again. Just imagine what they’ll do to me if they hear that your stitch reopened or got infected,”
“I’m alive, darling. Nothing will happen to me or you so dress up, please. Let’s go to the lake,” I pressed on.
“Alright, but you aren’t swimming,” She pointed out while adjusting the drawstring of her pants.
I covered myself with a thick jacket and nodded. “I won’t do anything that will complicate my health,” I assured her.
Together we walked out of the cabin and we were greeted with a beautiful floral scent that drifted to our noses.
“I’d love to get that flower,” I cooed, enjoying the exhilarating scent of what I thought would be a white frangipani.
“Nope, you aren’t doing that. I’m not used to this terrain so let’s stick to what we earlier agreed upon,”
Not wanting to offend her, I agreed. “Cool. To the lake we go,”
We entwined our hands and walked casually to the lake with our hair flying in different directions because of the morning breeze.
I sat at the bank of the lake and watched her strip. She was about to take a dip when her phone beeped loudly and then she halted and gazed at her phone screen for a while.
“What’s wrong?” I questioned worriedly as her face lacked emotions.
She hurriedly tossed on her clothes. “I set up a reminder to take my drugs, that’s why my phone beeped,”
I became alert immediately. “Are you sick? What’s the matter with you?” I interrogated her, touching her forehead with the back of my palm.
She flashed a reassuring smile and shook her head. “Well, I was sick, but I’m getting better. I just have to complete the remaining dosage then I’m done,”
Relief washed over me. “Oh, let’s go back together then,”
“That would be awesome. I’m so sorry for the back and forth,”
“No, you don’t have to apologize. I made you come here,” I said to her as we made our way back to the cabin.
We got to the front of the cabin and I froze, my heart skipping a beat. Even though his back was facing us and I couldn’t see his face, I could tell who he was by merely sizing up his frame and I glanced at Guilia who wore an apologetic look.
How could she betray me like this?
“Dmitri!” I called and he turned around with his lips curved in a triumphant smile.
“Hi, princess,”