TWO DAYS LATER
It was a Monday morning and the break from the hospital had come to an end. Lily woke up feeling restless. Since the party, she had been unable to sleep properly as the events of the Mehdi’s party continued replaying in her head. All she seemed to think about was Louis’s words. It had been haunting her like a ghost and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t shake it off.
What annoyed her was that she didn’t know what he planned to do. She didn’t have a single idea so, she was scared he would strike at any time.
“Get yourself together, Lily!” She tapped her cheeks with her hands as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
“Don’t think about it. Please, don’t think about it.” She whispered as she brushed her hair into place.
“Focus, Lily. Focus!” She said own last time before going into the bathroom to get ready for the day.
By the time she got out of the bathroom, it was already a few minutes past eight and she was to be at the hospital by 9 am. She dressed up quickly and made her way downstairs.
By the time she made it downstairs, Tony and Rachael were already seated at the dining table. They seemed to be in a funny conversation as they both had a big smile on their faces while talking.
“He honestly wanted to rent a beach house for a year like it was his own home. All of this just because he wanted to take a break from his nagging wife.” Tony was saying with a laugh and Rachael joined in.
“Are you joking?” She asked, struggling to control herself.
“Not at all. You can imagine the look on the face of his wife when she finds out about this.” Tony added and Rachael screamed, covering her mouth and laughing hard.
“Good morning, Tony. Good morning, Rachael.” Lily greeted and sat quietly.
“Morning, Lily. How was your night?” Tony and Rachael asked.
“It was okay.” She lied and lowered her head to focus on her food and the conversation between the siblings continued.
Lily remained seated without saying a word and her food was untouched. Her thoughts had drifted again as Louis’s voice echoed in her mind.
‘Have fun while you can.’ The sentence sent chills down her spine.
“Lily?!” Tony’s voice broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Lily blinked and looked at him, startled.
“Huh?”
“I was asking if you’re okay.” He repeated, his brows furrowed in concern.
“Oh…” Lily forced a smile and shook her head. “I’m alright, I promise.” She lied again, avoiding his gaze.
“Are you sure? You don’t look alright to me.” Rachael chipped in with a worried expression. She was about to get up so that she could sit beside Lily and access her properly when Lily shook her head again and plastered a smile on her face.
“I…I’m a bit tired. I couldn’t sleep early last night. I think that’s why.” She added, hoping that they would believe her.
The siblings looked at her with narrowed eyes, both unconvinced but, they decided to let it
“Alright then. I won’t be coming to the hospital today.” He announced and Lily who had already started stuffing her face with pancakes to prove to them that she was okay, raised her head with a confused look.
“Really? Why?”
“I met a few people at Mehdi’s party who are interested in buying shares at my real estate company so, I have to go there and see them myself.” He explained.
“Oh…” Lily shook her head slowly. It had skipped her mind for a bit that Tony wasn’t just a doctor.
“Because of this, you’ll be going to the hospital with the four men you’ll see standing outside. They are your bodyguards for today and will be with you until I return.” He announced and Lily’s eyes widened, her eyeballs almost popping.
“What? Tony!” Lily frowned.
“No refusals, Lily. I do not want you going to the hospital alone, especially now that Louis is stalking you.”
“Nothing will happen, Tony. I’ll be fine.” She assured him but he shook his head, maintaining his stance.
After hesitating for a while, Lily finally gave in.
“Fine.” She muttered, still pouting.
After breakfast, as Lily made her way out of the house, Tony stopped her and pulled her to himself. Then, he leaned down to her level and planted a kiss on her lips which took her by surprise but she pretended to be unfazed.
After a while, Tony pulled out of the kiss and placed his forehead on hers. “I am doing this to protect you, Lily. It would kill me to know that something happened to you because I didn’t take your safety seriously.”
“I know,” Lily whispered and chuckled slightly. “I’m not angry, not one bit.” She assured with a bright smile.
“Be safe, Lily,” Tony said before she finally left the house.
Just as he said, there were four hefty and cold-looking men waiting outside, all dressed in black and dark shades. As soon as they sighted Lily, they ran to her and helped her get into the car.
“Oh God..” Lily sighed as they drove her to work. She knew that she was about to have a very chaotic day at work.
*
*
As they arrived at the hospital, Lily cleared her throat and turned to the men who were seated in front of the car.
“Can you please not follow me into the main building?” She asked with kind eyes and one of them glared at her, clearly disagreeing with her.
“Or…even if you need to, just watch me from afar. Following me around would be too distracting and might even cause a scene which we do not appreciate in hospitals.” She asked with puppy eyes.
“Please.” She pleaded and they finally agreed.
Clapping happily, Lily got out of the car and went into the hospital.
She got into the dressing room and quickly changed into her nurse uniform. By the time she got out, she found Oliver standing by her desk.
“Lily!” He waved and smiled brightly before walking to her.
“Oliver… how did you know I was here?” She asked, smiling weirdly.
“I overheard some of the nurses in my department saying that they saw Tony’s car drop you off so I immediately hurried here.” He explained and she nodded.
“It’s good to see you, Oliver.” She returned his smile.
“You’ve been gone for too long. I was starting to think you’ve left me for good.” He teased.
“Oh no! I already explained to you. I had something to attend to.” Lily explained.
“I know, I know. I just missed you.” He grinned. “Now that you’re back, I won’t be leaving your side. Also, we’ll be having lunch together and you cannot refuse. My treat.” He said without allowing her to protest.
The rest of the day went in a flash and soon, it was lunchtime. Oliver returned to her desk and took her to a nearby restaurant.
“This is nice,” Lily said as they settled into their seats.
“I knew you’d like it. I have been planning this for a while now.” He said with a smile.
A waiter appeared beside them and took their order while they sat to chat. As the chat progressed, Oliver noticed some men sitting a few chairs away and he grew worried. He had noticed them following Lily around and it didn’t look like they were there to harm her so, he concluded that they were there as her bodyguards.
“Are they going to follow you around the whole day?” He asked, gesturing towards the window and Lily stiffened as she struggled to find a reply for him.
“They are just hard to miss, Lily. How are supposed to have a good time if they keep watching us? It’s not like I’ll harm you. Or, do you not trust me?” He asked with hurt in his eyes and Lily felt her chest tighten from the weight of his words.
“Fine. I’ll tell them to give us some space.” She said with a smile and walked up to the bodyguards. A few seconds later, they were out of the building.
“Thank you, Lily.” He said with a smile and they continued their meal.
A few minutes later, Oliver excused himself to use the restroom, leaving Lily by herself but he was back sighing two minutes, making Lily’s worries disappear.
As they continued to chat about the hospital, they heard a loud bang in the restaurant that caused a chaotic scream to erupt.
People screamed as three men whose faces were covered with masks emerged with guns and started shooting upwards.
“Oh my God…” Lily exclaimed, shaking in fear. She looked around and saw people struggling to leave the restaurant.
But, what seemed strange to her was the fact that the masked men weren’t going after anyone.
“Lily! Come with me.” Oliver screamed and grabbed her hand but before they could run out, one of the masked men stepped in front of them and pulled the trigger on Oliver.
“No!” Lily screamed eerily as he fell to the ground. “Oliver!”
Lily crouched down, her entire body shaking as blood poured out of his sides.
“Run away, Lily. Run.” He said in a shaky breath but, it was too late. One of the masked men reached her and pulled her away with a firm grip.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” She struggled and the man hissed in annoyance.
“Let me…” Her screams seized as the masked man used the back of his gun to hit her on the head, making her unconscious.