Indeed, it was an imported medication, and an hour later, Micaela’s temperature gradually returned to normal.
The crowd left voluntarily, leaving room for Carlos.
Micaela dreamed again of that ridiculous night, the fragments of the dream were too fragmented to sort out, and what she remembered clearly was actually the man’s soft touch and the magnetic voice that kept circling her ears….
“No, it shouldn’t be like this, I should have hated this damned man!”
Micaela strained to open her eyes and saw the familiar ceiling….
-How do you feel?
Carlos reached up and removed the towel from Micaela’s forehead…..
Micaela’s first reaction was to close her eyes again, avoiding his touch, and tuck her head under the sheets.
Carlos’ hand remained in the air for a long time before he withdrew it.
-Micaela, what’s wrong?
Micaela bit her lip, tears falling on the sheets.
She said in a raspy voice:
-I want to sleep. Go away.
…
They were all sitting downstairs in the living room.
The doctor was explaining to Alba about the body’s resistance to medication.
-In short, it’s not a disease, but it’s definitely not a good thing either, it’s better not to get sick, I guess the drugs are discounting their effects and she’s the one who’s going to suffer.
Alba frowned:
-Every person can be sick, although Micaela gets sick very, very rarely, I remember she caught a cold a few years ago?
Carlos came down from upstairs and sat down on the couch with a grimace.
Eric said, somewhat apologetically:
-Mr. Aguayo, I’m sorry I didn’t take care of Micaela.
He remembered clearly that when Micaela had signed the contract, this high and mighty man had given instructions that not a hair would be missing when his wife was delivered to Brillantella….
Carlos looked at Eric and Alba, both with apologies and remorse on their faces, especially Alba….
Carlos’ deep voice rang out:
-It’s true what Alba said, it’s human to get sick, it’s not your fault.
Although his heart ached for Micaela, he could not blame them.
They both breathed a small sigh of relief.
However, Carlos was still worrying a lot.
Micaela had just woken up, and when she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, she had stirred without looking at him, and had tucked her head under the blanket. Although he hadn’t said much, Caelos had actually sensed that she was resisting him!
He had sensed something unusual about her since the phone call last night, and now her behavior was even more unbelievable!
He hoped it was just a temper tantrum, though he knew the girl wasn’t the unreasonable type…..
Eric stood up and said:
-Well then, Mr. Aguayo, there’s not much I can do here to help, I’m going back to the office first, Micaela doesn’t have a job lined up right now and can take a week off.
Carlos nodded and instructed his driver to take him back….
-No, Mr. Aguayo, the bodyguards that Mr. Sarmiento has arranged to protect Micaela are outside, I’m going with them.
With that, Eric walked away.
The doctor went upstairs to reconfirm the girl’s temperature, picked up the infusion set, left the oral medication and, after asking Carlos for instructions, also left.
Alba, who had gone upstairs with the doctor, sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Micaela, who was cowering under the sheets, and wondered:
-Micaela? Come out, don’t suffocate.
Micaela insisted on not coming out for fear that her red eyes would show that she had cried.
-No, Alba, I’m fine, don’t worry, I’m going to sleep a little longer.
She needed to sort out her emotions…
-Micaela, why are you acting strange, did Carlos intimidate you?
-No, I’m just trying to get some sleep.
Alba compromised:
-Then get some sleep, I’m going out, call me if you need anything.
-Okay! -Micaela’s voice came from under the blanket.
Hearing the door close, Micaela shook her head and sat up. The fever was gone and her whole body was much cooler. She unconsciously got up, grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
Once fully dressed, she suddenly felt that she had not washed properly and that she had to do it again….
Standing at the bathroom door, she suddenly felt that image very familiar, and many images passed quickly through her mind, it was when she was studying at the university, that in the small room she rented outside, she would bathe over and over again, only to discover that what was the use of washing her body clean, her soul was dirty….
Micaela crouched on the floor by the bathroom door, holding her head as a familiar voice rang in her head.
-Alba, what’s wrong with me? I should want to kill him, but, but why don’t I really hate him at all? Alba, I’m so sad, I hate myself like this!
…
Tears fell from her eyes, now she felt a thousand times sadder than then, ten thousand times more!
That she didn’t love Marcos then, and that she condemned herself for not hating the man who had ruined her innocence.
And now, with a deeper pain swelling inside her, she loved Charles so much, but now, thinking of that night, she couldn’t hate that man!
She spat at herself, hated herself for being shameless, let alone worthy of the perfect Carlos…..
She took a deep breath and got up, she couldn’t stay here, she didn’t deserve to be here, this was the place of the pure and innocent Micaela, not hers, a dirty-minded Micaela who couldn’t even hate the bad man who had raped her, she had to leave….
As she opened the door, she heard a noise coming from downstairs and unconsciously lowered her steps.
It was Alba’s voice.
-I really don’t know, she didn’t tell me where she appeared or who drugged her, she just blamed herself and continued to be self-loathing…..
-Self-loathing? What do you mean? -Carlos’ voice rang out.
Micaela stood at the top of the stairs and went no further, she was sure that the person they were talking about, had to be herself!
-Carlos, please don’t make me, I can’t talk about it.
-Alba, do you remember what I said? I must know that what you are worried about will not happen,” Carlos repeated his promise.
-No matter what happens when I know the truth, you can rest assured that I will not leave Micaela and I will never hurt her, let alone let her hurt herself.
Alba continued to refuse:
-Carlos, you’re going to regret it!
-I don’t regret every decision I make, I’ve given you plenty of time, don’t challenge my patience.
The man’s voice became cold, without the slightest warmth.
Micaela unconsciously recoiled and even covered her ears. She didn’t want to hear him, but Alba’s voice, with its sobs and low growl, still reached her ears clearly:
-She hated herself because she didn’t hate that man, the one who had destroyed her innocence, but she knew what it felt like to have her heart beat! She said she loved the man who had raped her! Are you satisfied, Carlos?