Rafael looked around the room he was in, the pain in his hands finally subsided, he got up and pulled his shirt on just as the door opened.
“Oh, you are up,”
Lance said walking up to him.
“Yes, were you here throughout the night?”
“No, I just came in, I had to go to the police station, the other man was arrested this morning, but sadly Leonard died on the way to the hospital last night,”
Lance revealed.
“What about my wife and her sister? Are they awake yet?”
He asked standing on fixing his trousers.
“I don’t know yet, I came straight here when I was told you are here, I can go and check for you if you want,”
He offered.
“No, that’s fine I will go myself,”
“I don’t think that’s advisable seeing that you had surgery a few hours ago,”
Lance said trying to block his way.
“I am fine, don’t you have things to do?”
“Yes, I will be on my way, call me if you need anything,”
Lance said as they both walked out of his hospital room, they parted ways as Rafael walked straight to the doctor’s office, he met the doctor on the way, the man who had operated on him earlier was kind of shocked to see him.
“What are you doing up already?”
He asked, Rafael ignored his question.
“Doctor, how are they doing?”
Rafael asked running to the doctor.
“They are fine, both sisters are good, they were both in lots of shocks and as they are twins it was only likely that they reacted the same way, they just need to rest a little.”
The doctor said, Rafael let out a breath of relief, he didn’t know how he would have been able to face their parents if anything had happened to them.
“How about my baby,”
He asked suddenly remembering his little one, he wasn’t sure how true that was yet but Nicole’s parents won’t lie about her carrying his child.
“Fine too, the baby wasn’t affected at all, thankfully the kidnappers didn’t harm them in any way.”
“Yes, he didn’t, he wasn’t after them, he just wanted me to pay for his shits, thank you very much doc,”
“That’s okay, but you are the one who should be laying down more, you are shot and just had surgery,”
The doctor said pointing at his heavily bandaged hand, he looked at it and shook his head.
“This is nothing, I am lucky it’s just this,”
“Yes you are, but you need to rest, they are all fine so you have to take a rest, I will advice you to get some sleep, you are not even supposed to be up,”
“Alright doc, I will, thank you for everything,”
He said and turned going back to his room, he laid on the bed but he wasn’t feeling sleepy, the event of the previous night replayed in his head and the news of Leonard’s had been shocking, he got up from the bed and decided it would be best to go see Nicole first, he would rest after, his wound wasn’t huge or major so he was sure he would be fine beside there was no way he would fall asleep without knowing how his woman was doing, he hasn’t seen her since yesterday when they arrived the hospital, he met her parents on the way.
“Rafael, son, you are up already? We were going to see you,”
Her mom said coming to hug him.
“Yes, I just did, you went to see the girls?”
“Yes, they are both fine, still sleeping, thank you so much, son,”
She said, he felt emotional with her words, he couldn’t remember the last time someone called him son.
“You did well and we are thankful, Rafael,”
Nicole’s father said patting his back.
“Can you call me son too? I really like it a lot, haven’t had anyone call me that for a long long time,”
He requested politely, he wanted to make this family his family, not just be with their daughter but also be a son to them, the Evanls, they earned his respect and he would forever be grateful to them.
“Sure son, we will happily call you that, welcome to the family,”
“Thank you so much, Mom, and dad,”
He said hugging both of them in the hospital lobby, he felt loved and didn’t want to live any other way.
“We are going home and will be back by tomorrow, she needs to rest,”
“Alright, sir,”
He said and saw them to the entrance of the hospital before going back towards the room where the twins were, and opened the door gently, they are both laying still asleep on their side of the room Nicole was on the right side while Natalie’s bed was on the left, he walked towards his woman, she looked so peaceful sleeping, he sat next to her and held her hands, gently kissing them, then stood up to go see the other twin, he had to laugh at how they both had the same expression while sleeping, these two were just one soul in two bodies and he realized he loves the both of them, just in different ways and he was thankful that they were both okay.
“Rafael,”
He heard his woman call out his name, he turned and ran to her side.
“Hey, baby, how are you?”
“Rafael,”
“Yes, I am here, you are not alone anymore, I won’t let anyone hurt you again,”
Rafael said holding her hands, she gradually opened her eyes.
“But you did Rafael, you hurt me the most, you left me,”
She accused, he bowed his head.
“I am sorry Nicole, please forgive me,”
“Do I have to?”
She asked weakly.
“Yes you have to, I can’t live without you, you have to forgive me and take me back,”
“And if I don’t?”
She asked hitting him on the hand where the bullet had hit him, he tried to endure the pain but he couldn’t.
“Oh, my God, Rafael, are you hurt?”
She asked getting up and checking him.
“I am fine, don’t worry,”
“What? You look like you are in a lot of pain, wait, I remember before I passed out that someone said you were shot, aren’t you supposed to be laying down?”
She asked her voice going harsh, he knew she was worried about him but he didn’t want to worry her.
“The bullet didn’t get in, it just grazed it,”
He said smiling through his pain, hoping she would take his words for it but she was no fool.
“Rafael, you are playing with your health? You are hurt, you are supposed to be taking care of yourself not being so careless,”
She let out.
“I am fine, Nicole, really, this is nothing, I already had surgery and the do**”
“You had surgery? And you are not staying in one place to recover?”
She yelled cutting him off.
“Keep your voice down Cole, I am okay,”
“Don’t tell me to keep my voice down, what if it gets infected because you are moving around, what will happen to us? Don’t you know taking care of yourself should also be your priority? Do you want to leave us on our own?”
She yelled, Rafael looked over at where Natalie was sleeping he hoped Nicole’s voice won’t wake her up, he couldn’t help but be happy by her constant use of the word us, her, and their baby, yes they were his priority.
“I am fine,”
“No, you are not you moron, just leave my presence this instant, I don’t want to see you here until you have rested,”
She ordered.
“Honestly, Nicole, I am fine,”
“No you are not, it either you go take care of yourself or you stay the fuck away from me, I don’t want you here Rafael, leave me alone,”
She yelled just as the door opened, Aron walked in looking from him to Nicole, she laid back down on the bed and turned her back on him.
“Leave Rafael, I don’t want to see you here anymore,”
She added, he knew she was doing this for his own good, and he didn’t want to let her down, so he stood up and left without another word, the pain in his hand increased by the time he got to where the doctor was.