Arden’s POV:
I smiled at this young girl who was throwing a tantrum.
At least she looked better now than how she looked last night.
Last night she looked so.
.
. gone.
I slowly shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts.
“Is there anything you’d like to eat Muse?” I asked softly.
If I was going to be staying with this girl, then I better get to know more about her.
“Not hungry” Her muffled voice replied.
“Okay” I said and slowly sat down.
I picked up the book I was reading to keep myself busy.
A few minutes later, Muse’s stomach rumbled.
I smiled.
I raised my head from my book and saw her ears.
They were so red that it seemed like it could draw blood.
“Are you hungry now” I asked with a smile.
She groaned in embarrassment.
I stood up and left the room.
As soon I was out of the room, I bumped into the doctor.
” Ms Whitlock, is there any problem?” He asked.
“No , not at all but I guess I should ask. Can she eat anything solid right now?” I asked.
“For now, she can’t” He replied calmly.
“Okay, thank you Doctor. . ” I said, trying to remember his name.
“Lockwood, Marcel Lockwood ” He said with a smile.
“Well thank you doctor Lockwood for everything ” I replied with a smile.
“I’m happy to be of help, Ms Whitlock ” Dr Marcel said and quickly walked away.
I continued my journey to the little canteen in the hospital and quickly bought for her some rice and oat porridge .
I walked quickly to the room and saw the bed empty.
“Fuck” I said as I dropped the food on the table.
I quickly picked up my phone.
“Close the entire hospital and search for the girl” I spoke to my assistant.
“Right away Ms” She replied and hung up.
I sat on the chair and patiently waited.
About half an hour later, my bodyguard came in carrying Muse on his shoulder.
“Let me go you big mountain ” Muse said as she hit him weakly.
“Hey Mister, why don’t you let me go okay.
I promise you I’ll forever be indebted to you “Muse said softly, changing her tactics.
I raised an eyebrow in amusement.
This girl was going be a problem.
He gently placed her on the bed and left quickly.
Muse huffed in anger while I stared at her.
“I went to get you something to eat and you decided to run away” I said to her .
“Look Arden, I know you care about my wellbeing and all that but I really need to leave here” Muse said , urgency filling her voice.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“There are people looking for me and they could find me any day now so I really need to leave” She said seriously.
“Are they the ones that shot you in your arm” I asked softly.
Muse paused.
“I’m sure you didn’t think I’d know that right?” I said to her.
“Yeah” she said with a sigh.
“Why don’t you tell me who these people are” I said as I crossed my arms.
“I can’t ” she replied quickly.
“And why is that?” I asked .
“Because. . Because I’ll get you in trouble okay” She said softly.
Something in me softened.
This girl barely even knew me but she thought about my wellbeing.
That meant something in my books.
“Trust me darling , you can barely put me in any trouble ” I assured her.
Muse went silent at my words.
She didn’t want to tell me
And honestly.
I wasn’t going to force her.
“You can choose not to tell me okay and I won’t force you to tell me” I said to her.
” But could you please stop running away “.
She nodded hesitantly.
“If it’s any reassurance, I’ll make sure that you’re protected. I won’t let anything happen to you” I promised.
” That means a lot, thanks ” she said with a smile.
I nodded and quickly turned towards the table.
I didn’t know why but her smile did something to me.
It was quite disarming.
“I brought you some porridge, the doctor said that you can’t eat anything solid right now so you’ll have to make do with this” I said as I opened the food.
Muse groaned.
I turned towards her.
“Do you want me to feed you or not?” I asked with a smile.
“I can feed myself, thank you ” she said.
“You might not have noticed love, but your hands are also bandaged” I said to her.
She looked down at her hands in conflict.
I also stared at her hands, they were bloodied.
So was her just bandaged leg.
“What the fuck” I said in shock.
“I didn’t know my hands were bandaged” she said guiltily while I stared at her.
“It’s okay, I understand ” I said as I dropped the food.
“Look, I need to tell you this okay” I says seriously.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You have a medical condition” .
“What medical condition” she asked.
“It’s called congenital insensitivity to pain” I said slowly.
“And what does that mean?” she asked, her eyes filled with fear.
“It means that you can’t feel pain, you might be injured but you won’t feel it, it’ll just be. . numb”I said.
Muse’s eyes widened in shock and recognition.
” So I can’t feel pain?”she said softly.
“Yeah” I replied.
“So you’re telling me that there might be more injuries in my body that I’m not aware of” .
“Yes”.
A small sound escaped her lips.
“Are you okay?” I asked concernedly.
” Yeah.
.
Yeah, I just need to come in terms with it first” She said softly.
Her eyes were staring into thin air and she didn’t know it but she was shaking.
“You can cry if you want to” I said softly.
She shook harder at my words.
I quietly left the room.
I wanted her to have a moment to myself.
My assistant was outside waiting for me.
Her suit was clean and proper just like always but there was something different about the way she stared at me.
“Secure this hospital, make sure you no one leaves and comes in without proper search” I said to her.
“Yes Ms, anything else?” she asked calmly.
“Put bodyguards in the room, make sure she doesn’t leave ” I continued.
“No problem Ms” .
“Good, you may retire for the day” I said to her.
“Thank you Ms” she said with a little bow and left quickly.
I stood outside for a while before I slowly walked in.
Muse was seated on the bed, her eyes red.
She smiled as soon as she saw me but I knew it wasn’t real.
A real smile doesn’t look so empty.
“Are you better now?” I asked.
“Yes I am, thank you ” she replied.
I nodded and headed for my seat.
“You really don’t know how to console someone, do you?” she said after a while.
“What makes you think so?” I asked .
“Because your first thought was to leave me while I cried” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“What else was I supposed to do?” I asked in confusion.
“I don’t know, maybe hug me or console me” she said with a shrug.
“I definitely wouldn’t do that” I said.
“I know” she replied.” But I guess something’s just need to change ” She said with a smile.
What is that supposed to mean.
I don’t know what this girl is up to, but I definitely don’t want to find out.