Saved by a stranger

NINA’S POV

I wake up slowly. Although I am awake, I still struggle to open my eyes.

I feel the pain in my body before I take notice of the beeping sound next to me. I realise that I am in hospital before I manage to open my eyes.

My head hurts. A lot. My eyesight is blurry and I instantly feel frustrated. I can feel the frustration build up in my chest and the beeping sound next to my bed becomes more urgent.

I hear footsteps coming into my room, too many footsteps to be just one person. I turn my head towards the sound of the footsteps but my neck protests violently. I groan.

I feel an icy cold hand on my arm.

“Don’t worry, Honey. You are in good hands.” A young female voice tells me.

I can see someone moving around my bed, although my sight is still out of focus.

“There you go.” The young voice tells me. I want to ask her what she is talking about but I suddenly feel overwhelmed with tiredness. I close my eyes and drift off into the darkness. There is no pain in the darkness.

*   *   *   *   * 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t even know the girl.” Angry hushed male voice says.

“She’s not just any girl.” Frustrated hushed male voice says.

“This is the worst time for you to do this! You know it is time for us to go.” Angry voice says in a less hushed voice.

“This doesn’t concern you! I can hang back for a year. I do not dictate what you are allowed to do. Please show me the same common courtesy”. Frustrated voice, also less hushed.

“Or what?” Angry voice, even angrier and not hushed at all anymore.

“Are you pushing me to pull rank on you?” Frustrated voice, now very calm. Not hushed but very soft spoken.

Silence.

“I fucking hate you!” Angry voice, not hushed at all. Footsteps angrily walking out of the room.

Silence.

“Is everything alright in here?” Soft spoken female voice.

“Everything is fine.” Frustrated male voice. Clearly lying.

*     *      *     *     *     *

I feel the pain in my arm before I feel the pain in my head. I groan.

I try to open my eyes again. It seems easier today. My vision blurs but then clears up quickly.

I am definitely in a hospital bed. A very fancy hospital bed. I immediately start to panic. My heart monitor next to my bed starts to beep quicker again.

A nurse quickly rushes to my bed and tries to soothe me with her words while she adjusts my medication in my drip. Once again tiredness overwhelms me and I fall asleep.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

“All arrangements have been made. She will move as soon as she wakes up.” It is the same voice that once sounded very frustrated. Today there is no frustration. He is in control.

“Thank you, Sir.” The female voice sounds a bit like she is crooning. “I will make sure your wife is discharged the moment she opens her eyes.”

I try to open my eyes. My eyelids are heavy and my eyes are burning. The heart monitor next to my bed is absolutely quiet. I force my eyes open and try to look towards where the monitor was before. I am not connected to anything anymore. I lift my hands to look at them. My vision clears up and I am able to focus on the room around me.

I groan when I realise that I am still in a room that I do not recognise.

The nurse rushes to my side.

“Good morning, Mrs Ross.” The young female nurse tells me.

Mrs Ross? Is that my name? It doesn’t sound familiar. I feel to tired to keep thinking about it.

A man comes into the room. He stands at the end of my bed and looks at me. He has a piercing stare and it feels like he is looking directly into my soul. My eyes wander to his lips. His square jawline. His dark hair. He is very attractive.

His phone rings, he answers it and leaves the room as he does.

“We will get you ready and out of here in no time.” The nurse tells me and then also leaves the room.

A short while later another nurse comes in with a wheelchair. I am quickly helped into the chair and taken outside to where a large black car is waiting for me. The driver opens the back door and I am promptly helped into the back seat. Just before the driver closes the door the nurses turn to walk back into the hospital. I hear the one nurse tell the other nurse that I must be the luckiest woman in the world.

I frown at her. I try to think if I am lucky? I must be lucky. She said so.

The car pulls away and I look to my right. My eyes lock with the man that was in my room earlier.

His piercing stare bores into my soul. How does he do that?

“How are you feeling?” He asks in a short tone. He doesn’t sound very friendly.

“I… er…I am ok.” I tell him. It comes out sounding more like a question than an answer.

There is a hard thud on my window. I quickly look towards where the sound came from. A man is walking beside my window with a camera right up against the window. The man next to me swears under his breath.

“Get us out of here!” he barks to the driver.

The car speeds up and the man with the camera is left behind in the street.

The rest of the ride is in silence. We pull up to large iron gates that open electronically. The driver enters through the gates and takes us up to a very large house. I look at the house in awe. This doesn’t look familiar, but it is a beautiful house.

A man comes out of the house and walks straight to my door. He opens the door and helps me out of the car. I look over the roof of the car to the man that gets out on the other side. He has a very cold stare that keeps falling on me. For a moment I wonder if I did something to anger him.

The man walks past me up the stairs, into the house and disappears. The young lady standing next to me, smiles sweetly.

“Come, let me get you settled.” She tells me and holds her arm for me to hook into. She is wearing a black dress with a white apron. On my way to the room where she takes me, I see about four more ladies dressed the way she is.

“There are a lot of help available in this house.” She whispers sweetly. “Please don’t be afraid to call any of us should you need anything.”

I smile at her but do not say anything.

Once we reach the top of the stairs, I am tired and out of breath. I hold onto the railing and try to catch my breath while the girl patiently stands next to me. She rubs my hand that is hooked into the crook of her elbow.

“That door,” she says, pointing to the closest door to us, “is the door to your room. We are almost there. Tell me when you are ready, and I will help you to your bed.”

The thought of being able to lay on a bed and rest a bit sounds very appealing. I nod at her and gather as much strength as I can to head towards the room. A few moments later she helps me onto the bed and tells me that she will bring me something to drink soon. She leaves the room and closes the door behind her.

I lay on the large bed looking at the room around me. Nothing seems familiar. The room is decorated in white and baby blues. It is soothing and calming to be in this room. The air-conditioning is set just right.  It is comfortable. I close my eyes and almost immediately fall asleep.

When I open my eyes again the room is in complete darkness. I reach towards the bedside table. I am sure I noticed a bed lamp there earlier. I find the switch and switch the lamp on. The house is very quiet.

I slowly walk to the door and open it slightly. There is light at the bottom of the stairs. I open the door a bit further, almost expecting it to squeak. It doesn’t. I step out of the room and walk to the railing, looking over it to see if there is anyone still awake in this house.

“You brought her to this house? You have completely lost all your senses!” an angry male voice shout.

“I know exactly what I am doing.” Another male voice, which I have now come to recognise as the man with the intense stare, answers him.

“There are four of us, Mark! You should discuss this with us. We have a plan that never fails and now you are deliberately putting us all in danger.” The first angry voice shouts.

The man with the intense stare’s name is Mark. I note to myself. My heart does a sudden flip. What a strange reaction to a name. I think of Mark’s bright green eyes. I cannot exactly put my finger on the intensity of his stare. Is it anger? Is he irritated?

There is a loud thud coming from the room where the voices are. In my mind’s eye I can only imagine that Mark banged his fists on his table.

“This is not up for discussion!”