Dreaming about fishes

          Light beamed into her eyes, coming from the open curtains and she slowly woke up. The sun's rays warmed her skin and she stretched her limbs, feeling fresh. Her head rolled against the pillow with the rest of her body consumed by a heavy blanket.

She had begun to wonder what grandmother could be doing in the house when her senses realized her surroundings did not look anything like her room, not to talk of her apartment.

Her back immediately jerked from the mattress and her vision surveyed the room with a protruding gape. She had only been there a couple of times but the room was still very much ingrained in her memory. It looked familiar; the wallpapers, the aquarium, the toy figures...

It took her a few seconds before she grasped the situation and realized she was in the extraordinary room of Jayden's.

Maria immediately shot up at that realization, kneeling on the bed with her wide eyes roaming across the large place. She sounded with a gasp and her gaze fell back on the crimson sheets.

She was confused about why she was in his place and how she had ended up on the bed of all the other furniture in the room. Way to go, Maria.

She grabbed some of her hair now falling loosely across her back and screwed her eyes shut to retrieve the needed memories that would create answers to her alarmed state.

Slowly, they came back, the asthmatic episode that led her to an exhausted state of slumber. She remembered how her health deteriorated and how Jayden had assisted her. The question concerning what she was doing in his room got solved as she recollected how he had carried her there and given her an inhaler.

Every puzzle piece became fixed except for one.

How had she woken on the bed even when she could vividly recollect dozing off on the couch? Unless she had surprisingly sleepwalked from the sofa and moronically trespassed into the man's bed. Because there was no way that heartless jerk--maybe not so heartless after saving her life but still--would have brought her here willingly, trying to make her sleep experience more comfortable. And there was no FREAKING way he had actually done that.

Her mind went in circles over it for quite a while before she finally shook herself. She pushed the blankets away completely and slowly rose from her bed. Her feet found her shoes and her brain hurt as she put them on, failing to remember when she had removed them.

She started walking around slowly, her eyes moving across the place and there was no sight of Jayden. She was not sure whether to be revived or not about that.

The tank of fish at the far end of the room became visible to her again, and she moved towards it with some excitement, almost forgetting her current predicament.

She approached the glass curiously and stared at the fish with awe. A small school of them was swimming around freely. The water shone with glittering lights, their scales gleaming and glistening in it. It would be nice to own a tank like that in her apartment but her financial status would never permit that.

"Did you dream about fishes?" A voice startled her from behind, a really familiar one.

Maria turned swiftly to see Jayden walking into view and halted his feet to save some distance between them. She gave him a once-over, subconsciously, realizing his change of clothes. He wore an oversized hoodie and black pants, something she was getting used to, and always made her wonder if he had a large collection of those pieces of clothing.

She cleared her throat, trying to find her tongue which was not very useful right now, "Uhm, no." How could she have any dream from rest so brief?

"Well, how was your five minutes' rest?" Jayden asked, his hands rising above his head to air quote the last three parts of his words.

Her brows pulled down slightly. She could detect sarcasm in his tone. It made her curious and she wanted to know the true meaning of his words. "Wh-What? Did I not sleep for a few minutes?"

He held a voiceless stare, burying his fingers into the pockets of his trousers, and something about his piercing silence made her feel there was some information she did not know about.

"If-if I may ask, how many minutes was I out?" She stuttered, hoping that would get him to break his silence and tell her whatever secret was behind the question.

"Minutes?" He repeated sarcastically, chuckling without smiling. One of his hands drew out and he took a glance at the watch clung to his wrist. "About five hours."

"Five hours?!" Maria gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. She gaped at the man in front of her, finding his words hard to apprehend. Five hours? Was he making fun of her or was he being serious? How could she be unconscious for that long? She thought she had just dozed off only for a few minutes and not spent that huge amount sleeping while at work.

She shook her head vigorously and the action brought her eyes to his face. He was not reacting to her astonishment, and his silence was more disturbing than his words. It made her assume he was not messing around, not like his deadpan nature was a type to.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She folded her arms, her voice still trembling from shock. He could have kept on with his cold attitude and ruined her sleep no matter how peaceful it might have seemed.

Jayden did not respond to her. He kept his lips pursed, observing her with squinted brown eyes that looked like chips of an amber stone.

Her brows furrowed at his continuing muteness. Was he waiting for her to ask another question? Or was he thinking about how to answer it?

"I don't know about your upbringing, but my father taught me never to wake a sleeping lady, miss Patterson." He finally said, with no hint of humor on his features.

Maria's mouth dropped open. "What?" She uttered, her eyes widening at the statement. Was that supposed to be a joke or what? She couldn't believe he had said that with a straight face. "What the hell...?" She muttered to herself, finding him more strange every second passing by.

"It was just an example of how men should not behave towards women," He remarked in the same serious tone. He did not break eye contact with her and Maria stared back at him, not sure if she was amused or not. He continued before she could react to his remark. "I always like to be the most gentle--." His words sounded like some ancient wisdom he had heard from his parents when he was a child.

"My ass," she interrupted in her lowest tone before speaking up loudly. "Does running after me around the house count as being gentle?" Her eyes rolled, shifting her weight to one side.

His eyebrows drew together into a single point, and she noticed the creases forming across his forehead. "Well, that wouldn't have happened if you had minded your business."

A gasp left her lips before her fingers ran through her long strands, venting her frustration onto the roots of her hair. "Now are you trying to put the blame on--wait, don't tell me you had your revenge by giving me sleeping pills?" She gushed, her tone somewhat playful, wanting to do a similar thing of blaming him for something he didn't entirely cause.

"Are you saying I drugged you?" His light brows raised a little at her question, and she could see he was not the type who took much heart into jokes like that. "If I had the opportunity, I would have given you a dying pill." He put forth, tone defiant.

Her head jerked back in disbelief. She was definitely wrong in thinking he could not handle a joke, rather, he was very witty to know how to make it bounce back with a more sophisticated dark humor. "This is a joke, right?" She quickly clarified because no one knew what could be going on in his head and considering his hatred towards her, she shouldn't be too relaxed with that joke of his.

His expression didn't alter and his jaw set. He was giving her one of his silent long looks and she could not help but feel unnerved by his gaze. "You are one careless doctor, Miss Patterson." He branched into a new topic suddenly, speaking quietly and composed, but his words cut through her eardrums.

She swallowed thickly, her hands shaking as she moved to push her hair away from her face. "What are you trying to say now?" She queried, sounding already tired from his upcoming lecture, and her eyes dropped to his feet when she noticed he had taken a step closer.

"You are an asthmatic patient, but there was no inhaler in your bag. You are too worried about other people's health to worry about yours. Doesn't that make you a dummy?" He continued, taking more steps forward with every word he spoke.

Maria cleared her throat, stepping back instinctively. "For your information, I am also surprised my inhaler went missing. I always have one in my bag and avoid actions that trigger my asthma. But you see, I couldn't help but run away earlier." She explained in a rush, her blue eyes darting to the doors leading to the hallway. His approaching steps were traumatizing and she needed to escape.

His slow pace targeted towards her did not stop, making her repeat each movement backward until her back bumped against the wall, making her breath hitched.

"What a pathetic dummy," his voice rang in her ears as he stopped his strides, cornering her to a dead end.

***