SIENA 6
Ever since being saved from the clutches of madmen, I have existed on a cloud of painless bliss. For days, I have been surrounded by women that I had never seen before. Slowly, I saw the numbers start to dwindle until today, when I’m the one being transported into a plane. Instead of being happy that wherever they are taking me will be closer to home, I find myself in a panic—panicking that I might never see my saviour again.
He said no one would ever hurt me again, that he wouldn’t let them. Where is he?
“Relax, everything is going to be okay.”
Turning my head, I look at Tal. Ever since waking up from the injection Bion gave me the day I was taken from wherever I was being held, Tal has been by my side. He doesn’t talk much except to make sure that I am fine.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, for once hating this daze I am constantly in. I know that they are controlling my pain, but I hate feeling out of control.
“We are flying back to South Africa; you will be back on home soil soon.”
Home? I can’t even imagine going back to my old life, to that life that I just existed in instead of actually living. If this experience has taught me anything, it is to grab every opportunity with both hands and not let it go. To throw myself into whatever I want to do instead of being afraid of things that might never happen.
“Where is he?”
And there it is. I finally asked the question that has been plaguing me ever since I opened my eyes.
Tal might not even know who I am talking about, and I don’t know what to call him because I never got his name.
Tal looks at me with an intense look. After a minute, he shrugs before answering. “He was injured the day we rescued everyone. It was only last night that he finally came back from being unconscious, and that was only for a couple of minutes.”
He was injured? I feel a knot in my stomach as my heart starts to race.
“Is he okay?” Why does the thought of him being injured frighten me so much?
“Yeah, don’t worry, he will be up and around in no time,” Tal says before grinning. “Especially now.”
I frown at his words. “What do you mean, how was he injured?”
Tal slides into the chair next to me. “Let’s just say that I gave him some mate incentive.” He grins at that before continuing. “There was an explosion in one of the buildings, when he was on his way out a beam collapsed and scrambled his brain, but as we all suspected, your man has found a reason to hang around, and has been holding on until the injury finally healed.”
He said my man, but he can’t possibly know who I am asking about, can he? “He’s not my man!” I say, looking at him intently, wondering if I missed something in my daze.
Tal raises a brow, his grin widening. “That’s where you are wrong, Red, you are very much his.” And with those words he is standing and making his way towards the front of the plane.
What does he mean? Are we even talking about the same person?
I close my eyes, and the first thing that jumps into my mind is the image of my saviour. His sad eyes wrench at my heart, his touch gentle as he tried not to hurt me. If only what Tal said was true. I wouldn’t look back. Instead, I would jump straight into my saviours’ arms.
My mind is once again floating in a cloud of cotton. Whatever they have been giving me has helped with the pain because I don’t feel any discomfort at all, but I sleep most of the time. I am nearly asleep when I feel someone taking my hand. Opening my eyes, I turn my head to come face to face with him.
“It’s you,” I whisper, worried that my mind is playing tricks on me, and then my eyes widen when I realize that he has a bandage around his head. “You are hurt!” Tal was telling the truth, and the man he was talking about is my saviour.
“I’ll be fine, it’s just a scratch.” His voice slides over me like a hot summer breeze. I don’t know what it is about him that soothes me, but he does. He is also the only man that has ever made my heart race. I have seen quite a few handsome looking men these last few days, as it seems like they were all thrown into the same area as me, but out of all of them his looks call to me, his dark blue eyes filled with so many secrets, have butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
I feel like a kid again, a kid that is experiencing her first crush for the first time, and with everything that has happened I do feel like I was reborn.
He raises his hand, stroking my cheek. The feeling is one of tenderness. “You are looking better. How are you feeling?” he asks.
“I haven’t felt any pain at all. I have no idea if I’m better or worse. For now, I’m just riding this drug induced existence until I can move around.”
He stops stroking my cheek to cup it as he looks intently into my eyes. “Have you been comfortable?”
Well, now that is an interesting question because everyone around me did everything they could to make me more comfortable. But with my back the way it is, it is still difficult to get comfortable most of the time.
“Everyone has been great; I have needed nothing. There is a guy you might know; his name is Tal.” I feel his hand tensing against my cheek, but he doesn’t move away. “He has always been there when I needed something.”