Intertwined Love and Deception

Chapter 7

Max was still howling when I gained my consciousness, but I was too weak to open my eyes, moreso crawling back to the bed. I could feel the coldness of the floor, or maybe it was me who was feeling cold. I was shivering and shaking, but I could also feel my skin burning.

I heard running and the opening of the door. I felt Max nudging me with his nose while whimpering.

“Sai!” It was Paul’s voice.

I groaned but still could not open my eyes. In my state now, I felt the need for doctors, of going to the hospital. He carried me, not to the car, but he gently placed me in my bed. “Max, call Dilys. Quick!” He ordered, sitting on the edge of the bed and touching my head. “Sai, what happened to you?” He stood up, and I could hear his footsteps. He must be pacing the room.

I groaned and cried as I kept seeing the strange-looking man outside the wooden gate. His ears were big and pointy, while his long hair was as black as charcoal. He was dressed in cloth, covering only his hips, and his torso had tattoo-like drawings, although I was unsure of it. His eyes were burning with anger.

“Paul,” I whispered weakly. My head seemed about to explode, and it hurt a lot. I tried to open my eyes to see him and hoped to beg him to bring me to the hospital.

He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed again. With my eyes half-open, I saw him getting me from the bed, carrying me, and placing me on his lap. I felt his hand on my cheek.

“Sai, can you hear me?” He asked in a low voice.

I groaned, hoping to ask him to keep his voice low because it was causing me more pain in my head.

“Stay with me, Sayonara,” He whispered as he lowered his head.

Is Paul going to kiss me?

Before I could answer my own question, I felt his lips brushing into mine. My weak heart panicked, but then I realized he was not kissing me, but Paul was breathing on me. I could feel the hot air he breathed on me, and it was like crawling into my body, giving me warmth like I had blankets covering me. I still felt the headache, but the pain was somehow eased a little. He gently placed me back on the bed and covered me with a real blanket.

What just happened?

I fell asleep, and as for how many hours, I have no idea. The warm hand touching my forehead woke me up. Still, I could not open my eyes fully. I tried to raise my eyebrows, but I could only half-open my eyes. Instead of Paul, I saw a beautiful girl sitting on the edge of the bed.

“You know I can’t do anything on this,” She said, glancing at him. “Who is this woman? Why risk it, Paul?”

“You’re here not to heal her, but to tell me who did this to her,” He gritted his teeth.

I tried to move my eyes, hoping to find where he was, but I couldn’t, yet I could feel the anger in his voice.

She sighed, staring at me. “Dune,” She placed something in my wrist. “What happened to the four-clover leaf?”

“Max said she left it here inside the room,” He said, still there was anger in his voice.

She smirked. “Humans!” She uttered, almost like a whisper, that I had to convince myself if she said the word ‘humans’ or something that rhymes with the word. She touched my forehead again, making me feel really sleepy. “Go to sleep, Sayonara!”

I drifted into a deep sleep, and I found myself dreaming again. I was walking on the lawn, looking for a four-clover leaf, but when I could not find one, I opened the wooden gate because I saw more clover leaves from afar. I just need two, one for Jeremy and the other for Paul. But as I stepped outside the gate, what I saw was a charming and enchanting place with lots of flowers and trees. I could not believe something remote could be this beautiful and serene, and one can lose oneself here if one wants to have peace of mind. I could only see this kind of place in the movies. I sat for a while, trying to memorize the beauty of the place, which I could use for my illustrations.

“Sai,” I heard Grandmama calling me. I turned around and saw her standing behind me. “Go home! You can’t stay there,” My eyebrows raised, thinking whether I should find my way back to the wooden gate, but something within me was encouraging me to stay here.

“But Grandmama, it’s so beautiful here,” I pouted, not wanting to go home. I walked towards the pond, and I was surprised to see my reflection. I could be five. “I have playmates here, Grandmama, and they’re all pretty,” I said, laying my back on the grass.

“Come here,” She said.

I got up and walked in her direction. “You can’t stay here, Sai. You can’t have them as your friends. They’re all dangerous, do you understand?”

I nodded, but the five-year-old-me did not understand. Why would someone pretty hurt me?

“Go home, Sayonara! Go home!” Grandmama ordered once again. I sighed, following her as we walked home. I stopped for a while, looking back as I may not see the place again. I gasped, terrified at what I saw. The once beautiful and serene place seemed to have been hit by a typhoon. It was tremendously damaged, and I found myself staring at a little girl crying because she was hurt.

“Grandmama...” My voice trailed off as she tugged my arm to continue walking.

“They’re all dangerous, Sai!” She reminded me again.

‘They’re all dangerous.’ It kept echoing in my mind when I woke up. I remained my eyes closed because I wanted to remember the little girl’s face. It seemed not a dream but a memory. I was about to open my eyes, but I heard Paul’s voice.

“How dare you hurt my guest, Dune!” He hissed. “I promised to protect your place, and what did you do? You hurt Sayonara!”

“It was her fault!” I heard another voice, and it was deep, like it had authority.

“You know it wasn’t,” He uttered in a low, angry voice. “She never meant to hurt anyone.” There was silence.

“Fine! But she has to apologize for hurting my child. She almost died because of her stupidity!” He snarled.

“How do you expect her to do that when she can’t even stay conscious for a long time?” He roared in rage. “Give her the medicine, and I will make sure when she’s okay, I will bring her to you to apologize,”

He sneered. “How exactly will you do that?”

“Don’t try my patience, Dune! If you don’t give me the antidote now, I will make sure to ruin your place for good.” Paul said, and he seemed serious about it.

I heard him smirking at Paul again. “She wasn’t just your guest, right? Who is she to you, Paul?”

“The antidote, Dune! If she doesn’t get well by midnight-”

“Here!”

I wished to open my eyes to see what Dune gave him, but I couldn’t. It was like my body was being dragged again, drifting me into another sleep, but this time it was deep, and I didn’t have any dreams at all.

My eyes slowly opened, and the flame of the light from the three candles on the dresser was the first thing I saw. I tried getting up, though I was still feeling heavy. It was then I noticed Paul sleeping on a chair. Behind him, Max was also lying on the floor. They must have felt I woke up because Paul opened his eyes and smiled at me, while Max... well, he just raised his head and then went back to sleep again.  

“How are you feeling?” He asked, standing up.

“What happened?” I asked him back, looking at the medicines on the side table. My forehead furrowed because these are the kinds of drugs you can buy from the pharmacy.

He took the thermometer and sat on the edge of my bed. He put the thermometer in my mouth, checked the capsules on the table while waiting for it to beep.

“Food poisoning.” He shook his head. “The eggs we had this morning must have caused it,”

I raised my eyebrows. “But you’re okay,” I said, making my words gibberish while the thermometer was on my mouth, making him laugh.

“You really can’t stop talking, Sai,” He took it as it beeped. His forehead furrowed. “You still have a fever,” He showed it to me, and it showed 38.2 degrees.

“How do you explain the fever, Paul?” I asked again, hoping to raise the question about Dilys and Dune.

He shrugged. “The doctor will come back tomorrow. She could explain it to you.” He stood up. “All I know I was selfish yesterday to ask you to leave when you were completely soaked from the heavy rain,” He sighed, walking towards the door.

“Paul, don’t leave. I’m scared,” I said, looking around at the room. I wish I could tell him about the strange-looking man outside the wooden gate.

“I won’t go anywhere, Sai. I will just heat the soup. You need to eat before taking your medicine.”

I nodded as my gaze followed him.

‘What are you hiding, Paul?’ I wanted to ask him, but I kept my mouth shut for now.