His Queen (18+)

Chapter XII

THE HOSPITAL

I like to think that we had it all.
We drew a map to a better place,
But on that road I took a fall.
Oh baby, why did you run away?

***

CHAPTER XII

*****

THE ROADS WERE now pitch black, the only thing illuminating the night being Daniel's headlights and the occasional street light that we drove by.

It was also storming badly, making the metaphorical storm cloud hanging over my head feel more real. The only sound that was heard was the sound of rain beating against the roof of the car and the hardworking windshield wipers, clearing the droplets away so we wouldn't get into an accident.

With the way Daniel was steadily stepping down on the gas pedal, accelerating down the wet road, I felt like an accident would be inevitable no matter how hard the windshield wipers worked. I remained quiet though, because I knew that if I was in his place, I would've crashed a long time ago.

The silence had began to consume me, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that there was a second person in the car and make conversation.

"Do you think that..." Daniel didn't look at me, but I knew I had his attention. It wasn't like he could focus on something else anyway. "...that that's the reason why Anna is upset with me?"

"I can't read her mind," he answered, shrugging. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"I know you can't, but... if you were in her shoes, and she believed what you believed, would you hate me?"

"Would you hate yourself?"

His question seemed to have got me thinking. I knew Daniel and I knew if he was in Anna's place, his reaction would be indifferent because that's just how he was. But me? If my best friend, who I had recently sworn to go wherever she went because I loved her unconditionally, lied, kept secrets from me and then just upped and left without so much of a goodbye, would I be pissed?

The answer to that was hell yes.

Even though that wasn't the situation we were in, it was the situation she believed we were in. And Anna didn't know any better because whoever was behind this had everyone fooled. Which brought me to my next question.

Who was behind this?

I refrained myself from asking Daniel that because I assumed he was just as clueless as I was. Plus, the answers we were supposedly about to get was probably for that question anyway.

"What about..." This time he did glance at me, but turned back to the road quickly. "What about Pablo?"

"What about Pablo?"

"Well, how is he? How's he doing?" I asked, rolling my eyes for the second time that night at his uselessness.

"He's fine."

"Where is he?"

"Doing business in one of the hotels in Spain," he answered nonchalantly. "I figured it would be best to have him away while I meet you. I just didn't expect for you to come back with me."

I stared down at my hands, contemplating whether I should ask the next question before swallowing down my trepidation and asking it anyway. "Does he hate me?"

There was silence again where I could only hear the sound of my heart beating rapidly in my ear.

"I wouldn't know," he finally answered. "He hasn't mentioned you since we found you."