Ambivalent

5. Ambivalent

Rune

"Are you awake?" was the first thing I heard as soon as I opened my eyes.

Was he watching me?

"Hmm, what happened?" I asked with a hoarse voice and Akara helped me to sit on the familiar bed before he passed me a glass of water.

"That stupid cut your fingers, you said City Hospital before fainting and I took you here as you wished," he explained very plainly with a mechanic tone as if he was giving a soup recipe.

I didn't know why but his aloofness hurt me. Didn't he get scared that I might die?

"Then thank you," I said when I found my voice back.

"My duty." Short and cruel.

I knew that I should have stopped there, but my pride and curiosity made me continue. Looking straight into his unreadable eyes, I asked "don't you wonder what happened to me?"

His eyes seemed to darken for a second, but his tone was calm. "I know about your illness," he said matter of factly.

"Oh." What else could I say? Sure, he knew about it, my father would never send an amateur. "Did you panic?" I tried again, trying to catch a glimpse of emotion on his hard face.

Aha! I saw his expression soften as he said "of course, you could die on me."

"Well, I am alive," I said cheerfully with a grin and he nodded.

After an awkward silence, Akara handed me my phone, "your father wanted you to call him."

"Oh," I said with a grimace as I knew he would scold me for being careless.

"I will be out," Akara said as though he read my mind and closed the door behind him, giving me some privacy.

Sucking a deep breath, I called my father and as I expected after hearing I was okay, he started the scolding session. I left the phone on my lap as he talked on and on with never-ending enthusiasm and only when I heard Akara's name, I grabbed the phone back.

"Akara was too careless, do you want me to send you another one or maybe the five-bodyguard system was better?"

"No!" I exclaimed in terror, "it wasn't Akara's fault. He warned me many times, but I insisted on going there."

See how cute I was, protecting my staff from my tyrant father?

"So, you want to keep him?"

"Yes, father." Though he doesn't seem to care about me much...

"I will keep my eyes on him."

"Okay," I said and we ended the call. Then I called Akara back.

"If young master is okay, we can leave the hospital."

"Yes, please," I replied as I hated being in the hospital. Akara helped me to change my clothes and held my arm tight until we reached my car, which contrasted his previous cold words.

He was the true definition of ambivalent...

When we got into the car, my mind drifted off to the village, and I couldn't help but sigh. I was sure tomorrow people would keep talking about the incident, asking me what happened.

"What's wrong, young master?"

I turned my head towards Akara who was driving with his eyes fixed on the road. "Did you tell them anything? When I... you know."

"I said you have Hemophobia," he said, giving me a brief glance.

"Wow, it is a good one!" I complimented, feeling relieved. It would save me from the tasteless explanation for sure.

I saw a slight smile on the corner of Akara's lips, but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. Not being in the mood to tease him, I leaned my head on the window and tried to rest until we reached home. Even after the injection, my head was pounding.

"Are you cold?"

Jeez, how come he can see me when his eyes are fixed on the road! He is creepy!

"No," I denied and shifted on my seat restlessly, hoping he would just focus on the road.

"Yes, you are," Akara said all-knowingly and I felt a fabric covering me. Opening my eyes hastily, I saw he covered me with his black jacket.

I swear it was like a scene from a cheesy romance drama, but I couldn't help blushing. "Thank you," I mumbled and pulled the jacket up to my chin to cover my flustered face from him.

I heard a soft chuckle before I dozed off.

When I opened my eyes for the second time, I was in my bed. Did Akara carry me to the bed?! He must have been as it was only the two of us. I was so lost in my thoughts that I had the potential to stay in that position until eternity, but my stomach rumbled and broke my trance.

I got out of the bed and the second shock hit me hard; my clothes were changed! Now, I was wearing a V-line white t-shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts. Would a normal bodyguard take the trouble to change clothes? Hmm...

With a myriad of thoughts in my head, I followed the delicious smell to the kitchen where Akara was cooking.

"Did you change my clothes?" I asked rhetorically as I leaned on the kitchen door.

"Mnn," he nodded, "they were stained with blood."

Behold the attentiveness!

But that wasn't all. After serving the food into two plates, Akara pulled my plate and sliced the food as three of my fingers were bandaged. Then he raised the bar and washed my hair before tucking me into the bed.

I must admit Akara's presence was actually quite nice...