Kidnapped: Welcome 'home'

Chapter 26: Recovery

I paused the movie I was watching on the TV and fixed my hijab, then, I yelled "Come in!" to allow whoever just knocked into the room.

David stepped into the room and made his way towards me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Alhamdullilah- uh- I mean- fine, thanks... and you?" I stuttered.

"I'm fine, thanks." he replied, settling down on the desk chair, "You're not putting any pressure on your legs are you?"

"Clearly my legs are fine, which is why I'm busy running around, working out and getting ready to fight you all so that I can escape instead of sitting around in bed all day, watching TV because my legs have to recover from stabbing wounds." I rolled my eyes.

"That's good." he said, ignoring my sarcasm.

We both didn't say anything as we ended up riding our own trains of thoughts.

I was busy thinking of what I was going to do next... As soon as we had returned to the apartment, David had called a private doctor of his to help me. As the doctor dressed my wounds, the others packed their bags (and did mine for me) and prepared to leave so that as soon as the doctor left, instead of resting (as instructed), we left for the airport via helicopter.

The helicopter landed where the planes usually park at the airport so we were able to hop out of the helicopter and into David's private jet immediately; we flew out of New York City and back into Los Angeles.

As soon as we reached the mansion in LA, we all rested in our rooms. (However, I made sure to put all my things away first, change into some pyjamas then jump into bed.) From then on, I rarely got out of bed.

A knock sounded, bringing us both out of our trances.

"It's open." I called to whoever knocked.

Steve walked in with a tray in his hands and placed it next to me on the bedside table.

"Thanks." I thanked him, reaching out to the bowl of salad, which was supposedly the main meal.

Where's the culture at? I miss the proper food.

"You're welcome. It's Caesar salad." he informed me.

"Thanks." I thanked, again. He settled on an armchair on the other side of the bed, opposite David. I played the movie then tucked into the salad. "You didn't add anything in this that may not be halal?"

"Nope."

"No alcohol?"

"Nope."

"No pork?"

"Nope."

"No meat?"

"None at all."

"You don't put butter in salad, do you?" I asked myself rather than Steve.

"Who does that?!" David exclaimed, shocked at the thought.

"You don't put butter in salads." Steve explained, masking his confusion.

"You don't put butter in all salads." I corrected him.

"You don't put butter in any salad." they argued.

"You don't put butter in salads that contain fresh, raw vegetables like lettuce and tomatoes; you can put butter in salads like potato salads and tuna salads. So when you do use butter, if you use lard, then we have a problem." I concluded.

They both went silent and I resumed the movie, eating my food.

"Seriously? Cartoons?" Steve complained.

"Ceasar salad actually had nothing to do with the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar." I stated.

"Does it?" David questioned.

"It was actually created by a man who threw whatever he could find into a salad to feed his hungry daughter." I explained.

"Interesting." he thought out loud, his eyes flashing with an unknown emotion. I shrugged off the feeling that I may be missing something.

"That doesn't explain why you chose to put a cartoon movie on." grumbled Steve.

"I put on a cartoon movie because I wanted to watch it, that's why. No one said that you have to watch it so you can leave if you'd like!" I snapped.

"Whoa!" Steve surrendered, holding up his hands in defeat. "What's up with the attitude?"

"The attitude is part of me. If you don't like it, then I can't help you, you'll just have to deal with it." I retorted.

We continued watching the movie with Steve huffing and complaining every now and then. Once the movie ended, I flicked through the action movies available, trying to find something interesting because I really wanted to watch some action.

"Now we're talking," Steve cheered, "I'm going to get some popcorn." and he got up from the chair.

"Ooooh, get me some too! I could do with a large bucket of sweet and salted popcorn, just for me, please." I chirped.

"Ok, one large sweet and salted." Steve recited, "Anything for you, Dave?"

"No thanks." David answered.

"Can you also get me a drink, please? Something sweet would do." I added.

"Ok." Steve said as he memorised my request.

"And take this." I reminded him, pointing at the tray that he brought earlier with my lunch. As he was collecting the tray, I whispered to him "Get David something, even if he said no." and Steve nodded affirmative then left, leaving us in silence.

David cleared his throat.

"Um, Asmaa... Look - I- I should tell you something." he began.

"What?" I replied.

"Look, I'm sorry for... for everything. Could you please forgive me?"

"I don't hold grudges." I mumbled.

"So...?" He wanted me to elaborate, but what was I to say?

"I don't hold grudges, but I haven't forgiven you. I'm still stuck here and it's still your fault." I muttered without taking my eyes off the screen as I continued to flick through the movies.

"I guess I should tell you the- um- the truth."

"Wait." I stopped him, raising a hand and finally turning to face him. "Not now. Not yet. Wait until I've fully recovered, then you could tell me the full truth."

"Really? Uhm, ok. Whatever you want, Asmaa." he smiled, looking relieved.

Finally, I picked a movie and Steve returned in the nick of time with the snacks. I wasn't going to wait for him so that I could start the movie.

I smiled to myself, savouring one popcorn at a time. David seemed a lot more relaxed than before because I didn't want to hear the truth yet. What he didn't know was that I wanted to be fully recovered before finding out the truth so that I could punch him if necessary.

• • • • • • • • • •

I think I must tell you this: there aren't many chapters left until we reach the end. 😕  I am considering writing an epilogue, but everything else has been written. Let's not worry too much though, because every end is a new beginning (😜).

On a much brighter note: this update is on time. I hope you enjoyed it and I apologise that it isn't very interesting. (But the ending is definitely my favourite part, way to go!)

Please vote, comment and share, I would very much appreciate it.