Auriferous

chapter 9

White walls. White monitors. White clothes. White bed. The only colour in the room was from the red and green heart rate monitor screen graphs and the flash of colour from the clothes of the girl by lael's side. "Thank God! You had me worried sick!" Gillian shot up from the chair by her bedside like lightning, even her clothes were bright in sunshine yellow shades. "Relax. Didn't you learn how to read moniters?" Lael's voice was a barely audible croak as she guestured towards the heart rate monitors. "Don't you smart alec me now ms know it all." Gillian pouted. "Not really in the mood. What happened to me?" Lael asked, tugging at the hem of her patient papery gown. She felt so cold in the air conditioned room wearing nothing but inner garments and a gown. Gillian launched into full explanation mode. "After you missed our daily chat, i thought you might have taken a longer time than expected with that guy. What's his name? Oh, reubin! So, i only decided to check up on you at around ten. That's when i started calling. I must have called about forty times before reubin picked up. By the way, hate it or not, you should go and thank him." Gillian finished and took a gulp of water from a glass. Lael usually understood what gillian's jumpy little brain could give but this time, lael's logic failed her. "Wait-what? Reubin? Why is he involved?" Lael frowned in disgust. "What, you don't know?" Gillian's jaw hung open but she immediately closed it when she realised lael was preparing for an auto sarcastic reply. "Yes, well i was unconcious for more than an hour. I totally require punishment because i do not know what happened while i was knocked out." Lael said in such a serious tone gillian could not resist laughing. "Fine. I get the point. Sorry. Well, on one call, reubin picked up and told me you had fainted after sighting... a tragic incident's outcome. He rode with you in the ambulance and filled in all your paperwork at the hospital. He gave me directions to the hospital you were admitted into and told me i should come quickly because i'm...now the closest you have to family." Gillian's voice ended in a murmur. So maura...mom really was missing... lael could hardly stop herself from crying. Wait. How did reubin even know that gillian was my closest family? How did he know alaric was dead and maura was gone. What was he doing in that area that he saw me faint anyways? There was only one answer to the questions in lael's head. He witnessed it. And he did not step up to help. "Gillian, i need to find reubin. I need to-" lael tried propping herself up. "Oh, no. Sweetie, you're not well! I'll find reubin for you, okay? Just stay here." Gillian gently pushed lael back into bed. "No, gillian. How am i supposed to look intimidating when i'm dressed in a patients' gown and unable to get out of bed? I need to have leverage enough to be able to kick him if needed but he's the soccer captain." Lael protested. Gillian bit her lip, considering lael's words thoughtfully. Eventually, she sighed. "You're only going to this sofa over here. No where else. You hear me?" Gillian pointed to the sofa with a coffee table in front of it. Lael nodded quickly. Gillian helped lael out of the bed and let lael shrug her off to walk by herself, only succeeding in falling down. Only when gillian gave lael a pointed look did lael finally take gillian's offered arm. "You always look intimidating." Gillian assured lael as she slipped out the door and moved to find reubin's number on the paperwork.
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Gillian quickly scrolled her vision through the long list of paperwork reubin had filled out. His number had to be somewhere. Lael is probably getting impatient. Gillian hurried herself. "So she's awake?" Gillian whirled round to see reubin leaning against a pillar. There were dark circles beneath his eyes as if he were concerned about something. He had yet to change. His hands were covered in red prints. Blood. So was the front of his tee. "She's looking for you. Better go quick." Gillian replied coolly. He chuckled. "Tell her i don't need her thanks. I merely did my fair exchange to get that video of her crying like a baby." He shrugged. Gillian rarely got mad, but if concerned lael, she sometimes did not even try to control herself though she could. "Look here. Lael is not the perfect, rich kid you think she is. You think she's spoiled, that she's using me, nothing but self centered and obstinate. You may think she leads a perfect life, with that face and body. But no, she's more troubled than the two of us put together. And if you touch her, so much as make her mad, then i'll be needing so much more than a nylon rope. If you want what's best for you, you'd listen." Gillian glared sharply at him. "What makes you think that?" Reubin lazed. She did not actually have to use that power on him. She spent her life trying to forget she had that power with her. He deserves it. Gillian thought. "Because i am in a much higher position than you." Gillian snapped. "In what way?" Reubin laughed disbelievingly. So that's how you want to play it? "What face do you see the most on the news channels on television?" Gillian cocked her head to the side. Reubin decided to play along. "The president." "Good, you have brains." Gillian replied. "So you expect me to believe you can use your riches to bribe the president into causing me harm." Reubin smiled. But gillian smiled harder. Her smile probably freaked him out, because he maintained a poker face after that. "No, no of course not. I could do that for free." She smirked. Reubin wondered what she was talking about. Though he never asked. "You see, my dear reubin. President lairem is my father."