Doctor Engel [A Spanish bestseller now in English!]

CHAPTER 7

Three dry blows on the door wake me up. I open my eyes, startled and discover that I'm lying on the bed, wrapped in a soft white bedspread. 'How the hell did I get here?' The blows ring out again. A terrible headache welcomes me to the world of the living. As I massage my temples trying to relieve them, another bout of blows hits the wood. This time stronger. I stand awkwardly and go towards it.

'Yes?' I ask confused.

'Open up, pussy, today's the day!' Those expressions can only come from Laura.

I pull the door open as fast as my arm lets me. If I wanted to hug her more, I would explode. A wide smile forms on my face as I open the door, but just as our gazes meet, it becomes paralyzed.

'Holy God! Most Holy Christ! That fucking son of a bitch!' She shouts suddenly, scaring me. Her eyes are filled with rage. Her hands cover her mouth and tears fall down her cheeks.

Just at that moment my smile fades. It's the first time she has seen me since the last assault.

'Calm down, it's all over,' I say, trying to calm her down. I hug her with my good arm and kiss her temple repeatedly while she's sobbing on my shoulder.

'But what did he do to you? Why did you wait so long?' She pushes herself away from me, raises my face with her hands and stares into my eyes. 'Look at you! Damn it! He almost killed you...' She's right. I don't understand why I waited so long. What the fuck was I thinking about letting it get to this?

'I know, I know...'

'Why didn't you call me when it happened? Why did I have to find out days later? Are we not friends?' She smiles disconsolately again. I hug her again and we stay like that for a couple of minutes more.

'I couldn't do anything else...' I pat her smooth, smooth head. I try to convince her that the worst part has already happened and that I won't let him come back to me. 'Now you have to help me,' I say. 'I need a new life, and only you can help me,' I make her part of the situation and it seems that to be effective.

'Yes!' she says briskly. 'We have to look for an apartment,' she quickly dries her tears. 'Change your postal address on all your documents, go shopping, change jobs, phone, buy another car...'

'Stop!' I put two of my fingers over her mouth. My head's going to explode. Too much information that had not even crossed my mind yet. 'There'll be time to do all that. I know I can't delay, but I'm still trying to get used to this new situation.'

'Excuse me, Nata, I have come upstairs and... you know... Besides, you have a lot of things to tell me... Right?' She smiles and winks at me. 'Who is that attentive and handsome doctor?' I blush. She notices and arches an eyebrow.

'His name is Cesar,' and as if it had wound me up, I tell her all the details.

Laura watches me still. She's very attentive to everything I say and just blinks. Sometimes I get lost talking when I notice a smile. I know something is going through her mind. Something about her head and I will soon discover what it's. Every time I name Cesar unconsciously I visualize him in my mind, and I have to stand for a few seconds, because I lose the thread of the conversation, but then I find myself and continue.

As I tell the whole story, I realize how incredible this man is. In my state of shock I have not really valued everything he has done for me. I feel a twist in my heart, a tingling in my stomach and coldness in my hands. He's so fucking sexy... What's wrong with me?

'You like the doctor!' Here comes what I expected.

'Laura, don't be ridiculous, please.' I blush until I want the earth to swallow me. We just met two days ago!