Doctor Engel [A Spanish bestseller now in English!]

CHAPTER 11

A couple of minutes later he releases me from his embrace, takes my face with his hands and wipes my tears with his thumbs.

'That's it, okay?' His tone has changed to a softer one. -'No more crying for today, you look very ugly,' he says, smiling tenderly.

'Yes...' I say as I sit and bite my lower lip.

'I'm sorry to have behaved like this.' His eyes are sincere. 'I spent a lot of time thinking that something might have happened to you. You can't go out alone with that crazy idiot out there, he could do anything.' He frowns again, thoughtfully, as if he were visualizing some horrible scene. 'When Manuel called me I came as fast as I could.' He closes his eyes tightly. 'But I could only feel helpless when I didn't know where to start looking for you. Madrid is very big.'

'I thought something had happened, too. I was surprised to see you so soon when in the note you said that you would come at night. But if you were so distressed, why didn't you call me?' I say to him strangely.

'And you think I didn't?'

I look for the cell in my bag, and when I find it I realize that it's off.

'Oh, well... I must have run out of battery, I thought I had charged it last night, but I fell fast asleep on your couch,' I say.

'Another subject we need to talk about, miss,' he says with a raised eyebrow and a half smile. 'From now on it's very important that your mobile is always charged and in working properly. You never know when you're going to need it.'

'Yes sir!' I say with a military-style salute to my forehead. We both laugh out loud.

'We're going to have something to eat. That is an order!' he grabs my arm and we leave the room with more laughter.

The day has taken a 180 degree turn. We eat at the hotel restaurant. He tells me about the house specialty, and I listen. It consists of a huge, tasty seafood paella. I can only eat half the plate, because I am ready to explode. I can't even order dessert.

As it is nice afternoon we decide to go for a walk in the streets and parks nearby. We talk about our lives. I discover that he is twenty-nine. That he inherited the hotel from his mother, and that for some strange reason he doesn't want to talk about his father. He just tells me he was in Germany. Every time I try to ask him about his family, he becomes too tense and deftly changes the subject.

The next few days pass almost without me realizing it. Finally, I go shopping a couple of times, always accompanied by Manuel or Alex, the driver who brought us that day from the bar. I buy clothes, shoes and several other things that I need. I can't get anything back from my previous apartment because of the situation I'm living in.

Cesar and I don't see much each other, but we eat lunch and dinner together in the hotel restaurant whenever his working hours allow. We talk about how the day went. I barely have new things to tell him, apart from Mario's daily calls and threats, which never cease, Laura's visits or phone conversations with my parents to find out how they are. He tells me anecdotes about his work, funny stories about his patients and ideas he has to renovate a house he owns outside of Madrid.

My injuries are practically healed and the bandage on my arm is history. I only have some discomfort in my ribs, but Cesar reassures me that it is totally normal, that the bruises in that area usually last a long time. When I feel better, my body askes me to do things. Go out there, walk, run, and do any kind of sport... In short, something that will help me burn the large number of calories I have been storing up. Because of the good life these last few days, I've gained a couple of kilos. I was looking at my new curves in the mirror when the phone rang. My dear Laura.