La Arquitecta

Chapter 33

The next morning, Zelina's doctor had been happy to release her from the hospital, with the drugs that had been used to sedate her now out of her system. He was grateful yet again to Laura and Dan, who had taken his keys the previous evening and gone to fetch his car from his house so that he had a way of getting her home without using an Uber. They had also given him the set of keys for the new front door that had been put on Zelina's house by their builder friend, at no cost. Those guys really had proven themselves to be true friends to him and to Zelina, and he would not forget it.

Not for the first time since they had been together, Seth found himself dumbfounded by the incredible inner strength his girlfriend had. Naturally, she was a long way from her usual happy self, but she was coping remarkably well with what she had been through less than twenty four hours earlier. Even so, when they got into his car, she said something that pulled on his heartstrings.

"I can't go back to that house, Seth. I can't ever go back there."

"But that's your home," he said gently, turning and taking her hand. He had planned to take her back to his place anyway, since Laura had sent him a text to say that Zelina's house hadn't been cleaned up yet, and therefore obviously wasn't fit for her return. Laura had offered to help with the cleaning, telling him to let her know if he wanted a hand. He decided it might be best to take her up on that offer, realising that it wasn't going to be an easy thing to do.

Zelina looked him in the eyes and repeated herself. "I can't ever go back there. Not after what he did to me there. He broke in there and he... You know what he did to me. I could never feel safe there again. It's not my home, not anymore. Home is somewhere you feel safe, not somewhere you dread the thought of going to."

Seth squeezed her hand. He could understand where she was coming from, and he didn't want her trying to live somewhere with constant reminders of David Hernandez and the appalling attack he had carried out on her. There was only one obvious solution. "You're welcome to stay with me, muñeca. I'm not trying to say that as a way to try and push our relationship forward, I just want you to feel safe."

"I know, baby," she said, giving his hand a squeeze in return. "I'd never think you were trying to take advantage of me. All I want is to be with you. You make me feel safe. I know David's been arrested now, but even so, I know nothing will happen to me when I'm with you. I think staying with you at your place would be good for me right now, and of course when we're working, I'll be with you on the bus anyway."

"Then you're more than welcome to stay, to move in, whatever you want. I don't know if you want to look for somewhere else of your own; it's totally up to you."

Zelina considered that for a moment. "Why don't we just say I'll move in and we'll see how it goes?"

"Alright," Seth said happily. "If that's what you'd like, that's how we'll play it." He leaned in and they exchanged a peck on the lips. "I love you, muñeca."

"I love you too, baby."

Seth still didn't start the car. His memory had just dragged up something else from the previous day. "I should have told you yesterday, Hunter asked me to pass on his best wishes. I had to call him to tell him I wouldn't be doing the Today appearance, so I had to tell him what had happened."

"I understand," Zelina said, a blank expression on her face. He realised she was experiencing some awful memory or other, so he quickly carried on.

"He said that if you felt like you needed some time off, all we've got to do is let him know. He was really supportive and understanding."

"Bless him," she said genuinely. "But no, I don't want to be sat at home when you're back on the road. No way. I'd much rather be working than sitting around with nothing to do other than let my mind drift back to... that. Besides, that would be letting David effect my career. I'm getting pushed to the damn moon right now, and he's not going to stop that. Fuck him."