After eating the little she could, Deborah slept again. Sharon did not want to force her to eat more than she could at that stage so that she would not be sick.
She ate a little herself because while watching her daughter, she realised that she was famished. She had barely eaten all through that day due to her anxiety over Deborah.
She went to have her bath as Bryan came out from the study red eyed and looking very tired.
She had never seen anything affect him this way and for him to show this little sign showed that he was not as composed and as confident as he wanted all to think.
He really loved his daughter and it had given him quite a scare to find that it was possible for his decision to make him lose her. And he was still faced with making the right decision for all and it was eating him up.
Sharon felt pity for him. It could not be that easy. It must be very burdensome on his shoulders having to choose between his own family and his half sister he had hoped to help and cure.
'Has Deborah woken?' he asked wearily.
'She did but has slept again', she replied gently.
'How did she feel when she woke?'
'Stronger but still a little giddy. She ate just a little of the good and I didn't want her to be sick by forcing her to eat more when she got tired but she asked about you before sleeping and was glad that we rescued her. In her words, the lady is not a good person as she made her eat and drink what she did not want to and did not care if she was sick or not'. Sharon narrated to aid him in his decision.
Bryan nodded. He already knew that it was like that.
'I had to shut her up. Promising that the bad lady was never ever going to come near her again. She was so scared but my promise which I didn't have confidence in myself gave her rest and she slept again asking me not to leave her side. Maybe you should go and stay with her while I quickly have a shower. I feel hot and uncomfortable'.
He nodded and gave her a peck on the cheek and walked towards his daughter's room.
Sharon felt heat in her body. Since the abduction' of Deborah, it had not even occured to them to make love. They had been so bothered that getting her back had been the only focus. She went into the shower and had her bath, soaking luxuriously in the tub to ease the tension in her body and muscles.
When she got out and came into the room, she found her daughter already awake and in her father's arms.
'Daddy, I do not want to see that lady anymore. She scares me'.
Sharon who had entered the room without them knowing that she was there, watched Bryan's face for his reaction and saw the pain that flicked through his face.
'You do not have to worry about that. She is your half aunt and we cannot possibly harm her. But she will be taken to a hospital far away from here that is akin to a well guarded prison where she will received intense treatment and will only be released when her sickness has left her'.
'Can such a sickness of wickedness and evil ever leave somebody?' Deborah asked innocently. And Sharon applauded her daughter silently for such a brilliant question because she doubted that such a sickness could ever leave someone. She was done trusting the words of people. What if she pretended to be okay and started acting normally and after her release, she does something worse to her and her children? She knew Devon could not harm Bryan in anyway because he was akin to His for her and as she always claimed, she loved him dearly but her enemies were Sharon and her seeds who have all conspired to take her live from her and keep him perpetually away from her and she was going to teach them the lesson of their lives.
She was afraid of that lesson she had still threatened to teach them but Bryan might just not understand because he felt that she could still be treated.
She coughed as though just coming into the room.
'Hi beauty, Have you woken again?' she asked pleasantly. She did not want her to know that she was worried. She had to be put at her ease.
'Yes, mum. I felt a strong presence here and knew that my father had come to visit and since I missed him so much, I had to wake to be with him'.
Sharon could never understand this strong connection father and daughter had. She could not deny it but she realised that the connection between them was far stronger than the one she shared with her daughter and she had always been the one with her since her birth. She was not jealous though. It was just so puzzling.
'A strong presence hum?'
She nodded and Sharon saw Bryan look down and wiped a year from his eye. The weakness he showed where his daughter was concerned was a marvel to behold.
'And what kind of presence do you feel when I am around?' she asked lightly, not wanting Bryan to know that she saw that moment if weakness he just displayed and neither wanting her daughter to start asking him questions that he might find embarrassing.
'I don't know. But something softer, like love. Yes, a loving presence but dad's is both strong and loving and I feel very sage with him. He is my father after all'.
Bryan hugged her tightly. Different emotions flicking through his face.
'Alright, would you like to eat anything?'
She said she would and they got it for her including brooth and this time she ate very well. Her appetite seemed to have improved tremendously. Was it because she was getting stronger and better by the second or because she was with her father? Sharon had no answer for that but she was grateful for whatever be the cause that her daughter was beginning to be her normal chatty self again. And not for the first time, she regretted having kept these two souls apart from each other. They must have been searching for each other without knowing what they were searching for and she had been responsible because of her anger and her quest for vengeance.