Chapter 43 Hand In Marriage
Her eyelids became heavy as she yawned, indicating that it was time for her to hit the hay. She climbed into bed and made herself comfortable under the sheets and closed her eyes. But no matter how hard she tried, sleep wouldn’t come. She turned and tossed on the mattress, trying to find a better position to sleep but nothing worked.
About an hour passed as she stared into darkness. She still couldn’t sleep and she knew that the reason was her heart’s restlessness from the events of that day.
Kate slowly sat up in her bed and her eyes immediately settled on Quisito’s jacket. Untangling herself from the sheets, she got out of the bed and walked towards it, her legs moving mechanically. As if her mind was on autopilot, she reached forth and lifted the jacket into her arms and pressed it against her chest.
A bit of relief filled her at the contact of the cloth, but she didn’t know why her body was responding the way it did. Walking back to the bed, she spread the jacket on the mattress and then laid on top of it, making herself small by curling into fetal position, so that her entire body can stay on top of his cloth.
A faint smell of smoke remained on the cloth, but it also contained the scent of his addictive cologne. When she inhaled it, her eyelids fluttered, closing on their own.
Till the next morning, Kate slept peacefully like a baby.
The next two days passed in a blur, but she didn’t hear anything about her father or Quisito. She could have asked her father’s men about their status but Kate restrained herself from doing so because she couldn’t take another bad news.
‘What if Quisito was not okay?’
‘What if her father was never going to be okay?’
Scary thoughts were eating her alive on the third day afternoon and that was when she got a text from her friend Emily.
Emily : You okay?
Kate had mentioned to her friend about her father’s condition, but purposefully left out the details on Quisito.
Kate : I’m doing fine, but I’m afraid for my dad...
Emily : I know; But it will be alright. You just have to believe and stay strong, because your father is the best dad I have ever known. I mean...your father protects you with bodyguards, whereas mine doesn’t even pick me up from college on time!
Kate smiled after reading the reply because she did believe that her father will be okay.
He had to become okay, for his only daughter.
Kate was about to type something else, when someone knocked on the door. But before she could give permission, the knob twisted and the person opened the door.
‘Quisito?’
Kate sprang up from her study table to rush into the familiar warmth that she had been missing like crazy, but stopped short when she saw that it was her father’s personal bodyguard. Her smile turned upside down quickly, but she immediately composed herself.
The man gave her a sympathetic smile before speaking
“Your father just woke up after the surgery and he asked for you. If you want, then you can meet him now”
Her eyes pricked with happy tears when she heard the wonderful news. She rapidly blinked her eyes to get out the tears and sniffed, while informing the man that she will be ready as soon as possible.
She was finally going to meet her father after a long time of uncertainty.
At the Hospital...
“Your father is now in a stable condition. He is a little sedated, so certain things he says might not make sense. Also, try not to say anything that might upset him” the nurse advised Kate while showing her to the room her father rested.
“I’ll keep that in mind...” Kate agreed with a nod, before opening the semi glass door and getting inside.
The simultaneous beeps of various machines and the smell of medicines welcomed her as she took tentative steps towards her father, who was already looking at her. Winston laid on the bed wearing blue hospital gown, with several electrodes attached to his chest that disappeared into the dress that he wore.
His lips lifted into a small smile when he saw his unscathed daughter approaching him because he thought that he was never going see her alive again. But the Don kept his promise.
When Kate reached near him, she moved to sit to an adjacent chair, but her father patted the little empty space on his bed, next to him and gestured her to take a seat there. She carefully perched upon his bed and gently covered his hand with hers.
“Dad...” Kate croaked out, the urge to hug him becoming unbearable. But she held herself back from doing so because of his condition.
“My heaven....you okay?...” Winston asked in a hoarse voice as he ran his eyes all over her to make sure that she was unharmed by Placebo.
She had only one wound, but it was nothing compared to what could have actually happened. Since Kate didn’t want to upset him, she hid the information under a reassuring smile and replied-
“Dad, I’m perfectly alright. But, look at you...and you are asking that if I’m okay?” Kate’s voice broke into a little sob, but it slowly morphed into a chuckle when she saw her father smiling brightly at her. He was trying to cheer her up and lighten the atmosphere and she couldn’t help but join him.
“I missed this old smile of yours...the one your mother adored. I don’t know how Quisito managed to do it but, I can see that you are back”
Her father’s words made no sense, and she thought that it might be due to the morphine in his blood. She also remembered the nurse’s precaution regarding his dazed state. So, she tried to play along and smiled back genuinely, like she knew exactly what he was talking about and squeezed his hand without pressure.
Suddenly, something in his expression changed, like he was going to mention something very serious.
“Before I forget...I need to talk to you regarding something important. It’s....about your marriage”
Her heartbeat skyrocketed on hearing the last word he said. Because, she knew how women were groomed in the mafia families to play the role of a perfect ‘trophy wife’. She had even talked to a few unlucky ones. They were just a mere symbol of status for their bastard husbands who think that they have every right to abuse and cheat on their wives.
Kate wasn’t exactly brought up to become a trophy wife. But she knew that once she is married off to a stranger, she would enjoy much less freedom than she already doesn’t have. And she would even be forced to bear many children to ensure the continuity of bloodline.
Unfortunately, for Kate, marriage wasn’t a choice. It was a necessary evil to strengthen the bonds between the men of mafia and also to ensure her protection. It was a sad truth, but women were considered as cattle that was to be traded off for ‘marriage of convenience’ or to be married off for making peace with the enemies.
Kate wanted to touch his feet and beg him to change his decision because she couldn’t even imagine herself to be an ‘obedient wife’ who worships nothing but her husband. She wanted to marry someone she loved and someone who loved her back equally. Kate knew that the Don felt something for her, but he still hasn’t confessed anything yet; And besides, anything he had for her must have disappeared after her outburst, because it has been three days and she still had no clue where he was.
Kate opened her mouth to protest against the idea that her father proposed, but the thing he said next killed every word that was at the tip of her tongue.
“Don Quisito asked for your hand in marriage a month ago...”
Kate’s grip on her father’s hand faltered as her lungs almost exploded with the amount of oxygen, she involuntarily sucked in. She audibly gulped and replayed his words in her head.
Winston just watched her, reading her every expression like an open book.
“S-say what now?” she stammered after a while, thinking that she must have heard him wrong.
But deep down, Kate knew that she had heard him exactly well.