CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
RHONA's POV
The room started spinning and as though I stepped back in time all the memories came rushing forward.
Me and Cheryl had gotten into a fight earlier. She had beaten me up and I must have fainted because I didn't remember half of the things that had happened. I touched the wound on my forehead again and the pain that seared across my head was alarming.
I was just thinking about the event when he came in again. It was the waiter from earlier. He looked at me with so much concern in his eyes he clearly was worried and I felt so sad to be the cause of his worry. I barely knew him but I was already trying not to be a burden. He came close to me and gently stooped down to ask if I was doing well.
"Hello, how are you? I hope you're feeling better. I'm so sorry about what happened earlier," he apologized.
I was good, it wasn't his fault. I looked at him and I gave one of my weakest smiles. I couldn't help it. I was really weak.
"How is she?" I asked. I know she was mean to me but I still wanted to make sure she was fine.
"Oh, she's all right. You're the one who got injured," he replied.
I felt a huge weight on my chest and a searing pain as I thought about what she did to me.
At this point, Kim was already awake and looking at the both of us. I guess she wanted to speak to me but she didn't want to come in between the conversation I was having with the waiter. I really needed to stop thinking of him as the waiter. I should ask his name.
"What is your name?" I asked him.
"My name is Michael."
"Like the archangel?" I asked trying to make a silly joke even though I was in pain.
I wanted to check the rest of my body to confirm that I had no further injuries but I felt self-conscious doing it in his presence, so I decided to be done and send him off to go and get some rest. I was sure he had been at my bedside the whole day and I had no inkling why exactly.
He was gently smiling down at me the next time I looked up. I figured he had tried addressing me but I was so lost in thoughts that I didn't catch what he said.
I smiled right back as wide as I could.
"You were saying something right?" I asked with a tinge of guilt in my voice and a sheepish smile.
"No, nothing major. I was just saying that I was the furthest thing from an angel," he smiled and continued.
"Also, I wanted to give you a breakdown of the things you missed when you lost consciousness. First, you may want to review your relationship with the young lady you were with earlier. She hit you on the head with a glass vase, made no attempts to help when you fainted, and left you for dead."
I was gaping at him, I knew it was bad but I didn't know it was that bad.
"Your guardian angels for the day were the patrons at the restaurant. They rushed to your rescue as soon as she left. I was serving your table so when the chaos started I was first terribly surprised because when I left, you were doing just fine even though I was so obsessed with your beauty that I may have missed any tension between the both of you."
I was surprised to hear him say that he thought I was beautiful, to the point that he was obsessed. I chuckled a little at that and continued staring at his magnificent lips as he continued speaking.
"I called emergency and we got you to the hospital as soon we could. I eventually got a hold of your phone and was able to contact your brother. I guess he called the rest of the party."
"I'm truly grateful for everything you did. Thank you so much. How can I pay you back?" I asked, with full intention that he would pick up the flirty tone that I used for the last part of my statement.
"I don't want to be paid back but I do wanna be friends," he said with a soft twinkle in his eyes that told me that my tone was not particularly lost on him.
"How about I take your number and come see you again tomorrow?" he offered.
For some reason him asking for my number made my stomach flutter like it was full of butterflies.
"Yes, yes that's absolutely perfect," I replied all too eager.
I rattled off my number and soon he was gone, in his absence, I noticed that Kim was gone the whole time. Kim was such a team player. I guess she realized the undercurrents in our conversation and decided to excuse us.
I felt around me to see if someone dropped my phone but it wasn't there. I was still trying to figure out how to call Kim when the attending doctor came in to see me.
"Rhona, you're awake. Do you feel any better?" He sounded really caring.
"I don't even know doc. It feels like someone is trying to rip my head off. My head feels heavy and in pain and my stab point is crazy."
He smiled gently and bent down to get a better look at my head.
"It's not that bad. I know you're in a lot of pain. I'll have the nurse come give you some anesthesia to help with the pain," he promised.
About a couple minutes after he left, a nurse came in with Kim trailing her. I felt so relieved to see her. She was like my bright light in all that had happened.
"Darling, how are you doing?" At this point, I was tired of telling how I was doing but it was Kim and anything for Kim.
"Kimmy baby!" I squealed in lower case wanting to show how glad I was to see him but lacking the strength to do so.
"I'm doing better now that I've seen you and I'll clearly do even better once I get the drugs that the kind nurse is about to administer," I said with a small smile.
There was a calm tension in the room afterward. Too calm even. Kim had a weeping smile on, an expression that showed gratitude and sorrow. She knew the reason for the fight I guess. She knew I must have defended her before the witch Cheryl and it landed me in this mess.
Her expression made me more grievous. To think that I had sided with Cheryl before, against this angel, what was I thinking? How did I not see it? These were my thoughts when I muttered, "I'm sorry."
I hadn't expected that to be the break of the silence, but my intrusive thoughts won.
"What do you mean, you're sorry? You're the one with the broken head, not me!" Kim exclaimed and there was a bit of disgust in her voice and even I would have reacted the same.
"As much as I want to blame Cheryl for hurting you so much back then, I really can't or else I'd be a coward. I had allowed myself to be used for her selfish and wicked interests and I didn't even realize how deep in being mischievous I had become and I'm truly ..." I defended but was cut off by my brother barging in with the most furious look ever causing both Kim and I to jump. I was grateful I wasn't his enemy.
Like a scanner, he stared at my body laying on the bed from head to toe, counting how many scars I had, fresh or old.
"Did the doctor attend to you yet ?" He asked and Kim softly answered,
"Yeah, the nurse just left."
He squeezed her hand into his fisted palm, which he eventually let loose of.
"I'm okay, just the headache and the doctor promised I'd be fine," I said calmly, just to ease the fire in his eyes but it was a waste. Those eyes looked like they were going to explode if I said one more thing.
"Rest well. I'd talk to the doctor about your checking out," he said as he was about to leave.
Kim stopped him in his tracks and asked, "What's going to happen to Cheryl ?"
Craig paused. "She's dead meat," he said and walked out of the room.
Kim had a truer smile now as she turned to me "I love you Rona and I know you'd never want to hurt anyone without being influenced. We should focus on getting you better and avoiding situations like this from occurring again. So please, save your sorries and convert it to brewing some love for that waiter gentleman."
This left a broader smile and a chuckle on my face as I corrected. "He's Michael."
"Oh, I'm sorry little miss, forgive my manners. Your gentleman Michael," she sarcastically mocked me and I laughed hard before being brought back to the reality of the pain in my brain.
"Sorry love, I should get you food. Rest while I do that," Kim said standing up to leave but I held her hand saying a very hearted;
"Thank you, Kimmy, for being you."
Her ever sparkly eyes warmed up to me as she gave me a quick hug, whispering, "Get well, okay?" And I nodded in response as she left the room.