Chapter 20 A NEW DAWN.
20.
KIMBERLY'S POV.
~TWO WEEKS LATER~
Cora left. Rafael became very impassive and rigid with me. But I'm healed, and I will be getting discharged today. And he's coming to pick me up.
"The screws in your ribs have been removed, all you need to do is recuperate nicely and take precautions next time." The senior nurse advises, I nod duly to her instructions while I pack my clothes inside the bag Rafael brought for me.
"Thank you, I really appreciate your help." I mumble gratefully, she responds with a cheerful smile and leaves the room.
The door creaks open after some moment and I know it's Rafael, he arrived moments ago but went to the doctor's office to sort something out.
He looks more unsettled and quite out of place as he's always been in the past three weeks, he barely talks now and only offers a terse smile that doesn't go past his lower lip.
"Hey." He grunts gruffly and collects the bag from my hand and we both walk out of the ward in silence.
"Uhmm, thank you." I say, glancing at him briefly, but he doesn't return my glance so I just clamp my mouth shut.
"Is Cora settling nicely?" He suddenly asks as we get to where his car was parked.
"Yeah, she's almost done with registration too."
Cora is staying in one of the houses in Rafael's estate in the town and it's one of the greatest help he's done for us because it didn't take her a day for her to resume school activities and she's coping well, we talk everyday too, more than once in a day because she's still worried about my ribs and I barely feel the pains anymore although I still have to come for checkup once in a week throughout the rest of the month.
"Good." He bites out, taking a deep breath, I watch Rafael lean unintentionally against the door,his breathing a bit labored, as if he's exhausted, he gives the hospital one lasting stare before slipping into the car.
I try to understand what just happened but it's so confusing, is he tired because of the short walk or is being in the hospital stressing him out?
He opens the car door for me, I enter carefully, trying not to displace my freshly healed bone, and his eyes are on me throughout till I close the door.
"Thank you." I say again but as usual, he doesn't reply.
Throughout the long drive home, we don't say a word to each other except the constant beepings of the Car's sensors and the soft music playing in a low tune in the background.
Getting home, we walk together into the house, my breath hitches softly, it's been so long I came here and I've almost forgotten how tense I always am, now that Cora isn't home anymore, I still don't know how to live with the fact that I have a husband now, and my husband is as cold as ever.
"Let me know if you need anything, I will be in the room." Rafael mumbles in a barely audible voice but I'm already overly sensitive to everything because of the tension in the room.
"Are you busy?" I blurt, Rafael turns to me with his brows drawn together and a small frown on his face.
"I'm always busy, Kim,is there anything you need?"
"No, I just want us to talk."
Seconds ticks off, and after what seems like an eternity, he takes a deep breath and saunters towards the chair, sitting down.
I quickly do the same thing, rubbing my hands against each other, I sigh heavily, trying to calm my nerves.
"Kim." He calls impatiently this time around.
A short laugh pinches out of me and I shake my head."I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure where to start."
"Start somewhere."
"Huh.... I've made some plans, about us trying to make this thing work and perfect, we can continue to be this pensive around each other."
"We're not pensive around each other, we just don't talk unnecessarily."
"Why?" I find myself saying the word and I almost regret it but the look on his face gives me the satisfaction that he's already uncomfortable with this discussion.
"Because there's nothing to talk about, if it's anything out of the marriage, I don't want to be involved."
My throat constricts in pain immediately, I exhale a shaky breath and nod again, Gosh, I've been nodding too much lately.
"Let's talk about the party then."
"Sure." He answers.
Rafael's shoulder is now more relaxed as soon as our discussion becomes professional and I kind of hate it, do I make him uncomfortable or does he hate me so much that he doesn't want to have any discussion outside our marriage?
"I'm thinking of us hiring event planners that know their way about all of these things and we're going to be discussing with them, and...since you want it to be a large party, Cora won't be attending because of her school work and I want us to do it as soon as possible."
"So we can get over it?" He cuts in with a daring stare on his face."Works well for me."
"Of course, we will have a budget, and I will try to cut it down as much as possible from my own side."
"Don't worry about the money, Kim."
"Rafael,I..."
"Fuck it." He curses harshly under his tone and throws his head back tiredly.
"Sorry." I mumble."And we should invite Eliana, The Williams and every other person important so we can make them stop doubting."
"Sure."
"And, I know this isn't about the marriage or anything but I will be resuming soon and I'm thinking of renting a house closer to the school."
"Are you not going to Eastfield?"
"Yeah, but..."
"It's just a twenty minute drive from here, I can't afford you living where I can't keep tabs on you."
"But..."
"I will get you a car, and a permanent driver, does that work for you?"
"Yeah, thank..."
"Are we done here?" He cut me off again, rubbing his neck at intervals, I nod immediately.
"Yes."
"We will talk more about the preparations tomorrow."
"Can I make a few touches on the design of the house? Most of the things here are not functional and homely."
"I will call an interior designer tomorrow morning so you can talk about your preferences."
"Okay then, we're done."
He heaves heavily and gets up from the seat, I feel his jaw tightens as he drags his body towards the stairs. Rafael held onto the railings of the stairs tightly as he took each step.
Is he sick? Or there's something worrying him?
"Rafael are you okay?" I suddenly call, not giving a damn if he's going to yell at me.
Boldly, I run to him and hold him from behind, I place my hand on his neck and surprisingly, his body temperature is normal.
"Are you okay?" I ask again, worries etches in my tone.
"Fuck." He growls."No, take me to my room."