181 - Hope de Luca

Hope de Luca

I got up too quickly and felt the world spinning around me. I ended the call to avoid worrying my prince, and noticed that Ella had sensed my discomfort.

“Are you okay, Hope?” she asked with her gentle voice.

I raised my hand and called her over. I saw her hurriedly get up from the ground, and soon both of them were helping me. I felt a pressure on the back of my neck, not imagining that all this excitement would cause such an effect.

“Call everyone, it’s better to take me to the hospital…” I said just before my mother-in-law appeared in the garden.

“Hope?” she panicked upon seeing me.

“Laís, hurry here, we have to take your sister-in-law to the hospital!” Her eyes looked terrified.

I felt several hands guiding me to the car. I saw that only my mother-in-law was going to take me, so I needed to think quickly.

“Come with me, Pietra, I need someone to handle my mother-in-law and sister-in-law without my fiancé here!” I said, feeling the various eyes on me.

“Afraid of needles?” Vanessa asked.

“Maybe!” I said and saw that I convinced them to come with me.

I relaxed my shoulders once we all got into the cars and headed to the hospital. I was still feeling a bit dizzy, but I was so happy that I didn’t even realize we had been in traffic for over half an hour until we reached the hospital, which was likely run by the mafia.

The driver took the car through a more discreet entrance, avoiding being photographed at that hour, especially without our men around.

“Ready, let’s go!” Laís said.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I heard a helicopter. My heart raced at the possibility of seeing the smile I loved most as soon as we walked through those doors. I hoped it was them who had arrived because I didn’t want to spend the whole day here getting poked with needles!

I had no idea where a wheelchair came from, but in record time, we were in front of a reception desk, and Laís started giving orders. I saw everyone approaching, trying to keep my sister-in-law satisfied with the treatment I was receiving.

But luckily, we heard a commotion. I raised my head and saw Mahjub coming through the double doors. I got up from the chair excitedly and walked towards my fiancé, who looked worried and very tired.

“Hi, my love. How are they?” I asked anxiously.

“They? What do you mean, they?” I heard Pietra beside me.

“Come on!” Mahjub took my hand.

He pulled us towards the corridor, and we stopped in front of the hospital emergency room. We saw Henrique and my in-laws hovering over the doctors and several other staff members attending to two stretchers.

I couldn’t see clearly, but I noticed they looked worn out, dirty, and had tears streaming down their faces.

“Why didn’t they tell us?” Vanessa appeared beside me, peering through the small window.

“Because no one can know yet that they’ve been rescued, at least until those people disappear!” Mahjub said firmly.

I looked at my fiancé and saw some small scratches on his face and arms. We locked eyes, and I heard Laís beside me.

“Take her to get checked, she’s pregnant, and we don’t need to mention how wrong this situation is, do we?” she said, sounding irritated.

Mahjub’s expression shifted from shocked to euphoric in a matter of seconds, and I could say I was also happy about the possibility.

“If there’s an heir on the way, I assure you nothing will be wrong!” Mahjub responded irritably, wrapping his arm around my waist.

I saw him give his sister a disapproving look as she walked away, rolling her eyes. I noticed everyone laughing, and it finally dawned on me that all this discomfort I was feeling could indeed be due to a pregnancy.

“Come on, let them take care of their men, I’ll take care of my wife!” I melted hearing him speak.

We walked away and headed to the doctor’s office, where my name was being called. Mahjub never let go of my hand, clearly hoping that any test taken would come back positive.

But I knew it would be negative, since I had started taking contraceptives as soon as we arrived in Sudan. I didn’t want to get pregnant now, especially since we weren’t even married yet, and I needed to complete my contract with the Bolshoi, which still had almost a year left.

“You know it’s going to be negative, right?” I said, taking the test from the doctor’s hand.

I saw her laugh, and Mahjub shrugged, having just whispered in Arabic;

“Allah is greater, and to Him belong all the mysteries.”

I sighed and went to the bathroom to take the test, leaving my fiancé sitting with the doctor outside while I did the quick test.

With the urine in the cup and the test strip dipped, I sat on the toilet lid and rested my head on my fists. So many things have happened this month.

I received flowers from Mahjub during my birthday week, sighing at the tenderness and care he showed me. I got a marriage proposal from Guilherme and heard his entire confession about his Oompa Loompa. It’s impossible not to laugh every time he calls her that.

Sitting down and really talking with Mahjub, taking control of our relationship without our families trying to manipulate and play with our feelings, I realized that my prince had always felt something for me. He did what he did because he couldn’t accept and understand many things. He gave me his perspective, and I forgave him.

Our first time together was much more than I ever believed it would be. Mahjub was more than a prince to me. His care day after day and the way he behaved once he made me his woman were more than enough to solidify my feelings for him.

Our stay in Sudan over the past few days has been wonderful. Staying away from his room during the last days would have been unrealistic, so I settled into his quarters, keeping our relationship as private as possible to avoid unnecessary gossip.

I lifted my eyes as I recalled Salim's words.

“Enjoy your youth, travel, see the world, meet other people as powerful as you will be, make commitments, and above all, love each other. The children will come when Allah thinks you are ready for them.”

Looking at the test strip now, I saw that Mahjub’s grandfather was right. With the strip showing only one pink line, indicating a negative result, I thanked Allah.

“All in good time!”

I left the bathroom to inform my fiancé of the result so we could check on my friend and his father.

Now that they had been rescued, it was only a matter of time before they recovered and could be at our wedding.