Blood Purple (Blood Series) Page 19
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The sun shone through the cracks of the blinds, waking Nikole from her dream state. Her eyes weak and sore from crying all night, she tried to turn her head to the right to see if he was still there. Surprisingly her body did what she wanted. The sunlight gleamed off his golden blonde hair; his smooth, white skin appeared to shimmer in the light. His cheekbones, his arms, his chest, rose and fell with each breath.
“Excuse me?” she whispered, trying to get his attention. “Hello…” He didn’t even move because her voice was so soft. Turning her head to the left, she looked around the room, trying to take in all of the surroundings. She moved her fingers; she felt the sheet next to her leg move. Her fingers were working today. This was good. Feeling the sheet start to bunch in her hands, she cracked a small smile. She could do this; she could sit herself up. She tried to move her arms. Her muscles ached and screamed at her as she bent them at the elbow and started to apply pressure on them. She winced at the pain. Maybe she was trying to do too much too soon.
Feeling the need to keep trying, she wiggled her toes and she watched the sheet move at the end of the bed. She wasn’t paralyzed by fear; she could do this. She needed to be able to get up; it was more important than anything else. She focused on her right leg, mentally telling it to bend, letting out a tiny scream at the pain soaring through her body. She was determined to sit up. Planting her right heel in the bed and bracing her palms on either side of her ribs, she pushed on all three limbs, even as the pain seared her insides. She screamed even as she felt her body moving.
She sat up two inches and lost control, dropping her body back on the bed. “Damn it!” She let out a long deep breath. There had to be a way to get his attention. Turning her head to the side, she looked at him again. She looked at him again, trying to recall if she had seen him before. Did he know who she was? Surely not, if he had he would have called Zayn, wouldn’t he? She let out another breath and heard a small noise. “That’s IT!” she thought. Puckering her lips together and blowing, she heard it, a whistle. Her spirits soared as she licked her lips two times, took a deep breath, and whistled as loud as she could.
Alec shot up in the seat on full alert. Looking around for danger, he realized she was awake.
“You’re awake. Well, how are you feeling?”
She smiled at him, relieved that she could communicate this time and she wouldn’t have to stay in bed forever. “I am feeling better,” she softly said.
“You can talk.” Alec smiled down at her. “That’s great; I am Alec by the way.” He dropped his hand to Nikole’s and gave it a small squeeze.
“I am Nikole.” She breathed in deeply; relieved she could actually be heard.
“Nikole, you have been severely injured. Do you remember us talking about it yesterday?”
She shook her head. “Not really, only something about me being really hurt and in bad shape. The whole thing is a blur.”
Alec looked over her dressings, inspecting the wounds to see how much they had healed. Going to the bathroom and bringing out materials to place new dressings on her arms, he pulled up the chair close to her bedside and started to work. “Well, I am a former EMT for the military. When I retired I bought this land from the King. I have installed security monitors all over the mountain, and when I saw someone in my building, I went to investigate.”
She quietly listened and watched his methodic attention to detail as he cleaned her cuts and burns. “You bought all this from King Zayn? Did you tell him someone was using the building?”
He shook his head at her as he put more ointment on her arm over the stitches to reduce the possibility of a scar. “No, I didn’t call him; I didn’t think I had to. Do you have family looking for you?”
She turned away, tears starting to swell in her eyes. “I do, and Zayn is my akh.”
Alec froze as he heard that. He glanced up from his work and met her eyes. The King’s okht? “You are the Princess Nikole?” She nodded slowly looking at his reactions. She tried to speak but he cut her off. “I need to get you home right now. I am sure they are looking everywhere for you.”
She wanted to speak but stopped her thoughts more clear today than yesterday when she woke for the first time. She went against Zayn’s orders and wound up in trouble, captured, tortured. Nikole wasn’t entirely ready to face the hard ramifications of her actions. “No, no, Alec not yet.”
He looked at her confused. “Why don’t you want me to call and get you home?”
Sucking in a breath she whispered, “I am not ready to go back to my akh. This is entirely my fault, and I can’t face him. Not yet.”
Nikole felt her face flush and her emotions started to take over. Her tears ran down her face and she fisted her hands. The pain in her heart was far worse than her body. “I never should have gone after Derrik alone. I went against my akh’s wishes. He….He was right. I was foolish, and now look what I have done. I almost died, and Zayn would have been all alone forever because of me. I can’t see him, not yet. What, what did they do to me?”
Alec took his thumb, wiped away her tears, and calmly started to describe what he saw. “You were strapped to the metal table with metal cuffs. Your legs were seared with something, leaving burns across them. Your arms were cut open; some bone was showing. You have a cut across your body and your face is severely bruised. When I noticed what was going on, it looked like two of your captors were fighting. By the time I got there, one man was gone and one man was dead. A third man looked like he was going to kill you, so I took him out.”
Nikole looked up at him, gratitude and amazement in her eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“If you are the royal family, how did they get you? Rumour has it you can teleport. I never saw Zayn teleport when I fought in his military.”
“I can teleport, and I tried, but somehow something was stopping me. The only thing I thought of at the time was they had someone who had mind control and was blocking me from leaving. Eventually I was just in too much pain to even attempt it.”
He listened to her talk about what happened. The way she looked speaking of the event and her akh, the tears in her eyes, her tragic event. He couldn’t help but admire her spirit and fight. “You can stay here for a bit. We don’t have to call your akh just yet. Do you want to sit up, try a new position? I am sure your body must be stiff from lying like that for two days straight.”
“Yes, that would be great. I tried earlier and hurt myself.” He stood and pulled the covers down just a bit from her shoulders. He slipped his arm behind her body and his hand under her right arm. Slowly lifting her up, he heard her whimper in pain. She tried to hold it in, not wanting him to see her cry anymore. He adjusted her pillow and moved her hair from her face. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he repositioned the covers around her lower half.
“Is that better?”
“Yes thank you. may I have some water? My throat hurts and I think I should rest it.”
He nodded and headed to get her some water from the kitchen. Bringing her back the drink, he sat down in the chair. “Would you like me to give you some privacy or would you like anything else?”
“Can you stay? Maybe we could watch some television or listen to music. I want to try and walk, but I’m tired. Maybe later we can see if I can move.”
He went to his dresser and turned on the radio. The sound of Beethoven floated through the room. He then came to the other side of the bed and sat on top of the covers. Leaning back against the headboard, they both sat there, listening to the music. Nikole closed her eyes and tried to let the music soothe her soul and the pain she was feeling. She angled her body until she found his shoulder, she laid her head down letting it rest on him, finally feeling some comfort. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he took his hand and grasped Nikole’s. They sat like that until they both fell asleep.