Nova stared at the hospital food she was offered, picking at it with her fork. Just by looking at it made her lose her appetite and her stomach painfully churn.
She was still hungry though, forcing herself to eat the green thick soup and the soggy cauliflower.
When she had finished, she pushed the tray off of her lap and on the nightstand next to her.
Getting bored again, she lifted up the hospital gown and looked at her neatly bandaged wound. It was stained with blood, but I didn't seem to hurt. Carefully, she pulled it a bit to sneak a peek at her wound, confusion covering her face. She wasn't injured, but what scared her, even more, was the fact that her healed skin was stitched. How could she be healed in one night? At the moment, Nova Didn't care. What scared her was the fact that she had stitches. She was about to find a way to remove it, but a knock on the door stopped her. She pulled down her gown and pulled the covers above her before answering.
"Come in," she called.
The door slowly opened to reveal the guard who helped her last night.
"Good morning Ms. Adams. How are you feeling?"
He slid into the room and closed the door behind him.
She was about to ask him what was he doing in her room but thought of something better.
"I'm actually annoyed at the fact that these people think this is actual food. Can you ask them to send something that looks edible?"
There goes Nova and her stuck up personality. Instead of the guard slumping down with a frown, a huge grin was placed.
"That's why I'm here. I knew the food here wouldn't Satisfy you, so I convinced your father to allow me to get you your favorite."
She raised a brow at him as he lifted a plastic bag.
"Chinese cuisine. Fried chicken dumplings, fried vegetable rice, noodles with special spicy sauce, and crispy sweet beef with green onions!"
Her hand gripped the extra pillow she asked for last night and threw it at him, but he swiftly dodged it.
"Are you mocking me, or are you actually serious? Eating all of that would certainly make me gain a lot of weight! I don't pay for a gym membership for the fun of it."
The guard laughed as he rested his free hand on his hip.
"Fine then, I'll make sure the nurse sends you something that looks edible:"
He turned around to leave, but paused when he heard her quiet voice say, "no, wait."
"I'll eat, only if you join."
He turned to raise a brow but realized she couldn't see it from the sunglasses. He simply removed them, his brow still raised.
Nova was about to tell the reason but was taken aback by his grey eyes.
"May I know why?" he asked.
She quickly cleared her throat as she pushed herself closer to the headboard. "I need someone to make sure I don't exceed the amount calories I'm allowed to consume in a day."
He nodded as he sat on the chair close by her bed. Carefully he took out the food and laid the rice and beef on her lap.
"Eat up. You'll need it."
She slowly took a bit, her eyes glimmering by the rush of flavor that she tasted. At the moment, she didn't care if a good looking guard was sitting by her side and devoured her plate.
"Slowly. You'll hurt your stomach, or even worse, choke," he warned her as he took the plate from her with a frown.
She gulped down the food in her mouth before whining, "I'm hungry. Leave me alone."
"I wouldn't be sitting here if you weren't worried about your weight."
She ignored whatever he had said and reached out for the plate he held in midair, but the guy had some good reflexes and lifted it up from her grasp.
"You're dealing with a hungry girl. We tend to get vicious when we don't get the food."
He snickered, "Is that a threat?"
"Yes. My nails are freshly made."
She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. Instead of laughing at food again, she sat her self down and glared at him.
"I'll allow you to eat as long as you promise to eat much slower. Deal?"
"Deal."
He smiled at her before placing the plate on her lap again.
For the next hour, the two talked and laughed. Nova learned that his name was Lance and he started working for her father 4 months ago. Surprisingly, he wasn't fond of the strict attitude he had to present since he was an outgoing fun guy.
"How did you get the job then? Knowing my dad, he likes to be professional at all costs."
"I guess my military work impressed him. He did say he needed a well-trained person to be the family's personal guard."
She grinned at him before gulping down her water.
A knock on the door startled both of them, causing Lance to stand on his feet and slip his glasses on.
"Really?" She whispered chuckling.
"Got to look professional, you know?"
Rolling her eyes playfully, she told the person behind the door to come in.
A nurse came into the room, greeting Nova respectfully.
"Good morning, Ms. Adams. I just came by to switch you a clean bandage."
"No!" Nova shouted, clutching the blanket.
"It's just the outer coverage-"
"I know! I'm not stupid."
The nurse hesitated before asking, "Then why do you seem scared?"
"I-I just don't feel comfortable with someone touching me at the moment."
Nova quietly averted her eyes to Lance pleadingly, wishing he'd help her.
He clearly noticed this, clearing his throat before looking at the nurse. "I'm sorry ma'am, but it would be kindly appreciated if you delay the change. She might still be shaken by yesterday's events."
The nurse quietly nodded before making her way out of the room and allowing two officers to come in.
"Let me guess, questioning?" She groaned.
"Yes. We hope you're well Ms. Adams," the slimmer officer smiled.
"Well, you don't need to waste your energy. I'm answering any question unless it's given by Officer Issac Rivera."
"He's actually busy at the moment-"
"I don't care. Wanna know who dared to hurt me? Get me, Officer Rivera."
The older one with thick facial hair managed to speak, annoyance filling his tone. "Officer Rivera is not available. We advise you to answer to us."
Nova lifted her gaze from her fingernails as she glared at him.
"It seems to me that you don't understand the language art of English since you seem ignorant towards my words. A second-grader would know what I'm asking for. Go get me that green-eyed Rivera before I lose it and ask my father to find better officers who didn't fail English in school!"
The slimmer one nudged the officer by his side as he quickly nodded. "Understood. Have a nice day, Ms. Adams."
When the door finally shut behind them, Lance snickered softly. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
She smiled too, wanting to laugh along. "I just did."