The next thing that Sofia knew was that she was lying on a hospital bed with Liam sitting on a chair next to her. 'This feels like a déjà vu.' Sofia thought to herself. The first time that they met, she was also lying on a hospital bed after doing her best to act in front of him.
Liam felt that someone was looking at him while he was typing his report and when he looked up, his gaze met hers and the two of them looked away at the same time. "I'm glad you're awake. You really scared me there." he commented while closing his laptop. "How are you feeling? Do you want to drink some water?"
"Yes, please." Sofia answered in a hoarse voice. She didn't have to look herself on the mirror to know her body's constitution. Right now, she knew that she has bruises on her face, her arms, stomach and her thigs. Her lower lip was wounded and there was a scratch mark on her neck. She could feel the pain all over her body but she didn't say anything.
Liam poured a glass of water and gave it to her. "I called your brother already. Remember that you called him using my phone before? I didn't erase his number and I never thought I'd use it again to call him for almost the same reason."
"Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Liam asked in confusion. "I should be the one saying those words. I never imagined that our friendship would cause you harm. If I had known – "
"If you had known, you'd not befriend me, right?"
The nasal tone of her voice plus the expression on her face rendered Liam speechless for few seconds. He contemplated on his feelings and words if he would really befriend Sofia or not. At the end of the day, there's no if in this world. "I'd still befriend you but I would also try my best to protect you. And I didn't regret coming to know you."
"Same." Sofia muttered. "You don't have to worry about me. Everything will be alright."
"Then, would you allow me to make things better? Would you tell me what happened so I can fix it for you?"
Sofia put the glass down on the bedside table as she nods her head to his question. "I don't really recall much of what happened because I was too shocked to process everything. I just remember that she came to find me in anger."
"Who came to find you?"
"Your girlfriend."
"Huh? My girlfriend? Who's that? I have never known that I'm in a relationship." Liam looked at her with a deep frown on his face while clearing up his relationship with Janella to her. If it was before, he'd be hesitating to say these words but now, for some reason, he felt that he did the right thing by saying these words.
Seeing the look on his face, Sofia grinned but the wound on her lips was stretched which made her wince from the pain instead. Liam also felt sorry and immediately looked for a cotton swab, poured water on it and slowly dabbed it on her lips. "I can do it myself." Sofia whispered, her eyes darting from left to right but never staying on Liam's face. She felt incredibly hot now that they were just few centimeters away from each other.
"Just stay put and let me do it. Your covered in wounds and bruises already so, stop moving." Liam stated as he slowly pressed the cotton swab on Sofia's lips. The blood was absorbed by the swab and along with that, Liam felt like the oxygen from his body was absorbed somewhere as well. The more he looked on her lips, the stuffier he felt. "Just a little bit more." He whispered.
The hot breath coming from his lips was fanning Sofia's face, sending sparks to the ends of her scalps and fingertips, making her slowly blush from their distance. "I think that's enough." She said while her eyes looked somewhere to avoid his gaze.
"O-okay." Liam pulled away from her and stood up to throw away the cotton swab. "Don't laugh at me again if you don't want to get another bleeding."
"Hn."
"So, where were we?"
"We're at the part of you saying you are single."
"Right!" Liam agreed with firm conviction. "Don't start thinking I'm taken when I haven't even done anything yet to get out of my singlehood."
"Alright. So, I was attacked by someone from school. She's probably your admirer because she clearly warned me to stay away from you. Her name is Janella. I am not really acquainted with her and I haven't done anything that hurts her. Ah! Maybe being friends with you irritates her. Anyway, she got angry at me and started attacking me. That's it."
"You didn't fight back?" Liam asked because he had this feeling that Sofia wasn't someone who's bullied and pushed around by other people. She looked strong and imposing. She has this aura of a fighter.
Sofia looked at him and let out a deep sigh. "I promised that I won't ever cause trouble in school. I don't want to be transferred again. If I really fought back, I'm afraid I'd be sent to jail. Even if I like talking to you, I'd still rather stay at home than stay in jail."
"Confident, aren't we?"
"Why don't we have a spar when I'm back to my normal condition?" She challenged which only made Liam chuckle at her. "Don't laugh at me."
"You really have a unique character." Liam stated. "I won't spar with you and I believe in every word you said."
"You believe me?"
"If not you, who should I believe then?"
"The girl you admired before."
Liam's smile faltered and he could no longer play pretend in front of her. "I did like her in the past."
"What do you even see in her? How did you like such a terrible woman?"
"About that – "
"Sofi!" The door was slid open and there appeared Yusef and Niko. "Who did this to you? Why didn't you fight back? How could you let them bully you?" Niko rambled on, ignoring the fact that Liam was still there inside the room.
"I agree. How could you just stand there and took their beatings? What have we trained you for?" Yusef second in motion while looking at the health chart at the end of her bed. "I don't know what has gotten into your mind."
"Uhm…I'll go outside for a while. Have a nice chat with your brothers." Liam didn't wait for their response and just left the room, making sure that the door was tightly shut behind him. 'They really dotted on her like a spoiled brat. She's not a brat, though.' Liam thought as he walked to the nearest bench and sat.
As soon as he left, the three people inside the VIP room of the hospital stopped their drama. The two men sat wherever they could and looked at Sofia like she's the dumbest person on earth.
"I know what you guys are thinking but don't think I'm doing this for him. I'm doing for the benefit of the other students."
"Yeah. Yeah. We won't argue with your sense of justice." Yusef replied which was obviously a mocking response to her. "So, what do you intend to do now?"
"File a report. There no need to go through the school board. I'll directly file a case against her. Anyway, Liam already promised that he would help me."
"You successfully bewitched him?" Niko blurted out which made Sofia threw a pillow at him. "You still haven't?"
"I didn't. I wasn't planning to and I won't in the future." Sofia retorted with a glare. "Stop annoying me. Go and make a hard time with the school administration. Let them feel the pressure from us."
Niko looked at her once more before rubbing his temple as if he was having a headache at the moment. "Love can make someone act foolish. I hope this won't be your case. I don't want you in deep trouble because of this matter."
"I know." Sofia mumbled softly, almost a whisper in the air. "I'll go back to rest now. Tomorrow, you deal with the aftermath and show everyone how grieve this offense is. I'll be waiting for the good news."
"Yes, ma'am." Yusef nodded as he stood up from the couch. "Also, master called us. He wants us to partake on an S-class mission next week."
"I'm included?"
"No, you are not. Which means, you'll be left to deal with all the businesses and also your school matter." Niko answered for Yusef.
"It's fine. I can handle the rest."
After an hour of visit, Niko and Yusef left, stating that they needed to deal with lots of company matters and also to formally file a case against Janella. They promised her that they'd come back but Sofia knew that these two won't be back. Everything was just for show.
"They just left you like that?" Liam asked when he entered the room once again. "They won't stay to keep an eye on you?"
"It's not like I'd escape and go somewhere in my current condition."
"Well, that makes sense." Liam agreed but few seconds later, he objected himself. "They still should have stayed or at least one of them. At the end of the day, you are still the patient who needs to recover for several days. Moral support is still a big factor to boost someone's recovery."
"You sound like my mom when you're speaking." Sofia blurted which stopped Liam from rambling on and on. "I'm fine. I'll be fine. One of my brothers will come and stay with me later. You can go home or go back to your work."
"Then, let me stay here for a while. I don't want to leave you yet."
"Huh?"
"That sounds weird. Hahaha. Sorry." Liam scratched the back of his head in embarrassment but he has couldn't find any other words to express his feeling of wanting to stay longer with her. 'I suck in this.'