May observed the man sitting not far from her as the doctor examined her. It was a middle-aged woman, wearing a white robe and thick glasses.
She felt light without the collar around her neck, finally, but she also couldn't move well enough. She had walked to that sofa by some miracle, but she doubted she would get up so easily.
She didn't feel her legs, and her knee didn't move when the doctor hit it with a small hammer. Her reflexes weren't working, she knew that already.
Her fingers couldn't grip things. Her legs quivered. And her eyes didn't stay on the same thing for too long. She hated it, but she needed help.
The doctor noticed as well, tightening her lips
"What happened to you?" she asked, but May didn't reply.
She wasn't even sure how much she could tell that woman she met for the first time. Did professional confidentiality still work when the patient was the Prime Minister's granddaughter? What was more, she was at the house of the last person she was supposed to know. Which made everything just more complicated.
She wasn't sure why Raimund had thought that delivering her to Chris Lindt was a wise choice. She was quite sure he wasn't funding the Insurgents, so... Why?
"I need some equipment to perform further analysis," the doctor said, at the end. "The nerves might be damaged but if I could know what happened..."
"Electric shocks," Chris said. "She was tortured by a madman. I'm not sure for how long, but... Well, you see the effects."
"And the bruises?"
"I have no clue." He had done nothing to hurt her. All the wounds were there when they had met.
May didn't seem willing to talk, so he had to do it in her stead. Was she mute, by the way? Not a single word in so long.
Didn't she find it boring?
"She's young. She will return to her former self soon enough, with some care. However, right now, her nerves don't work properly. She might need help with the simplest actions. And her feelings may be off. I doubt she feels hunger, thirst... Even hot and cold. You have to pay extra attention to everything until she recovers."
"Sure."
"Keep her hydrated."
"Thank you, doctor," Chris said, getting up and retrieving his checks from the butler. He signed and let the butler put the check in a folder. "Please accept this as a sign of my gratitude. For your professionalism, and for your discretion."
"There's no need, Senator Lindt," the doctor replied. However, she took the check and disappeared behind the door, promising she would be back soon to check on the girl.
The butler also retreated and, just like that, May found herself alone in the room with that man. She had observed him keenly while being examined, not missing a single detail of his features.
It had been quite an interesting exploration, for her eyes. He was more than just handsome. There was something in his aura that hypnotised her. Was it the way he moved, calm and safe - as if he had everything under control?
Or maybe, the honesty in his eyes? It was rare, for a politician. He had dark brown hair, almost black, cut longer than the current trends and curling at the tips. It made him look like a fallen angel, walking in the world to tempt every woman who lay eyes on him.
His blue eyes, the colour of the night, didn't help dispel that image, just like his thick sexy lips. It was the first time May thought of the word sexy describing a person, but she couldn't find anything more appropriate for what she felt.
It was not the first time she saw him, but it had always been from afar. At the few social events she had been forced to attend, she had had no reason to interact with her family's worst enemy.
Chris Lindt was the leader of the opposition and currently the most problematic of her grandfather's opponents. At less than thirty years of age, he had more achievements than many of his elders. He was a Senator, a landmark for those in his party, and a successful businessman at the head of a conglomerate... And he had earned many points in the recent polls thanks to that same charisma that was bewitching May at that very moment.
The week of electoral silence had just begun, so he must have come home to rest and relax after a hectic few days. The elections would take place at the end of the week and, by Sunday, White Capital would have a new Governor.
Well, not a new one, May recalled. Her uncle would be elected for the second time, thanks to her grandfather's engagement. It was a loss for the city, but Chris Lindt would have stayed a simple Senator for a little longer.
As time passed, she stopped feeling uneasy next to him. Somehow, she got used to his silence. He stared back at her but said nothing. He waited together with her, which was commendable. He must have been busy even with the week of silence: maybe running his companies!
"My name is May," she said, at some point. She had avoided talking for a long time, but she needed to interact if she wanted to find out whether he was dangerous or not.
In her current state, she was depending on him. She couldn't even hold a glass, let alone walk properly and flee from that place.
"I'm Chris," he replied.
The silence filled the room again, and this time it was Chris who broke it first.
"Would you like to rest in a comfortable bed? I've made the servants prepare a room for you. We can talk later when you feel better."
She nodded her head as if saying yes was a shame for one of her kin. She hated being in that state, more for the humiliation of asking for help than for the pain and the trouble for her health. In that aspect, she did resemble her grandfather. She had taken her pride from him.
"Can you walk?"
"I'm not sure."
He offered his arm to her, and she took it to get up. He was quite tall and had broad shoulders that any woman would love to caress. What attracted May's attention the most, however, were the eyelashes. Extremely long, so much so that any woman would feel jealous as soon as she was done drooling over his physique.
"Do you want to call your family? To let them know you're okay?" he said as they took the first step.
Her right knee didn't keep up, and she felt the ground disappearing from under her feet. She didn't fall, thankfully, because the man by her side surrounded her waist with an arm and let her lean on him completely. Without a second thought, he picked her up and carried her like a child to the room he had promised.
"No one is worried about me," she said; she didn't know why. What did he even care about her circumstances? Was the fact that they had an enemy in common enough for her to lower her guard?
Or was the reason behind her loose tongue residing in the muscles she could feel through their clothes? His chest was hard under the touch, confirming what she had suspected before. She couldn't feel his warmth well, but she could bet he was hot like a stove. The way his fingers touched her was delicate, almost as if he cared.
He opened the door with his foot, without even touching the handle. May realised it was automated, which worried her a little. There was a chance to be trapped in a house where she was a guest if the doors were automated and the locks asked for identification.
She couldn't consider the matter any longer because her attention was drawn somewhere else. The firm chest supporting her disappeared, and she felt the cold air around her body. It was odd how she didn't feel any warmth, but the cold was clear as it had always been.
"I'll let you rest," he said.
Her arms moved against her will and clutched his shirt as he lowered her onto the king-size bed. She had no time to ask herself if it was a consequence of the electrical shocks.
When had she become as shameless as to cling to a man's shirt like that? She let go, and he tucked the covers for her. Speechless, May didn't know what to say or do.
He even checked that no air would disturb her rest. Even though not feeling the warmth, she could sense the silken sheets. That bed sure was comfortable, too bad it was a waste on her.
She wanted to say she was not that sleepy, but her eyes closed against her will. She had forgotten to tell him that she suffered from insomnia. She wouldn't be able to sleep in a stranger's house at all.
There was so much she had to tell him, but she couldn't. She had no time before sleep took her over, and void dreams filled her night.