"How dare you sneak into my sister's bed? Ever heard of privacy or invasion of personal space? You can go to jail because of what you did."
"I don't need you to tell me what I should or shouldn't do."
I watch as the two keep bickering and arguing, I sigh into my cup and fish out my phone to check for any new messages.
"... and what's all this stuff about being your woman?"
"I don't need to answer to the likes of you."
"What do you mean by that?"
Ignoring their loud shouts and quarrelling, I head out the door and walk towards the hospital.
"Good morning Nine."
"Morning Abryl."
"You're early."
He pulls the door open and we make our way in together. I wave my hand and head towards Honey's ward. I slowly open the door to find her fast asleep. Slowly, I tip toe into the room and take a seat beside her bed. I tuck a strand of hair from her face revealing her peaceful, relaxed face. After watching her sleep for a while, her eyes flutter open and she looks at me wearily.
"Morning princess."
"Mmh- morning," she replies rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Did you sleep well?"
She lazily rises from the bed and leans against the wall. She yawns and her sleepy eyes land on me once more. For the next hour, we talk and catch up on her favourite stories.
"Excuse me but it's time for her check up," a doctor says and we all whip towards the door.
"Are you her attending doctor?"
"Yes I am. Now if you'll excuse us, I need to record her progress
"See you later princess, I need to get going now."
"Thanks for visiting."
I plant a kiss on her forehead and head out of the room as her doctor attends to her. I make my way to the cafeteria. I call out his name and he turns towards me a bright smile on his lips.
"Nine! What a surprise."
"What? Am I not allowed to be here?"
"Quite the opposite, am just surprised you're here at this time."
"Oh?"
I raise a questioning brow at him and he shrugs his shoulders.
"I mean- at this time, you're usually busy."
I take a seat and look at him.
"Today I don't have many patients to attend to so I thought I'd come have a quick snack."
"What will you have?"
"I don't know, surprise me."
An unreadable expression falls on his face as his eyes search my eyes. With a quick nod, he gets back to his work and seconds later, slides a plate towards me.
"Mmh, looks good."
"Bon Appetit."
"Hope it tastes as good as it looks."
"Don't judge a master such as myself."
I laugh at his comment and cut a slice of cake bringing it to my mouth. I close my eyes allowing myself to savour every bit of the taste.
"Wow!"
"Well?"
I give him a thumbs up and quickly make work of the remaining snack infront of me.
"This has to be the best I've ever tasted."
I give him a small smile and a faint pink creeps to his cheeks as he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
(He actually looks cute when he's flustered. Wait! What am I thinking? Nine, he's your friend. Stop having such thoughts!)
I shake my head and drink from my cup. We chat on random topics and soon a loud commotion has us on our feet.
"What was that?"
"It came from the entrance. Come on let's go!"
We both rush out of the cafeteria and are met by a group of guards rushing towards the entrance. Abryl and I exchange a confused look and precede after the guards.
"Get your filthy hands off me!"
(That voice- don't tell me.)
As much as I keep hoping it's all not real, just a bad dream, the unconscious bodies that line up the path to the entrance confirms my assumptions.
"You!"
The stranger stops attacking the guards and his eyes lock with mine.
"You know him?" Abryl asks a hint of curiosity in his voice and I shake my head.
"Not really. He's-"
Before I can finish, a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and I yelp in surprise.
"Hey!"
The stranger throws me over his shoulder and makes a run for it down the path.
"Nine!"
I kick my legs and punch at his back but I end up with bruised knuckles instead.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll only hurt yourself."
"Put me down!"
My cries don't reach his ears and soon I lay motionless as he carries me across the streets. Numerous passers by eye us and whisper among themselves and I hide my face in embarrassment.
"Where are we going?"
He doesn't reply and takes a detour through tall buildings and later, we arrive by a huge forest. I look around the surrounding unable to hold back the gasp that escapes from my lips.
"Wow!"
The stranger grunts and precedes through the trees.
"You can put me down now."
Feeling completely ignored, the guy huffs in response and comes to an abrupt halt. He sniffs the air and his eyes narrow.
"We got company."
"What?"
I quickly scan the area seeing nothing but trees, shrubs and some bushes.
"There's no one-"
A howl breaks through the silence and I bite my tongue. Four wolves run into sight and surround us.
"What do you think you guys are doing?"
(Guys? Is he talking to the wolves? Don't tell me Black was right about him.)
A wolf growls and pounces and the stranger easily side steps it and kicks it sending it flying back and hitting a tree bark. Its limp body falls to the ground as it whines. The stranger makes quick work of the remaining wolves effortlessly and I wrap my arms around him afraid to fall. The last of the wolves runs away and the guy falls on one knee.
"Are you okay?"