Kelvin
I don't know how long I was out and I don't even remember how I went out. The only thing I knew was that Mr. Hanson and Sonya were safe because I remembered the kidnappers running away. It was good to see that I had fulfilled my promise and kept them safe. But what about me ? I wasn't so sure.
Just like on a normal day, my eyes slowly opened and the early morning light allowed me to see that I was back in my bedroom. I looked around in confusion and noticed that my black long sleeves had been replaced with a t-shirt but my trousers were still the same. How did I get back already and who changed my clothes ?
I tried to get up from my bed but when I did so, I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. I groaned in pain and got back on the bed. I felt so much pain on my left ribs but my right ribs were less painful. My head also felt painful but it wasn't as painful as my left ribs. As I was massaging my ribs, Hannah popped into the room and startled me.
"Delilah," she called out. "He is awake."
Delilah showed up in the room and both of them came to sit at both sides of the bed. They all had looks of relief on their faces and Delilah who was the nearest to me, tried to hug me but she pressed against my ribs and another groan escaped my mouth.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Are you alright ?" she asked.
Looking at her made me smile for some reason. "I'm fine but my ribs hurts like crazy. I'm just glad to be alive."
"Sorry again. I didn't know about your ribs. I was too excited that you were okay."
"Better for you," Hannah quipped as she gave me a punch to my arm.
"Ow, what was that for ?" I protested.
"That was for nearly scaring the life out of the rest of us." she responded. "Do you know how worried I was last night ? Why would you go and do something like that ?"
"She's right," Delilah supported. "What you did was terrifying and brave but it was also dangerous. What if you got shot ?"
"I understand you two must have been worried," I sympathized. "I would have been worried too if I were in your shoes but the situation I was caught up in was a very serious one. I had to do something."
"By almost getting yourself killed ?" Delilah gave a playful frown.
"I almost got a heart attack last night when they brought you to the house." Hannah added. "Your dress was covered in blood and I thought you were bleeding. When I took off your shirt, I realized that the shirt was just stained in blood, so I threw it away and wore you a new shirt."
When she said that, I noticed she was wearing a different dress from last night's own. "Hey, isn't that my t-shirt ?"
"Don't change the topic..." she gave me a mocking face. "By the way, your shirt is so comfy."
"Look, what happened last night is past and gone," I said as I sat up on the bed, suppressing the pain in my ribs. "Let's just be grateful that no one got hurt. Okay ?"
"Yeah you are right," Delilah muttered.
Something important then crossed my mind and I faced Hannah. "Please tell me that maa doesn't know about this..."
"Do you want me to kill her ?" Hannah rhetorically asked. "No, I haven't said a word about this to her. When you were brought here last night, I knew I was spending the night here. So I told her I would be spending the night at your place and she said nothing."
"Thank God," I sighed with relief. "At least she thinks I'm fine and knows nothing about the attack. Speaking of fine, how are Mr. Hanson and Sonya doing ?"
"They are doing well," Delilah answered. She beamed up all of a sudden. "You just reminded me of something. My family is going to have breakfast together in the dining room this morning. When it's time, let's go so everyone can see that you are okay."
"I don't think that's a good idea." I mumbled.
"Come on, you can't be here the whole day." Hannah chipped in. "You also need to eat something too, you know."
"Alright fine. I'll go." I accepted. "But I can't walk well without feeling pains from my ribs."
"Don't worry." Hannah assured. "We will help you walk. We will all walk hand in hand."
I chuckled. "You don't get it, do you ? Let me just try to walk here and see if I can make it."
Delilah gave me way and I slowly dragged myself out of bed, holding all the groans I wanted to release due to the pain. I got on my feet, stood up slowly and made my first step forward.
"Are you okay ?" Delilah quizzed.
I took another step forward. "I think so. I'm now getting used to the pain a little."
"Then I think we are good to go then." Hannah finalized.
.
Writer
As the morning progressed forward, the guests in the guesthouses all started to leave the premises one by one. A few spoke with Mr. Hanson before leaving whiles the rest just went home after packing up their possessions. With majority of the guests out of the house, Mr Hanson ordered the chefs to prepare breakfast and they got to work.
By 9am, everything was set and the workers prepared the dining room for the Hansons. When they were done, Mike notified Mr. Hanson and he called the family down for the family breakfast. Sonya, Gabriel, Giovanna, Mr. and Mrs. Hanson showed up at the table and they all greeted each other whiles waiting for Delilah, who was upstairs.
"I saw her entering Kelvin's quarters," Gabriel said. "She might take a while to come..."
Speaking of which, Delilah, Hannah and Kelvin got into the living room to the surprise of the others. Kelvin walked carefully as he was supported by Hannah and Delilah, who held him hand in hand at both sides. Hannah helped Kelvin take a seat and after that, they all sat down on the table. Mr Hanson ordered a worker to bring breakfast for Hannah and Kelvin and it was delivered.
"Good morning to you all," Kelvin greeted. "I hope you all are doing fine."
At first, the others were just staring at him in awe and admiration. No one spoke till Gabriel broke the silence. "We are all doing well and you ? How are you feeling ?"
"I'm even surprised he's already back on his feet." Mrs. Hanson commented.
"I thought you guys said he was asleep." Giovanna added.
"Of course," Mr. Hanson affirmed. "That's what the paramedics told me and sure enough, he was really asleep."
"How could he have been asleep after all that ?" Mrs. Hanson asked.
"I think he must have been exhausted, you know." Gabriel hypothesized. "That's why he fell down asleep."
"So exhaustion always leads to sleep ?" Giovanna asked Gabriel.
"Well, I guess....."
"You guys," Delilah snapped. "Allow Kelvin to say something. You asked him a question and you just shut him out of the conversation."
"That wasn't necessary." Kelvin faced Delilah.
"It's fine." Gabriel apologized. "We got carried away."
"Okay. I'm feeling good right now, even though my ribs hurts a lot." Kelvin answered. "I'm just happy to be alive and well at the moment."
"We heard what happened," Mrs Hanson sympathized. "How you place your life on the line and held back those attackers. I don't have enough words to describe how indebted we feel right now."
"I mean how did you do it, man ?" Gabriel asked in disbelief. "How did you hold up against three armed men ?"
"Gabriel, is this really a good time to be asking this ?" Delilah eyed him.
"What ?" he feigned innocence.
"My plan was simple." Kelvin explained. "The men were split up into individuals and I decided to take them down one after the other. The annoying thing is that they would somehow always regain energy after I beat them and that gave me a hard time with them."
"That sounded like you went through a lot." Mrs. Hanson commented.
"No one should make a big deal out of this," Kelvin began. "It's not like I'm an experienced martial arts guy or something."
"But you did it two times..." Gabriel replied.
"I was mostly lucky." Kelvin shrugged. "I may know how to fight but it doesn't mean I always win. At the agency, the reason why I was able to hold them back was because of one mistake from one armed man."
"What did he do ?" this was from Hannah.
"He left his gun on the table and that's when I decided to attack him." Kelvin revealed. "If not for that, I would have struggled more than I already did."
"We thank God for everything." Mrs. Hanson said. "And we thank you again, Kelvin. We are forever indebted to you. Is there anything you want us to get for you ? This act of kindness shouldn't go unrewarded."
"He's not going to take anything from you," Mr Hanson uttered. "Believe me, I've tried."
"Oh come on. There has to be something..." Mrs Hanson persisted.
"Right now," Kelvin spoke up. "The only thing that I want and would bring me to rest is finding out who is behind all this and letting that person pay for their crimes."
"Which reminds me," Gabriel interjected. "How is the investigation about the case going ? Has there been any lead ?"
"I contacted the police last night," Mr Hanson pointed out. "They are going to interrogate the captured armed man that Kelvin managed to hold back last night."
"Where's that armed man by the way ?" Kelvin asked concerned.
"He is still in the hospital," Mr Hanson replied. "And not in a good condition to be interrogated at all. So when he recovers, then he will be interrogated."
"Good to see that we are one step closer to finding the orchestrator behind all this." Kelvin commented.
Gabriel cleared his throat and faced his father. "Dad, do you have anyone who is at bad terms with you ? Someone who wants to retaliate against you ?"
"No. I have no memory of an informal rival" Mr Hanson answered. "The rivals I know of are the ones who are competing with my businesses. I personally haven't wronged anyone in a long time."
"So why are they after you ?" Gabriel queried.
"It's not your father." Kelvin corrected. "It's your sister they are after."
"Sonya ?" Gabriel arched an eyebrow.
Everyone turned in her direction and she bowed down her head to avoid their gaze. Sonya had been quiet during the whole conversation and she was hoping that no one would notice her or pay much attention to her. Sadly for her, her wish didn't come through.
After feeling their gaze on her for a long time, Sonya raises her head up. "What ?"
"Didn't you hear what Kelvin said right now ?" Gabriel asked.
"No, I didn't..." Sonya lied.
"Speaking of Kelvin," Mrs Hanson quipped. "Don't think I have forgotten about yesterday."
"What are you talking about mom ?" Sonya shrugged innocently.
"Apologize to Kelvin for what you did to him." Mrs Hanson ordered.
"What ?" Sonya rhetorically asked.
"You heard me young woman. Don't start again this morning." Mrs Hanson fumed.
"It's okay, it's not by force." Kelvin intervened. "I'm okay with no apologies."
"Let's hear it from her." Mrs Hanson said calmly to Kelvin. "It's just an apology. It's not like I am asking her to count the stars...."
"I'm sorry....." Sonya mumbled.
"Come again." Mrs Hanson ordered. "We all didn't hear you."
"I'm sorry..." Sonya mumbled again.
"Are you having water in your mouth ? Talk clearly and let everyone hear you." Mrs Hanson went on again.
"I. Am. Sorry." Sonya voiced out finally and she bowed down her head and went back to eating her food.
"Finally, she has spoken." Mrs Hanson chuckled.
"You are forgiven." Kelvin replied.
"I'm personally sorry about her." Mrs Hanson apologized. "I heard what she did and I feel very sorry about that. Hope you didn't have much trouble with her ?"
"No please." Kelvin answered. He changed the topic. "Anyways, as I said, someone is after Sonya and it's for a reason..."
"But why would someone be after Sonya ?" Giovanna quizzed.
"Certainly, she has many who despise her." Gabriel commented. "That's why someone is after her. They want to get revenge."
"I'm right here." Sonya said to Gabriel.
"God forbid." Mrs Hanson rebuked. "Gabriel, mind the way you talk. No one is going to get any revenge on your sister."
"So Sonya," Giovanna called out. "Do you suspect anyone who is behind all this ?"
Everyone waited for Sonya to speak and she took her time before doing so. "I genuinely don't know what you guys are talking about. I have no one after me. Even if someone is after me, then it's because of dad."
"Were you even listening ?" Gabriel chuckled. "Dad said he doesn't have any informal rival. He has no one who is after him. So what are you saying at all ?"
Sonya kept quiet and Kelvin voiced out his thoughts. "So no suspects at the moment ?"
Mr. Hanson cleared his throat. "Mr Walters, I want to talk to you outside."
There was a brief silence, followed by Kelvin's answer. "Okay."
Kelvin got up slowly and politely refused help from Hannah and Delilah, who thought he was in pain. Kelvin walked out of the dining room with Mr Hanson and he was getting used to the pain in his ribs. They got outside and when Mr Hanson was sure they were out of earshot. He spoke to Kelvin.
"I'm happy to see you are okay," he began. "You nearly gave us a scare yesterday, Mr Walters."
"I'm sorry about that Mr Hanson." Kelvin responded.
"It's not your fault," Mr Hanson shook his head slowly. "There's someone after my daughter but to be honest, I don't know who. Like I said, I hardly make enemies, so it's a big puzzle to me."
"No matter who the person is or where the person is from, that person will be brought to justice." Kelvin said with determination. "There are already lives lost, so this can't go unpunished."
Mr Hanson had a content smile. "I like your spirit. Always hopeful and optimistic."
"That's the mindset I'm going with in this situation." Kelvin nodded.
"As you know, I don't have much time left." Mr Hanson uttered as Kelvin's face turned gloomy. "I've always wanted to see one of my children take over the family business and now it can become a reality."
"That's good to hear."
"But with someone chasing my daughter, I don't know what to do now." Mr Hanson mused.
"There's always something we can do." Kelvin smiled.
"The only suitable option now is..." Mr Hanson paused. "Is that you become my daughter's bodyguard for the mean time. What do you say Mr Walters ?"
Kelvin contemplated for a while. "I will triple your weekly salary if you want." Mr Hanson offered.
"Sorry Mr Hanson but you should know me better," Kelvin said. "I'll take the offer but you can pay me as you did for the house manager job. I'll be very grateful if you do that."
"Then it's settled," Mr Hanson beamed wildly. "You are now going to protect her in case of an attack. You can start when you get in shape."
"I have one request, Mr Hanson."
"Go on....." Mr Hanson encouraged.
"Since I'm becoming Sonya's bodyguard, the house manager position is now vacant," Kelvin pointed out. "Please can you make Mike the house manager now that I've left that position ?"