I was told to stay in bed for a few weeks after the attack. They didn’t need to tell me twice either; I was in far too much pain and felt incredibly ill. Anna fussed over me and brought countless amounts of food up and would not leave til I had finished it all, she thought I was far too thin apparently. Seth came in multiple of times and read me books that he thought I might enjoy, I laughed and joked with him a few times about some of them… said they were far too boring for the likes of me. But seeing his face dull, I was quick to apologise and state that I was joking.
“I’m fine!” I yelled at Anna as she began to fluff my pillows
“You need to feel comfortable” she protested
“I was fine until you started to fuss!” I burst out laughing as she glared at me “Honestly, I just want a bath”
“I will inform the servants”
“No!” I yelled, grabbing her arm “I would prefer to do it myself, I haven’t left this bed once”
“Fine” she bit her lip and crossed her arms “But on one condition”
“Which is?”
“That my son be here” she smiled
“W-What!? N-No I don’t want him to see me like…” I shook my head and looked down at my lap
“Don’t worry child, he’ll just be here in case you need some assistance”
“Fine”
“Good, he shall be here soon. Don’t move” she warned. Once she was left however I threw the covers off the bed, slung my legs over the side and attempted to stand up. It was only a week after the attack and I still felt very lightheaded. Holding onto the sides of objects and the wall for support, I slowly made my way to the bathroom, cursing and nearly falling over a few objects scattered along the floor but I eventually made it there.
Running the water was frustratingly hard, as I leaned over to the run the tap I ended up cringing and yelping out in pain. I knew that some of my ribs were still broken, which was why I thought having a bath was such a good idea… no I wish I hadn’t bothered. Sinking down beside the tub I clutched at my side, it was intolerably painful but I needed to do this, grabbing the edge of the bath for support, slowly I pulled myself up. Turning the tap off and swallowing the lump in my throat I painfully pulled my nightgown off, it clung to my sweaty skin. I was glad to see it off me to be honest. Once all clothes were off I sat on the edge of the tub and rolled in, the water splashed all over the floor and I ended up banging my head on the bottom… but I was in. Slowly raising my head above the water I smiled happily, I always felt at my happiest in the water I might as well of been a fish… maybe I was in another life… who knows?
“Vicki?” Dante echoed in the room next to me
“Yeah?” I shouted back in reply
“Where are you?”
“In the tub” I laughed “I ignored your mother” The next thing I knew he was in the room staring at me. I didn’t cover up like I normally did, but just stared at him. He stared at me. There was a lot of staring before either of us uttered a word.
“I was wondering” he breathed
“About what?”
“I-If you were ok”
“I’m fine, thank you” his breathing became ragged, his nostrils flared and he couldn’t stop reaching up to touch his hair. It amused me that I made him nervous.
“I’ll be out here if you need me” Before I could give him a reply he was out of the room and the door shut tight. I sank my head under the water and smiled, I had no idea what that was just a minute ago but I knew that I would forever remember it.
Once I felt I was cleansed enough, I called for Dante to come in. He nervously helped me to stand and put a robe on, before helping me to walk back to bed. I cringed as I took the first few steps but one look in his eyes showed me all the compassion and love he felt for me… it was heart-breaking to know that I didn’t have the courage to tell him the way I felt. I didn’t want to feel used and cheap… not again.
“Easy” he cooed as he lowered me down on the bed “I don’t know how you can stay in here after everything that has happened”
“No pain no gain. Precides I like it in here” I smiled, but he didn’t look so sure “You’re turning into your mother” I teased him
“Don’t start, you’re worse than my damned brothers”
“I prefer you to be like this than the arsehole who I met at first” he raised a brow and scoffed
“Arsehole? Well I do recall you being a little more than stubborn”
“I was not!” I laughed as he fluffed my pillows before jumping on the bed himself
“Yes you were! But I’m glad you were in any case” he tapped my nose with his finger “Vicki, I’ve been thinking”
“Oh dear!” I mocked, placing my hands on the side of my face which made him laugh
“Be quiet for a moment so I can tell you then!” I lowered my hands and smiled “Good. Now I was thinking that if I can get the all clear from my parents that after the ball, that I take you away for a bit”
“You don’t have to do that”
“I want to” he stated as he grabbed my hand, sending a wave of shivers along my skin “It’d be a nice trip for you. It’d be to my apartment in Guildford though if that’s ok?”
“Sure” I nodded. We were going to be alone in Guildford… that isn’t nerve wrecking at all.
I didn’t mean to but at some point I ended up falling asleep on him. When I awoke I noted that the room showed no signs of him except his faint yet lingering smell on my bed. My eyes soon adjusted to the semi lit room and I glanced around, on the pillow next to me there was a note,
Gone out to hunt.
Won’t be long, please stay in bed.
Dante
I was glad that he had finally decided to go. He was looking rather gaunt and his eyes seemed duller than they usually were. I wasn’t about to listen to him however, I was getting sick of just lying around… it was doing me no good whatsoever. I knew that I couldn’t do much by myself though so I yelled out for Willow, within minutes she had appeared in my room and curtseyed.
“You called ma’am”
“Can you help me get out of bed. I’m extremely bored and I need to stretch my legs” she smiled at me before making her way over to the bed, spinning me around and then lifting me toward her “Easy” she cooed
“Thank you”
“It’s no problem miss” she smiled “I would want to get out of here if I were you too”
She helped me to get dressed and then as requested she led me through the house, my arm over her shoulder whilst hers wrapped around my waist. She was very patient and very understanding whenever I asked to stop and lean against one of the walls, it was very tiring and even an inch of movement caused my ribs to grind and scream out with pain. I asked her to lead me out to the grounds, but that was where she refused, she thought that I had enough for one trip. She was going to lead me back up to bed when I protested and asked to be taken to the living room.
“Are you sure miss?”
“Positive, I need to have some sort of freedom whilst they are out” I laughed. She led me into the living room and gently lowered me down onto one of the sofa’s, I requested that she also give me something to read when she handed me the remote to one of the televisions
“Thanks you”
“It’s no problem, call if you need anything” she curtseyed before returning to whatever work she had to do. I skimmed through the channels until I eventually settled on a film ‘Made of honor’, which was about some guy that decided he was in love with his best friend, she was getting married to this other guy, there was this whole plan of his to win her over… she didn’t see it until the last minute and it all worked out for this fancy fairy-tale ending, good film though. I began to watch this horror film when the front door opened and the household was filled with laughter and joy, I sunk further back into the sofa and tried to focus on the screen. These people were apparently trying to do an exorcism of some sorts… and failing miserably.
“Thought I told you to stay in bed” the sudden appearance of Dante made me jump out of my skin, almost literally “Sorry” he mouthed as he stifled a giggle.
“Well I needed to stretch my legs” he stared at me “I didn’t come down on my own, I asked Willow to help me ok?”
“Fine” he said as he moved my legs so he could sit under them “What are you watching anyway?”
“I have no idea, but I think it’s about an exorcism” he laughed as he absentmindedly rubbed my leg
“This type of film never seems to get old, even though if you have seen one then you have seen them all”
Anna gave me a lecture on how silly it was for me to be out of bed when my bones were still mending. She told me that since I wasn’t drinking blood that that side of me would not kick in and I wouldn’t heal as quickly. I would be fine in a week or so if she stopped fussing. But it was Anna so that was near enough impossible. After two more films I reluctantly made my way back to bed, I was getting kind of sick of being lectured by both mother and son, don’t get me wrong it was nice that they cared about me an all… but it was smothering at times. Willow helped me up to bed, which I was really grateful for… she wasn’t just a servant to me in this house, she was much more like an old friend whom I could confide in should I need to. I confessed to her that I felt the Istrati’s smothering at times, her response was a laugh and assurance that they meant well… but because young Dante was so infatuated with me, they knew they had to make sure that I was well catered for. She made sure that I had everything I needed before heading off to do ‘rounds’ around the house.
As I felt myself begin to nod off I heard a knock at the door,
“Who is it?”
“It’s Dimitri”
“Oh, come on in if you want” The door opened and in he walked, looking really proud and stern “What’s wrong?” I asked him, curious as to what he could want. Out of all of the brother’s we never really talked.
“Nothing is wrong per say, I was hoping to enquire how you were feeling?”
“I’m fine thanks; this is kind of odd”
“How?” he asked
“well for starters we never talk, I have always assumed that you didn’t approve of me being here from the beginning. I thought you didn’t like me at all, you’ve always been… no offence, this stern and disapproving shadow I have”
“That’s a nice way of putting it, but I have never disliked or disapproved”
“what?” I squinted my eyes at him, determined to see if he was telling me the truth
“That’s right, I don’t think either but I am curious for my little brother. I’m just over protective of my family I guesse” he shrugged “I just want to make sure my little brother isn’t getting played”
“I don’t want his money or shit like that if you’re wondering”
“I know that now. And the way I saw you two dance the other day it put things into perspective” I didn’t know what to say to him, did everyone know? I wasn’t entirely sure about how I felt for him but I doubted it was on the same level that he felt for me “Please listen to my mother when she asks you to do something, you’ll never hear the end of her nagging otherwise” he joked before taking it upon himself to leave my room. Leaving me with my thoughts and how to decipher how I felt about Dante.