The Royal Contract

When her eyes finally roamed the room, she found him sleeping on the chair, looking exhausted. She wondered how long he had been sitting uncomfortably in that position.

She wanted to wake him up, but she felt guilty that he also had to suffer because of her. She had lived her entire life fending for herself, being independent. That finding someone like him seemed too surreal.

Did she even deserve a man like him? He seemed perfect in every way. Granted that she misjudged him, now, she took all the negative things she had said about him. He was not the same as the other men she met.

He was not even close to her ex-boyfriend. He was far, far, far better. She would be the luckiest woman alive if she managed to snatch a man like him and make him fall in love with her.

“Hey! You are awake.” Suddenly, his eyes opened, staring at her. Hastily, he moved out of the chair and stood beside her bed, looking down at her. He checked if she was still intact, nothing missing or broken.

She almost laughed at the thought, remembering a time in her life when she was sick and could hardly move. But she still crawled out of the shelter to buy her medicine because she would die there and nobody would care.

“Just woke up,” Ria answered as she plopped herself on the pillow behind her.

Quickly, he helped her by adjusting the bed until she was comfortable sitting up. If she had someone who would always care for her like this, she would not mind getting sick once in a while.

.....

“You should have woken me up,” Zach told her as his arm moved toward her head, touching her forehead with the back of his hand. “I think your fever has finally subsided.” He informed her.

He stepped away from her and grabbed a fresh set of water before returning to her side. “You should drink. You must be thirsty.”

“Yeah, I am.” She accepted the fresh, clear drink and sipped as much as her stomach would allow. She had never felt so thirsty in her life before. “And hungry.” She admitted when she heard her stomach growl.

“The soup is already dead cold. But I could buy a sandwich just around the corner if you could wait. One of the nurses told me that they are delicious.” He kindly offered.

But something in her mind clicked from his statement. “I bet she did,” Ria suddenly commented, then realized that she had said it out loud.

But who could blame her when he looked so delectable that only a fool would not notice a man like him? Even a blind woman would get attracted to him just by smelling his clean, masculine scent.

If she could roam the hallway without being seen, she bet she could hear the nurses talking about his man. But the truth was just hard to accept. How long could she hold on to him?

“Did I hint a slight hint of jealousy in there?” He teased her as he moved closer to her. “Maybe you are getting better.” Then, he leaned down until he was almost close to her lips.

She was jealous because she knew there might be hundreds of women more qualified to be with him. Until now, she could not fathom how he ended up with her. She could tell many would raise their eyebrows at her for snatching a man like him.

“Hey, stop that.” She quickly moved her hands to shield herself from him. “I don’t want you to catch whatever virus I have.” She stopped him before he could kiss her, but it took her entire will to do that.

Of course, she wanted his kisses, but not at the expense of him getting sick too. She did not want anybody else to get sick because of her. She did not want them to suffer like her.

“I don’t mind. At least we are going to be sick together.” He jokingly said. But when he saw the look she gave him, he backed away. “Fine, I am going. But only to buy food, nothing else. And I will be getting that kiss sooner or later.”

She could still glimpse the teasing in his eyes. Eventually, he stepped away from her with both hands in the air. He grabbed his phone from the table and was about to leave.

“Wait!” She suddenly remembered something. “What time is it?” She had lost track of time, seeing that the light outside was gone.

“It is already around six. You missed almost the day. That is why you are so hungry.” He explained to her, looking slightly puzzled, probably by her expression.

“Can I borrow your phone? I need to call Lourdes or Sasha.” She told him, slightly feeling anxious.

She realized she had not called to check up on Edison. She wondered what was happening to him since she had been sleeping all day. Then, she had to make arrangements for him to stay with them until she got out of the hospital, hopefully, the next day.

“I hope you don’t mind...” Then, he paused, looking apologetic. “I already took the liberty of speaking with Lourdes while you were asleep. I already told them of your situation and arranged for Edison to stay with them for the night.”

She did not expect that he would do that for her. She did not exactly know how to react to his kind gesture. “Did you call her? Did she tell you how Edison is doing?” She believed she was thankful, but she also had many questions swirling in her mind.

Like why was he doing this? What would he get from this relationship? Nothing. But, on the other hand, she would get more than she deserved. So, was this relationship fair to him? She doubted.

Or was she merely a selfish unwed mother dragging him along her misery, destroying whatever future he had?