Survived

"Are you okay?"

Olivia nodded as she took the cup from the manʼs hands. Oozing with steam, she took a quick sip at it and subsequently blamed herself on such impulsive action.

"Be careful. Itʼs steaming hot." Pete told her. Olivia nodded and smiled.

"Thanks." She said quietly.

"Itʼs nothing." He replied with a wave of his hand.

"I meant for saving my life. That is something." She insisted.

"Itʼs what we do here. We care about everyone." He rubbed his palm on his laps as he spoke.

"Do you mind if I stay?" Olivia shook her head. 'Noʼ , was her answer. She needed all the company she could get when the person she had put all her trust in had betrayed her.

Leaving her for dead, in the middle of no where. Olivia couldnʼt believe it. It still felt like a dream that would end soon. But she knew better than to believe that. This was real, everything that was happening to her was real.

She felt insecure. Unable to trust anyone. Pete looked like a person who could cause no harm but she wasnʼt willing to test his loyalty for herself. She had trusted nice! And she had almost paid for it with her dear life.

"So how exactly did you find your way to the water?" Olivia chuckled inwardly. Why did the question seem funny anyway? She never found her way there? No, she was taken without her knowledge.

It was topic she didnʼt want to touch. Just thinking about it right now made her heart ache all over.

"Why do you ask?" She asked instead hoping her question would lead the discussion to something else.

Disappointment rose in her chest when Pete took out a badge from his pocket.

"Iʼm an officer." He said calmly. "Not exactly a police officer but we run a kind of system here in Orchard hHlls where delegates are picked to represent the townʼs mayor. Iʼm one of them." He explained.

"So you get a badge for it?" Olivia chuckled as she asked.

"Itʼs not exactly funny but we do." He replied.

Olivia nodded, she had caught a glimpse of the orchard hills

environment from the window of the hospital she resided in. It was a beautiful place, very much different from the metropolis. At the same time, it was also quite and she didnʼt have to be disturbed by the unpleasant noise of traffic.

Olivia took a sip of the tea that was now slightly warm.

"It tastes nice." She complimented. She had not gotten to savor the taste when she sipped it earlier. The gold colored liquid had burnt her tongue.

"Hand picked from a nearby farm, itʼs Bluebell, soothes the body and helps you get some rest. Iʼm sure you really need that."

"Very much." Olivia replied.

An awkward silence passed between them for a while before Pete decided to break it.

"You havenʼt answered my question." He said. Olivia sighed. There was certainly no escaping this.

"Itʼs a long story but to cut it short. I have absolutely no idea." That was the truth

anyway. She had no idea of what happened after she fell off that staircase or how they had turned her into the water. She could only conjure images of her own. One thing was Victor was a smart guy. So she could guess that he would have hidden her body. Say for example, he hid her in his bedsheets or in an extra large sack. She couldnʼt guess, the list was endless.

Her car would have been removed from his compound, that was a sure thing.

"Did you quarrel with anyone? Perhaps someone held a grudge against you?"

Olivia nodded. Lila and Cassandra, those two never left her mind, now victor had been added to that list.

"Do you think they could have tried to get rid of you?, by doing what they did?"

Olivia shook her head.

"I donʼt think so. We might not be friendly to each other but... I donʼt think they are that evil. It must be someone else." Olivia replied. She had other plans for Lila and her mother and that did not include sending them to jail. At least not yet.

She only had to be wise with her answer, give him barely enough answers. She only had to let him understand that she had enemies.

"Someone else? Do you know who?" Pete asked.

"No, I donʼt but at the same time my memories are not really clear enough. So, Iʼm not sure."

"Okay." Pete stood up. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes, I would like to return home. Is that possible?"

"Iʼm afraid not. The mayor has given his word. You can leave anytime the hospital is ready to discharge you, but you would be escorted home and youʼre not fit to go home yet."

"Why not?"

"What happened to you is kind of a big deal, in fact, we have never seen anything like it in orchard hills."

"Youʼre making investigations?" Olivia deduced.

"Yes, more like it."

"Really, You should not bother. Perhaps I didnʼt sleep in my bed that day. You can never tell." She didnʼt want the police to be involved, really. If they were, then she wouldnʼt be able to make plans. Her come back would be unexpected and she needed time to build that character.

"Why would you think you never slept in your bed?" Pete asked incredulously. That was probably the funniest statement he had ever heard this year.

"Itʼs only a suggestion." Olivia replied.

"When Iʼm discharged, who would escort me home?" Olivia asked leading the conversation away from that topic. She wanted to avoid it, as efficiently as possible.

"It would probably be me but...., we would see about it."

"Have a good night." She said to him as he walked out.

"You too." He responded.

Olivia lay back in her bed. Hands by her side. She couldnʼt thank God enough for her blessings.

She drank the last drops of bluebell tea in silence finding respite in her new abode. In all her life, she had never experienced this kind of concern from a total stranger. There was something about Orchard Hills that appeased her, the love, the sympathy.

This people were not that rich in terms of money but when it came to relationships, they were wealthy people.

She had yet to find that wealth for now but if ever she did. She would make sure to keep them safe.