2. Distressed

"Sir!!!" Cedric ran to try and help his master up.

But then...

"I'm fine. Go and check on the lady instead. See if she needs any medical attention... no, wait." Raghnall stopped mid-sentence as he spotted the now parked white van, which he earlier noticed was following the woman prior to their encounter.

"It seems that that white car parked over there was following her from before. Find out who they are and what they want with her. I'll check on the lady myself."

"Yes, sir." Cedric said and left to see the two men in the van.

Raghnall quickly moved over to where the unconscious woman lay. He placed his finger to her nose to see if she was still breathing and sighed in great relief when he felt the warmth on her breath.

Cedric then returned. "Sir, the men said that they're from a moving company and that they have her things in their van, but she hasn't told them where to take them to yet. They claim that she had just been thrown out of her house, and as such, they wanted to give her some time to process things, hence why they were slowly following her from behind."

"Is that so? Who is she, and why was she put out of her house?"

"I doubt they know, sir. Maybe her rent was due for a long time, and she finally got ejected by the landlord?"

"Really?" Raghnall stared at the unconscious woman intently, contemplating what course of action was best in this situation. "Alright. I'll take her home with me then. Bring those men in the van with you and call Dr Ramesh to come over to the house immediately."

"Um... but what about the mission? I thought you wanted to speak with the head prosecutor before they leave for the seizure of the manager's assets tomorrow? Won't we be late if we turn back now?" Cedric asked with concern.

"About that, call them and tell them to take charge of things over there on their own and report everything back to me when they're done. Also, remind them that they shouldn't forget to bring the wife with them. I am very sure that she, too, is in on his schemes."

Raghnall then scooped the unconscious lady into his arms, carried her to the backseat of his car, and secured her with a seatbelt before they took off.

"Right on it." Cedric said and immediately did as instructed before he joined the men in the van and followed after his boss.

They got home in under forty-five minutes.

Cedric offered to assist his boss with carrying the unconscious woman when they reached home, but he shook his head in the negative.

"No, it's fine. Just go and settle the movers first. Have them put her stuff into one of the storage rooms. I'll see what to do next once she wakes up." Raghnall said.

His head butler, Sebastian, rushed to open one of the guest rooms for him.

Raghnall laid her on the bed and waited until his doctor got there to check on her. All the while, intermittently checking to see if she was still breathing or not, surprising all the house staff who were present.

Even the doctor who had come to check on her was equally surprised at the unusual scene of a fretting Raghnall that he was witnessing.

"Ramesh, you're here. Good. I'll leave her in your hands then." Raghnall said, as soon as he spotted his doctor in the room. He instructed two of his servants to stay behind in case of anything and then left for his study to attend to other urgent matters.

"How is she? Is she going to be alright?" He asked after the doctor exited the guestroom and met with him in his study.

"You're bleeding yourself. Let me take a look at it."

"That's not important, Ramesh. I asked you how she is doing, and you haven't answered that yet. Did she suffer any concussion?"

"No. She's fine, just pretty stressed, it seems. A few hours of good rest will be fine. Let's wait until she wakes up first. I have more to tell you, but let her wake up first. Now, let me check the bleeding on your hand while you tell me why you decided to bring a stranger into your home instead of taking her to a general hospital."

"I don't know. I guess I thought that it'd be better this way than taking her there."

Ramesh paused to look at him quietly for a while before shaking his head and continuing to treat his patient's wounds.

"You don't know? You of all people can say things like that?"

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing. Let's just say that I believe you." A small smile curved at the corner of the doctor's mouth.

"Sir, your aunt is here to see yo..." Cedric came and interrupted them.

A middle-aged woman then burst into the study and went past him to hug her favourite nephew tightly.

Dr Ramesh took the opportunity to excuse himself.

She then broke off the hug and pulled at her nephew's left ear in punishment.

"Ragh, what is this I hear? That you threw yourself on a busy road just to save some stranger? Are you insane!? Do you want to leave me also? You're the only thing I have left of both my brother and best friend. So stop playing carelessly with your life!"

"Oh, Aunt. No. It isn't anything serious, just a minor mishap ... ouch! My ear." He feigned being in severe pain.

"Stop with the exaggeration..." Aunt Mary hit him lightly on the shoulder as she released his ear. "I called earlier to remind you to make sure to come for your uncle's upcoming birthday party. I want to introduce you to this nice girl. You'll love her once you see this one."

"Uh... about that, I am currently seeing someone, Aunt. I don't think that it would be a good idea to meet others anymore." Raghnall lied. This is why he's been avoiding his aunt lately. She likes to set him up with different women, and he hates it.

Mary's eyes popped open widely in surprise, but then her brows furrowed in suspicion. "Oh, really? Then why don't you bring her to the party and introduce her to us? Ryan will be coming with his fiancée; I'd like for you to also settle down soon."

"Um... I... I will." He stuttered.

He and his aunt talked for a while before Aunt Mary left.

****

Freya's eyes slowly fluttered open to the dimly lit room, and for the first few minutes, she was quite startled and disoriented.

"Where am I?" She thought out loud.

She quickly pulled herself up into a sitting position, and that was when she noticed the intravenous (IV) drip attached to her left hand.

She spotted something like a remote control on the nightstand. Out of curiosity, she pressed on its four buttons until the beautiful ceiling lights turned on.

"Wow!" Freya exclaimed with a look of awe as she stared at those beautiful ceiling lights like a curious kid.

Her first thought was that she was in the hospital and that this luxuriously looking huge room may be one of those VVIP hospital rooms that are depicted in the movies.

The bed was quite big, and the interior decoration looked very simple yet exquisite and stylish. She didn't know what the time was, but she could tell that it wasn't morning yet.

"Who brought me here?" Freya tried to recollect her thoughts, and that was when her momentary happy mood changed.

It wasn't long before tears started to fill her eyes, and she sobbed. The news of her husband's death hit her really hard. She was finding it very hard to process everything.

'No, what they're saying cannot be true. My husband is very robust and vibrant. Dylan wouldn't just die like that. Maybe he survived somewhere, and they just haven't found him yet. Yes. That's it.' She thought to herself, refusing to accept the reality of things.

Freya nodded to herself in agreement with this conclusion and decided to ask the doctors to discharge her as soon as morning came so she could send for a search party for her husband.

Her tears ceased, and on her face was now a sad smile as a glimmer of hope filled her up, but she still couldn't squash the anxiety that was also filling up her thoughts.

She has been so occupied by her husband's death that she hadn't even thought of what else had happened after the kind sir pushed her off the road. She had lost her consciousness by then.

The lights and the interior decoration of the room gave her a soothing ambience, and soon enough, she went back to sleep since it was still in the middle of the night.

***

"Sob. Sob." Freya sobs in her sleep.

The sharp intake of hiccupy breaths prompted Raghnall, who was sitting on the couch in his room, to think that there was something wrong with the other person in the room with him.

He moved to the bedside and studied the sleeping woman for any sign of discomfort.

"Sob. Sob." Freya's forehead creased as beads of sweat also formed on it.

Raghnall then dipped an already prepared towel into a small bowl already filled with water and wrung it before using that to wipe her face, neck, and arms.

'What has happened to you to make you sob this much even in your sleep?' He wondered as he used his right thumb to gently massage her creased-up forehead.

It's been almost four hours now since the doctor left. He could tell that the unconscious lady wasn't having pleasant dreams, nor was her sleep any more peaceful, but there wasn't much he could do.

Fortunately, the sobbing stopped, and the woman's face seemed a bit relaxed after his gentle massage, and she seemed to have returned to enjoying a sound sleep.

Raghnall later returned to the couch, and soon, he too drifted off to sleep while still on the couch in the guest's room.