Chapter - 11

Aiden huffed and left from there as I stare at his retreating figure. Sam tapped on my shoulder to gain my attention.

"You are fine, right?" He asked after giving a once over to my bandaged arms and red tainted cheeks,

"I am fine," I assured him but he still wasn't convinced. So I distracted him, "Stop worrying about me because you have more important things to do,"

"Like what?" Sam asked,

"Like the guys who were ambushed me are the same ones who attacked Crystal that night" I told him but Sam didn't look shocked at all.

"Are you sure?" he asked with s strange calmness.

"Yes" I answered and he nodded gloomily. I thought distracting him would ease him a bit but it only dampened his mood more.

"Well there is something more important than that," I said, trying to change the topic again.

"What?" Sam knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

"The guy who just left, I think he needs help. I am telling you, there's some issue with his mind," I told him with seriousness.

Although I meant what I said but Sam took it as a joke and just like that his smile widened and he laughed at my comment.

"Ya you are right, he's crazy but don't take his words to your heart," Sam consoled. "He's little bit conserved, it takes time for him to trust people so don't mind him," he said with a smile,

"I doubt so" I mumbled to myself then asked him. "But why is so angry?"

"He loves Crystal a lot, so you need to understand why he's more concerned and strict about this whole situation," Sam said, silently begging me to give in.

Oh so they both are dating . . . But why would Crystal date such a crazy - arrogant guy?

I thought to myself.

"Don't worry I understand" I smiled at him, although inwardly I had started to have a feeling of dislike towards that guy. He was just a devil in disguise who judged others without their consent. I was not a villain in this whole thing, and I was going to prove that to him because no one ever dared to accuse me or judge me like that.

Sam smiled back, but suddenly it faded away.

"I forgot, John and Shirley are waiting for you outside. You go back with them. I have some work to do." Sam said with a face palm.

"You brought them here." I got excited hearing that my friends came.

"Well, they were the ones who brought themselves here," Sam chuckled.

"I denied them, but they threatened me. You can't believe how hard it was for me to hold them outside, now go before they barge in here." Sam said in a hopeless tone. "It might be better if they stay of Aiden's territory till he calms down,"

He didn't needed to tell me twice. I just ran outside and wished that Sam would knock some sense into that Aiden guy before I had to do it. I stopped at the entrance and laughed at the scene playing in front of me.

"Listen, mister, you better let me inside, or you'll regret ever coming in front of me," I hear Shirley threatening the guard, "Remember I am a doctor and doctors are the most dangerous person in this world, if they can save you then they can kill you accidentally too. My friend is inside, and I need to see her,"

I was amused when I saw the troubled expression of guards. He looked scared. John was holding her back while she was letting out all her anger on the innocent guard.

I ran towards them before she could scare away the guard. As soon as Shirley saw me she, jumped up and down like a impatient child. The guard let me out, and I noticed how gratefully he looked at me. Shirley hugged me tightly, almost knocking off my breath.

"Gosh you are fine, I was so scared," she cried,

I broke apart, and calm her down. "Shirley breathe, take deep breaths,"

She followed my words, and soon she relaxed.

"I am fine, as healthy as a horse and don't worry I handled those guys very well." I told her,

She smiled and embraced me tightly. "Never do that to me again,"

I hugged her back. She knew how to make me feel better.

"Now can we go, my legs are hurting." I asked them,

"But what about Sam, isn't he coming?" John asked,

"No, he has some task to do, now let's go." I told them,

We sat inside the car and John drove back to Max's house. On the way, we crossed the same street where I was almost killed. I didn't react and we passed by that place quickly. The only thought of what I have gone through a few hours back, made me get goosebumps, I remembered Sam told that they caught one of the guys, I hoped it to be the leader. I needed to ask Sam about other guys too but I decided I would do so when he comes back.

When we reached home, Max and Tom were waiting for me outside. Uncle Max quickly guided me to my room and checked on my wounds. I told Max that the wounds were not serious and I would be fine.

"You are right, it's not serious, but you need to take care of it otherwise stitches will get open," he suggested. "It might get an infection, don't let the bandages get wet and change them twice a day."

"Max, I am a doctor too, I know those things." I told him in an obvious tine.

He hit me with the pen on the head.

"If you had been smart enough, then this would not have happened. By the way I told your mother about this," he said,

"But why? What did you tell her?" I asked him,

"Don't worry I just told her that some goons attacked you," he assured,

"Fine," I sighed.

He left me in my room while I just sat around thinking about the reasons why those guys thought of me as Crystal, but nothing was close enough to be count as a valid reason. Some time later James and Kylie came to check up on me and brought dinner for me. I asked them about Sam and they told he didn't came yet.

I still needed some answers from Sam. I didn't knew even knew if he would come back today or not.

God must have heard my prayer as Tom walked inside and said, "Sam is here and so is Aiden,"

I was glad after hearing about Sam but my mood gets darken after hearing devil's name.

"Where is Sam?" I asked him.

"He also wants to talk to you. He is waiting for you outside in the front yard." Tom walked away after informing you.

I checked the time in clock, it was around 9 o'clock.

I walked downstairs to the living room, and saw Sam through the glass door, sitting outside on the ground and staring at the sky. His face streaked with moonlight giving it a glow. The sky was dark and filled with clouds. Chilled winds still lingered in the air, there were freshly ice fallen on the ground and some frozen on canopy of trees. I picked up the stole kept near me on a stool and wrapped it around myself before sliding the door and making my way towards Sam. I sat next to him and rubbed my hands, the pain from the bruises were slowly fading away.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sam asked while enjoying the view of the sky.

"Yes, it is. It is so strange that something so far can give you so much peace." I wondered as a serene feeling passed through me.

"You know, my friends and I would go on bike rides in such weather," a smile appeared on his face as he remembered old memories, "It's thrilling when the wind blows on your face, and the cold chills tingles your body. It was dangerous but we didn't care,"

I smiled at his words. He looked so carefree right then and so cute as he tried to describe his adventures with his friend. Suddenly he stopped like he recalled something.

"Tessa, what exactly happened back then?" Sam asked me.

He was sat straight and gave his full attention to me. I knew we were going to have this conversation.

I narrated him the whole thing, how and what happened, also how the guy whom I operated on was one among them. With each second he looked angrier.

"Sam, you didn't look much surprised when I told they were the same guys from before," I said, looking into his eyes, "Why so?"

Sam fidgeted with his fingers.

"Don't freak out but someone called me, and they told me that I should not have let Crystal out alone, and now she won't be alive" he said, "I got scared and checked for Crystal. She was still in the room like always, I got confused." he stopped. I could see what was coming next.

"Then I remembered you were out and everyone else was at home, so I panicked and called you," Sam sighed heavily, "And when you told me about your situation I realized my guess was correct. Luckily Aiden was somewhere near that place, so I asked his help," he smiled bitterly,

"You know when I told others about it, they felt same too, especially James, he freaked out" he told and finally a smile appears on his face. I smiled back and felt overwhelmed knowing that they all were so concerned about me when we hardly know each other.

"Hey, I am okay now" I chuckled and suddenly a thought crosses my mind.

"Sam, I heard you saying Aiden caught one of the guys. What about others?" I asked him,

"By the time Aiden went to look for them, they all ran away," He told me, making me feel more suspicious.

I couldn't understand the fact that why would they run away when they should have followed their leader.

Even if they saw Aiden then more sensible thing would be attacking him, as both, me and the leader were knocked down. It would have been very easy for them to take Aiden down after all he was alone and wielding no weapon.

"Well, while you were away, Max performed some tests on Crystal, and the good news is she is responding well to the treatment, and she can get better." Sam told happily, catching my attention back to him. The news made me forgot about my doubts.

"Really?" I asked, he nodded.

I hugged him and squealed loudly. "That's so good,"

He grinned and hugged me back.

"I hope I am not disturbing you guy?"

We broke apart when we found Aiden standing at the garden entrance and looking at us - more likely me.

"No. Not at all," Sam stood up and turned to him.

Aiden came forward and stood in front of me. "I need to talk to you,"

I glanced towards Sam and noticed he was looking at both of us. I nodded at him to tell him it's okay. Sam bobbed his head and left us alone. I turned towards Aiden.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked him skeptically.

Looking around the garden, he shivered slightly, "Don't you feel cold outside. Let's go to a warmer place first,"

Without even waiting for me, he went back inside the house while I stare at his back, figuring out what exactly he's trying to do.

Surely a few hours back he couldn't even bear my presence in the same room, so what suddenly changed his attitude towards me.

"Are you coming or not?" he disgruntled.

Or maybe there's no change. I dejectedly stepped after him till stopped in front of the fireplace in the living room.

"Sit," he sat on the couch facing the fireplace. I took a seat opposite him. We both sat in silence for a few minutes, looking into the flames burning, spreading warmth throughout the room.

In that precise moment, even for a minute, I felt light-headed, my mind was clear of all thoughts. It felt good to be relaxed, for some time with no stress and tension until someone broke it.

"Sorry"

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