Chapter 7

AMORE slowly woke up as her eyes flutters adjusting to the light. She then slowly roam her eyes to her surroundings. 'Where am I? Am I finally dead?' she said on her mind.

She then smelled that familiar smell when she got hospitalized because of that accident. And so, she then realized that she's inside a hospital. Amore looks at herself, she's wearing a hospital gown as her hands and some parts of her feet are wrapped in gauze.

Amore rose from lying down the bed, she then tried to stand up. But then, she doesn't have any strength to do that. She fell on the floor, and at the same time, the door in her room opened.

The man whom she saw first in that house came inside. She doesn't know his name, but the man immediately walks to her side and helped her to stand up.

"Xavier told us that you need to rest first. Don't tire yourself," the man said as he guided her back to the hospital bed.

"Here, drink some water," the man added. Amore looks at him. He's the only one who's showing her a smile and also the one who show her kindness, even though she's hesitating to accept that he's genuine.

"What's your name?" Amore asked before she gets the glass of water from his hand.

"I'm Drake. You're Amore, right?" Drake introduced himself with a smile.

Amore nodded and accepted the glass of water from him, "Thank you," she expressed her gratitude as she drank the glass of water.

"I'll be going out first. They need to know that you're already awake," Drake excused himself and walk out of the room.

Amore stares at him until he closed the door. She then released a deep sigh. 'Why did they help me? I thought they suspected me as a spy? They should have let me die,' she thought.

Minutes later, the door opened again. Amore saw a man whom she has never seen. But she just thought that it was a doctor.

"How are you feeling, Ms. Intima?" he asked.

Amore thought for a second about how to answer that question. If she would be honest, she's not fine emotionally. But she knows that he was asking about her current situation.

"I-I'm feeling some aches from these parts where there are gauze wrapped, doc," Amore answered. As she remembers, she fell into some glass thing and got herself wounded in the process.

"That's natural. As your wounds are still fresh, you may feel some aches throughout your body. But don't worry, it will surely heal in no time. Just want to ask, what exactly happened that resulted in this? Did Amadeus and the others did something to you?" the doctor asked.

Amore's brows furrowed when he mentioned some name she doesn't know. When he saw her expressions, he immediately understands that she doesn't know their names.

"I see, they haven't introduced theirselves to you. Your name is Amore, right?" Xavier further asked. Confused, Amore still nodded as a response.

"They told me the truth about you. I am Xavier by the way. Those men who you encountered in the hideout are my friends. So, I am asking if those men did something to you that resulted like this?" Xavier asked again, his voice was calm and gentle.

Amore felt a little comfort with him. Since he was wearing a lab gown, so he looks pretty professional at least.

"N-No, they don't have any connection as to why this happened. I-I just tripped over something and hit a glass thing," Amore explained.

"I see. But I also happen to know a bit of your background," Xavier walk towards her and stood beside the hospital bed, "You are very strong, you know that? I am very impressed by how you survived each obstacle in your way. From now on, I'm your personal doctor. You can tell me whenever you have something inside your head that you can't get off. I am willing to help you to recover from all the emotional trauma you have suffered. You deserve to smile again, pretty lady. I can imagine the smile on your face will make you prettier even more," Xavier affirmed Amore. He's really acting like the professional doctor that he is.

It feels like ages since Amore felt this genuine kindness. And so, her heart feels heavy and her eyes started pooling until her tears started falling one after another.

"Yes, it's okay to cry, Amore. Cry all your pent-up stress and exhaustion," said Xavier as he gently caress her back.

"T-Thank y-you," Amore thanked him between her sobs.

"It's okay to cry but don't overdo it, okay? You still need to rest more, seeing you fell on the floor earlier," Xavier noted.

"So, if you'll excuse me. I'll head out now. If you need anything, just press that buzzer on that side table, alright?" said Xavier before he went out of the room.

Amore went back to lying down on the bed. She feels like 10% of the stress inside her has been released. She heaves a deep sigh before she finally closed her eyes to take a rest.

'So, you're just here hiding inside the car, huh?' a man's voice ringed through Amore's ears. She opened her eyes and her eyes widened when she saw her uncle in front of her, smiling like the devil he is.

'What… Why am I here? I already escaped from you!' Amore shouted as she backs away from her uncle. It seems like she was really inside a car. And that was the car she has hidden in that day.

Her uncle laughs like a maniac, 'You brat. Do you really think you can escape me? No one will come and save you, Amore. You are all alone in this world. I'm the only one whom you can go to. So, come here. Come back to me, Amore,' her uncle said as he inched closer to her.

'No… I won't go back to that hellish place again! No!'

"No! Don't come near me!"

"Miss Amore!" A sudden shaking of her body woke Amore. She rose from lying down on the bed as she gasp for air. She had a nightmare again.

"Hush now, it's alright. You're now fine," a man affirmed her from her side.

Amore calmed herself as she slowly breathe in and out as she closed her eyes. Those damn nightmares won't leave her alone. It's like a part of her now that she won't be able to escape even if she escaped her hellish fate.

It was like escaping from her uncle is not the end as those hellish reminisce from the past still haunt her and she doesn't know when she can get away from it. It's tiring for her.

And escaping her uncle is not the end. She doesn't know what will happen to her after all of this. They might release her and she will be forever be watching her shadows again, afraid that her uncle will show up any moment and will get a hold of her again.

'I don't have somewhere to go to…' Amore said to her mind. She slowly thought of the possibilities that will happen after she will be released from these men. She needs to find a place in which she can't be found by her uncle. But knowing her uncle, he has many connections due to its nature; involving money and illegal businesses. So, she's afraid that it'll be just a moment and she will be captured again. Thinking of those, Amore can't help herself but tremble.

"Hey, calm down. You're doing fine. Here, drink some water first," a man spoke again. Amore almost forgot that there's someone sitting beside her.

Amore looked at him. She only saw him once in that interrogation room. He has some glasses on, maybe he's got some eye problems. She accept the glass of water from him and slowly drank it.

"You also need to eat something, Xavier told us. The food are on the side table," the man said.

Amore looked at the side table and she saw a variety of food, from vegetables, fruits, meat, and soup. Looking at those food, for Amore it has been ages since she have seen these foods again starting the day she was taken by her uncle. Looking at the food, her stomach made a grumbling sound. She bit her lips out of embarassment as the man is still on her side.

The man cleared his throat to break the silence, "You should eat now. And before I go out, I'll introduce myself first," said the man.

Amore looked at him and his right hand was now extended to hers, "The name's Cali," he introduced.

Hesitating, Amore still accepted his hand, "A-Amore…" she responded. She's now confused as to why they are acting like this now. 'Have they finally found that I was saying the truth?' Amore thought.

After that, Cali went out of the room and she proceed to eating. A few minutes after she was done eating, the doctor came in. If she remembers it right, his name is Xavier.

"Done eating?" Xavier asked. Amore just nodded. She saw him carrying some medicine.

"Alright, that's good. Now, I want you to take this medicine," he said and gave the tablet to Amore which she immediately took.

"Alright, done. I'll be back again later. I have patients to check. Take a rest. You can go home tomorrow," Xavier stated and walk out of the room.

'Home… So, tomorrow's the day? Where should I go? I can't remember of anyone and anywhere to go to,' Amore said on her mind, frustrated. Distress was written all over her face. But someone clears a throat that caught her attention.

She looks to her side and her eyes widen as she saw him. The man who pointed a gun at her. The man with those eyes that can make her tremble…. and lost.

Amore just stayed staring at him and the same as him. Amore couldn't count the time they are staring at each other until Amadeus broke their staring contest.

"Woman," Amadeus said, in a cold tone. Amore doesn't know what to answer so she remained to stare at him.

"Were you really going to kill yourself?" Amadeus asked.

Amore didn't expect that question from him. But then, she thought about it. 'Well… I was hoping I'll just die…' she thought.

"I just hope…" Amore responded as she broke away from staring at him.

"You're stupid," said Amadeus.

Amore smiled bitterly, "I know. You should have killed me in that time you have found me," said Amore.

"It's not the wisest thing to do If I caught a suspected spy. We should investigate first and let the result of that be the verdict; killed or be freed," said Amadeus.