Such a Person.

The noise of flowing water, dampness and cold - were the first things Elena sensed when consciousness began to slowly return to the woman. The body was breaking as if she had rolled head over heels from a high mountain of stones and hit everything that could be hit. She felt neither arms nor legs, her head was buzzing, and there was an unpleasant lingering ringing in her ears as if she had hit a tuning fork.

"Dimmi perché quando penso, penso solo a te

Dimmi perché quando vedo, vedo solo te,

Dimmi perché quando credo, credo solo in te..." [1]

Hmm, did someone sing? The melody sounded quiet, and the performer's voice was so pleasant and soothing that Elena wanted to again plunge into oblivion as if in a sweet dream.

She tried to move and felt someone's hands clutching her tightly, hugs were strong, but at the same time she felt care in them. She had similar feelings every time David hugged her.

"Did you wake up?" Marcus's voice was a bit hoarse but full of confidence and calm.

Elena opened her eyes, pitch darkness met her gaze, there was no difference whether her eyes were closed or not. The woman closed her eyelashes again and tried to move a muscle, but Marcus pressed her tightly against him, not wanting to let her go of his hands, "Don't move," he said quietly, but that didn't stop Elena from understanding his tone that it wasn't worth arguing with him.

The man, feeling her tension, added, "Your clothes are wet through, and the floor is very cold. Even if it's not pleasant for you, when you're in such a position it will be way warmer for you."

Elena felt exhausted, her mind partially drifted in an unconscious state, that only now she realized that all this time she lay on top of a man. Her hand slipped, and she immediately understood Marcus's arguments, the surface of the floor was so icy that the tips of her fingers immediately became numb from the cold.

A wave of trembling began to rise up her arm, and soon her whole body trembled from the cold, and she could not do anything about it. Wet clothes only exacerbated the situation.

"That's why I told you not to move yet," Marcus pressed Elena to him even more tightly, his hot breath near her forehead and the measured pounding of the man's heart gradually calmed the woman. Elena felt how his heat began to envelop her body, pushing the cold farther and farther away.

"Thank you, but aren't you cold yourself?"

"I'm ok. We must wait another ten minutes, and then we will figure out where we are and how to get out of here. Therefore, be a good girl and lie still, otherwise, the process will drag on."

Elena understood that she was in a better position, and Marcus's arguments had some logic, but using him as a warm mattress was an embarrassing idea for her. The woman made another attempt to raise herself and heard a formidable roar in her address, "Are you always so disobedient? I asked you not to move."

"But-"

"No but," Marcus said sternly, as a demanding teacher reprimanding a student for bad behavior, "I broke two ribs and your movements do not help the situation. Just stay put; in ten minutes they should recover."

"Ah, well, I'm sorry," the woman was confused, she did not assume that the reason was this either. Elena stayed put, her head lying on the man's chest, the beat of his heart was interrupting the sound of water flowing nearby.

In this pitch darkness, several meters underground, where there was no one but them, Elena surprisingly felt calm. There was no sense of fear, nor a sense of panic. Maybe because there was a person next to her, whose strength she was sure of?

From their first meeting at a banquet in the White House, Elena had strange feelings towards Marcus. The brain told her one thing that it was impossible for him to be trusted, that one had to be on his guard, that he might not be the way he wanted to show himself, that any of his words could be a lie and effective manipulation.

But why every time he came to her attention, when their eyes crossed, when he was just there, she did not feel any discomfort? She wanted to know him better, to look into the depths of the soul of his eyes in order to understand what he really was.

Was this the fault of the connection that united them all from a previous life, or her desire to finally achieve peace so that her loved ones live in peace and joy? Now, by and large, it did not matter.

"It only seemed to me, or did I hear you singing?" she suddenly remembered the melody that had woken her in this darkness.

"Ahh... that... well," Marcus could not hide the slight embarrassment in his voice, to which the woman smiled imperceptibly. Who would have thought that such an omnipotent man will get embarrassed that he was caught doing something quite not like him?

"Underground, especially in the dark, a person has a different sense of time. What may seem like an hour here underground on the surface can correspond to several hours and even a day. At such a moment, it's easier to hum some familiar melody. It's easier to calculate the approximate number of minutes, and you won't lose count."

"Hmmm, a really great idea," Elena wondered how it occurred to him. This idea was simple, but at the same time had a practical purpose and cheered up, "Mr. Taubert, with your horizons and skills, you are a dangerous character for women. I didn't think that you also know Italian and sing so well."

"Ahaha, thank you for the compliment," Marcus laughed and Elena could not help smiling, listening to the peals of laughter escaping from his chest, "I know a lot of things, it's true. Regarding Italian, hmm, somehow I had to wriggle into the favour of one young lady who loved opera, so this skill came in handy."

"Heh, after your words I immediately remembered about David. He learned more than a dozen languages because he did not know which language I would speak when we met. The funny thing is that in the end, it turned out that we both are native English speakers. He could not bother so much."

Marcus grinned, this lady knew exactly how to joke on her own husband, "Don't worry, I will deliver you to your David safe and sound. If he behaves well."

Elena pinched the man by the side, Marcus twitched in surprise and gritted his teeth so as not to give out his discomfort from the aching pain from a broken rib. He didn't feel the first one, so it was all right already, but the second one suffered more seriously and required more time to recover.

"Don't tease my husband, please. I do not want to quarrel with you and get tough with you in the end. There are many questions the answers to which I have not yet received from you, but now I am more worried about David than about myself. I'm sure he's going crazy." Elena would be happy to somehow tell him that she was okay, as she already could imagine what was going on in David's head after her disappearance.

"Believe me, if something serious had happened to you, David would have felt it. But you, apparently, have no idea how strong the connection between you two is."

"How do you know about this?"

This woman definitely underestimated Marcus's abilities, otherwise, she would not have asked such things, "I see it with my own eyes. If my brother hadn't been so well-bred and sometimes got into other people's affairs, he would have dedicated you to how beautifully you shine when you are near your beloved person."

"Oh, I see," whispered Elena, the words of Marcus made her embarrassed as if she were still a teenager, and not an adult woman with her own child. "So what about you?"

"What about me?" Marcus asked in surprise in his voice.

"Do you have such a person?"

"Ahaha, Mrs. Anderson, does it seem that the intimate atmosphere around makes you want to ask personal questions? Inquisitiveness is sometimes dangerous, watch out what you are asking," the man's playful tone only added intrigue to their conversation. Elena was not a supporter of getting into other people's affairs, but right now she really wanted to find out from this person something that would help her better understand him.

"If you don't want, simply do not answer. I don't want to impose."

Marcus smiled, noticing how she pouted her lips a little and frowned. Elena was unaware that his level of vision was enough to make out her face features even in the dark. For him, she seemed to be in the twilight, an alluring silhouette, slightly parted lips, closed eyelashes and light breathing. The warmth of her body and the smooth, wet hair lying under his palm.

Even now, she was beautiful. As she always was, in his eyes.

"In fact, there is one girl," the man answered quietly, the dark damp ceiling of this cave was so similar to the emptiness in his chest, where for many years the light had not penetrated, "The girl with who I want to be with, but I can't."

"Why?"

Elena felt the man's hand squeeze her waist, and his second hand slid up her hair. Marcus tucked the wet strand that fell onto her face, behind Elena's ear. His warm palm pressed against her neck, a thumb stroking the edge of her cheek with tenderness.

For a second, Elena thought that the beat of his heart accelerated, but she soon realized that it was her own heart. Marcus's heart was still beating calmly and confidently.

"Why?" Elena whispered her question in a barely audible tone, either for herself or for him. She already understood the answer to it.

"Because it's you."

~~~~~

[1] "Tell me why, when I think, I only think of you

Tell me why, when I see, I only see you

Tell me why, when I believe, I only believe in you..."