Tell Me Again, My Love

Ryn woke up with Mika still hugging her waist. She looked around, frowning seeing everything so dark but she was not worried. The smell so familiar, it soothed her immediately. Despite not knowing where she was, or forgetting where she was right now as she just woke up and felt groggy right now, the familiar smell made her feel safe. She knew she was safe now.

Her hand reached around and it touched something she recognized as a string for a night lamp. Automatically her hand pulled it slightly and immediately a soft glow hit her eyesight. Luckily it was quite low so it did not take long for her to see what she could see, which was the lump of body next to her.

Despite her movement looking for light, Mika did not stir at all and the hands around Ryn"s waist did not move. Or maybe Ryn"s arms were quite long so when she was "searching" blindly, her body did not move at all.

Her face softened seeing the tear marks on Mika"s face. Did Mika cry in her sleep?

She caressed Mika"s head after carefully adjusted Mika"s hands to wrap around a pillow. Then, she walked into the ensuite bathroom. Her bladder was getting full.

All the extra rooms in this mansion has its own ensuite bathroom so the guests will not have to share the bathroom with others.

Once she was done, she returned back to the bed and looked at her best friend. Mika was still deep in her sleep. She lied down next to Mika and looked at her sleeping friend. 

"I"m sorry for worrying you," she choked out.

Mika"s reply was a mumble under her breath and turned around, hugging the pillow even tighter. At least she was not having a nightmare... Ryn hoped. There was no frown or anything on Mika"s face.

While waiting for Mika to wake up, Ryn went back to the bathroom to have a quick and careful shower. She did hurt her hands and a few parts of her body during her "horror experience" and she did need to apply creme and rebandage the wounds. 

While she was trying to rebandage her wounds after the quick shower and applying the creme, Mika woke up. First, Mika rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. Then, once what happened earlier popped back into her mind, Mika gasped and looked around worriedly. She saw her best friend was struggling with the white bandage around her hand.

"Ryn, why didn"t you wake me up? I can help you with that," she hurriedly got off the bed and went to Ryn. Without waiting for Ryn"s reply, she took over bandaging her hands, clucking her tongue as she did so.

"I did not want to disturb you. You seem so tired and need a lot of rest," Ryn replied, watching as Mika tied the bandage tightly. Then, Mika tidied everything up. She even checked the painkiller the hospital provided. 

"What"s the point of you being here if I don"t help you? You can wake me up to help. Have you eaten the pills yet?"

Ryn kept quiet. She knew she was wrong to try to do it alone. Maybe the wounds on her face or other parts but not when trying to bandage around her hands. She almost turned her hands into mummy!

Both walked together downstairs. They were getting hungry and hoping the cook had prepared dinner for them.

"I hope there is something meaty," Ryn murmured hopingly. Surely the cook could make anything and everything. The kitchen seemed big enough to store the whole grocery store.

"You just had a narrow escape from danger and already thinking about meat. Ryn, please. Eat something healthy for once," Mika begged when she overheard the murmur.

"Meat is healthy."

"Try to tell that to Cook. Even papa and mama are nervous around her. Only grandma can order her around," Mika challenged.

"Why should I? I"m the outsider. You should tell her we want steak."

"You"re the one who wants to eat steak. I can"t eat too much meat if I want to keep this figure," Mika pointed it out. She could not eat as much meat as Ryn"s. Besides, after the scared, she prefered something light. She did not think she could eat something as heavy as steak or...

"But... but..." 

They were still walking as they tried to coax each other to talk to the cook until they did not notice they already reached the dining room and everyone was looking at them weirdly.

"You"re finally here. Let"s have our dinner now," Jeremy turned around from looking outside the window and smiled at the women. He had been waiting for these two to join him for dinner. He had been waiting for almost half an hour and almost planned to go upstairs to wake them up. Luckily he did not and just waited here. He might not b.u.mp into them as there were two stairs going upstairs and he might use the one different than the women.

Both women finally realized where they were. They stopped talking and tried to avoid looking at everyone. Their cheeks reddened in ashamed. How could they talk so loudly? The cook might even hear them just now. Oh uh... what should they do now?

"Let"s have our dinner now," Jeremy waved his hands for them to take their seat. He already took the head of the table as his own and gestured the two to take the left and right side of his.

Both Mika and Ryn shared a look. Then, slowly, they took the chair he pointed and sat on it. 

A few maids came into the room with a tray of food. The maids arranged the plates and bowls in front of them. 

Ryn"s face paled seeing she only had a bowl of something white. She looked at the plates in front of Jeremy and Mika. They obviously were having something else than hers.

So unfair.

"What is this?" she asked slowly. She was hoping this was just an appetizer for her while both Jeremy and Mika already received their main course.

"This is Cook"s special chicken porridge with red dates, gingko and something-something," the maid who brought the porridge looked a bit worried when she could not remember the exact ingredients.

"What are they having?" Ryn asked, pointing at the food enjoyed by the siblings.

"They are having chicken chop with whipped potato and extra gravy. Also steamed vegetables," the maid was relieved when she remembered what their Young Master and Young Mistress were having.

"And I"m having porridge?"

The maid she had been asking looked at the siblings. What should she do? Miss Catherine seemed so upset. 

"Just eat your porridge, love. Cook a.s.sured me it will help you strengthened your body," Jeremy coaxed. "Once you feel better, Cook will make your favourite. So you should get better as quickly as possible so you can eat your steaks. Cook"s steaks are the best."

"Porridge?" Ryn stirred the porridge sadly. The bowl was small too. How long could this small portion of food could last her? An hour... or two?

"You"ve just had a scare. Don"t push yourself, love."

She ignored him. Sadly, she ate the porridge. She knew better than to throw tantrum and demand for the same food as the siblings from the cook. No one dared to say anything to the cook. Whatever she made, everyone has to eat. She is the law... of the food in this house.

It took quite a long time for her to finish the porridge. It was not because the food was not delicious. It was delicious until she had to control herself not to eat quickly. But the slowness was more for her to ensure the food could last her until tomorrow morning. So when she woke up tomorrow morning, she would not be too starving. She hated being starved.

The maids quickly tidied everything once the three of them were done with their dinner. 

Jeremy led them upstairs. Instead of going into their separate way, the three of them walked into the room for Ryn. 

Ryn actually wanted to be alone but she could not stop them. Three of them sat at the balcony, looking at the orchards.

"How do you feel now?" Jeremy asked slowly. He noticed she did not show any expression except dismay and determination during the dinner just now. There was, in fact, no sign of trauma.

But, Ryn was a professional model and she was a master of disguising and covering her real feeling.

"What do you want me to say?" Ryn asked back.

Jeremy opened his mouth to speak but closed it back when a maid came with a tray of drink. He waited as the maid arranged mugs of hot chocolate for them onto the small table near them.

"Maybe I was hoping for you to open your heart and... cry?" 

Ryn glanced at the awkward Jeremy.

"I don"t feel like it." She did not feel like showing the vulnerable side of hers to Jeremy. She did not want him to see the weak side in her. She did not want to show him how scared she was. 

She was not ready for it. 

He sighed heavily. He could guess why she was acting this way.