Vulcan Alvaro stirred, the distant voices becoming clearer. His head pounded painfully and his limps felt heavy. He tried to open his eyes, but his lids seemed to be held down by tons of bricks. Grunting, he focused his attention on the voices instead. They seemed clearer now and he could make out some sentences.

“He was in an accident?” A woman’s voice asked. For some reason, that voice seemed oddly familiar.

“Yes, Miss.” A man replied. “I turned a corner and there he was. Driving straight towards me at top speed. I quickly slammed down on the horn of my car to get his attention. That was when he drove his car off the road and run straight into a tree.”

There was a gasp. No doubt coming from the woman, the man was explaining things to. “Oh my god!” Vulcan felt a hand touch his.

“I am just glad he made it out without suffering any serious injuries.” The man added. “I owe him my life! He saved me!”

“Aww.” The woman replied. Her hand moving from his to fall on his forehead, where it throbbed badly. He winced at the impact and his eyelids finally gave way when he opened them. Light attacked his delicate eyes, making him shut them immediately. Damn, so he spent the night in the hospital. He thought and tried to open his eyes again.

“He is waking up.” The woman gasped again and this time he was convinced he knew who it was.

Vulcan’s environments came into view. He saw the white ceiling, white walls, the nurses moving around, the beds filled with patients and then know he was in a hospital! Flashes of his accident floated through his mind and he groaned. Throwing his hand over his eyes, he looked at the blonde young woman sitting on a chair beside his bed.

“Vulcan!” She smiled down at him.

“What are you doing here, Samira?” He asked, trying to figure out how his sister got here. Of course, she used a car, what was he even thinking? The thing was, he had not known she was coming to Little Hill. After his last call with her some days ago, she had mentioned something about coming to visit him in London. However, he had informed her he was in Little Hill. Vulcan had not thought she would actually come here.

“Is that how to greet me?” She asked, brows knotting in anger. “You should be thankful I am here. You were involved in an accident for goodness sake!” He groaned. He did not need this now. No. His head throbbed too much. “What were you thinking driving on top speed? You could have died! Who knows what would have happened to you if this kind man had not called the ambulance?” She pointed and he averted his gaze.

Vulcan saw a man, about the same age as his adopted father, Gary. He stood behind Samira, looking down at him. This must have been the driver of the other vehicle. The man who had been telling his sister what happened. Vulcan took in the man’s polite smile and sparking blue eyes and could not help but notice how much they reminded him of Davina’s eyes. At the thought, he shook his head. Davina was the last person he wanted to think about right now.

“I am glad you are awake.” The man spoke softly. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Headache.” His voice sounded hoarse even in his own ears.

Worry flashed through the man’s eyes before he said. “I will go get the nurse.” As he turned and walked away, Vulcan noticed the bed right next to his. Nothing prepared him for the shock he experienced when he set eyes on the occupant of that bed. His eyes flashed in surprise, then worry when he saw her leg in a cast and then finally, anger! The memories of her unpleasant words echoed through the walls of his mind. He could not believe she had the guts to speak such…

“What’s wrong, Vulcan?” Samira’s hand on her cheek, drew his attention to his sister. Her eyes were filled with worry for him and he managed a smile for her.

“Don’t worry about me.” He told her, while trying to raise himself to a sitting position.

“No, don’t get up.” Samira pushed against his chest, making him fall back into the mattress.

Vulcan groaned as his head pounded painfully. Bringing his hands to hold his head, he shut his eyes so the pain would subside. However, that did not help. Another pained groan erupted from his throat. “No, I am not staying here another second.” He told his sister while making another attempt at sitting up.

“No, Vulcan you…” But he ignored her protests and pushy hands. Grabbing her hands in his, he sat up and then released her. Her gaze was both of anger and worry. Vulcan ignored it and threw his legs over the bed. Samira would not stay upset with him for long. She was like this because he was not letting her have her way. Well, right now, he was not in the mood to do as she says. He was not in the best of moods and the fact that Davina was lying right next to him would not help him. He did not want to see her. After all she was the reason why he was in this condition.

“You are not doing well, Vulcan.” He ignored her and rose to his feet. His gaze going straight to Davina. She was asleep and he could not help but admire how peaceful and innocent she looked. Who would have ever thought that this person had a mouth that could spew poison, strong enough to send a man to an early grave? That was what almost happened last night. He had been so enraged, he had not been concentrating on the road. He almost died! Almost crushed into an innocent man. Dammit! He would not have rested in piece if the man had died because of him. But most importantly, he would not have forgiven her. He would have haunted her from his grave.

Who did she think she was? Speaking that way to him! No one stood before him and insulted him. Because, he never gave anyone a reason to. Vulcan was a good man. Everyone knew it! He did not abuse people with his power. If anything, he rather helped them. But then Davina King suddenly appeared from nowhere, thinking the worse of him, getting on his nerves and trying to kill his business and him. Gosh, he was such an idiot. All this while he had been lenient with her, giving her a chance to back out on this stupid fight of hers but he was done giving her chances. No more. He was going to deal with her the same way he dealt with people trying to ruin his business. She worked with Valdes, right? Well, those two were going to be in a whole lot of trouble from now onwards. No more mercy. She saw him as the devil… right? Well, he was going to show her just how evil he can be.

“I am not staying here any longer.” Vulcan told Samira, meeting her gaze. “Please help me.” He held his hand out to her and she took it.

“What if the doctor refused to discharge you. You are still under observation you know.” Samira informed him as they started their way out of the ward.

“I am still leaving here.”

 
Davina finally opened her eyes, as Vulcan walked away with…that woman. Her heart sank as she saw how her hands wound around his waist and his held hers. They supported each other as they exited the ward.

Tears stung her eyes and she quickly blinked, alarmed at her reaction upon seeing that. Was she tearing up because Vulcan Alvaro was with his girlfriend? Fiancée? Or whatever she was to him? No, way. She thought, while averting her gaze from the door. She was only like this because of the guilt that had been eating at her since last night after she realized Vulcan Alvaro had been her father’s saviour. She barely had any sleep last night, because she was deep in thought. She had thought about Vulcan Alvaro. Thought if she was mistaken about him. She thought if he was not what he seemed. Considering the fact that he had swerved his car off the road to save her father and helped her by sending his assistant to come pick her up even after she treated him badly. Also, he had taken her to a hospital that first time she sprained her ankle. He was always there to help her when she was in trouble. Not to mention, consoling her after the mayor said all those nasty things to her.

However, she could not also overlook the obvious bad things he had done. Conniving with the mayor and stealing those people’s properties.

Well, the homes were not theirs technically. That patch of land belonged to an old royal family that used to live here a long time ago. History has it that, when the last member of the family died, she signed off that land to the town. The homes along the stretch of land were rented out to people till date. That’s how her clients came to be living there now. They paid rent for those homes. They paid two years in advance even. Imagine how one would feel after paying all that rent and then receiving a notice of eviction. Of course, one would want to know what the hell was going on.

However, no one was willing to tell her anything when she went to the authorities. That is why she decided to start a lawsuit against whoever is involved in this. The lawsuit was her last resort because she had tried to reason with everyone but no one listened to her. She had even wrote a proposal some weeks ago to the mayor’s office. Yes, the land belonged to the town and the authorities had every right to do what they wanted to with it, including selling it. However, they should have informed the tenants before taking that decision. In her proposal, she had asked the authorities to refund the people’s money and also compensate them for the impromptu moving. But no, she has not received a reply and in her follow ups, she was ignored. Which left her to resort in contacting Mr Alvaro. She had hoped he would be sensible enough to hear her out, but even he had acted like everyone else she approached with this case. So of course, she would think the worse of him. She was not to blame. If only he had just listened.

Heaving a sigh, she pushed her face into the pillow. The stench of disinfectant hit her senses and she dreaded her stay already. How was she supposed to survive this when she hated hospitals?

“Darling,” she raised her gaze to meet her father’s. “Are you awake now?” Bruce sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yes.” Davina’s voice was a breathless whisper, which caught her father’s attention.

“What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” He looked to her leg. “Do you want me to call the nurse?” He asked.

“No.” Her reply was another breathy sigh.

Bruce looked at his daughter, saw her distracted look and asked. “Is anything the matter?”

“No.”

“Hush,” he shushed. “I know you. And don’t lie to me.”

Davina looked anywhere but at her father. She did not want to meet his gaze. Else, she would cave in and tell him what was bothering her. Something, she did not want to do. Because she did not know herself, why she felt like this. This guilt. This hurt. The embarrassment. The anger. Well, she knew it was all because of Vulcan Alvaro but she could not tell her dad that. The man saved her father for goodness sake! Her father respected him now. While, she felt indebted to him. Now she was torn between hating him and being grateful towards him. She thought him a villain but he was suddenly becoming the hero.

“There’s nothing.” She replied, while pulling the covers Bruce brought for her this morning, over her legs.

“No. I am not buying it.” He shook his head. “Tell me the truth.”

Heaving a sigh, she replied, still not meeting his gaze. “Not now, dad. Please.”

Bruce nodding. Fine. If his daughter was not ready to tell him anything yet, he would respect her wishes. “Fine.” He nodded in understand. “Uh, the man was just discharged.” He decided to change the topic for their own good.

“What man?” Davina was lost in thought.

“The man who saved my life.” Bruce replied, with a smile on his face. “His name is actually Vulcan. Vulcan Alvaro.” Davina nodded, forcing a smile. She tried to eliminate any emotion from her face as she listened to her father. “He is a good man.” She nodded, while biting her lip so as not to blurt out to him that Vulcan Alvaro was not such a saint.

As Davina listened to her father, she prayed that he runs out of things to say about Vulcan Alvaro. However, he did not. Even after a whole week had gone by and she was finally released from the hospital with crotches, her father still spoke about him. Vulcan Alvaro was a kind man. He invited him over to his house and they had dinner. He apologized for almost running his car into him and so on. Davina wished for once, her father would let it go. She did not feel good hearing all the kind things he has done for her father, because it only confirmed to her that he was a good man. Which only made the feeling of unadulterated guilt to rise within her. She hated the feeling. She wanted it gone. But that was impossible. And she wanted it gone. The only way she knew to get rid of it however, was if she… apologizes.

But could she?

Davina shivered at the thought.

So help her God.