Only to Protect You (Chapter 1)

OMG. Right now i am on my bed, typing this post away. A few seconds before this, i almost screamed like there was no tomorrow because i almost dropped my sweetheart - the laptop. I'm telling you, i think my heart actually did burst out of my chest. Jeez. Anyways, i apologize for not posting regularly like i usually do since there seemed to be several people who love hopping over to my blog and read whatever i write in here. lol. I wanted to post some vids but i was too lazy to even do so. Hehe. But this piece, i'm not to lazy. I'm currently letting out some writer steam on a project i cooked up during the weekends. Do tell me if there are some errors of any kind and i will get back to you. =) I hope y'all like it and pray tell i finish this one. I somehow get the idea of how i'm gonna be finishing this project. =) Hehe. Enjoy! Oh and it's long so... sorry!

Only To Protect You

Chapter 1: Saving You

Of all days it had to be today that I had to meet my ambitious doctor of a father for some ‘meeting’ he arranged. What kind of shit is that? I had greater stuffs to do than meeting my father for some useless conversation, in a hospital, where patients sulk and visitors wail. Jeez, can’t my life get any worst?

Usually my father would meet me at the canteen or some garden this hospital just had to build, but this time he wanted me to meet him in his office, so I scanned the directory and found the floor that my father’s office is located. I took the one of the four lifts behind me, pressed number seven, and waited for people to fill the huge space. When I alighted from the lift, a wave of nostalgia filled me and a frown slapped my face. I never liked hospitals. Not once, and no matter how many times I come to visit my father for whatever he has in stored for me, the vibe of death still surrounded me and I would find myself vomiting into a nearby potted plant.

Thankfully, this time I didn’t feel like being a pussy. I glared at all the nurses who glued their attention on me, and stopped outside my father’s office. I was about to raise my fist to knock on his door when I heard someone arguing with another. I’m not one who eavesdrops on people’s conversations and their public displays of arguments but as I came closer to the last private ward at the end of this hallway, I realised it was a serious fight between a girl and a boy.

I peeked closer, trying my best to hide and listen at the same time. I couldn’t see their faces but what they said were more interesting than their pathetic features.

“… I can’t believe you said that, Arif! This is my mother we’re talking about here!” There was a pause and I peeked even closer. It seemed she pushed him backward. Wow, she’s tough. “She’s sick for heaven’s sakes! Can’t you be more sympathetic?!”

“Jeez, Ariana, chill alright! It’s not as if she’s gonna die or anything! Look,” the boy pointed at the patient’s bed, “she’s only in a coma. It’s good enough she’s not classified as a vegetable!”

My anger flared even harder. I may not understand what actually happened but what he said was enough for me to realise that this boy has no heart and no proper sense of mind to respect the ill.

The girl sobbed and just stared at him. It was all she did. She may have pushed him but that was the only tough thing she ever did to the jerk. No slap, no screech, no vulgarity either. Either this girl loved him too much that she couldn’t even raise a finger at him, or she’s afraid to do so because this jerk had actually hurt her before.

I growled and was about to step in when a hand grabbed my shoulder, pulling me away from the entrance of the ward. I swung my head over and glared at the person who almost, almost made my heart burst from my ribs.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, father?!”

He sighed. “Watch your mouth, Farouk. You’re disrespecting the patients on this floor.”

“What do I care?” I crossed my arms, yet made a side-glance to the ward.

Somehow, my father caught on. “You want to come in?”

I turned to him. “What?”

“She’s my patient,” he walked past me and motioned his head towards the open door. “Come on,”

I cocked a brow, unwound my arms and followed him inside. The two of them had stopped fighting and looked like they made up. I guess when my father pulled me back they had grabbed each other and kissed themselves breathless. Eww…

“How is she doing, Ariana? Any signs of progress?”

Ariana quickly wiped a tear from her eye with the end of her sleeve and shook her head. She glanced at me, finally noticing my presence and stared.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” my father smiled, “this is my son, Farouk. He’s just visiting me today but I thought it’d be alright if he sees one of my patients.” He looked into my eyes. “He’s interested in being a doctor himself.”

I glared at him. “No, I’m not,” I threw a brief glance at the girl but she pulled her gaze away and lowered her head. Hmm…

My father introduced me to the girl, Ariana Majid, and to the boy, Arif Ismail. At first I thought they actually looked good with each other. But right after I shook Arif’s hand and watched him seize me up, thinking of challenging me right then, I thought he was a real jerk with no hint of maturity whatsoever. I glanced at Ariana, almost wanting to scream at her for choosing such an asshole.

“She seems to be doing well this time, Ariana,” my father checked the patient’s pulse, recorded something on the clipboard and smiled up into Ariana’s face. “I’m sure your mother’s happy to have you visiting her all the time.”

Ariana weakly smiled back to the doctor but didn’t say a word after that. Arif, on the other hand, just leaned against the wall, his eyes staring at me. Then my father suggested he speaks to Ariana about something and ushered her outside, leaving me and the jerk standing in the dimly-lit room, not bothering to say anything to each other. Until…

“What did you hear?”

I turned to look at him. “What?”

He glared at me. “You were peeking. I saw you,” he kicked himself from the wall and approached me; his hands inside his jacket pockets while he somewhat intimidates me with his walk. Pfft. My grandmother walks better than him without strutting her behind. He stopped right in front of me and seized me again. “What the hell did you hear?”

I shrugged. “Nothing important,” I stepped away. “Your fights don’t concern me. I was only passing by. Besides,” I turned and looked at him. “It was loud enough for anyone to hear.”

Arif glared at me again, this time really making sure I get the hint that he does want to fight with me. But I couldn’t care less. Mere punks like him don’t scare me. I fight with the big boys, not babies. Though that sounded nice in my head, I ignored him and walked to the door. I grabbed the doorknob and pulled it open…

And Ariana suddenly bumped into me, as if running away from something… or someone. I grabbed hold of her shoulders and stopped her and myself from falling. When I was sure she was stable enough to stand, I released her. I lowered my head to check on her, and again, she was crying.

“You alright?”

She sobbed into her hands, timidly raised her head and stared at my face. She had bloodshot eyes, a red nose, dark circles under her eyes from possible lack of sleep, and sunken skin… She may have been taking care of her sick mother but have she been taking care of herself?

“Ariana,” it was my father and I looked up to him. He blinked at me, somewhat surprised at the sight of me – which was weird. He then looked at Ariana and sighed. He placed a hand on her shoulder, patted and signalled me out of the room.

I eyed him, hoping he’d understand that leaving Ariana alone with a jerk of a boyfriend and a mother who’s not coming back isn’t the right thing to do, not the safest of situations either. But being the father that he is, ignored my silent plea and motioned his head again to get me out. I growled, slowly raised my hand, and was about to touch Ariana’s shoulder when another huge, and hairy, hand appeared on mine.

I swung my head over. “I’ll take care of this,” Arif growled.

Damn it, she’s not safe with him! I glared at him, looked back at Ariana and sighed. I stepped aside, watched Arif pull her in for a ‘hug’ and left the room. I turned back to only see that the door had closed. I growled again.

“Farouk –”

“Tell me, father. Are you blind or deaf, because somehow,” I looked at my father, “I think you’re both.”

My father shook his head and pulled me further from the room. “I may be her mother’s doctor, but I don’t think it right for me to tell her what to do in her relationship. I’m sure you understand that, don’t you?” He sighed. “Although, when I brought her outside, I did tell her to end it with Arif. He’s hurting her too much just by being here.”

“Why the hell is she even with that bastard?”

“Enough with your foul words, Farouk, this is a hospital for goodness sakes!” He shook his head and I crossed my arms. “Look, I understand why you’re worried for her well-being, but you and I know that we can’t do much about this. She’s been through too much, Farouk, and to lose Arif after two years of being together… that isn’t the humane thing to do, you know.”

I looked at his face but didn’t say a word. Somehow, he was right. Somehow.

“And about her mother…” He shook his head again. “She’s not going to make it, Farouk.”

I blinked. “You lost me there. Who can’t make it?”

“Technically, it’s her mother. But in truth, both of them. Ariana’s father died when she was six years old. He was involved in a gang fight that turned bloody and he was stabbed and shot in the heart. She loved her father too much and it was sadder to watch her cry than the loss of her father,” he paused. “After his death, her mother slowly grew ill, but Ariana turned out alright. She did her school, gained wonderful grades and made a lot of friends. Then she met Arif and everything changed. Then her mother had a stroke and was sent to the hospital two months ago. That was how everything in her life turned bitter by the minute.”

“What did Arif do to her?” He hissed. “She looked like a frightened cat, father! She’s too afraid to yell or slap him! That isn’t right!”

“Try telling me what to do, Farouk! What? You’re worried about her, well imagined how long I had to stay quiet about her relationship with him? Can you imagine how many times I heard her sob, watched her cry and witness the bruises on her arms, legs and face?” He slapped a hand to his face and looked out the window. “I couldn’t bear to see her like that. I couldn’t bear keeping quiet, but we have a role to do and that is to help patients and their visitors go through a smooth-sailing tragedy, not become Dr. Phil.”

“So you’re just going to leave her like that? Leave her with a man who can’t protect her from all this, to save her from watching her mother die in front of her eyes?”

“You have to understand, Farouk,” he looked at me again, “I really am in no position to advice her on things other than her mother’s condition. Counselling her on her relationship is best left for real counsellors, not doctors.”

And with that he left, without giving me a chance to speak. I growled at his wake, looked out the window and crossed my arms. If only Mom was here, she’d solve this problem easy. I paused, looked over my shoulder to the room and sighed. I unwound my arms, walked up to it and opened the door…

“Bitch! How dare you seduce another man in front of me?”

My eyes widened. A weeping Ariana, in a foetal position and on the floor, was being kicked by none other than Arif. And that was it. That was the very last straw for me. Without hesitation, I ran up to him, lunged at him and held him down on his back with my knees and hands. I released one of Arif’s wrists and threw a hard punch to his face, making sure he feels the pain of being punched. Then I looked over my shoulder and into Ariana’s watery eyes. She had bruises on her face and arms and my anger boiled to its peak. I looked back at Arif and gritted my teeth.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, punching a girl like that in front of her sick mother?” I punched his nose. “You actually thought it’d make her feel smaller than she already was, make you stronger and mightier so you could hurt her to an inch of her life?!” I double punched him and squeezed his neck. “ASSHOLE!”

“NO!!”

Ariana climbed onto my back and pulled me away from Arif. Her arms were tight around my neck, and as I flailed my arms to breathe, Arif crawled away from me and spat into my face.

“No matter how much you hurt me, Ariana will always protect me,” he painfully laughed, “that’s how obedient she is when it comes to me,”

I struggled from Ariana’s hold but she still kept me close to her, preventing me from swinging another punch. But even before I could lunge at him again, my father ran in with a security guard and he dragged both of us out of the room, leaving Ariana with my father.

As I looked over my shoulder and at Ariana crying on my father, a feeling rose from the bottom of my heart. A sense of protection, understanding, and a willingness to sacrifice everything I got. But I just met Ariana. Why am I feeling like a pussy again?!

So how was my first chappie? OK? Too much? I cant really tell. I'll just read, edit a little and done. I have no public audience so i guess i'll just leave this job to you then. =) Do leave your thoughts in my cbox. I'd appreciate it sooo much if y'all would say something about this. Hehe. Thanks!

Oh and my Maths test went alright i guess. I'm not confident at all that i score higher than 50. Not confident at all. Tomorrow is NetFund. I dont think i can score well in this one either. But i'll try my best. Everybody does. Hehe.

XOXO!

Lana