Under His Protection

“Oh Laura, Michael will never blame you for the accident. Its not your fault that you accidentally fell off the stair, don’t ever think it’s your fault, okay?”

“But it is the truth, mum I……”

“Laura…..”

This time the tears she had been holding fell on her cheek as the vision of her mother started to blurb, Laura knew she was just saying that to ease her conscience about losing her baby.

“Look Laura…..” Her mother said, taking her hand into hers, she could feel the warmth from her hand, “…. I don’t want you to think it is all your fault, moreover you and Michael have a lot to say to each other, so……”

“No, please No!” Laura struggled clutching her mother hand, she tried to sit up from the bed as the machine started to beat wildly Making her mother ring for a nurse.

In an instant a young woman entered the room, she saw her put some medication on her IV drip making Laura feel woozy, she could feel the room spinning as she tried to stop herself from falling asleep.

The next time she opened her eyes, Laura saw the familiar dark eyes smiling at her, she temporarily closed her eyes to be sure it was not a product of her imagination, but when she opened her eyes again he was still there.

“Am I really that ugly that you can’t look at me in the face anymore?” He jested from the chair, her mother had been sitting moments ago.

“What are you doing here?”

“To check on you obviously”

Laura glanced at him questioningly, why is he sounding like everything was okay when infact it was far from okay, she closed her eyes again, her emotions were heightened now that he is here in her room, she was slightly unprepared facing him again after what happened, ” You should not be here Michael”

“Why shouldn’t I?” He asked, she could feel his gaze on her intensely, ” so the rumours are correct then, you don’t want to see me anymore.”

Laura shrugged casually, ” You heard……”

Before she had the chance to continue, he cut her off by sitting next to her stroking her face with his hand tenderly, wiping the tears from her cheek, ” you must know by now that I always want you to be my wife from the moment I set my eyes on you, I have always loved and cherish you Laura”

With his words Laura burst to tears again, ” why are you crying again?” He asked in furstration.

Wiping the tears away from her face, she shook her head, ” I don’t think I deserve the love and kindness Michael”

“What makes you say that?”

“You….” She stared at him with swollen eyes, “… you are a dependable and resilient man who I had given nothing but headache from the moment we met”

“Laura….” He held her hands into his, “… The fact that you gave me the greatest gift by loving me in return is more than enough for me, the baby is just a bonus and unfortunately we lost our little angel, but that would not lessen my love for you even for a bit”

He cradle her face with his large palm, that was when she realized his knuckles were covered with bandage, ” what happened to him?”

Seeing how rigid he body became Laura could see that Michael had comprehended who she meant without even saying the name, ” Don’t worry about him, we took care of him”

Laura shifted, fixing her gaze on him, ” what happened to him Michael?” She asked again, she was not sure why she bother to ask but part of her wants to know.

Michael eyes became cold and distant, ” he is safely behind bars, even though I would have love to end his worthless life if not for your father”

Laura shiver at the coldness in his voice, ” my dad is right, you are not a murderer”

She heard him sighed deeply, ” let’s not talk about him, shall we?”

Laura nodded with a slight smile in her face, ” I think this belong to you” he pulled out something from his pocket and slip the engagement ring in her finger, ” the police found it in one of the bedrooms which I assume was his”

Laura gasped when she remembered that japhet had removed the Ring Michael gave to her and slip his own ring into her finger without her notice.

“Please don’t ever take that off again my love” his eyes stared at her fixedly, ” I know I cannot promise to give you a life full of luxury, I can only promise you a simple life with me, but please spend the rest of your life with me Laura”

Her heart soar with love, only for him, ” Yes, I love that”

He kissed her tenderly as if she was the most fragile thing he had ever held in his arm, from that moment Laura knew they would start from the beginning.

***********

It’s been up to a month since the incident happened, it took Laura one more week at the hospital before the doctors gave her the go-ahead signal to travel back home with her family, it took her another month before they let her out of the bed on her own, Michael family visited often and she couldn’t forget the shock on their faces when they learned that the woman he is marrying to is one of the Van-Lerie’s heiress.

As Michael as promised when she learnt that she had lost her baby, they seek professionals to help them overcome the trauma and pain of losing their little Angel, but just thinking about that little angel still brought tears to her eyes before she go to sleep.

The therapist advise her to make herself busy like planing her wedding and even creating her own wedding dress so she could overcome her depression.

**********

The D-Day has come for Laura and Michael to be man and wife, they both had agreed to have a simple ceremony in his hometown and they were going to have the ceremony in the church where he first proposed, they booked the hotel closed to the church where he first proposed to her, Laura actually didn’t need a bridal car since it was just a walking distance to the church.

Now she was almost ready for the ceremony for the ceremony that was to take place few minutes from now, she was already glammed up by the professional makeup artist her mother had invited for the event.

“For a woman who is about to marry, I see no reason why she should feel like one who is being forced to do this”

Laura mother raised an eyebrow in her direction, ” are you having a second thoughts Laura?”

Laura sighed starring at the pretty flower in her hand, ” I don’t know mother maybe it’s better if you ask Michael about that question”

“What do you mean?” Instantly her mother was on her side, sitting beside her on the bed, she too was ready for the ceremony, she wore an eye catching vneck split side champagne evening gown.

Laura stared at her for a moment before shaking her head, ” well since we came back from NYC, everything has been normal except that Michael had not try to……. You know”

“Try what?” Laura grimaced when she saw the devilishly smirk on her mother’s face, she was actually waiting for Laura to finish her statement even though she is already aware of what her daughter was insinuating.

“You know that thing……”

Trisha shook her head, but the smile still playing on her lip, ” I have no idea what exactly you are talking about darling”

Laura could feel her cheek flame with embarrassment as she confined her concerns to her mother, ” well, you know….. he had not try to….. uh…. sleep with me again, I think he is Just marrying me out of pity because he feels it was his fault japhet was able to kidnap me”

Before Trisha would have the chance to reply her, a knock sounded on the door, they both turned around to see Michael peedk inside the room, he was already dressed looking extremely handsome in his suit, ” may I have a word with my bride?”

“Go away Michael!” Laura cried out in disbelief

“Why?”

“What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t you know that it is a bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony?”

Michael sighed, ” what is it that I over heard you accused me of marrying you out of pity” his intense gaze held slight anger in their depth, ” is that what you thought of me Laura?”

“Since when did you become an eavesdropper Michael?” Trisha asked acidly, literally blocking Laura appearance from him with her body and hand wide spread.

“Let me speak with him privately mother, we need this conversation before the ceremony starts”

Trisha debated for a moment before actually complying, ” Fine!” She said, throwing a clear warning in Michael’s direction, ” don’t you dare ruin her makeup”

“Absolutely ma’am”

Trisha gave them a parting glance before closing the door firmly behind her, once they were alone Laura realized her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest, she had not seen Michael since yesterday, and worse still they slept in separate room following the custom that the groom and bride cannot sleep in thesame room the night before their wedding.

“Is it true that you are really thinking that Laura?” He asked in a time that she could not fathom if he was mad at her or not.

Laura moistened her lip, ” well, I couldn’t help but to think that way since you didn’t bother to sleep with me again after all these months”

Michael stared at her incredulously, ” what am I supposed to do? Even if I badly wanted to claim you again and again each night we sleep on thesame bed, I cannot but ignore the fact that I hear you cry yourself to sleep every night, that is why as much as my body desperately want to possess you and make you mine over and over again, I had to keep myself I’m check, I don’t want to be a heartless monster forcing you to make love to me when clearly you are not ready yet.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“But iam only crying because I remember our little angel” Laura quievered, her eyes started to blurred with tears again.

Instantly Michael was on her side, kneeling beside her on the bed, ” please don’t let me receive your mother’s wrath If she sees that I have ruined your make-up” he wiped the moisten in her eyes, ” tonight my love, I promise you that there is no holding back, I can’t wait to strip this lovely dress off your body, to feast my eyes on every inch of your delectable body and make you mine over and over again, I love you very much Laura”

“I love you too Michael”

He smiled lovingly at her, it was the kind of smile that assure he that he truly love and cherish her with all his heart, he cupped her face and drew them towards his, giving her a passionate kiss, Laura looked at him with questioningly look, when the kiss was hot and quick.

” The next time I kiss you, you are already Mrs Laura Vernice, my wife”

THE END.