Until I Met You

Okay Ariel.

Don’t panic. Think positive. Maybe the doctor’s took her out for some treatment and they couldn’t do the treatment in her room.

What if they shot her again?

What if she’s kidnapped?

What if she’s dead?

What if-?

Jesus , for Christ sake think positive. If anything happens to her , her parents will never forgive me. No matter how hard I try to apologise.

” What the fuck! Where the fuck is she? She was right here , right?” Piper rambles.

I think I’m the only one who’s panicking.

” Okay. We should look at the bright side. She might be around. Let’s check under the bed. Maybe she was attacked by some weirdo and she was pushed under the bed.” I say.

Piper looks at me weirdly and blink her eyes. God , why’s this even happening in the first place. Obviously I know why , I said i don’t want a college student as a boyfriend and then I chose to date a mystery man called Gray Carter. So much for falling In love. Piper and I made a mistake by looking under the hospital bed and then we freaked out.

” What the fuck!” Piper scream out panicking.

The doctor Kayla , rushes in as she stares at us totally baffled.

” What the hell is going on in this hospital of yours? Where’s she?” I ask and point to Alexa’s bed.

” What are you talking about?” The doctor stutters.

” There’s a fuckin dead body under her bed and she’s no where to be found.” Piper yells.

Another doctor walks in and it’s a man. He looks at us totally bewildered. It’s like he heard our conversation.

” What’s going on?” The male doctor asks.

” Our friend was admitted here and she’s in coma. We came in to check on her and she’s no where to be found. There’s a dead man under her bed. What is wrong with this hospital?” I cross my arm and whimper.

I just saw a dead body and just a little hope is the only thing that’s keeping me from panicking. Infact I panicked. The male doctor squat to look under the bed as he gasp. He drags the body out and his face was covered with his suit jacket. I look the other side as the doctor removed the jacket from his face.

” Holy fuck.”

I dart my head back to the body and it’s a man. He has tattoos because few are seen around his neck. He was stabbed in the eyes and it’s obvious it was a syringe and lastly he looks pale.

” He was overdosed.” The male doctor says and stand to his feet.

” Overdosed?” Piper and I ask.

” Yes. Maybe he came here to hurt her and probably overdose her but he couldn’t succeed. Now the question is , who overdosed him instead? And where’s the patient?”

” We’re not dectectives. You should be answering that , not us.” Piper replies , sarcastically.

I walk to the body to take a proper look at it. It’s a Russian man. My mind snap to one person. Vladimir. He sent him to kill her but someone else killed him and kidnapped her body. But who?

” Look , we don’t care who did it but , you should look for our friend. She can’t go missing just like that. What’s even wrong with your staff? Your jobs was to look after your patients and not to get busy while intruders try to murder them.” I scoff and drag Piper out of Alexa’s hospital ward.

” Who do you think would wanna kill her again?”

” Same person who shot her?”

” Vladimir.”

I nod.

” But why? I mean he shot her once and why’s he trying to kill her again?”

” It’s obvious. He didn’t succeed in taking her life and he found out she’s still alive. He needs to complete the mission.” I sigh as we step out of the hospital.

Nick rolls down the window of my car and step out.

” Everything okay princess? How’s Alexa? Is she okay?” He asks.

I sigh and cross my arm and shake my head sideways. ” She’s missing.”

” The fuck! What you talking about?”

” We checked in , in her ward and she’s no where to be found. We saw a dead Russian man under her bed and he was overdosed.” I explain.

” Vladimir?” Nick asks. I nod.

” He’s out of the country , right?”

” Exactly my point. If someone tried to overdose her and he couldn’t. Then who took her body? She’s in coma right?” Nick asks and I nod again.

” Ariel , you’re not safe if she’s missing. Someone who took her body might come after you. You should skip work today.”

” And get fired ?”

” You’re Gray’s girlfriend , no one’s gonna fire you.”

I scoff and walk past him to get in the car. I slide into the passenger seat and shut the door.

” I’m gonna take the cab.” Piper says from outside.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

” Get in Piper , Nick’s gonna drop you off.” I turn to look at her and motion for her to get in. She shrugs and get in the backseat.

Nick huffs and enters the driver’s seat and ignite the engine. I turn on the radio as he begins driving.

” So what are you planning to do Ariel?” Piper asks.

I glance briefly at her through the rearview mirror. I sigh and look back at the window.

” I swear I don’t know.” Maybe I just want my normal life back. Not some hard life where I can’t be free from psychotic shooters.

” I’m gonna talk to Gray about it. Manny’s gonna look through the ward for any suspects.” Nick utters.

” But how come they don’t have surveillance cameras around the hospital? For fuck’s sake , they are supposed to be watchful of their patients not the other way round.” Piper says.

” I’m scared.” I mutter to myself.

I give Piper’s direction to Nick and he stops in front of her apartment.

” Bye , Ariel. Becareful okay.”

” Sure. Regards to Brandon.” I smile at her and she nods.

She gets out of the car and shuts the door.

” I need to be at work today.” I say to Nick once we’re at the road.

” Ariel your cousin is missing. The least you could do is stay guarded.”

” So you’re saying I’m not allowed to go to work? Nick, I skipped work yesterday.”

” And you’re not gonna die if you skip today. I need to take you to Gray’s house. It’s my responsibility to see to your safety or I’m gonna pay with my life.”

” Fine. Can we go to her apartment ?”

” No. I need to drop you off first. I’m sorry Ariel.”

I chew on my bottom lip and look out the window. After several attempts of talking to Nick to take me home so I can I go to work , it was fruitless. He halts the car in the garage and we get out. God I’m back to his house again. I shut the car angrily and walk ahead of him to the house. I cross my arm and glance around the living room. Gray’s talking with Reid and Manny is at the corner with his hands in his slacks pockets.

Gray smokes his cigarette while Reid is smoking a pipe. Gray hasn’t noticed me yet. He’s busy talking about Cage’s arrival and I’m left to wonder who’s really this Cage.

” Boss.” Nick appears from beside me.

He turns around and his eyes falls on my form. I sigh and walk past them to his bedroom upstairs. I shut the door and fling my bag on the couch. I crouch next to it and turn the TV on.

” Tinkerbell.” I hear that all too familiar voice.

He sits next to me on the couch and kisses my temple.

” Gray, I skipped work today. ”

” I know. Nick told me.” He says, barely audible as he kisses my hair again.

” Alexa is sorta of missing. We visited the hospital and she’s not there except for the dead body of a Russian man whom I believe Vladimir must have sent him. Why’s this happening Gray? Will this ever end?”

” Come here.” He coo’s and bring me to sit on his lap.

” I don’t want you to worry okay. She will be fine. I already send Carl and Nick to check out what happened. Vladimir is out of the country. I wanted to give him a single message and the bitch is no where to be found. And about your internship , I’ll take care of that. Theo won’t say a word , i promise you.” I sigh and nod.

” Happy now?” He asks and caresses my hips. I chuckle and shake my head sideways.

” What if they come after me ?”

” Then they have to come through me first. I won’t hold back in hurting Vladimir this time.”

” Thanks , Jamal.”

” Don’t call me that.” He whispers and spank my hips. I giggle and thread my fingers through his hair. I raise my head to look at his face and his eyes.

” You’re supposed to be at work today.”

” I left afterwards. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He whispers and kisses my cheek.

” How was class?”

” Great.” I sigh and rest my head on his shoulders.

” How’s Kennedy?”

” I think she’ll be fine.”

” You think? Gray , you’re her uncle. It’s your responsibility to know if she’s fine.”

” God i know. I have a lot of things to handle lately.”

” Killing people?” I ask and sit up properly to look into his eyes.

” Part of it.”

” Must you kill people?” I ask and try to get of his lap. His hands grabs my waist and pulls me down.

” You should know me better by now. It’s part of my job.”

I roll my eyes and trail my fingers down his chest. His bullet wound is already healed and the stitches is also healed a bit leaving behind a pink scar that’s fading gradually.

” Are you hungry? Should I order McDonald’s?” He asks.

” Okay.” I kiss his cheek and kiss down to his jawline. His eyes flutter shut as I kiss down to his neck. I kiss the corner of his mouth and fully take his lips into mine. At first he didn’t kiss back but his eyes are shut. I nibble on his bottom lip and suck on before kissing his upper lip. He opens his eyes and kiss back. He takes charge of the kiss and next moment I’m already moaning in his mouth.

We stop kissing and we break from the kiss.

” Reid’s waiting downstairs.” I say.

He smirks and chuckles.

” I’ll tell Manny to order food.”

I nod and get off his lap. I fall on the bed and pick up the TV remote control. Gray walks to the edge of the bed and leans his hands at the edge hovering over my face.

” Once all this shit’s over , we’re gonna go to Hawaii.” He kisses my forehead and walk out of the room.

I smile and bite my lip nervously. When this is over. So when will this be over? Cause I’m already fed up.

••••

Later in the evening , I drive back to my apartment. Or let’s say Gray actually drive me to my apartment in my car. Nick pull up behind us so he would drive Gray back to his house. He leans closer to me and tuck my loose hair behind my ear. We stare at each other for seconds and no one’s willing to break the silence.

” I think we should teach you how to shoot a gun. Or maybe how to punch.” He smirks and runs his thumb pad on my lips.

” I can punch.” I defend myself.

” You sure about that?” He asks , calmly still rubbing his thumb on my bottom lip. His thumb graze against my teeth and he smirks. Just his little attempt automatically turns me on. His eyes watches me carefully and we’re so close.

I gently bite his thumb and licks it. His gaze move from my eyes to my lip and I can tell he’s getting hard.

” Not the time Gray.” I bite his thumb and take it out of my mouth.

” Fuck.” He cusses and sit properly , leaning his head against the car seat.

” I dont want you to go. Spend the night with me.” He says.

” You know I can’t. I’ve been pretty occupied lately. I need to focus on school. I have like three school work I haven’t done yet. I will stay the weekend.” I kiss his cheek and poke it.

He chuckles and nod.

” Goodnight.”

He smiles and cups my cheek to kiss me. I run my fingers down his hair to his nape as we kiss. He bites my bottom lip and smirks between his devilish bite.

” Dream about me ?”

” Yes , daddy.” I wink at him as we step out of the car. Great , my bottom lip hurts a bit.

He throws my car key at me and I catch it. That wasn’t easy though. He pulls me to give me a hug and kiss my hair. We pull away from the hug and I turn to walk into my apartment building. I turn around and his other car that Nick’s driving already drove out. I take the elevator to my floor and step out. I unlock the door and open it. I shut it and the living room is a bit dark except for the TV light. I walk to the living room and see Leslie sitting next to a guy on our couch opposite the TV. They are watching a movie.

She jolts in shock when she sees me. The guy adjusts the blanket over his groin and that’s when I noticed it’s her ex boyfriend , Hayden. She was giving him a handjob obviously. I chuckle and shake my head sideways as I walk down the hallway to my room. I drop my bag on the chair of my dresser and undress my self to take a shower. After taking my bath , I arrange the few books I’ll need at school tomorrow on my nightstand as I lay down to sleep.

~~~~~~

My alarm woke me up the following morning. I hit the snooze button and brush my teeth. I have class in less than a hour and I’m really exhausted. Alexa is missing and some freak holes are after my life. This isn’t how I planned college. I brush my teeth and go to the kitchen to prepare toast , since it’s the easiest thing to make as breakfast. The doorbell rings and I stalk to the door.

Leslie is still sleeping or probably she must have gone out. Who must that be? I twist the doorknob and open the door only to see who I didn’t expect to see. She smiles at me and caresses her puppy’s fur. I look down at her and she’s fine , even dressed in her savage attire and ready for school.

” Alexa ?”

” Hi, cousin.”