NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: Banned
"Amera, are you okay? Amera, can you see me now?"
Huh, Ruby?
"Ruby," I murmured after forcing my eyelid open, and she shook her head violently.
"It's me, it's Ruby," I felt her hold my hand.
"Are you okay? You were out for many hours," she leaned closer to me.
"I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"I'm okay; why wouldn't I be? I'll call the doctor." She tried to let go of my hand, but I didn't let her.
"Do you need something?" She turned back to me.
"The... the brothers," I muttered.
"The brothers?" she asked, her eyes widening.
"Yes, the brothers, are they here?"
"Yes," she nodded and then made a sad face. "They're here."
"Okay."
"Okay, I'll call the doctor now." She let go of my hand and ran outside. She returned a few seconds later with a doctor, followed by a team of nurses and residents.
"Ms. Amera," the doctor and nurses checked my signs through the EKG monitor above my head.
"How do you feel, Ms. Amera?"
"I feel okay," I whispered, finally recognizing the doctor. This is Doctor Martins; he is the best doctor in the country. And the team behind him is the best in the world. Did we transfer to a different hospital? I think we did.
The room feels different and looks more extravagant.
After the routine check, the doctor and his team left my ward, leaving me alone with Ruby.
Ruby sat beside me on the bed.
"What happened?" I asked, staring at her.
"The nurse will bring your meal in a few minutes; you should hold on."
"Yeah, can you tell me what happened? I thought something happened to you," I murmured.
"No, I'm fine. I only lost consciousness but woke up later. You were the one in danger, not me."
"Me? I can't remember that," I frowned.
"You almost died, Amera. We almost lost you. Do you know how I felt after I woke up? I felt awful, and I blamed myself for... I blamed myself..." She lowered her head and sobbed.
Why is she crying? What really happened? I forced myself into a sitting position and focused on her.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm not," she snapped. "I'm not okay."
"Oh, sorry," I mouthed, still confused. Just then, the door opened and a nurse came in.
Nurse Felicia, I also recognize her; she's always with Doctor Martins.
"Hey, Amera, I'm glad you're fine." She brought my food on a tray and set it beside me.
"Hi, Nurse," I gave her a faint smile.
"You have to eat. Do you need me to help you?"
"Oh no, I think I can help myself."
"Alright, make sure to clean the plates," she smiled before leaving.
Once she was out, I grabbed the spoon and began to eat, but I didn't find the food tasty.
"I don't like the taste," I admitted.
"But you still have to eat," Ruby frowned.
"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep making that face?" I grimaced, but she ignored my question.
"Just eat, okay?" she half-yelled, and I obliged, but I couldn't eat the whole thing.
"The brothers, where are they?" After dropping my spoon, I turned to her. She must know something since she woke up before me. I find it unusual that they're not here right now.
"They were here a while ago, but they'll be back; you don't need to worry," she answered, her face turning sad again.
"They left together? All four of them?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Where's my phone? I need to know where the brothers are," I said as I started looking around for my phone.
"It's on the table." She stood up and grabbed the phone, then handed it to me.
"Thank you," I opened the phone and saw a couple of messages from my family—my parents and my siblings. They want to know if I'm fine.
I'll call them later; I need to speak to one of the brothers now. Who should I call? Maybe Cooper. Yes, I'll call him.
I went to his number and dialed it; he picked up after a few rings.
"Where are you? Why are you not here?" I asked.
"I had some business to finish; we'll be back," he replied.
"What business?" I pressed.
"Just something that needs to be done."
I can hear Parker's voice in the background. Are they together?
"Are you with the others?"
"Uh... yeah!"
"Cooper, what are you guys up to?"
"You don't need to know our business; just focus on recovering, and also, prepare a script if you must. You have a lot of questions you'll have to answer when we return." Then the line went off.
A sigh left my lips as I lowered the phone to the bed.
"What is it?" Ruby looked at me.
"They're going to scold me, or possibly punish me for this," I said.
"Yeah," she shook her head, "they already fired your driver, Jack," she revealed.
"What? They fired him?" I gasped.
"Not only that, they also put him in jail; they said he endangered your life, and they're pressing criminal charges against him," she explained.
"No! They're not. Jack didn't..." Another sigh left my lips. This shouldn't surprise me. This is how they are. This is what they do. I should have expected such behavior from the start.
But I'll try speaking to them and hope they listen to me.
"I'm sorry about..." Ruby started to speak, but I interrupted her.
"I'm sorry about Peter. Or Paul. He used you, didn't he? It was all a lie, wasn't it?" I looked at her.
She nodded.
"Peter is the guy I told you about—the one who touched my boobs and tried to unhook my bra. Paul is his twin brother. I don't know if they worked together, but I suppose they did. They used you to get to me. I'm sorry you had to go through that," I apologized.
"No, you don't need to apologize. I'm not concerned about that right now."
"What are you concerned about then?"
"It's us," she sighed and moved closer to me. "I'm concerned about us. Our relationship."
"What about it?"
"The brothers already banned me from coming to the house; they'll also force me to transfer schools; they don't want me to contact you anymore. Today is possibly the last day I'll get to talk to you. They want me to cut off all communication with you, or else they'll fire my brother and pull all the benefits they've given my family. Not only that, they'll also charge us in court, and force us to pay back every dime they've given my family."
"What?!"