"No, not now, I don't think it's going to be a good idea having that talk at the moment... Must not know that I know right now... Will get hyper, of course... No stress should be... It was quite a serious instruction."

The hushed voice and unfinished sentences resounded delicately and breached the walls of Sofia's sound sleep.

Sofia woke up at the sight of Max pocketing his phone and then shrugging on his coat. Must be a client he had been talking to, she thought.

He was strolling out the closet, the humongous lavish closet, and as he went into the bathroom, he kept the door open behind him. She saw him neatly brushing back his hair with a small, black comb that most men use because it's easy to carry and whatsoever. And truly, he pocketed that comb and turned around to walk back into the room.

She should have turned away her gaze, should have faked that she was asleep. It would have been much wiser if she did any of those and thus successfully dodged his attention. But sadly, she did none and just stared.

Maybe it was because there is something about looking at a man getting ready for work.

Max halted dead on his track as his eyes fell on her. He quirked a brow.

Sofia blinked. Her hands were about to quickly bring the covers over her face, but then she thought highly against it considering that would be a really childish thing to do. So she just settled on keeping her face blank and looked away, yawning, as though all kinds of boredom resided in this room.

She stiffened hearing footsteps coming near the bed as she still lay lethargically halfway tucked inside the comfy covers. But then she saw him stop at the bedside table, getting his wristwatch.

"You've been caught."

"Doing what?" Sofia snapped, half feeling like a thief but still holding onto her pride—too tight, yep, sounded just like a thief. Bloody darn it.

"Ogling me," his reply was nonchalant.

"Ogling you!" she was clearly offended and he needed to know it. "I just woke up and you were right there. And besides, it's hard to not look at a giant elephant rampaging about the room." Now she took it too far, she had to admit, but it was all his fault, really. Why pick up an argument with her that she was definitely not planning to lose!

He was sliding on the wristwatch, with his back facing her. She noted the suspicious shaking of his shoulders.

Bloody darn it all to hell.

Was he laughing at her?

She couldn't say for sure though, because when he moved and she saw the side of his face there was next to no hint of a laugh on his face. He looked as unemotional as a brick wall.

When he was gathering his things inside his briefcase and she was covertly watching his moves—because, just in case—he said over his shoulder, "I'll have to go to the court today, there's an important hearing. I'll be back early though. And... if you need anything, Debbie will be always around. Don't go near the stairs, don't try to get into the bathtub alone if you choose to take a bath, don't try to run down the corridor, don't miss your meals, and most importantly don't forget to take your medicines. Debbie has a copy of your prescription, so she will help you with those meds every time."

By the time he finished, Sofia had the most dangerous scowls formed on her face. It was so mighty that when he was done with his briefcase and turned around, he immediately did a double take.

"First of all," Sofia said in a deadly calm voice while lifting herself up into a sitting position. "I'm not a child, so stop treating me like one. Second," she paused with a huff, her anger climbing up a notch to give way for a more sensitive—more crucial matter. "Did you sleep in the same bed as me last night?"

She couldn't read the answer from his face, because it looked quite unreadable. No wonder, he was a splendid lawyer.

But she needed to know. She needed to know whether what she could remember from last night was a dream after her nightmares. Or did any part of it happen in real? She couldn't solely rely on her own memories, for they were too foggy because of the powerful meds and her own exhausted mind.

Contrary to her expectation about getting an answer, he countered with another question. "What do you think, Sof?"

She wondered if he knew the effect it had on her when he called her that. It was different from when others used that same shortened version of her name.

It made her feel fuzzy the way Sof rolled around his tongue, the way it came out of his mouth so softly, so attractively.

Something knotted in the lowest low of her belly and she covered her shivers with another scowl. "Did you, by any chance, call me hell-dog?"

There she had put it forth, though she did not know if it was a nice idea to tweak this topic to this level. But her brain was on autopilot, her mouth pathetically filter-less. She could see she was about to crash, yet what could she do, the need to know was all-consuming. She needed to know if by any chance, he'd uttered that nickname he'd given her when she gave her one so many years ago.

"Who else would, Sof, who else would?" he asked, tilting his head, his face wearing a look as though he had asked one of the thoughtful questions in the world.

He did truly, didn't he? And it shook her to the core. He was blowing off the dust to reveal what was lost, but for what reason? It made her mad that she could not decipher.

"You slept on the same bed with me! Even after getting kicked out, you haven't learned the lesson," she accused fiercely, pointing at him with great ire.

What he did in reply was just narrow his eyes and then motion with his chin towards the long sofa across the room. Sofia followed and saw there was a pillow and a comforter over there, ruffled, clear signs of someone sleeping there.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open slightly. Was it truly a dream then last night?

"But do you want me to?"

She snapped her face to look back at him, brows pulling together in question. "Huh?"

He clarified, now motioning towards the empty space on the bed beside her.

Her cheeks flared, and she didn't know it was from fury or embarrassment or something else entirely.

She replied to him by grabbing a pillow and throwing it in his direction. Unfortunately, it hit the door as he hastily slipped out of the room and slammed it close behind him.

What a bastard.

After freshening up and having breakfast Sofia called Simmy.

"You don't worry about the diner, Sofi, it's all real smooth over here," Simmy told her with confidence.

"But you'll call me if anything goes wrong, I'll be there immediately no matter what."

"But you must take rest—"

"I'm not dying, Simmy, I'll not die because of these mere injuries." The diner was the ground beneath her feet at the moment; Sofia couldn't fathom what would become of her if it was lost from her.

She spent a good couple of hours after that on phone, keeping in touch with one of her employees or another, wanting to make it seem like she was right there and not on a bloody sick leave.

After having lunch, she tried concentrating on TV but dozed off almost immediately. She felt too lethargic and she blamed it on the medicine.

She woke up in sweats and screaming very later, just after sunset, Debbie had shaken her awake.

There was fright and worry written all over the girl's face, Sofia noted as she lifted herself up to sit on the bed. "Don't worry—just nightmares." And Sofia didn't know who she was trying to console more—Debbie or herself.

"I tried waking you up earlier," Debbie said after some time. "But you were sleeping so deep and I didn't have the heart to disturb you, so I left." She arranged food on the tea table and Sofia watched, swiping a hand on her face and neck, feeling and wiping off the beads of perspiration.

"Supper," Debbie announced straightening up, with a beaming smile that Sofia couldn't help reflect.

Sofia strolled out—more like limped out of the bedroom with the help of her elbow crutch. She so wanted to holler down the corridor and climb the stairs, go downstairs and cook up a storm in the kitchen, just to show her refusal to comply with Max's orders. She still couldn't stomach the way he'd commanded her in the morning about how her day should pass. He had no right.

But it was also true that she was dubious of the consequences of her actions today, after all, she was freshly out of the hospital yesterday and she was not sure if her foot would be able to take all the brunt.

Maybe after a few days. She thought. Yes, she decided, she was going to try the stairs a few days later when hopefully the stubborn ache would die down and she was not going to give anyone any preludes about it.

She went to the banister and looked down the stairs.

She might have lost herself in myriad thoughts in her mind—confusions, doubts, and a certain odd, so-called-husband. When Debbie called her she jumped in surprise.

"I hope you're not thinking to go downstairs, ma'am," Debbie said cautiously, looking at the stairs and then back at Sofia's foot.

Sofia sighed. "Not yet. And please call me Sofia."

"Of course, ma'am."

Debbie trailed behind Sofia as she went back to the master bedroom at the far end of the corridor. The girl even offered to run her a bath but Sofia denied it. She wanted to get back onto her feet as fast as possible, literally. So she ran a bath by herself and got out of her clothes. It was tricky to get into the tub while putting weight on only one foot and avoiding stressing her midriff, but Sofia managed. She sighed and closed her eyes as the warm water succumbed to her. The bath worked like magic on her muscles.

She came back to the room with eyes half closed and her nakedness covered just by a fluffy robe.

For a fraction of a second, she stood by the foot of the bed, staring at the inviting softness with a little fear. What if the horrors of her nightmares came back again? And for a fact, she knew they would.

But sleep coated over her eyes won, forcing her to lower to the mattress and slip inside the covers. She cooed in comfort, she sucked in a breath in apprehension, and prepared herself for the battle that she did not know if she would win this time.

And right when the familiar shadows began lurking closer, strong and warm arms covered her being, they drove all the monsters away. Sofia felt herself being yanked back from the dark pit and into safety.