Chapter 7
1160 Words
GABRIELLA
I wish I could kill him.
I really did!
Maybe on the day before the wedding, I could invite him over to have dinner with me, spike his damn drink, or food, and then run away before the poison started to kick in.
I rolled my eyes at the train my thoughts had taken and shuddered in irritation. I could never do that. Not even to an enemy. And Ryker Williams was fast becoming my enemy.
As much as I hated him now, I couldn't remove the fact that he was now paying a heavy sum for my grandmother, and not only that, apparently, my nana had some debts I had not even known about. Everything, was now paid for, by Ryker Williams.
My devil in shining amor.
I clutched my bag, my stomach growling out loud from excessive hunger, for whoever cared to listen. It had been an unwise choice not to have breakfast before going to Ryker's house. And with the way our tense filled conversation had gone, neither of us talked about eating.
Gosh, he should have still offered. I thought as my stomach growled again.
"Hi, Miss Stevenson!" A nurse called from the reception counter of the where she was leaning and handing over a file tab to the receptionist. I frowned when she beckoned me over, but walked towards her anyway.
"Hi...Zara." I read the name from her name tag on her uniform. "How is my grandmother doing?" I asked, recognizing her as the nurse who had attended to nana the previous day.
She smiled. "Oh she's doing fine. I will be administering some drugs to her in a few munites, after which I am sorry, but she wouldn't be having any visitor."
I raised a brow in concern at her. "Not even me?" I mean, it's not like she was in a theatre room or something.
Zara shook her head. "Not even you. She wpuld be sleeping anyway." She looked at her wristwatch. "You have about twenty minutes." she said, then turned to take back the file from the receptionist, before saying something like 'see you later' and disapprearing down a hallway.
I inhaled, then exhaled, before making my way down to the elevator.
Well, I had to give it to Ryker. My grandmother was in an executive suit. One of the very bests the hospital had to offer.
Pecks of being rich.
The elevagtor came to a stop, and I walked out, cursing again as my stomach growled and twisted painfully.
Had I even had dinner the previous night? Or even lunch?
"Hey nana..." I greeted, bringing out my most cheerful tone as I let myself into the room with my personal keycard.
She was sitting up, with a newspaper in her hand, while she adjusted her glasses with the other. I almost rolled my eyes at her. Even in the hospital and with a condition as critical as hers, my grandmother still wanted to read the damn Daily Sun. "Oh, my child. You are here." she said, peering at me from above her glasses. I often wondered, why people who wore glasses did that. Like, bent their heads then peered at you from above their glasses like they could see you better than through the bottles or something.
And it was amusing.
"Of course I am. You know I'll rather be here, than anywhere else in the world." I giggled, giving her a hug, before plopping down in the seat next to her bed. Zara had warned me the previous day to stay away from nana's bed, and I wasn't taking my chances incase it caused her discomfort or something.
"Too bad. I would prefer you go live your life like a girl your age should be doing, and leave this old lady to fend for herself. I can assure you that the doctors and nurses are taking good care of me. Especially that nurse...what's her name? Zoe? Zaina? Something with a Z..." She was talking slower than usual, and I felt my stomach squeeze, but this time, not from hunger.
"Zara. And what kind of life do you think I would live without you in it? I would rather be here." I told her, and watched as she put her paper down on her stomach and gave me a pointed look.
"I am old, and even I need rest from you, miss-sturbborn-since-she-was-a-child."
I laughed when she referenced a name she called me every now and then. "Have you eaten, nana? I can get you something to eat. I know hospital food is a no no for you." I asked, rubbing her arm as she went back to her newspaper.
"Oh you don't need to. I had the best breakfast this morning." she answered cheerfully, without bringing the paper down so I couldn't see her face.
I frowned. "Huh? Since when did hospital food become the best breakfast?" I mean. in a hospital like Ryker's I waouldn't be surprised, but still.
She waved me off. "Oh, the menus they gave me this morning was good, but I had to decline because Frank brought me something homemade. And while I would have loved to save you some, we were too carried away and ate it all."
My eyebrows peaked, and I gasped. "Nana! You mean Frank...your neighbor?"
She brought the papers down, sporting a frown on her face. "You don't have t sound like that. He is a good friend."
But I was wiggling my eyebrows. "Oh I see..friend. I amd happy you have a good ah.. FRIEND...visiting you so early in the morning with a sumptious breakfast that the two of you ate together and got so carried away you ate it all." I teased, beginning to feel the hunger again as I spoke of food.
Nana looked at me, offended. " I hear a lot of emeotions and jabs in that sentence girl, but I have only one message. Even old people do s**t like that, so mind your f*****g business."
I laughed so hard then, and more when she joined me, smacking me with the papers.
The door pushed open, cutting off our laughter as Zara pushed a trolley in.
"Hi Rosetta!" she greeted with a smile as I got up.
My nana grunted. "Here she comes." she said in a tone that made us all laugh.
I bade her farewell, promising to come see her later, before exiting the room. My plan, simple.
Head straight to get the biggest burger I could get because I wasn't sure I will live long enough to get home prepare any kind of food. Not even oats!
But all that came to a halt when the elevator dinged, the door slid open, and the last person I wanted to see, stepped out.
"Hey, Gabriella." Alexander said, a small smile on his lips.
I had never felt the need to puch someone in the face like I did at that moment. Never.
- Writer
