Chapter Nineteen

Their conversation woke Alex. Glancing over as she heard rustling, she saw him slip down from the bed and pad over to her sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Putting down her pencil, she carefully held the little boy climb into her lap where he nestled against her like a tiny chick, looking curiously at her drawings. Absently, she bent slightly, leaving a kiss on his forehead as she used one hand to stabilize him while picking up her drawing with the other.

“Sorry kiddo, did we wake you up?” She shifted slightly to get a little more comfortable, making sure it wasn’t going to pull anything by having him on her lap, then started her drawings again. He seemed not to hear her question, just watching her work as if mesmerized. His head drooped onto her shoulder as he fell back asleep in her arms.

Her movements were fluid as she changed out the papers, finishing off her cooling tea. Sheet by sheet, she made progress. At some point Aiden came out dressed in a suit and saw Alex, but he didn’t say anything, just pouring her another cup of tea when he saw her cup was empty. He then turned on another lamp and retreated to the couch, silently starting his own work in the early morning hours.

It was nearly an hour later when a soft knock at the door preceded it opening slightly as Assistant Zai peeked in, and seeing them awake, opened the door fully. He was carrying two large bags, with the closer one looking like takeout. Trailing slightly behind him was a tall woman. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she wore a long green loose shirt over jeans. An over-the-shoulder bag completed the look of a regular, college-aged girl. Except… she scanned the entire room, her eyes lingering on the other doors and windows as she clearly assessed threat levels. She was clearly an ‘undercover’ bodyguard.

Zai bowed, greeting them as he set his bags down. “Good morning President, Miss Vivian. Let me introduce you to Sarah Boone.” Aiden set aside his work to head to her side, gently taking Alex from her arms as Sarah quickly moved to help her up and over to the couch where the poor assistant was putting out their breakfast.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Vivian. I’ll be your assistant for the next few days.” She was certainly professional as she made sure Viv was settled properly.

“Sit down. Both of you.” Vivian ordered softly, and after a quick glance at their actual boss, Sarah and Zai both complied. Looking at the three of them, she continued, “Call a spade a spade. It’s nice to meet you, Sarah, but you’re clearly a bodyguard.” Raising a brow at Aiden, she asked, “Tell me why you think I need an undercover bodyguard.”

The man sighed, tucking an unruly strand of Alex’s hair behind his ear as the tiny tyke snuggled into his uncle’s arms obliviously. “After last night, the rumors that you were the one who called the police spread. There are… some of the women who are not reacting well to that information. The investigation team is still trying to track down the remnants of those who weren’t present in the villages. Having Miss Boone here is just a precaution.”

“I also have experience as a caretaker and assistant.” Sarah helpfully added. So basically, Aiden took one of his very talented underlings and put her in charge of Vivian for the next few days. If there were people who might actually attack her, it was probably better to be on the safe side. Especially for things like going to make her police report.

So she nodded. “Okay. Thank you for your help.” She smiled warmly at the girl, then added, “But I would really prefer you just call me Vivian. I don’t like being called miss.” Aiden frowned slightly at that, but quickly hid the reaction. Viv doubted the others had seen it, but she felt like she paid entirely too much attention to his expressions.

Clearly hesitating, Sarah finally nodded. “Very well, Vivian.”

Smiling triumphantly, she reached over and pinched Alex’s nose slightly as she said, “Good. Now it’s time to wake up and eat breakfast, sleepyhead.” Glancing at the two newcomers, she asked, “Have you eaten yet?” Assistant Zai was organizing something in the other bag he brought when she asked.

“Yes, we have, thank you.” His response was absent as he finally pulled out what he wanted, which was a smaller bag within. From it, he started pulling out unpackaged electronics, starting with a high-tech smartphone. “This is your new phone. I’ve already put in the numbers for the president, me, Miss Boone, Director Heiliger, and the old mansion.” He seemed to be reporting more to Aiden than her, but that’s probably because his boss was nodding as if he’d done a good job. Setting it on the table in front of her, he then pulled out a medium-sized laptop. “Everything on here is set up, connected to the hospital wifi, and waiting for you to create a login.”

There was a separate smaller bag that went with it that she could see had the cords for phone and computer, a mouse, and earbuds. But he was still going. “Then, we have the tablets. As instructed, you have an art tablet that is connected with your laptop for digital art. This one is for general browsing, and is the same model as the ones we’ve gotten for the women downstairs. Last, art notebooks with watercolors, markers, and colored pencils.”

That caught her attention. She hadn’t expected him to bring her more art supplies, and while they weren’t excessive collections, they were in sets of 36 and had a decent range. There was even a set of metallic markers, and one of the notebooks had black paper. At her inquisitive glance, he gave her a small smile and murmured, “You seem to enjoy drawing.”

Assistant Zai and Sarah both looked extremely shocked at the soft look on his face as he explained to her. His expression quickly evened out when he noticed them staring. “I do.” She said softly, drawing their attention back as her fingers itched to play with her new toys.

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Alex chose that moment to distract them all as he seemed to finally really wake up, sniffing cutely at the air as he asked “Breakfast?”

“Right! Breakfast. Good morning, Alex.” Vivian smiled brightly at the child as he shifted in Aiden’s arms while Zai and Sarah both quickly got to work moving her supplies and pulling the covers off.

“I wasn’t sure what you like to eat, so I got a bit of everything.” His capable assistant explained, and her smile was only getting brighter as she looked at the display in front of them. While there was a large variety of dumplings, fried dough sticks, steamed buns, and congee, there was also soy milk, fruit, and boiled eggs.

She reached for a fried dough stick before Aiden grabbed the plate, pulling it to the other side of the table as he said, “No yaotiao, bread, or dumplings while you’re injured.” Every breaded thing on the table was taken from her, and she rolled her eyes.

“You realize I’ve been eating bread every day for weeks while I’ve had this injury, right?” She was craving carbs, and was rather annoyed that he left her with only bland food to eat.

He paused, then put two dumplings in her bowl before he started dishing the rest up for him and Alex. “It’s better to be safe.” He’d given her the least breaded thing available, but it was the only meat she was getting so she grumpily stuck one into her mouth in silent protest as she dished up congee, eggs, and fruit.

Sarah looked rather amused at her pouting, quickly helping her serve things up and then removing them after. She frowned as even the food she was allowed started getting taken away from her, and her new bodyguard explained, “In your condition, you should focus on eating small, frequent meals rather than trying to eat too much at once.”

Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “Why does it sound like you know more about my condition than I’ve been told?”

Glancing at her boss, who was pointedly looking at Alex and helping the kiddo to eat, she gave a half-shrug as she replied, “I just asked the doctor what to watch for before we came in.”

Clearly wanting to change the topic and confirming that they were, in fact, trying to keep things about her condition from her, Assistant Zai jumped in and said, “I’ve got the rest of the tablets here. Should I take them down, or do you want to do it?”

Pointing her spoon at Aiden, she replied, “Don’t think I’m going to forget or that this conversation is over.” Turning to Zai, she thought about it while taking a few more bites, then decided, “I’ll go down with you because I want to check on them, but they should come from your hands.” She didn’t want people to think they were from her. Based on what they said, there were already some of the women who seemed to resent her. Why? Because she’d gotten them out, or gotten them out too late? Because she was receiving better treatment, or had made it out untouched in that one aspect? She just didn’t know.

“Sure, sure…” He trailed off and she just gave him a ‘what?’ look. He kept glancing between her and the boss who was focused on feeding Alex, then mouthed “Are you a witch? What spell did you cast on him?”

She choked on her soymilk, with Sarah scrambling to give her a tissue as she covered her mouth to stop from spraying it everywhere, coughing as it went down the wrong pipe. “What happened?” Aiden asked in concern, having entirely missed the exchange. They both hovered over her, clearly remembering they shouldn’t pat her back but not knowing what else to do. She saw Aiden hit the button to call for the nurse as her eyes burned, but no tears came out, trying to dab at her face with the napkin.

To be fair, the coughing was making everything hurt. Director Heiliger burst into the room like he was looking for a fire, only to find her hunched over and trying to contain the coughs that would not stop. “What happened?” he asked, and Sarah moved back as he tried to get at her and she attempted to wave him down.

Finally catching her breath, she groaned, “Drink just went down the wrong pipe. I’m fine.” Despite her reassurance, the BP cuff had come out again, and she sighed as she gave him access to her arm to check it yet again. He quickly moved on from it to checking the wounds that were still visible, her fingers, her throat, her eyes… which she was currently rolling at him. “I’m fine. Or is there something you’d like to tell me?”

Finally, he looked at her and sighed, then glanced at Aiden, who nodded. “It’s nothing you don’t already know. You have low blood pressure, and you had a clot in your brain. That puts a strain on everything else. Your heart strains to get blood to the rest of your body, your muscles aren’t getting enough oxygen which leads to fatigue and decreased healing, and raises the probability of infections. You need to be wary of things like dizzy spells and fainting. Not to mention that you’re dehydrated, which on top of your delicate digestive system, could lead to headaches, cramps, nausea, or constipation. As I said before, it’s a miracle you’re even alive, and we’re trying to make sure that sticks.”

Suddenly their concern about her walking around alone made a lot more sense if they were worried about her fainting and wanted someone with her at all times. He’d given her plenty of things that she could do to keep herself entertained–while seated. Sighing as she rubbed her temples, she said softly, “It would’ve been nice if you’d told me all that last night. However, I’m stronger than you think. Again, I survived this long in much worse conditions. I do have enough self-control to avoid things if circumstances are actually explained to me.” It was a straight-up castigation, and everyone but Sarah had the decency to look embarrassed.

Alex cut in softly, “Sister Vivian is sick?” The five-year-old hadn’t understood most of the big words, but he’d caught the gist and now looked on the verge of tears.

She turned to him, patting him on the head as she quickly reassured him, “I’m okay, I just need to rest and I’ll recover just fine. Don’t you worry. I’m not going anywhere.” A quick glance at the others told them she meant it to reassure them too.

He sniffled, struggling to leave Aiden’s arms, who finally deposited him on the couch between them. Hugging the tot, Alex seemed to calm down as he laid on her shoulder. Viv gave Aiden a concerned look, because this level of clinginess wasn’t necessarily normal, and he mouthed the word ‘later.’ Nodding slightly, she looked down at her little charge, leaning her good cheek against him as she slowly patted his back.

It seemed they all needed to work on their communication skills.