Chapter 33- DOC

Do not tell him, he will just laugh at you. Her mind taunted her and just like that, doubt crept into her mind. She looked away from him and looked beyond the window and she looked beyond all that was happening.

Leonardo could feel it in his guts that his question had upset Aurora but he knew that he had to push through. He needed to know more about the woman that he was destined to spend his entire life with, the sooner the better.

Taking his hand, placing it beneath her chin, turning her face to face him in his eyes and his eyes glittered and so did hers.

You look so beautiful. He complimented her but only mentally, the thought of telling her all these sweet words scared him. They were just strangers and the sooner he realized that, the better for the both of them.

'Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him and for just a second, he was tempted to tell her how her beauty had trapped him in her web.

'Nah, I thought that there was something in your eye. But honestly, why were you so good when bandaging me up?" he repeated his earlier question.

'Promise, you won't laugh at me?" she asked him, surprised that Aurora would even have to ask that of him, so he nodded his head in agreement. 'Well I have always wanted to be a doctor" She told him.

Leonardo raised his eyebrow, seemingly surprised that she would choose such a noble profession. He had thought that she would have mentioned being an influencer or some fashion icon but here she was, wanting to be a doctor.

'I… I honestly am surprised that you would want to be a doctor" Leonardo told her truthfully. Her face went blank, so much that Leonardo began worrying and it seemed as though with every passing minute, her fears were being realized.

'I know it's weird that someone like me would want to be a doctor"

Someone as poor as me. Someone who has been promised a chance to study but only to be lied to all the time. Aurora thought to herself but only for her to let the words die in her heart. This side of her can never be revealed, even to Leonardo.

'No it's not weird. What inspired you to be a doctor?" Leonardo genuinely asked her, her face lit up like a brightly lit bulb but just as quickly as it lit up, she dimed again.

'My parents did not think that it was wise for me… of me to pursue my dream" Aurora responded to Leonardo, lying. She could not bear to tell Leonardo that she was too poor to afford her tuition; she could not bear the thought of telling him that her mother was what people considered a no body in society and her father was unknown.

'Well you could become a doctor now"

'How?"

'Well you are married to me therefore you no longer need your parent's permission and come to think of it, it would be quite cute to have a super hero as a wife" Leonardo teased. The smile on his face and his encouraging words meant more to Aurora than anything, he actually believed in her.

'Thank you" she said, her tone of voice low, as he tried to stop her tears from falling.

'Why would you thank me?" He asked her, puzzled by her thankfulness.

'Not many people believed in me" Leonardo choked up, he too could remember a time where his dream of becoming a teacher was frowned up, and he was made to feel as though his dream was a taboo in the eyes of the world. Constantly reminded that his occupation would not suit his status as an heir to a multi-million dollar estate.

'Well, I do and I will make sure that you become a doctor, no matter what"

'Promise?" she asked him, holding so much joy in her heart and eyes.

'Yes why not?" he asked her, to his surprise; Aurora leaned in and wrapped her arms around him, shutting her eyes and allowing the emotions to fill her.

'Thank you" she whispered. Leonardo wrapped his arms around her too, allowing the heat from her body to blend with that of his.

So this is what my wife feels like. He thought to himself and smiled.

**
The drive home was silent, for the first time both Aurora and Leonardo had held each other and allowed themselves to be driven away by comfort. She wrapped her hands around herself, as the evening wind started setting in but too afraid to tell Leonardo.

Leonardo stretched out his hand, turned the heater on and went back to driving his car as though nothing had happened.

'I saw that you were getting cold and next time don't be afraid to tell me when you're getting cold, I don't want my wife getting cold" his words calm and collective.

Her face heating up as Leonardo said those words, again, he referred to her as his wife and not as Avena.

'Ok" she responded. Turning her face away from him as she was shy. They arrived at the mansion in which Leonardo parked his car and just like before, he unlocked the door for her. Upon entering the house, a strange feeling washed over Aurora, something was not right and she could feel it.

'Is there something wrong?" Leonardo asked her, coming closer to Aurora and holding both her arms as he turned her to face him.

'I just feel like there is something wrong… but it's probably nothing and I'm just overreacting" she forced a smile, not wanting Leonardo to worry about anything.

'Sure but—"

'Signor Leonardo!!" both Aurora and Leonardo raised their heads, looking at the direction of the stairs as one of their helpers called out his name. Her face was pale and her eyes red, she looked as though she had been crying for quite some time.

'What is it?" Aurora stepped forward, the maid placed her hand over her mouth as to stop herself from sobbing.

'Did you not hear what my wife said? She asked you a question!" This time Leonardo stepped in raising his voice at the young woman.

'It's your mother, she's upstairs—" without waiting for a response, both Leonardo and Aurora ran up the stairs, climbing two steps at a time. Leonardo burst into his mother's room followed by Aurora who was just as panicked.

Seeing his mother once more, laying on the bed with the doctor not far tending to her. Without thinking about his actions, Leonardo walked towards his mother's bed, sat next to her and held her hand in his.

'Mother, please wake up" he pleaded but his mother lay on her bed as though she was in a comatose state. Turning his head to the doctor and looking for signs that his mother was alright.

'Calm down Leonardo, your mother will be okay. Right now all she needs is some rest" the doctor told him but even as Aurora stood at the entrance of the room, she could tell that the doctor's words were not enough to put Leonardo at ease.

'What happened?" he asked the doctor, holding onto his mother's hand even tighter than before as streams of tears rolled down his face.

'She was stressed and that was why she fainted. I am leaving now; I have left a few medications with instructions" The doctor told him, as he packed his equipment away.

'I will make sure that mother takes her medications at all times" Aurora offered from where she stood, not knowing what she had agreed to until the words left her mouth.

'Okay, here are the pills" The doctor told her. Aurora walked towards the doctor and retrieved the medication from him. She turned her head looking at Leonardo who in return looked back at her, muttering a ‘thank you' under his breath.

'Mother is going to be okay" Aurora told him, placing her hand on his shoulder, hoping to bring him some sort of comfort.

'It's all my fault"

'No it is not your fault and I do not ever want you to ever say that. Mom is fighting her own demons and that has nothing to do with you" Aurora tried reassuring him but nothing she said seemed to have had no effect on him.

'I'll sleep here in her room" Leonardo offered as he sadly looked down on his sick mother, who lay lifeless on her bed.

'No you will not... father will—" she stopped herself, realizing that her father in-law was nowhere in sight.

'If you are wondering where my father is, do not bother yourself because he doesn't care what happens to my mother" his words had come out harsh and filed with anger. This side of Leonardo was a side that she dreaded seeing, this was not the man that she had seen a while ago.

'It doesn't matter, you need to rest" to her surprise, Leonardo stood up from his mother's bed, kissed her hand and was slowly walked away, leaving Aurora behind. She ran towards him, tripping over her feet just as Leonardo turned to face her.

Both of them landing on the floor with her on top of him, looking into each other's eyes but saying nothing to one another.

'Maybe we should—" both of them said in unison but stopped halfway, embarrassed at the scene.

'I will get off you" Aurora pressed onto his hard, toned chest and got off him and Leonardo slowly followed behind.

'I apologize"

'No need to apologize, I was the one that tripped. Anyway, we have to go" she told him. They walked towards the exit at the same time and stopped.

'You can walk through first" he told her, nodding her head in agreement, Aurora walked out first. Without any control, Leonardo's eyes traveled landing on Aurora's swaying hips.

Stop thinking such things Leonardo! He warned himself. Lusting over his wife was something he refused to do, especially when his mother was in a bad condition.

'Are you coming?" Aurora asked him, not turning back to look at him.

'Yes I am!" he answered, following right behind his wife as she walked towards their room. He stopped as he saw that Aurora stood in front of their door rather than entering into their room.

'Why have you stopped?" he asked her and even with the hallway lights dimmed, he could see that she was studying him carefully.

'I know that this is the wrong time to ask you all this but this afternoon, you were upset about something, what was it?" she asked. The question had weighed on her mind almost the entire day and it was only now that she could ask him.

Leonardo batted his eyelids, he had hoped that Aurora would forget the embarrassing display that he had put up in the morning but here she was, reminding him of the sadness that filled his heart.