Chapter 74: Pinky Promise

< Shirley >
"How is your wound?" I asked Dylan when I saw him wince in pain as he picked me up in his arm.
"It is fine," he responded curtly. I didn't inquire about him anymore since I knew he would not speak the truth.
Nonetheless, I locked my arms around his neck and nuzzled my head in the crook of his neck, hiding myself from the corpses that awaited me.
As we walked out of the room, I saw blood on the floor.
"Don't look," Dylan whispered immediately, and I nodded. "Yes, it was a success. Shirley is secured," Dylan informed Riley, who was connected through the micro earpiece.
"They said it was just three of you. Why just three? Where are the other men?" I asked him.
"Sienna warned all the men not to help me. Only Xavier and Adrian were willing to help. Riley was totally against it though. He came along nonetheless. He is waiting in the car. Xavier and Adrian are cleaning up the mess," Dylan replied.
Riley wasn't much of a fighter; he was that mad genius who would crack you up with their theories. Xavier was... just like John said before dying, a killing machine. Obviously, I wouldn't have any idea about my brother's killing skills.
"Wasn't it risky?" As I asked that question, I started to feel fuzzy. My head started to ache.
"Don't be ridiculous. Those men don't know how to use guns properly, Shirley. They stand no chance against two executives and their leader who are trained to use all sorts of weapons," Dylan hissed with full confidence.
I heard a few footsteps approaching us. I clutched onto Dylan's shirt tightly, fearing for any enemies.
"Oh, my gosh! What happened to her? She looks beaten up." I heard Adrian's voice. I peeked over at him. He flashed me a small assuring smile and patted my hair softly. "We need to get her to a hospital."
"Shirley doesn't look too good, neither do you, Dylan. You look like you will faint anytime." At Xavier's word, I looked up at Dylan who indeed looked paler than before. His breathing was uneven as well.
"Whatever. Let's go. Adrian, confine that Ryan dude. Xavier, burn down this warehouse. Leave no proof."
"Consider it done, Boss." Both of them went separate ways, and we walked out of the rundown warehouse.
Outside Riley was waiting. He rushed to us warily and said, "Thank Goodness, you are not looking as bad as I thought, Shirley."
"Riley, we need to get her treated as soon as possible," Dylan ordered.
"Get in the car then," Riley said, sitting on the driver's seat and we sat in the back seats.
I rested my head on Dylan's shoulder as he secured his arms around me.
"How did you guys find out where I was?" I questioned all.
"I suspected of that Ryan from the very day he tried to frame me for attempt to murder him. So, I made Riley hack into Ryan's phone to find out the location. Not to mention, you made out with that creep—"
"Can you get over it already?" I retorted with a flat look, and Riley chuckled.
"No, I can't. The thought is so infuriating. No one can kiss you, except me. I want to kill him, but I won't. I will make him pay for hurting you," Dylan uttered, clenching his jaw.
"You are impossible, Dylan. But please, don't kill him. You can torture him, but don't kill him. He was a fri—" he interrupted me.
"I don't fucking care."
I said sternly, "But I do. Riley, back me up."
Riley glanced at us weirdly through the rear view mirror. "I think she is right, Dylan. I mean, no matter how you look at it, Ryan Vincent is the son of an influential businessman and he himself is a businessman too," said Riley, and I was grateful to him.
"So, what am I? Beggar? And I don't have any influence?" Dylan replied with sarcasm lacing his voice.
I giggled and all of a sudden, my head started aching badly. I started to see everything blurry.
"No, that's not what I mean. I am your consigliere, your advisor. Of course, I will give you the best ideas. Why engage in petty—" The pounding headache increased drastically.
Just then everything blacked out.
___
I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling. I sat up and looked around my bedroom. There was lingering pain all over my body. Each of my wounds had been aided already.
My eyes scanned around the room until it stopped on a shirtless Dylan. He was sleeping on his stomach beside me, on my bed.
OMG! I am going to scream!
Sadness washed over me when I noticed the bandage around his body. I touched his back while biting my lower lip.
I glanced at the wall clock to find it was two in the morning. Also, it seemed like I had been sleeping for the whole three days or something; that's what the calendar said.
I decided to get up. As soon as I stood on my wobbly feet, pain shot up on my legs. I winced and sat down on the bed.
"Argh!" I groaned in pain.
Dylan jumped out of my sleep and frantically asked, "What happened, Shirley? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am all right," I replied, though my whole body writhed with pain.
"Why are you up? Take rest. You don't have to get up." He made me lay back.
"But Dylan, I don't want to," I whined.
"No, the doctor advised you to take two weeks of bed rest. And also, I am sorry. I know you need to stay at the hospital, but it's kind of risky," he explained and pulled the comforter over me and kissed my forehead. "Take rest. Do you want to eat anything?"
"Aren't you supposed to take rest as well? As far as I know, if someone gets shot, they need to take bed rest for at least two week. And look at you," I mumbled. I was concerned for his health, although it has been almost six days since he got shot.
He responded, "I don't care about that. It doesn't hurt, anyway. So, tell me what do you want to eat?"
"Nothing. Just sleep with me," I assured him.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you want painkillers?" he asked, and I nodded immediately.
"Yes, please."
He made me drink the water with the painkillers. The pain started to subside a bit. Then Dylan laid down beside me. I grinned and snuggled close to him, making sure not to hurt him.
When our faces were literally a few inches apart, I asked him, "Dylan, do you really love me?" I wanted to confirm, unless that was a dream.
He softly pecked my lips and said, "Yes, I do. What about you?"
"Yeah, I love myself too," I teased.
He chuckled and muttered, "Idiot."
I giggled and told him, "I love you too, idiot."
"Okay, enough of it. If you weren't in this condition, then we could have been doing something else right now." He kissed the bridge of my nose, and I blushed. He let out, "So, get well soon, my love."
"Before that, I want you to promise me something. Will you keep that promise?" I asked nervously.
"What might that be?"
"You have to promise to never leave me," I said, looking him straight in the eyes.
Without a second thought, he spoke up, "I promise not to ever leave you. I will always be there for you." His lips curved into a genuine smile.
"Pinky promise?" I held up my pinky finger in front of him.
He sighed and entwined our pinky fingers, saying, "Pinky promise."
___
"Wake up," a deep husky voice whispered in my ears, blowing some warm air on my face.
I felt tingly and smiled in my sleep.
"If you don't want waffles, then it's all mine," the same voice grumbled.
I opened my eyes at the mention of waffles and met the familiar grey eyes staring at me.
But something was different. Like always, his eyes weren't blank. Now, they held love and affection. Only for me.
He kissed the bridge of my nose teasingly. He mumbled, "Get up now, sleepyhead."
I wanted to kiss those soft lips of his so badly. But—wait, I don't have to hold back my desires anymore.
I grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him closer. His warm breaths fanned on my face. Before I could press my lips on his, his phone rang up.
Stupid phone!
"You can freshen up. I will serve breakfast for you," Dylan mumbled, taking his cell phone and leaving the room.
I pouted sadly and went to the bathroom to freshen up, not before grabbing a pair of comfortable t-shirt and shorts.
I brushed my teeth and went to take a bath. I took off all the bandages. I removed my earlier tee and was about to take off my shorts when Dylan barged in.
"Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry. I thought the door was closed." He turned around immediately. Shit!
I, sometimes, used to leave the door open because I live alone. It totally slipped my mind that Dylan was here as well. "Icametotellyouthatdonotusethewater," he rambled so fast; his words made no sense.
"What?"
"I just came to tell you that don't use the water on your wounds. Doctor has forbidden it because there's some weird lotion type stuff applied there," he said clearly this time. I noticed his face was red with embarrassment.
I couldn't help but coo at him. He was just so adorable.
"I shou— should leave."
"I thought you liked the view." I smirked.
"No, I mean, yes, no, yes, yes, I do. I mean, whatever. It's weird," he rambled and rushed out of the bathroom in a hurry.
I should be the one to be embarrassed, rather he became the human replica of a tomato. Shaking my head, I pitied myself since I couldn't bath.
I looked at myself in the mirror and traced the scars on my body. Tears welled up in my eyes. I controlled them and cleaned myself the way I could. I got out of the washroom to find Dylan talking to someone on the phone.
Seeing he hung up the call and came to me. He said, "C'mon, I need to dress you up."
I raised an eyebrow, asking, "Dress me up?"
He shook his head. "I meant, the bandages. Dressing up, you know. That thing. Not that sort of dressing up, not like I would mind it."
It was my turn to blush.
He started applying some creams and antiseptic stuff on my body. I couldn't help but felt aroused as his fingers traveled over my body. He then put bandages and a small band-aid on my wounds.
"Let's go. Mr. & Mrs. Waffles are getting cold," he announced. He was going to walk out of the room until he saw me observing myself in the mirror.
"What's wrong?" Dylan asked, standing beside me.
"I look ugly with all these scars." Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. Even my face had injuries. What if they were permanent?
He snaked his arms around my waist from back and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Well, I don't think so. I think you are as beautiful as always, even more beautiful I would say. Now, don't think I am a sadist who likes a scarred body or anything. I love you just the way you are. You will always remain the most beautiful woman who ever existed to me."
My face broke out into a smile.
"Did I ever say your smile is the best thing ever?" I shook my head in denial as he further spoke, "Well, I am saying now. Your smile is the best thing in the universe. It never fails to make my day. So, never let that radiant smile of yours disappear." He smiled and kissed the back of my neck.
"You are so different," I mumbled.
"No, I am the same. I am just expressing what I usually think, and I am giving into my desires which I always held back before. Now, there's no reason not to kiss you senseless, is there?"
I turned and pressed my lips on his. He held me close by my waist as he deepened the kiss. He asked for permission to enter my mouth which I replied with a smile.
The kiss became more passionate with both of us fighting for dominance. We both savored each other's mouth to our fullest.
After we parted away, we blushed. It was still new to us, so yeah, it was going to take time to get completely casual about such stuff.
Later on, we devoured the delicious waffles. It was even tastier because it was made by Dylan. Girls, be jealous, because my boyfriend can cook like a chef.
Ah! That feeling to claim him...
Since both of us were going to stay at home, we decided to watch some movies together.
To cuddle with him—was like a dream come true. But with all the events happening around me, all my dreams were actually coming true.
It was all thanks to my Dylan. Yeah, finally I can officially say that he is mine.