John interlocked his fingers and placed them on the table. His eyes fixated on mine. I kept glancing up and down from my food to his face but my main focus was on eating. My stomach grumbled.
"I'm glad you like it." He said, as he smiled. "Now let me tell you what's going to happen. You will be staying here where you are safe from harms way. Either the man looking for you will come for you here or I will find him and eliminate him myself. But until that happens you have to stay with me. It's what your father would have wanted."
'Would have wanted.' The words echoed in my head. I still don't believe he's really gone.
I wiped my mouth with my napkin and placed my silverware on my empty plate.
"Look, thank you for saving me and all, but I am a consenting adult and you cannot just keep me here against my will. I would rather take my chances, John." I glared at him and he glared back.
"Listen Brook, your father left a message for you and promised me not to show you unless you were going to raise a problem."
I got up from my seat slowly and stretched. I winced as my stitches ached, reminding me of how immobile I could be if I tried running or fighting him.
"Then show me, because I won't stop trying to get home unless I see some solid evidence."
He got up from his seat and walked passed me. He went across the room to the open living room area and grabbed a laptop off a side table. He picked it up, opened it and came back over to me.
"Please sit." He gestured to my chair, and I sat.
He placed the laptop in front of me and took my empty plate away as a video was buffering. Suddenly, my dads face showed up. It was him in his study and he started talking.
"Hello sweetheart. I thought I would have so much more time with you but unfortunately my life is now cut short." I clasped my hands over my mouth in shock. No… This can't be real.
"I have invested everything into keeping you safe. I have hired on the most skilled professional to keep you out of harm. His name is John Wick and you can trust him dear." Suddenly gunshots were going off behind him and smashing sounds were apparent. Tears were now streaming down my face.
"I love you sweetie. I am so sorry it had to end like this, but you will do great things… I know it." Tears were in his eyes too as more gunshots went off and he closed down the camera. The video stopped, and I didn't realize it but I was sobbing. John placed a caring hand on my left shoulder and I couldn't help but turn to him in my chair and pull him into a hug. My face against his lean waist as my tears were making his shirt damp.
"I am so sorry." He whispered.
"It's not your fault." I sobbed.
My stitches were hurting more then ever with all the crying I was doing. I let John go and stood myself up from the chair.
"Okay I believe you now, so what's next?" I wiped my tears away with my bare arm.
"I'll help you get a shirt on." He said.
We were walking towards the room I came from when suddenly there was a knock at the door. John and I froze and he pointed me to go to the room. But at that moment bullets riddled through the front door, John pushed me down flat to the ground and he was lying on top of me. I could feel the stitches completely rip and start to bleed. My screams were masked by the gun fire as John was covering my head. It felt like an eternity but the bullets finally stopped. He grabbed me and threw me into the hall closet that was a few feet away.
"There is a panic room in there, lock it behind you!" And he slammed the door shut. I wasn't going to sit around and ask questions so I crawled to the back and found another door. My waist was throbbing and it was so painful I could hardly stand. I crawled in and locked it behind me. I was atop a stair case that led underground. I was bleeding profusely as I slid down the steps carefully, covering my side with my right hand. Blood was running right through it. I heard the sound of more gunfire as I went over to the bed. It hurt too much to move now so I laid beside it cradling myself. The gunfire finally stopped and I could do nothing but lay there in agony. I heard the door click and knew immediately that it had to be John. He turned the corner and stared at me with the same look he had the first time I saw him. He was covered in blood, but not his. He ran to a cupboard that was on the other side of the room and grabbed a kit from it.
"This is going to sting a lot but I need you to stay still so I can stop the bleeding."
I was already in so much pain, I didn't want anymore.
"No John please don't, just put a bandage over it and ill be fine." I begged.
I heard him tear something open and put whatever it was, inside his waistband and pulled his shirt over it.
"Just breathe." He said calmly. Tears were welling again. I must look like the biggest baby on earth. He then jumped on top of me, straddling my lower body and pinned both my arms above my head so I was lying flat on my back. He took out the medical staple gun and shot me eight times with it. Yelping each time as he did so. I could tell my adrenaline was helping because it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would. When he was done he released me immediately and got up. I rolled to my side and was breathing hard, I was exhausted. He scooped me up and laid me gently on the bed.
"I'm sorry I had to do that." He said. As he leaned back to walk away I grabbed his wrist.
"Please don't leave me again John." I whispered.
My adrenaline was crashing now and I could feel my body ache again.
"I'm going to get you some pain medication I'll be right back."
"No! I don't want to be a dead weight zombie again." I stated.
"You won't be, its non-drowsy." He said.
I released my grip and he went back to the cupboard.
"So, what happened out there?" I asked curiously.
"I like to keep those things to myself but I'm sure you can imagine." He walked over to me and handed me two pills. I popped them in my mouth and swallowed them dry.
"Promise me you are not drugging me again?"
"I promise." He said as he sat beside me on the bed and put a hand on my head.
My pain was subsiding and I started to sit upright in the bed.
Hours went by as we waited to be sure I was in the clear from danger. We talked a lot about his business side of his life. He made me laugh at little jokes here and there and I told him more about myself. He was a genuine person that I'm growing to like more and more. He told me about his nickname and he talked to me about how he got into the industry as a young boy being trained like his father before him and how much of a choice he didn't really have in it. But in the end, he was telling me that he wouldn't know what else he would be doing in life since he focuses on nothing else but his missions. He turned to me with a gentle stare.
"I think its safe to go up now." He said.
He scooped me in his arms and carried me bridle style up the stairs.
"I didn't know the boogeyman was such a gentleman." I giggled as I held myself to him. Looking down I saw the dried trail of blood I left behind getting down here.
As we reached the hall he put me down gently. I reached up to him and pecked him gently on the cheek.
"Thank you." I said.
He clasped his hand in mine and interlocked his fingers as he led me back to my room. When we got there, I asked him if he could help me get my sports bra off, as I didn't want to hurt my staples. He gently grabbed hold of it and whisked it up over one arm and then the other. I covered my breasts with my hands as they were excited to be free now. I turned still covering myself and asked.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" I stared at the floor, I was blushing but didn't want to see his reaction. He paused for a moment and raised my chin in his hand so I would look at him dead in his beautiful eyes.
"Absolutely." He muttered.