"How is she?" Karlos asked the doctor as soon as he stepped out.
"Her vitals are normal, but her arm still needs time to heal. She should be fine soon," the doctor replied.
"Alright. I'd like to see her report."
The doctor nodded before finally walking away.
Karlos placed his phone into his pocket.
Cough! Cough!
Just then, He heard Berlin coughing from inside the room.
Quickly he dashed towards the room, she was in. By the time he got there, he met her still lying down with her hand covering her mouth.
Karlos grabbed the flask his mother had sent and poured her a glass of lukewarm water. He placed it on the small table beside her and gently helped her sit up.
"Are you okay?" Karlos asked as he sat behind her back to support her.
Berlin nodded in response.
"Drink some water" he commanded, not taking any argument.
Berlin drank some of the lukewarm water as
he tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.
Karlos took the glass in her hand away when she was done and held her in his arms. As she leaned against him.
She had heard that a person's true nature would be shown in desperate or serious situations. And this can be called one. Neither of them knew how long she might have to stay hospitalized. She really hated it here. This place filled her heart with sad memories.
He started to look at her strangely. Something passed his gaze, which he refused to dwell upon.
Silence descended upon them, along with the warmth they both felt being close to each other.
'Was Karlos pretending? No… that would be too low, even for him.' she thought to herself, as her eyes betrayed her once again admiring his arms and the feel of his chest on her body. It feels...good.
'Knock it off, Berlin. You do not want to get hurt all over again.' she scolded herself mentally then tried to free herself from his touch.
The next thing Berlin knew, his warm hand held her again, stopping her. His hand was strong and tight but not to the point of causing pain.
"Where were you heading before the accident?" He asked suddenly.
Surprised by the sudden question, she turned her head to the side where her waist was being held and traced her gaze to the owner of the hands.
She was definitely not expecting that at all.
Thump! Thump!
Her heart began thudding in her chest at an alarming rate. She blinked several times, and let her mind register everything.
Berlin did her best to calm her racing heart down while processing her response.
'Should I tell him? Oh, wait!... does he know?'
'Why does she look so shocked?' His thoughts clouded his mind as he darted his eyes from her face and traced about the entire room before coming to land on her again.
"Never mind," he said flatly. "Are you sleepy?"
She finally regained her composure after the next question. It seemed as though he brought her senses back from whatever strange world she went to within that short time.
"You...the...wait.Arghh!"
'Why can't my brain suddenly form a coherent word now? Berlin, he must think you are stupid or a dumb woman.' she wailed inwardly.
Karlos who was watching her outburst, found it somewhat amusing and felt... entertained by it.
After a minute, Berlin cleared her throat and straightened up.
"No. I don't feel sleepy."
"Sure" he became quiet after that. Lost in his thoughts. This is mostly one of the rare times, he speaks with her in a gentle tone.
"How long was I out?"
"You can say almost twelve hours or half a day at least," he replied truthfully.
"Do you think I was going to die?" She asked, showing her vulnerability and how scared she was.
He smiled bitterly at her question. Her softly spoken words reminded Karlos of a time in his past when he used to feel the same. He had missed his father and the death had made him feel an unimaginable pain to his very core.
"From what you have been through, being left alone by everyone would be your greatest fear, I presume. Why would you be scared of a storm?" he replied casually.
He is not directly assuring her, but his confidence gave her some semblance of assurance and he wasn't wrong about her fears.
His fingers brushed the side of her ear, and she giggled.
She quickly sat up, pushing his hand away.
He looked at her curiously.
"What happened?" he inquired, still holding her waist with his other hand not worried at all.
"It tickles!" She shared with seriousness. As she started to look at him.
He stared at her, amused.
From this angle, she could see his handsome face up close and it seemed to captivate her every time the she looked at him, the more enthralled she was.
Her body began to feel hot as her cheeks reddened at how close they were and their lips a short distance away.
This made the poor Berlin blush profusely.
At the thought of his lips, her mind drifted to the kiss they had shared a moment ago.
She felt his grip on her waist loosen and thought that it was free to escape from his hold before things got out of hand.
Unfortunately for her, the moment the small of her back pushed against him, Karlos tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her back down, squashing her body against his and used both his arms to lock her secured against his body. He was careful not to hurt her injured arm.
Before she could utter what she was about to say, he leaned in close, holding her body in place with both arms and pressing his lips against hers.
Unlike other times when she felt it was unreal even though she let it come from her heart, this time there was no holding back. There was no stopping. Berlin did not give him a hard time.
Even she was tired of it all and for once she wanted to enjoy another moment with him. When he kissed her, she parted her lips willingly, welcoming her tongue to explore her inside.
Although the kiss was slow, he could feel something deep within him wanting her, as every fiber of his being came alive because of it.
He kissed her and she responded quite well, matching her rhythm with his.
Karlos kissed her so sweetly, sucking and biting down her lips in the process but he still wanted more of her. He wanted more of everything.
With everything he gave, Berlin was eagerly there to return them, pouring her love into it.
Then, the door opened.
Tasha saw them.
Right before her eyes, she watched her nightmare happen. She watched the man she liked kissing another woman.
Due to the fact that she had just entered Tasha did not know how the kiss happened or who initiated it.
Her mind was in chaos. She blinked several times and forgot every other thing in life at that moment as she stayed still watching as Karlos lips moved on Berlin's.
Her heart stopped beating the next moment and a certain sharp pain enveloped it. It was like the kind of pain she felt when he dumped her but this time, it was worse.
Way much worse than anything she had ever felt before. She blinked after some time and even though their kiss felt like forever, it was but for a few seconds.
Tasha could not believe her eyes. But what she saw was so hard not to believe.
She wanted to cry.
With a sad expression on her face, she turned around and made her way back out, without waiting to be noticed.
Seconds later they stopped trying to catch their breath while they pressed their foreheads together with their eyes closed.
Knock! Knock!
Just then a knock came on the door and before they could answer it, it opened, revealing Tasha.
"Whoa! Sorry for interrupting!"
Karlos immediately let go of Berlin and stood up.
Berlin's chest ached. 'Did he stop because of her?'
Tasha smiled sweetly and walked straight to Karlos, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Soon her heart began to hurt. Berlin did not know if he was feeling what she was feeling when they kissed. Or it was just her mind that was playing tricks on her?
She just remained speechless, unable to say anything. But all of her mind-filled questions were answered soon enough when she saw her walk up to him, hugging him and he didn't resist.
"I came as soon as work was done," Tasha said as she trailed her gaze over Berlin as she spoke and winked at her.
"How is my BF doing?" She asked with a sweet voice.
' Which BF was she really here to see? Her bestfriend or childhood boyfriend.?... besides she was the sick one.' Berlin thought inwardly.
All these while, she still had her both wrapped around Karlos's waist, holding her bag at the back of Karlos's neck.
Karlos noticed Berlin's change of expression and caught her avert her gaze from Tasha and watched as they went to linger on his hand wrapped around Tasha's waist.
Without thinking too much about it, he pulled his hand away from Tasha's waist. He didn't know why he was affected by what she saw but he somehow felt it was wrong doing that in her presence.
Noticing what he did, Tasha reluctantly removed her hand from his neck.
Feeling so unwelcomed and like a third wheel, Berlin did not need any further invitation to excuse herself.
"I would like to take a nap. Can we talk later. Tasha?" Berlin said trying not to act pitiful.
"Okay," They both said in unison. Stepping out of the room together.
'I was stupid to believe you felt something for me. All those kisses. I wish it never happened. I wish I never opened my heart again. You just made it easier for me. Now I can just focus on my vengeance. I would rather keep this heart of mine closed than let my heart be broken into pieces again.' Berlin thought as she glanced at the closed door.