Chapter 5 Aurelio Ferrero

• Chapter Five
• Daniella
• (Aurelio Ferrero)
• There is someone in here. There’s somebody else inside this room with me. I can’t see but I can feel the person.
• “Who’s there?! I can’t see you but I know you’re in here. Let me out, please. You don’t understand what I’m running from.” I tried to plead with whoever it was.
• “It’s just me.” A male voice said.
• It felt familiar but didn’t sound familiar all at the same time.
• “Who are you?”
• “I’m the one who saved you.”
• I froze and turned towards the voice of the person who is the reason why I’m here today, “You did? Why?”
• “Are you suicidal?” He counter asks.
• I shook my head, “No. I didn’t crash my car on purpose. I got into an accident.”
• “What were you doing on an abandoned highway all alone in the middle of the night? Do you know how dangerous that is? You were certainly courting death with your actions.” He scolded me.
• “You don’t understand.” I searched around for his hand on the bed before grabbing it and holding it to my chest, “Please, sir, you have to let me go. If he finds you here, he will kill you too. I don’t want you to get hurt. I’m begging you, sir. Please let me go. I need to find my brother and we need to run away before he figures out that I’m here—-”
• “Slow down, Daniella. Take a deep breath and calm down. No one is going to find you here.”
• Wait.
• “How’d you know my name? I don’t remember telling you anything.” My senses were now on high alert. I can’t trust anyone. Especially in my condition.
• “The doctor. You must have told the doctor because she informed me.”
• “Oh. That makes sense.”
• “Who are you running from? You seem to be scared of someone. Who is it? Maybe I can help?”
• “No, please. Please don’t get involved, sir. He’s going to kill you. He’s a cold hearted and evil man.”
• “Is he your husband?” He asks.
• “No.” I clarified, “He’s just a man who I was being forced to marry. Our wedding was supposed to be held the next day. That’s why I ran away. I’d rather die than marry that devil.”
• “Is that so?” He surprisingly asks. “Be careful what you wish for.”
• “Yes. He’s the devil himself. Please let me out of this house. I need to find my brother and escape before he traces me down to this place. I beg you, sir.”
• “But you can’t see. How do you plan on doing all the things you’ve said? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude but you can’t exactly take care of yourself in this condition. He would definitely find you if I let you go.”
• The truth in his words had me bawling my eyes out, “I don’t want to marry him. And I don’t want to die please.”
• I froze in place when I felt his arms around me. He felt strong and his body was hard.
• “No one can hurt you here, Daniella. I’ll take care of you. You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll even help you find your brother. But that’s entirely up to you. Only if you want me to.” He rubbed his hands on my back in a soothing manner.
• “He’s powerful. He’s a very powerful man. What makes you think you can survive against him? You’re going to get crushed.” I tried to speak some sense into him.
• “Why do you fear him so much? Is he the president? The son of the president perhaps? Or an assassin?” His tone was laced with amusement.
• “No. He’s not a part of any of those. He’s a part of something far worse. Way worse than any of those.”
• “So, he’s more powerful than the president?” He chuckled.
• I nodded immediately, “He controls everybody and anybody. You’ll automatically become his enemy if he finds me here.”
• “Then it’s my job to make sure that he doesn’t. No one will find you here. You have my word.”
• “I don’t understand it. I’m confused. Why do you want to help me? You’re literally putting your life on the line for someone you do not know. Someone you basically just met. Besides, how am I sure that I can trust you? What if you work for him? You might even be a serial killer for all I know.” I scooted far away from him.
• “Don’t fear, Daniella. The worst is over. I don’t work for anyone and I’m not a serial killer. I’m a business.” I relaxed a bit, “Actually we didn’t just meet now. You’ve been in my house for some time. If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have done it while you were unconscious? Besides, I feel the intense urge to help you. Please don’t stop me from doing that. It’s not a coincidence that we met. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe fate put you in my way for a reason.”
• “You have a point. It’s just so frustrating that I can’t see. I haven’t felt so useless and helpless all my life than I’ve felt now.” I choked up halfway and broke into a sob, “I hate being this way. I just want my eyesight back. You have to help me, sir. Please. I can’t go on living like this.”
• “I’ll do everything I can, Daniella.”
• “Please, sir. I’m begging you. I’ll do anything you want me to do. Just help me see again.” I begged.
• “Daniella, for now there isn’t much that we can do about it. Your accident and injury are both still fresh and we still need to get a few things out of the way. There are several things that we need to work on before the eye surgery. We can’t hasten up the process of finding a cornea donor for you. The waitlist is a long one and I’m afraid my hands are tied.”
• I felt all hope crash down at his words, “So I won’t see for a long time? Is that what you’re trying to say?”
• “I’m sorry, Daniella. Believe me when I tell you that this is just as hard for you as it is for me. But in the meantime we’ll focus on working on your face once the skin heals a bit. We can’t tamper with it—-”
• “What face?” I asked immediately.
• God, no. Please no. Tell me it’s not my face too.
• “I forgot you can’t see it and the doctor probably didn’t tell you. You had wounds to your face as well. The glass fragments didn’t just get into your eyes but they also did a little damage to your face but it’s not anything that can’t be fixed.”
• I touched my face for the first time since I woke up and I could feel it beneath the pads of my fingers. My face didn’t feel as smooth as before anymore. The other part was covered by something. “I don’t understand. Why don’t I feel anything?”
• “Anaesthetic. I don't want you to feel pain, Daniella.”
• I couldn’t hold it back and I let my tears flow. I don’t even want to imagine what I looked like. “I’m a monster. I’m not pretty anymore.”
• “Don’t say untrue things. You’re still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.”
• “Why? Why are you being nice to me? Tell me the reason and don’t lie to me! I’m tired of everybody lying to me.”
• Even when I raised my voice at him, he remained calm, “Maybe because you remind me of someone.”
• “Who?”
• “Get some rest, Daniella. We’ll talk during dinner.”
• I couldn’t see him but I could hear his footsteps going towards the door, “Wait, sir!” He paused.
• “Do you need something, Daniella?”
• “I just remembered that I don’t know your name.”
• “Is that so?” I nodded knowing that he could see me.
• “Aurelio. Aurelio Ferrero.”