Chapter 6 Entrusted

“Dad!? Marco?!” 

We both looked at each other as if we were asking each other if the other heard what one had just heard. 

“She must have realized it wasn’t her bed,” Theodor said soon after we heard a feminine voice calling our names one after the other. 

“She sounds like someone I have known or someone so close to me as a family or something with the way she would yell out my name,” I thought. 

“And I can’t disagree with you on that. I am beginning to feel jealous, young man!” 

“Huh?!” I was stunned. I did not know those words slipped off my lips and made the father hear of them. “I’m… Uhm… My apologies, sir…” I stammered in response. 

“What are you guys doing here?” the lady asked while rubbing her eyes off, one after the other.

“Skye, honey, you should have taken more sleep. You look like a zombie, don’t you agree, Marco?” Theodor spoke with a hint of teasing to his daughter. 

“Dad, please…? I told you, it’s not like that. Stop it. You’re making me feel embarrassed in front of our patient here,” Skye replied to her dad’s words in a complaining way. Then she sat along with us at the table. 

“I know. I know. It’s just that I don’t get a lot of chances to tease you, so bear with it,” the father laughed aloud. 

“Come on!” The daughter whined. “Marco, don’t believe this silly old man here, okay? As you have heard, he is having fun teasing me. That’s all,” she sighed. Before I could even say anything in return, she stood from her seat and bid us good night. 

“Since I can see you are doing better, I will see you in the morning. I feel like I am floating. I think I really have to sleep,” she said with her back on us and walked to the stairs. 

“Honey, I am leaving early in the morning tomorrow for an out-of-town meeting with my clients,” Theodor announced. 

“Just wake me up before you go, dad,” she simply replied. 

“Okay, have a good rest, then!” 

“Good night, dad! And you, too, Marco!” 

“Good night!” I answered back, with my eyes on the dad right in front of me. I was not sure how to react to the way they were so carefree in front of a stranger like me. But the father seemed even more amused at how the situation was unfolding before his eyes. 

I have seen movies where dad and daughter would be this sweet and close to throwing in and out jokes at each other, but I have never seen anyone in person act this way, until now. 

“Sir, is there I way I can make a call and check back home?” I asked Theodor cautiously. 

“Do you think it is a wise idea to do so? Do you know who to trust and avoid trusting at the moment? You have to consider a lot of things before you make your next step after cheating death,” Theodor wisely advised. 

I nodded. 

“I think you are right,” I replied with a sigh. “I don’t know who to trust and avoid at the moment. I’d better heal completely first before facing whoever is desperately wanting me dead.”

“And I suggest, you take this time to recall everything that happened that day. There will be a clue for you to trace back and you will find out who to collect from,” Theodor spoke as if he knew what was going on with me. I blankly looked up at him and his eyes met mine. 

“I just guessed. Based on what I saw on your belongings, I don’t think you are among the common people in society. But whatever it is you are into, I am not here to judge you. I believe it is fancy having someone like you as our acquaintance,” he must have seen the queries on my face so Theodor volunteered to explain. 

I mindlessly nodded. His words made sense. I was still a bit confused, but the suggestion about giving everything a deep thought and recalling everything that happened to me, I might get to track and find out who is the enemy among my men. 

“As you have heard, I am leaving first thing in the morning, I will be back late tomorrow night or maybe the day after. Skye might have other things to do, but she will be here to assist you with your meals. I still have a few documents to check, so I will head back to my room. You can walk around to stretch your limbs but don’t overdo anything, that’s your doctor’s order. Are we clear, Marco?” the man asked authoritatively. 

“Yes, doc!” I replied snappily. I was about to stand up when I saw the man was about to leave the kitchen area, but the pain of my wound reminded me to move slowly. 

“Don’t move abruptly. It will be like poking at the same bruised spot again and again. We can’t expect recovery to take its place that way,” Theodor said. “But it doesn’t mean you are not to wash the kitchen utensils you’ve used. You can include my cup as well,” he smirked and left.

I shook my head. It was not challenging to do the dishes. It was awkwardly refreshing that these hosts are too kind for my liking. I mean for a ruthless man like me, I don’t belong here with them. 

They seem to act and behave like I am someone they have known all their lives. 

The familial connection and bond were warming. Or maybe, after escaping death, I am the one changing and behaving differently than how I would usually do?

Left alone at the dining table, I stared at the wall in my eyesight. 

“This is a kind of family lifestyle I would have wished to have for myself if I can dare. But I know it is not different than hoping to have a dragon as my pet. In short, it is impossible!”

I sighed and decided to clean the kitchen. I had to make my moves as soundless as possible so I do not disturb anyone in the house. I moved slowly and easily. Then I started walking in the window’s direction. It was dark but not so dark for me not to see anything outside the window. I do not see the moon from my position, but from the look of the view outside, the light was from the sky illuminating the ground. There were mountains surrounding the area and trees were everywhere. I could not see the road from the window, so I assumed I was facing the backyard. I tried to check the neighborhood. 

Nothing. 

There was no visible house nearby. No sounds of engines could be heard to say I was in the urban area. As I try to catch any sound in the surrounding, I realized there were frogs and crickets making night noises. I wonder how long it took for Skye to drive from my building to this place.

I resigned for the night at headed back to the room I was supposed to have my rest and recover. I couldn’t sleep at first, but the effect of the tablet meds Theodor gave me to take thirty minutes after my meal earlier, won over me. An hour after midnight, I dozed off to the natural sound of lullaby given by the nature surrounding me.

“Marco, I am leaving.” 

I heard a voice in my sleep. 

“Marco!”

The voice sounded a little louder and closer than earlier. 

“Huh? Yes,” I woke up to a light tapping on my right arm. The room was dimly lit so I was able to open my eyes in response since my body could not move as fast as I used to. “Sir? How about Skye?”

“Just call me Ted. I have been meaning to correct you that earlier. Stop calling me sir, are we good?” 

“Yes, Ted!” I groaned as I turned to my side and from there I slowly sat up on the bed to speak to him. “What time is it? I feel like I just closed my eyes a minute ago, but now you are leaving. May I know where you are going and when you are coming back?” 

“Why do you sound like my daughter, Skye?” Ted asked with an amused smile. “By the way, she is still asleep. She wouldn’t wake up even when I knocked on her door, so I let her be,” he continued and turned to face me with bulging eyes. 

“I just want to know so I know what to tell your daughter if she asks later,” I answered seriously. 

“It might take a day or two, but I cannot be sure. So, I will get back when all things are settled out there. Take care of my house, for now, Marco. I am counting on you.”

“How can you entrust your house and daughter to a stranger like me?” I asked in disbelief.