It had been almost two weeks since Elain came to live in this new country. Some things were still hard to get used to, like the healthcare system. The fact that a good majority was paid through taxes and not out of pocket seemed crazy. But also, really smart.
“We’ll schedule your next appointment at the reception desk.” The doctor said with a faint smile as she finished wrapping Elian’s right arm Elain’s mismatched eyes looked down at her arm. “Also, it looks as though the stitches along your shoulder seem to be holding up well.”
Elain didn’t respond; she knew that the doctor was trying to make small talk to fill the empty void of silence.
“How long will she need to wait for at least the stitches to be removed?” Elain’s father asked. It would have been her mother originally, but she received a call for a sudden interview that her Dad had to take Elain to this appointment instead.
“Given how well it’s healing, I’d say four or five more weeks.” She says before looking back to Elain. “Just as long as you don’t overexert yourself or do any heavy lifting. This applies to your arm as well. Nothing heavy.”
“We know,” her father added. “My wife was very strict about that. She hasn’t done anything strenuous or lifted anything heavy.”
“Good, but it should still be said as a reminder. Just because your daughter feels like she could take on the world doesn’t mean she should.”
Elian didn’t respond. How could she? It’s not as if the woman knew anything about what she had dealt with.
Elain’s father then pulled out his phone which buzzed loudly. “I’m sorry, Doctor, I’ll be right back. I need to take this.”
“There’s a stairwell just at the end of the hall. You can answer your call there.”
“I’ll be quick, Mijita.” Her Dad said before leaving the room.
The doctor then paused, dark eyes looking to Elain as the girl put her long-sleeved shirt overtop her white tank top to hide her injuries from everyone else beyond the examination room.
“We have resources if you need them.” The doctor said, drawing Elain’s attention. “I read your file; it gave some details of what happened across the border in the States.”
Elain suppressed the urge to sigh. This was the last thing she wanted to go into while still adjusting to her new environment. Even if this was coming from someone who meant well, the timing of it was terrible.
“I’m not going to force you to talk about it,” the doctor added quickly. “But I can at least tell you that I understand what it’s like being profiled or discriminated against.”
Elain’s gaze snapped to the doctor, taking in what the woman thoroughly looked like. And though this woman had white skin, her features were round as she had light brown eyes and curly black hair. Was she also mixed like her?
Regardless of what this woman thought, what happened was something that many people didn’t understand. Primarily because of her mixed heritage. Images of the event flashed as Elain instinctively touched the healing scar on her eyebrow above her blue eye.
“Thanks,” Elain said, diverting the topic. “I’ll… think about it. Right now, I just want to recover more than anything else.”
“That’s understandable.” She says. “Are you all right with a meeting at the same time today for next week? We need to be sure of your arm’s capabilities as it goes on.”
“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
She made a note of that on her clipboard. “If something comes up that you need to change the date, let us know.”
Elain left the room shortly after. She felt uncomfortable, really uncomfortable. Elain could see that the woman was trying to help, but she wasn’t a therapist, nor someone she was willing to talk to. Not to mention from the sounds of it, it might have been a group therapy thing, something she was not ready to do. At all.
Her Mom mentioned therapy at least twice during their move after the incident. But her mind felt too cluttered, a chaotic mess that she wanted to sort out herself first before anyone went poking around inside her head. That’s probably not a healthy way to think… she thought, but it was the only thing that made sense to her. At least for now, it could change at some point.
“El?” her Dad’s concerned voice drew Elain from her thoughts. How long had he been standing there? “Are you okay?”
“No,” she admitted. “I’m tired, Dad.”
Her father glanced at the office that Elian came from before asking. “Okay, on the way back, would you like to buy something that might be easy on your stomach?”
She shook her head. “Not right now,” then glanced out the window, watching everything go by quickly.
Her Dad offered a smile but said nothing further.
When back at home, Elain went straight to her room and lay down on her bed. Only to then get up and head to her bookshelf, nabbed one of the many books that she enjoyed and left her room and headed out to the front door to sit on a bench set up on the porch.
Lately, Elain found that reading a book helped her get her mind off things for at least a while. To forget the horrible events that plagued her thoughts.
She continued to read until much later in the afternoon, though she wasn’t aware of the time until someone approached and drew her attention.
“Good afternoon, Miss Ortiz,” Alastor spoke with a cheery smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but there was something I wished to speak with you about if you’re willing.”
“Oh, no, that shouldn’t—” she stopped and did another look at his face, seeing a noticeable red mark on his left cheek. “Mr. Hilmarsson, what happened to your face!?”
“Hmm?” he touched his cheek. “Oh, this? It’s nothing to worry yourself over.”
Elain immediately stood up, trying to get a better look. “Mr. Hilmarsson, it’s super red. Did you use ice?”
“Oh, no, it’s fine, I—” only to be cut off by Elain.
“No, it’s not; you need to reduce the swelling no matter if you think it’s fine, or it’ll take longer for it to heal. Just hold on one second. I’m going to get some ice.” She said as she quickly ran into the house, leaving the door wide open.
Goodness, Alastor mused. Though I’ve already used some ice for it, she is still a very kind young lady. His silver-grey glancing at the open door, he took a single step towards it but remained on the porch as he glanced inside. The setup was slightly different from his home, though this was far more modern, with the kitchen and presumably the dining room all in one and the living room and TV being closest to the front door. He could even see the stairs that would lead up to the bedrooms and the back door to the backyard.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
A relatively simple layout and one easy to memorize, for it was one he knew rather well. One that came as a shock to this home’s previous owner before she died. It was a shame. Had Mrs. Jackson not been so rude toward his daughter, nothing would have happened.
Elain then came back soon after. “Here,” she said as she looked over his face as he took the baggie of ice wrapped in a cloth. Then as if something struck her, Elain quickly asked. “Wait, what about Amalie? Is she okay?”
“Calm down, Miss. Ortiz,” Alastor soothed. “Amalie is fine, she’s currently being looked after by a good friend of mine. This was only towards me.”
Elain looked at him, confused. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“It’s rather long. Do you mind if we sit?”
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Elain then closed the door and joined Alastor to sit on the bench with a fair amount of space between them. “So… what happened?”
“About a week ago, I took my daughter to a bookstore, where she hoped to find a certain book from a writer she loves. We found it and it’s third volume, but before she gets the third book, a boy shoves her. Then the mother storms over, threatening me and claiming her child would never do such a thing before said boy hurts my daughter. Pulls her hair, but I managed to get him to stop. Then the police and some good people in the store became involved. It was a rather ugly scene.”
“That’s awful,”
“Yes, it was, but where this came from was when I had just dropped Amalie off, I had another run-in with that woman.”
“And she hit you?” she asked rather aghast.
Alastor merely shrugged. He was keeping details of that to himself. He purposefully tracked down the woman’s store, which turned out to also be the home for that vulgar creature and brat of a son where they lived on the second floor.
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done.”
“Still, she assaulted you. You need to report that to the police.” Elain said, her voice filled with worry, which held Alastor’s attention. “You can’t let someone like that get away with what they did. It could have been even worse.”
In response, he gave her a cheery smile. “Don’t worry, Miss. Ortiz, I plan to take care of it, which is why I wanted to ask you something. I know that this is short notice, but would you be willing to watch my daughter for a few hours tomorrow night? I have something important I need to take care of, and I still haven’t been able to find a replacement sitter.”
“I’d have to check with my folks first, but if it’s just for a few hours, I think it should be all right. I’ve watched Kaya plenty of times when Nate isn’t able to.” Though watching Kaya is like trying to keep an energetic squirrel on a bucket of caffeine sometimes. And Amalie doesn’t seem like that kind of kid. “May I have your number, so I can let you know if I get the okay from my parents?”
Without missing a beat, Alastor pulls out a pen and notepad from the inner breast pocket of his vest. “Here you are. This is both my home phone and cell. If you can’t reach me on my home phone, you most certainly will with my cell.”
“I’ll talk with you later, Mr. Hilmarsson.” She said as she watched him leave, and when he returned to his home, Elain’s smile faded. Before falling back to lay on the porch. Maybe doing something different since everything else didn’t seem to help would be good?
“Babysitting your neighbour?” Elain’s mother said, looking slightly surprised as they were cleaning up after dinner. “I see no issue with it, do you?” Zuri turned to Jair with the same look as her question.
“I don’t think there’s a problem, though you need to let us know when he’ll be back, so we can estimate when you’ll be back home.” Her father says, handing her the cordless phone that he grabbed off the kitchen’s countertop. “You can call him now, put him on speaker so we can go over when he might be back.”
Elain pulled out the piece of paper and dialled up the number. On the second ring, there was an answer.
“Evening, Hilmarsson residence, Alastor speaking.”
“Hi Mr. Hilmarsson, this is Elain. I have you on the phone with my parents. They’re okay with me watching Amalie. They only want to know when you’ll be back so they can expect me.”
“That’s wonderful, and yes, I completely understand. I should be home at eleven, midnight at the latest, just as long as traffic isn’t too hectic.”
“It’s always hard to judge the roads,” Zuri replied. “You never know what might be out there in the dead of night.”
“True, true. But I should be fine. I believe what I need to take care of shouldn’t take all that long. It normally never does. Though as compensation, I will pay you, if you are all right with that, Miss. Ortiz.”
“Oh, uh…” Elain glanced at her parents.
Her mother mouthed. “Up to you.” While her Dad simply smiled with a shrug.
“I don’t think you need to, I mean, school doesn’t start until September, and it’s not like I have anything else happening in my life.”
Alastor paused on the other end. “I see. Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know. I’ll see you tomorrow night, at eight pm. Feel free to come early if you wish. My daughter and I would love to have you for dinner.”
“Thank you, but I’ll come by at eight Pm. I don’t want to impose.”
“Very well, see you tomorrow, Miss. Ortiz. Good night to you and your family.” When Alastor ended the call, he paused, looked over his notes and smiled. Tonight would be a good night, that much Alastor was sure of.
* * *
A few minutes before eight, Elain rang the doorbell in which Alastor opened the door, dressed in a high-end three-piece dark blue suit. And an artistic blue tie. “You’re early.”
“Is that okay?” Elain asked hesitantly.
His kind smile grew. “Of course, it is. Please, come in.”
As Elain entered Alastor’s home for the second time, she noticed Amalie peeking out from the living room. Elain smiled and waved. Amalie did a small wave before heading upstairs to what was probably the girl’s bedroom.
“Now then,” Alastor spoke, drawing Elain’s attention. “Let me show you around first.” He says as he walks further back into his home. “Though you probably remember the layout of what you saw on the first floor.” When she nodded, he chuckled softly—a girl with a good memory, a wonderful troublesome thing. “Well, as you know, there’s the kitchen and the living room. And connected to the kitchen is the dining room. Though I’ve only used it on special occasions or on the rare times, I host a dinner party with some acquaintances, be it from work or social circles.” He then led her further back, where she saw a half bathroom to the far left tucked away in the corner and something she didn’t expect to see to her right.
“I didn’t know you had a piano.”
“Oh?” he said with an interested tone. “Do you play?”
“I used to, back when I was a lot younger, but when Kaya was born, we had to cut back on extracurricular activities. It’s been a long time anyway. I don’t think I can play anything at all now.” Given that, I can’t even use my right arm that much for long periods.
“That’s a shame. If you’d ever wish to relearn, I could teach you when I have the time. I play on several occasions, even taught Amalie how to play.”
“She plays?”
“Oh yes, and she’s rather good too. Though I think she prefers the violin more.”
Wow, talk about talent. “So, does that mean you play the violin too?”
“Depending on my mood,” he muses.
Well, that’s not a “no.” Elain thought.
“Anyhoo,” Alastor then leads her back to the front of the house, where he opened the hallway front closet and produced a pair of black leather shoes and a long back coat. “Upstairs is Amalie’s and my bedrooms, a guest bedroom, my office and a large bathroom. All of the windows are currently locked, as is the back door. There are emergency numbers and contacts by the fridge, as well as my cell number. Amalie goes to bed at nine O’clock. She’s not difficult when it comes to her bedtime. She’ll sometimes be in bed reading a few minutes before.”
She is so not like Kaya. Elain thought, doing her best to hide her relief as the unsuspecting father had his back turned to her as he swiftly placed on his coat.
Alastor then turns and readjusts the cuffs of his long coat. “Amalie,” he calls as he makes fast strides to the bottom of the stairs. “Come down, my Sweetheart.”
Amalie reaches the top of the stairs and with a tentative glance at Elain. Before cautiously coming down to the first step as her father kneels down for them to be at eye level. “Remember what I said before? Miss. Ortiz is in charge for tonight. I’ll be back late, so be a good girl while I’m gone.” He paused, then added as he cupped her cheek with his right hand. “I know she’s not Lauren, but you did say that you hoped to be good friends with her, didn’t you?”
Amalie nodded shyly. Cute.
“It’ll be all right. I shouldn’t be too long.” He then leaned in close and kissed his daughter’s cheek before standing to his full height once more and facing Elain as he faintly smiled. “There’s food in the fridge. If you find yourself hungry, feel free to have whatever you like. Just be sure to clean up after yourself.” He then paused and asked. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you, Miss. Ortiz?”
Elain shook her head. “Nope, I’m not allergic to anything at all.”
His facial expression looked to be relieved with his smile. Making him look all the sweeter. As though what she said was music to the man’s ears. Elain couldn’t figure out why this man never remarried. Maybe he wanted to remain focused on his daughter and career.
“Wonderful,” he then turned for the door.
“Have a good night, Mr. Hilmarsson,” Elain said. “Be safe out there, and watch out for crazy people when on the road. My Mom often says that because you never know who you’ll run into in the dead of night”
Alastor paused, glancing at Elain, before laughing softly. “I’ll be sure too.”