Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

0Preston gritted his teeth as he endured the pain while the doctor cleaned his wounds. Cold sweat trickled down his back due to the pain and he closed his eyes as he let out little breaths.      3

"Is it too bad, doctor?" Maggie queried from the side, her expression not changing even for a moment on seeing Preston in pain. She did not pity him at all.     

"The wound is deeper than I thought and whoever treated him did a horrible job." The doctor commented, his frown deepening as he tried to restitch the wound that had somehow opened and started bleeding.     

"Did the doctor not treat you properly? You would have gotten an infection if you endured a few more days without getting your wounds checked." He rebuked and once he was done, he covered Preston's forehead again with a gauze.     

"I was admitted to a local hospital with limited resources, doctor. The doctors over there were not that educated and experienced." Preston reasoned and blinked his eyes open as he peeked at his friends, who had obvious expressions of concern on their faces, including Maggie.     

Preston secretly rejoiced when he saw her frowning. Although uncertain, he had an inkling that Maggie had started to believe his story slowly and that was enough for him. He could take it from here and make her believe him completely soon.     

"Young man, you were lucky your wounds are not infected yet. Otherwise, the situation would have been dire. Be careful from now onwards."     

"Yes, doctor. I promise." Preston listened to the doctor's suggestions carefully, giving the old man a good impression of him.     

"If there is nothing else, I will leave now. Please take the medicines I have prescribed here." The doctor nodded at the others before leaving the friends to their own.     

"I'll get the medicines." Maggie took the prescription and left the ward again, unable to stay nearby the man who was giving her strong negative vibes. She needed time to cool herself off and calm down lest she gave away her thoughts before him.     

By the time she returned to the ward again, she was calm and her thoughts had settled down. She had become the impassive Maggie she had been before.     

"Does it hurt a lot?" Ryder clicked his tongue and looked at his friend with worry. "Please take the medicines now."     

"Yeah, to be honest. It fucking hurts." Preston sucked in a deep breath, cursing Jared again in his mind as he took the medicines as per the prescription. 'I am going to kill that bastard. Did he have to do it so hard?'     

"Do you feel woozy?" Valerie too softened her stance before him and looked at him in concern.     

"A little."     

"Do you want to lie down?"     

"I am fine, Val. Don't worry."     

"How can we not worry? You seem pale and you look sick. Lie down on the bed right now." Ryder commanded and pulled the with him, making sure to be as gentle as possible.     

"Ryder..."     

"Don't," Ryder warned and Preston shut his mouth immediately, swallowing all his arguments immediately.     

"Good, now lie down and sleep for some time. We will talk when you feel better." Ryder pushed him onto the bed beside Valerie's, and Preston laughed helplessly.     

"But I feel better."     

"I am not going to listen to a word you say. Just close your eyes and sleep. Your medicines will be kicking in soon and you will fall asleep then."     

Preston sighed and did not argue anymore as he lay on the spare bed in the ward. Anyway, he did feel light-headed and after dealing with his three observant friends, he was mentally exhausted. He wanted to rest for some time.     

"Rest well, Preston. We will be here when you wake up." Valerie assured and Preston nodded at her before he closed his eyes.     

Sleep did not come to him that quickly even though he felt weak and dizzy. He was wide awake as he listened to friends talk about him, his ears alert and careful.     

"Valerie, I have some work to do. I will..." Maggie scrutinized Preston for some time and when she did not notice anything amiss with him, she took the couch and pulled out her laptop.     

"Go ahead with your work, Maggie. Don't mind about me." Valerie smiled in understanding and looked at the man now sleeping, her forehead creasing into a frown as she recalled all he had told them about him going missing.     

Although she wanted to believe him, somewhere in her heart, she had an inkling that he was lying to them. There was more to what he was showing them. But she could not point out what. Preston was too careful with them and she could not make out his true self for the first time since she knew him.     

"Hey, Val. What got you thinking?" Ryder's voice pulled her out of her stupor and she blinked at him a few times to clear her thoughts.     

"I was just thinking about Jared." Valerie turned to Preston immediately and noticed no visible changes in him. He still seemed asleep.     

"What about him?" Ryder sneered and gnashed his teeth when he thought about the man responsible for their miseries.     

"We need to catch him as quickly as possible. But considering our condition and how the man has gone into hiding, I don't know what to do." Valerie raised her hands helplessly in defeat.     

"Don't worry, Val. We will find a way soon. Just recover well soon first."     

"Yes, Val. Don't worry." Maggie agreed with Ryder. "Didn't I inform you that Noah and the others are with us on this? We will soon find a way to handle Jared. It's just that they are busy right now as Noah's Grandpa is sick. So, all plans are put on hold."     

"I get it, Maggie. I understand." Valerie was still not assured. "But the more we delay, the more we give time for Jared to devise a plan of destruction and I will never allow that to happen." She sighed and fidgeted her fingers anxiously.     

"How about this then? I am going to meet Joshua today. I will ask him about this and find out what they have planned." Maggie thought for a while and suggested.     

"That would be great. We need their help in this matter. Let's just hope we catch Jared before he ruins us first."     

Silence dropped on the ward and none of the three people noticed how Preston's knuckles had turned after clutching the blanket.