CHAPTER TEN

LEILA

I was crying. But I don't even remember why I was crying. I was not sad. I just felt…overwhemed by my emotions. I felt it was too much to bear.

I could not move. I felt so weak.When I looked down at myself, I saw that my torso and left leg was bandaged. My arms were painful. Then there was this heavy metal around my neck.

I did not remember what happened to me. Doctors and nurses were checking in me all throughout the day and night, talking as if I wasn't there. Well…anyway, I couldn't speak. Well, I can speak but too softly for them to hear. So they all thought I was mute or my vocal cords were înjured.

So I learned from eavesdropping on the nurses' conversațions that there was this hotshot guy who wanted me transported to Pennsylvania. He was the person who was adopting me. I did not remember my family.

After a few days, they took me out of the ICU and transferred me to a VIP room. It looked like a hotel suite. Large tv. Big cushioned sofa. The floor was still tiled without a carpet.

I was assigned to a caregiver to give me baths, change my clothes and bandages. Her name was Myra. She was quite nice. Trying to comfort me as much as possible. I was bored. I could not move. Every movement causes pain. They gave me a lot of sedatives so I was asleep most of the time.

Then this guy visited me, bringing flowers. They were white roses. The sweet smell of roses filled my room. He was quite young. I was looking at him blankly. He came forward and asked with a frown, "Do you remember me?"

I shook my head.

He looked disappointed. But he said, "It's alright. My name is Jason Ziegler. I am in the process of adopting you. Your head injury worsened. There were new blood clots and lesions on your brain." He checked for my reaction. Of course I didn't say anything or give a reaction. He continued. "We are going to leave for Pennsylvania today. I already arranged for an air ambulance to New York, then a land ambulance from New York to Pennsylvania."

The flight took six hours. There were nurses and a doctor who accompanied us to New York. They kept checking in the monitor if I was still alive, and if my eyes were open and if I was conscious.

Every movement still hurts.

When I was being transferred to the hospital in Pennsylvania, a lot of reporters crowded around me

"Is it true you blackmailed the Ziegler famiily?"

"Did you steal from them?"

"Are they suing you for hacking into Emzitech's systems?"

I told them in a hardly audible voice, "I'm Jason's girlfriend."

Everyone gaped at me with their eyes wide open!

"You're his girlfriend?"

"When did you become his girlfriend?"

Jason was suddenly beside me, helping the hospital crew push the stretcher inside the hospital doors. His face was hard and grim. He was unsmiling. He looked angrily at me.

The reporters tried to get him to comment. But he was silent and he just pushed them vehemently away. The hospital guards assisted him in preventing the the reporters from entering the hospital premises.

They settled me in a big VIP room. I felt like a big rag doll. Every small movement hurt. But I kept looking at Jason, and he kept avoiding looking at me. So I ignored him, and then he started glancing at me.

I felt terribly tired. I don't care what he thought of me. i don't even know who he is, why he was so popular. Why was he adopting me?

I promised myself that I will find out everything I need to know tomorrow. For now, let me sleep.

The next day came too soon. When I opened my eyes, there was a woman removing my bandages. So I watched her trying to avoid hurting me. It still hurt.

She kept looking at me smiling.

"Water." I croaked. She gave me a water bottle with a straw.

"Want to watch tv?"

I nodded. When she turned the tv on, I saw myself on the screen looking like a mummy. They zoomed the camera to my face when I told them I was Jason's girlfriend.

Well, I don't feel like he was my brother. So girlfriend was the best answer and the tv hosts were talking about it, wondering if I was speaking the truth. I saw the envy on the women's faces.

Heheh. I giggled. The caregiver was also watching the tv program and looked at me curiously. I ignored her. Most likely, they were all against me. Who cares? It was fun being the center of attention. I giggled.

So while I was giggling and having fun, Jason entered the room. He has holding fresh roses on his hand, and there were two people behind him with white roses too. He smiled at me, which took me by surprise. I expected him to be angry. And I didn't expect the white roses.

"How do you feel, Leila?" He asked me, while the two men arranged the roses beside the window sill.

"Good," I whispered. "Thank you."

He seemed to be in a good mood. He continued smiling as he sat down on the sofa and noticed that the tv's program was about me. He watched it silently and turned to me. The caregiver had finished putting fresh bandages on me and had left. The men who delivered the roses left, too. And we were alone. I felt nervous, being alone with him.

"What do you remember, Leila?"

"Nothing," I whispered.

He pulled up a chair nearer to the bed so he could hear me properly.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Jason."

"Tv said Jason Ziegler."

"What do you know about me?"

"Nothing."

"Why did you tell them I'm your boyfriend."

Why would you be here if you're not my boyfriend?"

"I adopted you."

"You mean you're not my boyfriend?"

He shook his head.

"I felt you are my boyfriend. You gave me roses."

"Well, it's your birthday today."

"Oh."

He gave a wide smile and kissed my cheek. "Happy birthday, Leila!"

I liked his kiss, even if it was only on my cheek. He had a musky scented perfume on.

"Did you buy me a gift?" I demanded.

I didn't expect he would buy me a gift. But he brought out a small jewelry box.

"Oh, gosh," I was so surprised. And happy. He brought the red clothed box near my face and opened the box for me. My breath caught in my throat as I saw the biggest diamond I have ever seen in my life secured with yellow gold leaf twines and my name attached to it. the pendant was hanging on a delicate gold chain. "It's so beautiful, Jason!"

It looked so expensive that I dare not ask how much it cost. The diamond was so big, so white, glistening so brilliantly. Obviously the best quality of diamonds.

"It's so beautiful, Jason!" I couldn't stop staring at it. I could not believe it was mine.

His grin became wider. "You like it?"

"I not only like it, I love it!" I smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Let me put it on you." I felt his warm fingers on my cold skin as he placed the gold chain around my neck.

"What if someone steals it while I'm sleeping?"

"I had cctv cameras installed inside this room and along the hallway."

"Can I have a mirror please?" He called a nurse to bring in a mirror. The nurse gasped when she saw the diamond. Jason gave her a look. She handed him the mirror and she left immediately.

He held the mirror in front of me while I admired the pendant. I couldn't stop smiling.

Then he sat on the coach near me and said. "Classes will start in a few weeks."

"Did you enroll me?"

"How can I enroll you when you can't even move and you might get another seizure?"

"I still want you to enroll me." I don't even know what grade I was in. "What grade am I in?"

He gave me a look. "You're already in college."

"Huh? I don't remember graduating. "

He sighed. "You didn't attend your graduation."

"Can you enroll me please?"

I pleaded. "I can't take it if I don't attend class."

"But how will you attend Leila?"

"Just enroll me please." I repeated.

He still refused. So when he left, I asked the nurse to borrow a laptop for me. Since I was the new adopted daughter of Jason Ziegler, the nurse was very accomodating. She brought her own laptop the next day and let me use it the whole day.

I hacked into Jason's credit card information and got myself an extension card with a minimum of three hundred dollars credit limit. Then I ordered a new Mac laptop for myself. I hacked into Jason's new school and enrolled myself. I took all of the classes he was enrolled in and got additional classes. By the time Jason visited me before lunch, I was done.