A WHITE DOG

Hazel heard this strange man call her name a couple of times and each time, she could feel the sadness and longing in his voice. And to her surprise, she loved hearing his voice, especially the way her name rolled on his tongue.

She must be crazy to think like that, perhaps this was because of her dizziness. It was also still a mystery to her why she fell sick all of a sudden? And how could he take care of her? Who was he?

But, every time Hazel thought about that, she couldn't go any further from having more and more questions that she couldn't answer. In the end, she would fall asleep, since that was too much work for her.

She didn't know how long she was in such a weak condition, but she woke up one day, on a beautiful and bright morning, with sunlight illuminating the room through the window and found the man was staring at her. Again.

"Good morning," he said simply, since Hazel remained completely silent. She froze and even forgot to breathe. "You need to breathe, love."

Micah sat down on the edge of the bed and put away the tray that he was holding on the bedside table. His blue eyes never left her face.

At this point, Hazel was contemplating what she should do.

Should she scream? But, no one lived in this house except for her, and by now, this strange man must have figured as much.

Should she run? No, that was out of option. Even though she was awake now and felt much better, she wouldn't be able to outrun him or overpower him.

Hazel flinched when he extended his hand and rested his knuckles lightly against her forehead to check her temperature. She was startled when she felt this tingling feeling when their skin made contact. She felt like she was being electrocuted, but in a good way.

"Just like I thought, your fever has gone down," he mumbled to himself and after that, Micah put another pillow behind her back before he took a glass of water and brought it to her lips. "Drink."

Yet, Hazel shook her head, she didn't want to drink or eat anything from a stranger that broke into her house. No, he was not even a stranger, he was something else…

Hazel was very sure that this man transformed from a white… dog? Into a human. She was not sure what kind of animal it was, since it happened so fast.

On the other hand, Micah looked at Hazel with amusement, he knew the reason why she didn't want to drink the water he gave her, therefore, he didn't even need to ask about it when he spoke calmly.

"If I wanted to poison you, I would have done so when you were still unconscious. It will save me a lot of time." Micah loved seeing her eyes widening in shock.

Did he just read my mind?

"Yes, kind of." Micah needed to secure the glass when Hazel freaked out. He remembered vividly about this and how much he missed this ridiculous moment of his life when he told her the same then.

"What?!" Hazel's voice cracked when she spoke, it hurt her throat, as she scrambled out of the bed, but her legs got tangled in the comforter, thus she almost fell headfirst, if it was not for Micah who caught her in time.

In the past, Micah failed to anticipate this and Hazel ended up with a glaring bruise on her forehead, but not this time. He wouldn't let her get hurt. Nothing would hurt her this time…

"You need to calm down," Micah said softly, as he cradled her in his arms and entangled her feet from the comforter, as he placed her down on her pillow, but once he freed her, this woman started trying to run away from him again.

Micah chuckled, as he lazily pulled her back once again. She looked like a small kitten that wanted to escape from being bathed. He could feel her frustration.

"I will not hurt you, okay? But, you need to calm down." In the end, Micah had to roll her into the comforter to make her stop running away. She looked like a roll cake now, with just her head popping out from the end of the comforter. Her black eyes shot him a dagger look, but there was fear and confusion in the way she glared at him.

Hazel was pissed because she was being treated this way, but for Micah, this was much better to make this stubborn woman listen to him, instead of tying her up. Well, he did do that before…

"Drink first," Micah said, as he brought the glass to her lips again. "We will talk after you eat your breakfast."

"What makes you think that I want to eat that?" Hazel pursed her lips and glanced at the food on the tray beside the bed.

"Because you are hungry," Micah replied simply.

"No, I am not." Yes, she was. She didn't think much about that before, but since this stranger mentioned it and she saw how appetizing the food that he brought looked, she felt her stomach urging her to give up.

"Just like I thought."

Hazel was mortified. "How could you… how…" She was lost for words and Micah could read her mind just fine to understand what she was thinking right now, or the thousand other questions that popped into her head rapidly but randomly.

He loved how pure and curious she was. Oh, Goddess, he couldn't imagine what he would be like if he were to lose her again…

"I can read your mind, yes."

"But, what… what are you? How…?" Her words stumbled and then she closed her eyes, which made Micah laugh.

"Even if you close your eyes, it will not prevent me from reading your mind, love."

Hazel opened them again when she heard that. "I saw you… you were a white dog… but then human…"

Dog?

Micah: "…."