A pair of grey eyes fluttered open. They slowly took in the surroundings, a cream white ceiling, and soon, five faces came into view.
"Oh! Thank God! Becky, help me call the doctor!" Victoria spoke first. The woman looked like she wanted to cry upon taking in the young woman lying on the bed. Looking at the bandage wrapped around her head just brought more guilty feelings within Victoria.
"What happened? Who are you people?" the young woman spoke. She tried to sit up but stopped and held her head.
"Don't move. The doctor will be right with you", Adelaide helped her back down.
"I'm Victoria, this is Adelaide, Stephanie, and Kristen. The one who just left is Rebecca. I'm really sorry, Miss. I hit you with my golf ball."
The young woman was at a loss for words, she could see the guilt on the older woman. But everything was still a blur for her. She was about to speak when Rebecca came back in with a doctor and his team. All the women were quite taken aback by the doctor's beauty. The older women exchanged knowing glances; this would be tea for later. Victoria, however, had other plans for this man.
"Good afternoon, Miss?" the doctor asked.
Even his voice was pleasant to the ears. The young woman was oblivious to how taken the older women were and focused on the man.
"Oswell."
"Miss Oswell. How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Mm. Luckily, there was not too much damage, except for a cut on the back of your head which we stitched up. We run some scans and there's no apparent brain damage. But we still need to monitor you for another 24 hours."
"Alright."
The doctor excused himself while the women thanked him for his service. Victoria quickly rushed over to Miss Oswell's side. She could not feel apologetic enough. "I'm really sorry dear. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm really sorry."
"That's why you shouldn't do things in a fit of anger", Kris commented.
The other women shook their heads while sighing. Would she ever stop? Miss Oswell looked between the two women awkwardly before taking in Victoria's guilty expression. There was no point in adding more to that.
"It's okay Victoria. It was an accident after all", Miss Oswell genuinely smiled at her.
"I can't help but feel bad. If there's anything you need at all, just let me know", Victoria spoke.
"Anything?"
Victoria nodded. Kris's face pulled into a frown. Seeing the young woman like this could mean she was up to something. She probably knew they were from the upper class and would try to take advantage of the situation. She was about to voice her opinion to Stephanie when Miss Oswell spoke.
"Could you help me find my phone? I need to call my friend. You seem like nice women but I'd like for her to be here. I don't want you to stay here because of me. Please."
"Okay. But I'll stay here until she gets here", Victoria conceded. The young woman nodded before she received her phone when Victoria found it. She called her friend who soon promised to arrive in ten minutes.
The other women also decided to stay until the friend arrived. They broke into awkward chatter which soon ended with silence. It was the most excruciating ten minutes for everyone. Victoria could not stop apologizing and made sure was at the beck and call of Miss Oswell. Her friends could not help but feel bad for her. No one knew how to express guilt and atone for their sins like Victoria. She would forget her Mrs. Frost status and humble herself when she was wrong.
Finally the friend arrived and burst through the room in tears!
"Oh! My gosh! Nicole! I was- oh my gosh! Nicole", she couldn't finish her sentences and rushed into her arms while crying. Nicole smiled and hugged her friend. The friend pulled away and examined her.
"Are you alright? What happened? Who did this to you? I swear to God I will skin that person alive inch by inch, layer by layer, limb by-" her face grew darker and her expression more menacing as she spoke through gritted teeth.
Everyone: "…"
"Okay! Down girl! Now say hello", she showed her to the five women and introduced them to her. "They brought me in and helped me. They didn't want to leave me alone before you arrived. Ladies, this is my best friend, Neela."
"It's nice to meet you all. And thank you for taking care of my girl. You're all so kind. Thank you", Neela said this with a kind smile and tears brimming in her eyes.
Victoria could not bring herself to look her in the eye. She was silently grateful to Nicole for not rattling her out. Her impression of the young woman was very good. The women soon left with Victoria insisting to exchange numbers with Nicole and promising her a visit.
Kris and Victoria barely exchanged a word for obvious reasons while they happily parted with the other three. Raymond got the door for her and she relaxed in her seat before the car got a move on.
"Ah!" she remembered something important and fished out her phone. She found Xavier's contact and frowned when she saw the unread messages from the previous week.
'Surely, he won't ignore this one, right?' she mused as she sent it.
She was just about to put down her phone when it started ringing. It was an unknown number. Her stomach churned at who it could possibly be. Sure enough, her suspicions were right when she answered.
"Miss me?" the voice of a man jeered at her. His charming chuckle resounded over Victoria's earpiece.
"Why are you calling?" she shot back.
"I heard you were in the hospital. You sound fine. That's good. I have to go, bye!" he quickly hung up.
"Wait! Henry!" she screamed into the phone even when she heard the familiar beep of a terminated call. She did not need this on a good Sunday afternoon. But it had been further ruined. She could practically guess who did this.
"Raymond, to Frost Corporation!"
Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience