The formidable Aiden Romanov

Chapter six

Aiden opened the door, the room was clean but it was very obvious that no one had lived there for a long time but it was very warm and cozy. Aiden helped Zia out of her wet clothes and wrapped her up in a clean blanket. “Sweetie, I’m going to run you a hot bath, do not move an inch from here.”

“Yes Daddy.” Zia had already stopped crying, she was shivering from the cold and Aiden had wrapped her up like a burrito to warm her up. Her eyes were red and swollen and she was in a daze, completely traumatized by what had happened earlier. 

Nothing went wrong and soon Aiden tucked Zia in bed for the second time. “Daddy, are you okay?” She finally asked. Throughout the time Aiden bathed and dressed her up, she was still in a daze, like a puppet. Aiden didn’t know what to say or how to reassure her. 

“Yes honey, I’m fine,” She lied to her once again and she seemed to buy it. “We would stay here for a while and wait-” 

“Mummy isn’t coming.” Zia announced all of a sudden, catching her father unaware.

“Why- why do you say that? Of course she is coming.” He tried to cover up his lie.

“Mummy doesn’t love me, you were lying to me.” She burst into tears once again. 

He had already been found out so there was no use lying to her. “She definitely loves you, she just have issues expressing it.” For the first time, Aiden realized that having a daughter who was smart might not be a good thing.

“Everyone hates me, no one loves me.”

“Who told you that?” A frown appeared on his face.

“Everyone in the house tells me that,” Zia answered truthfully. “They hit me too.”

Reyes family

The pressure in the room dropped but Zia didn’t  notice, Aiden clenched his fist. ‘I would destroy all of you one by one. I would make you all ever regret ever laying a finger on my child.’ He thought inwardly, Zia was his reverse scale and he didn’t appreciate anyone hurting her and he wouldn’t let it go either.  

He pulled her into his arms and gently patted her back. “That’s not true, I love you more than all the days and the months, deeper than the skies and the season. Never forget that.” He held her till she fell asleep in his arms.

Once she was deeply asleep, Aiden carefully tucked her in once again, leaving a kiss on her forehead. There was only one room in the apartment but luckily, the bed was big enough for both father and child.

Aiden left to take a bath, since there was no means to get to an hospital, he just cleaned his wounds and bandaged them up, ignoring whether his ribs were broken or not. As soon as his head hit his pillow, he fell asleep, he had a pretty rough day but it wasn’t over just yet. 

Aiden woke up the next morning with a headache, he got out of bed to get pain medications but noticed his daughter curled up on her side of the bed, she looked deathly pale. With a short cry, he rushed to her side, as he held her, he recoiled immediately. 

Zia had a fever.

Her temperature had shot up.

“It’s all my fault.” Recalling how she had been drenched in the rain for over an hour and still cried herself to sleep, Aiden blamed himself. “I should have been more careful.” Despite the actions he took to get her warm enough, Zia had caught a cold sometime in the night and since it wasn’t taken care of, she had a fever and fell unconscious. 

He carried her in his arms and rushed out of the house, he immediately flagged down a taxi and instructed to be taken to the nearest hospital. “Sweetie, wake up.”  He tapped the unconscious girl a few times but got no response. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Sir you have to calm down. She would be fine.”  The driver said in a bid to reassure, noticing his action from the rearview mirror. 

The driver stopped in front of an hospital, when Aiden tried to pay for the fare, he shook his head. “You need it more than I do. I hope your daughter gets well.” 

“Thank you.” Aiden nodded, keeping the man deed in mind. He rushed through the entrance of the hospital. “I need a nurse!” he yelled out.

A nurse appeared, and collected Zia from him. “Sir I need you to fill this form.” She gave him a form before leaving with the child. Aiden was panicking inwardly, his hands shaky as he filled the form given to him.

“Are my eyes deceiving me?” Someone strolled before him with a smirk on his face. “Aiden Reye- oh pardon me, it’s just Aiden now I guess.”

“Who are you?” Aiden frowned at him, he didn’t find the person familiar.

“Where are my manners? I’m Caspian Beau, we didn’t get a chance to be acquainted at the birthday party three days ago. What a pity.”

Knowing that the man was there to mock him, Aiden didn’t bother being polite anymore. “What do you want?”

“I’m curious to know why you’re here.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh really, let me see whether you’ll have the cheeks to say that a few moments from now. See you soon.” Caspian walked away with a cheeky grin on his face.

Aiden could tell that Caspian was up to no good but he was more worried about his sick daughter. Soon, the nurse who had taken Zia earlier, carried her back with a conflicted expression on her face. “Is anything wrong with her? Will she be fine?” Aiden inquired.

“I’m sorry sir but your daughter has been refused treatment here.” She placed Zia into Aiden’s arms. 

“Why?” Aiden was at the verge of tears.