Nelson's POV:

"You did what?!", Matt yelled.

"I kissed her", I repeated for the second time.

"And you are telling me this now?! That too on the phone!"

"I am just telling you a day later, stop overreacting."

"Did she kiss you back?"

"Kind of..."

"Nelson? Are you okay?"

"I don't know...I kissed her, Matt. What if she never talks to me again?"

"But she did kiss you back, right?"

"Anyone will in the heat of the moment. It wasn't a huge thing."

"You know what, apologise to her. Tell her it was a mistake."

"But...but...I told her that it isn't a mistake." I sighed.

"So what, Nel? Just go and tell her that everything was a mistake and wait a minute, you sent that footage to her, right? Now she will definitely break up with him and now your job is over."

"I know... but..."

"But what, Nel? What do you want?"

"I don't know..."

"First go and apologize to her and then talk to me."

"Matt--"

"No. I won't listen to you unless and until you have apologised."

"Fine." I huffed.

"Where's Ella?", I asked Miss Rachael.

"She's not at home."

"Any idea when she will come back?"

"No, sir. She went to Asher's house I guess last evening and didn't return yet. She usually stays there..."

"Oh, okay..."

Biding her goodbye, I came and sat inside my car.

I dialled Ella's number but it was switched off.

Something is not right.

I called uncle to confirm.

"Uncle, did you or aunty talk to Ella today?"

"No...I called her last night but her phone was switched off...is everything all right?"

"Umm...y-eah, don't w-orry."

"Nelson", he said in an intimidating tone, "where's Ella?"

"Umm...uncle... I... she's not at home."

"What do you mean she is not at home?! Where is she then?!"

"Uncle, calm down, please. I'll find her."

"I am coming with you."

"No! Please, I'll find her, trust me. Just calm down. Maybe she went somewhere and her phone died. We can't jump to conclusions."

"If you don't find her in two hours, inform me immediately and none of this should get out to the media , understood?"

"Yes, uncle."

Where are you, Ella? Now, only Asher will answer this.

Next, I dialled Matt's number.

"Is Asher in his office?"

"Erm...yes, why?"

"There's no time to explain. Just make sure that he doesn't leave his office and all the CCTV cameras on his floor especially his office are closed. I don't want anything to leak. And tell your bodyguards to warm up."

"What the--"

I didn't let him finish and hung up the call.

I drove towards Matt's office as quickly as possible.

"You had one job, Nelson", I could hear uncle say. "You couldn't even protect my daughter."

The elevator opened on to the 20th floor where Matt was already waiting for me and he got into the elevator with me.

In the ride till the 9th floor I explained Matt everything.
He had already everyone except Asher to leave that floor.

We walked to his office and I kicked open the door and we walked in.

He was there sitting on the chair infront of his desk not quite shocked to see us.

Walking upto him, I grabbed his collar tightly.

"Where is Ella?!", I gritted.

He fucking smirked at me.

I gripped his collar more tightly and almost lifted him off his chair.

"Where the fuck she is?!"

"Look who is finally showing their true colour. I thought you were gentleman, Andrews. And gentlemen don't fight."

"Gentleman only fight for people who are precious not assholes like you!"

His face was turning a bit pale due to my hold on his neck so, I released him making him fall back on the chair.

"Where is she?!" I was running out of patience.

When he just kept smirking, I punched him hard on his nose and his eyes immediately watered and a drop of blood trickled down his nose.

"Fucking speak, will you?!", I spat.

He casually wiped away the blood with his finger. "You tried to snatch her from me and I snatched her from you."

"Ella is mine!", he yelled. "You can't take her from me!"

"She is--"

I punched him again, this time on his jaw. Hard.

When I was about punch him again, Matt shouted, "Nelson!"

"What?!"

He had Asher's phone in his hand and gestured me to come closer.

"Look", he said pointing towards the screen.

It was a live footage of Ella, tied to a chair in some dark hall as her head was hung low.

I fucking lost my mind on seeing that!

"How did you open this?", I asked Matt.

He shrugged. "You know I am good at hacking."

"By the time you will reach her, my right hand will finish her off", Asher spoke.

I went to him and grabbing his throat lifted him up.

"Tell me where she is!", I demanded.

When he didn't reply, I tightened my hold on his his neck.

Within a few seconds his face paled and he started coughing.

"Nelson, leave him!", Matt said.

But I didn't untill he finally spoke.
"S-she is...at...m-y house."

I immediately released him.

"Find his address", I ordered Matt and he immediately started typing on his phone.

A minute later, he found the address.

We both ran out of the office leaving Asher behind with one of the bodyguard.

And with a few more guards we drove to his house.

(A/N: All this is so clichè and cringy🤦)

"She must be in the basement!", I said to everyone and we all ran down the stairs.

Just as we reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard her scream.

There was a bulky man with a knife in his hand.

He fucking stabbed her in the stomach!

Rest everything happened in a blur; us being five in number had an upper hand and it was surprisingly quite easy to capture him.

"Ella, Ella", I patted her cheeks.

She half opened her eyes.

"Nelson?", she barely whispered.

"Yes, baby. I am here."

I quickly untied her and lifted her up in my arms.

Matt ordered one of the guard to take us to the hospital.

"No! I am not taking her to the hospital, I don't want it to get to the media."

"But, Nelson, look at her", Matt said.

I examined her wound from where the blood was flowing and staining my T-shirt. The wound wasn't that deep.

"I can treat it", I said to him and then turned to the guard, "Take us home, quickly!"

As I sat in the backseat with her in my arms, I called Bailey to get the necessary things like a bottle of glucose and all that at Ella's house and messaged him her address.

Next, I removed my T shirt and wrapped it around her stomach.

"Nelson", she whispered again.

I intertwined our fingers and kissed her hand. "Please, Ella. Stay with me."

She buried her head in my chest and my heart swelled but it was not the time to think about all that.

"Stay awake, baby. Please", I pleaded softly.

"Don't sleep, don't sleep."

"Look at me." I turned her head towards me.

She smiled weakly.

"Keep your eyes open, baby."

"He...h-e...is a...dr-ug dealer", she whispered.

"I know. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Her eyes started to close and she was trying her best to keep them open.

A tear fell from my eyes. "Please stay with me, Ella. Talk to me, please!"

"Nel-son...sorry...I...shouted a-t you yes-yesterday..."

"It's okay, baby..."

She again buried her head in my chest and I immediately removed it.

"No, no, no. Don't sleep, don't sleep..." I patted her cheeks.

She half opened her eyes.

"Please, baby...stay with me..."

But she closed her eyes and became unconscious.

For the next few minutes, till I reached her home I kept praying.

I can't lose her.

As soon as the car stopped infront of her house, I ran inside with her in my arms, the door was already open as I have instructed Bailey to tell Rachael.

I ran upto her room and quickly laid her down on her bed.

Bailey already set up everything and I immediately started to tend to her wound.

I removed my T shirt and slowly lifted her shirt enough to tend to her wound.

I cleaned her wound first and then connected the IV tubes to her hand and opening my stitching kit started to stitch her wound.

I learnt how to stitch a wound a few years back because biology and stuff really fascinated me and it was always my second dream to become a surgeon.

As I was stitching her wound I couldn't help but remember a particular incident that was imprinted in my mind ever since.

Flashback:

Eleven years back...

I was sixteen years old, training alone in my backyard.

No one was home; dad was out of town, mom, Delancy and aunty had went out for shopping.

When I was done with my training, I packed my stuff and moved towards the house when I tripped and fell down on my face.

I didn't get hurt on my face but on my shoulder as I cried out in pain.

It was then I realised that it was a huge piece of broken glass that was now half inside my shoulder and half outside as blood flowed from it.

There was no one I could call out to, I tried getting up but fell down again.

It was paining like hell.

Just then I heard her.

"Idiot! Where are you?"

She was inside and she was looking for me.

I heard her voice getting closer until she finally came out with those spectacles and braces in her teeth.

"Nelson!", she exclaimed on seeing me and ran upto me.

She crouched down. "How the hell did this happen?"

I was breathing heavily.

"Come on, get up." She helped me stand up.

"We need to go to the hospital", she said.

"No! There is no need."

"But look at the wound, Nelson! At least let me call aunty."

"No, don't call anyone, don't tell anyone. Delancy must have broken something she will just get scolded. Let it be."

"But--"

"Just take me to my room. I can treat this."

She supported half of my weight on her body as she carried me inside and upto my room and made me lie down on my bed.

"Where's the first aid kit?", she asked in a hurry and I pointed towards my cupboard.

Meanwhile, I pulled out that piece of glass from my shoulder groaning in pain.

I panted heavily after I had pulled it out.

She came back with the kit and a wet cloth with which she cleaned my wound gently.

Her body hovered mine and I my eyes were roaming her face trying to distract myself when I my eyes fell on her eyes.

I was enchanted, I was mesmerized.

Because behind those glasses, glistening with tears was a pair of eyes so beautiful, whose beauty was yet to be uncovered.

When I saw those tears in her eyes, there was a weird, foreign feeling inside me.

"Why are you crying, Resf?", I asked her softly.

She stopped for a second and looked at me, then quickly blinked away those tears.

"I am not crying."

"Yes you are. Are you crying for me?"

She said after a long pause, "No."

I lifted my hand and wiped away the tear that fell from her eyes on her cheeks.

"Ella?", I whispered.

And more tears fell from her eyes as she stopped tending to my wound.

"Why don't you let me call, aunty? Why can't you go to the hospital? What if something happens to you? I don't know how to do all this...", she sobbed.

I cupped her cheek. "I trust you."

She looked at me in shock and I wiped away her tears.

"Please." I gestured towards my shoulder.

And she started cleaning the wound once again.

She was crying for me and for some weird reason, this fact made my heart skip a beat.

I saw that caring side of her's that day; no matter how much we argued, how much we fought, she cared for me.

After she was done bandaging my shoulder, I cupped her cheek and brought her head closer to mine and kissed her cheeks. "Thanks."

She smiled shyly as heat creeped up her neck.

Then moved back and disposed off that glass and all the other things.

When she came back into the room, I said, "Don't tell it to anyone, please."

"But you won't be able to practice like that and what reason will you give then?"

"I'll manage..."

She had a book in her hand and she climbed onto the bed, next to me.

"Are you going to sit there and see if I am okay?", I asked amusingly.

She focused her eyes on the book. "Unfortunately, yes."

And that's what she did, for the next few hours till mom and aunty returned, she was there with me.

Even got me a bottle of water when I asked her to.

After she left, the first thing I did was to get my canvas out.

I always painted the sceneries, animals etc but never a human.

For some reason, I couldn't get that image out of my mind; Ella, cleaning my wound with tears in her eyes, I couldn't get it out of my mind so, I drew a rough sketch first and then a few days later when my shoulder healed a bit, I painted it properly.

That was my first person I ever painted and probably the last because the for the next eleven years, I kept painting her, every year.

Just a small act and she had already captured my mind.

Whoever said that she wasn't that beautiful with those glasses and braces need to get their eyes tested.

She was beautiful, enchanting, mesmerising...she became a permanent thought of my mind since that day...and will always be.

End of flash back...

Why did I have to go back to that memory again?!

I sighed deeply and removed all those thoughts from my mind.

The stitching was done.

I called Miss Rachael and asked her to change her clothes carefully into something loose and comfortable.

She nodded and I left the room.

When she came out and told me that she has changed her clothes, I thanked her and went inside.

I wore a t shirt that I asked Bailey to bring with him since the previous one was stained with blood.

I then took out the oximeter and checked her pulse which seemed to be steady.

I sat on the stool beside her bed and that's when uncle called me and I explained to him everything and told him that she is fine.

I took her hand in mine and kissed her palm and knuckles.
And then brushed a strand of hair from her face and watched her sleep peacefully.

Soon, sleep took over me too and I fell asleep with my head on her chest.

"Nelson?", someone called out to me hoarsely.

And then I felt someone tap my shoulder. "Nelson?"

Startled, I sat up straight.

"You are awake!", I exclaimed on seeing her awake.

"Water", she whispered hoarsely and I nodded and ran down and brought her a bottle of water and helped her drink it.

After she laid back down, I sat down on the stool beside the bed.

She was examining her body when her eyebrows suddenly furrowed. "Who changed my clothes?"

"I asked Miss Rachael to do it. I swear I didn't."

"You can ask her. But...for stitching your wound I had to lift up your t-shirt a bit", I added in a hurry.

She placed her hand over mine. "I trust you."

"I thought you didn't."

"Well, I do now."

We both fell into a comfortable silence as Ella seemed to be in a deep thought.

Then all of a sudden she smiled. "Doesn't all of this reminds you of something?"

When I didn't reply she added, "When I treated your shoulder...years back."

"You remember?"

"Of course, I do, idiot."

I mirrored her smile and she gestured me to come forward and when I did lean down to her, she kissed my cheeks. "Thank you."

Don't blush, don't blush.

"You are blushing", she chuckled and I mentally face slammed myself.

"Nelson?", she called in a serious tone.

"Yes?"

She sighed. "Asher said that you were trying to snatch me away from him. Is it true?"

I answered immediately, "No, baby. That's what I need to tell you..."

So I explained to her everything, from the dinner where dad and uncle told me to protect her to till this day. I told her everything.

"I wasn't trying to snatch you away from him, I was just protecting you, Ella", I added.

"I am sorry for everytime I yelled at you. It was quite frustrating when you used to speak against him because I thought...I thought that what grudge you have against him."

"It's okay, baby. I understand."

"What about Asher?"

"Matt will take care of him, don't worry."

A few seconds later, I got up. "I should go now."

"Can't you stay?" She stopped me. "Remember I stayed with you that day."

"But..."

"Please? Stay tonight, Nelson. And what if I need a surgeon in the middle of the night?"

I chuckled. "I guess I'll have to stay then."

I climbed the bed and sat beside her when I remembered my conversation with Matt earlier today.

Gulping audibly, I said to her, "Ella... about yesterday... about that ki--"

She placed her finger on my lips, silencing me. "Can we talk about that later?"

I gulped again. "Sure."

Done with the dinner, I slipped into the bed beside her.

Before lying down, I kissed her forehead lovingly letting my lips to linger there for a few seconds.

"Goodnight", I whispered.

"Goodnight."

When I laid down, I felt her shift.

I immediately said, "Don't move much."

"Then you come closer."

"Sorry?"

She groaned. "Can't you shift closer to me?"

"I can but...why?"

"Cause I am feeling scared", she admitted.

I shifted closer to her. I had already removed the IV tubes so she turned towards me and slowly placed her hand on my chest and my breath hitched.

"Ella?"

"Sorry", she whispered and removed her hand.

Sighing, I took her hand and placed it on my chest again and gently wrapped my arm around her waist.

I sighed in satisfaction. This feels good.

"I don't think so there is anything wrong in friends cuddling to sleep", she said.

And that's when I came back to my senses.

We are just friends. This moment won't last forever...

I shouldn't get my hopes high.

"Goodnight, Ella", I said for the second time trying to ignore her previous statement.

"Goodnight, Nelson."

Okay...that incident that took place eleven years back, some of you might thing that it is not such a big deal. Like how can someone fall in love just like that but to me it is kinda satisfying.

What do you all think?

And if any of you received a message from her: Rajdiya then ignore it. Since she know almost the whole story she was threatening me that if I don't update, she will tell the whole story to everyone.

~Ahlam