Dr. Nicca James Alfarone

Ugh.

Was I dead? Was this the afterlife? This white light that surrounded me, was I in heaven? I must have died, right? I mean, surely I should have. That pain I felt was nothing to live through. It felt as if one hundred daggers were digging into my skin slowly, all in unison. I internally groaned with anguish as I fluttered my eyes open, my eyelids harboring my sight. It hurt to look around, I decided as I saw several people standing around me, relief on their faces.

What were they looking at? Me?

"Don't you scare me like that ever again!" I heard Jose scream from the left side of my bed but I was unable to say anything so all I could do was stare at him. "I thought I lost you!" He cried, balling my shirt up with his fists. "Oh my fucking god, Nicca!" He sniffled, a man that I had never seen before clenching his fists as he stood behind Jose. "Don't use god and fucking in the same context or the same sentence, Jose." My father stood on the other side of my bed next to my mother, who looked relieved. "My baby is finally awake." She sighed, her sad smile being replaced with a genuine one.

What had happened? Why did it hurt so much? I literally had several bandages all over me.

"I don't care!" Jose wiped his face in response to my father, a grin on his lips. "My best friend is finally awake." He smiled and I clawed at my throat, unable to breathe or speak. What was this feeling? It made me feel claustrophobic, stuck in some predicament that I couldn't get myself out of. It scared me and everyone in the room saw it as I struggled to breathe, ignoring the pain on my body. "Aw, shit!" My father snapped. "He has a tube in his throat!" He pressed the call button on the side of my bed as my mother rubbed my hand reassuringly. "They put a tube in your throat to allow some of the smoke that had been ingested, to be released. This way, there wouldn't be so much pressure on your lungs." Marica explained when she noticed the panicked look on my face. "I don't know who could do such a thing to my baby." She let a tear escape her eye and I jolted a bit.

"I have an idea." Jose muttered, folding his arms. "That fucking piece of shit." He grumbled, contorting his face into a look of disgust as he looked at the floor. "Huh, did you say something, Jose?" My father turned to him and he shook his head. "Will the nurse hurry the hell up!? Nicca looks scared bloody shitless!" Jose raged as soon as the nurse burst in through the door, gloves on. "Bout bloody time." He rolled his eyes and I winced as pain flared throughout my body. What happened? Why did it hurt so much? I could still feel blood dripping on parts of my body. Who did this to me?

"Open your mouth." The ginger haired nurse held my mouth open gently as she stuck a pair of pliers down my throat, latching onto the tube. "This will feel slightly uncomfortable." She stated and I nodded, having gone through this procedure with many of my patients before. She slowly pulled it out and I gagged at the feeling of my throat being full. It was covered in blood and saliva and the tube was colored a dark grey, probably from the smoke I had breathed in. I coughed and hacked, breathing in fresh air.

"W-Why does everything hurt so much?" I threw my head back against the pillow, the light blinding my eyes. "What happened?" I had to ask because I couldn't remember. "Someone had put a bomb under your car and it was rigged to go off once you entered a 3 mile radius away from the hospital." Jose growled, his face turning red as the guy behind him put a hand on his shoulder. "Coppers found the remains of the bloody bomb in the crash. You guys done got wrecked up, I say." He said. "Adrian isn't any better." He finished and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion until I realized that Adrian was the personal driver my father hired for me.

I remembered seeing him with Steve and I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. From what I have heard and seen, Steve had never met Adrian Fontaine before in his life. I only told him about my father hiring me a driver after I told him I felt threatened but I never specified who he was or what he looked like. I could say that maybe they knew each other before I met Adrian but my father confirmed that he had Adrian brought here from Canada and Steve was from Texas.

"Did they find out who did it?" I muttered, a burning sensation taking over the various wounds that wracked my body. "No. It turns out that whoever did it, slashed your brake lines so even if you figured out that you were in danger, there was nothing for you to do because you wouldn't be able to stop." My father cursed, covering his face with his hands. "I just knew this would happen." He mumbled to himself, sighing. "Oi, old man, what are you talking about?" Jose raised an eyebrow and I bit my lip. Jose didn't know the secret about my family and I and I wasn't so sure if I wanted him to know.

I trusted him with my life but I wasn't sure if I wanted to put him in jeopardy. There was no telling that this wouldn't be the first time that I would be in a situation like this. The explosion was big but it wasn't big enough to kill me, so I knew that it was a warning. A warning for what though and from whom? Probably from someone who wanted to know information about my family and I and our royalty. Maybe this was a warning that they were getting closer and they wouldn't stop at nothing to get what they want. Sigh, just who wanted this information though?

I had even more things to think about. Why was Steve here talking with Adrian when he was supposed to be in Cairo? I looked at Jose and he seemed to be pondering the same thoughts as I was. I didn't want to think negatively but a push was coming to shove and it was leading me in that direction. What was Steve hiding from me? I had to know because it was eating me up inside, not knowing what he was actually doing. I needed to know because everything was confusing me, driving my mind apart. I also needed to know what was wrong with me.

"You have many small wounds, most likely from the glass. They had found many pieces inside so they had to immediately take them out." My mother said, noticing that I was staring at the bandages I had all over my legs. "You have no broken bones, thank god, but you will be in immense pain for a while. You suffered a head concussion and your neck needs to heal. You will need to be in a wheelchair because your legs are too numb you to walk." The nurse continued after my mother, writing on her clipboard. "I'll go let the doctor know you're awake." She smiled softly and left the room, my father turning to me with a grim expression.

"I didn't want to have to do this, Nicca." Nicolai grimaced slightly and I tilted my head, not understanding what he was talking about. He let out a loud sigh and that was when I finally noticed the three men in black standing near the door, their arms behind their backs and sunglasses covering their eyes. Who were this people? "I don't want you to be mad and think that I'm trying to control your life because I'm not." He said and I raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what point he was trying to get at.

Suddenly, expanding my hearing range, I heard footsteps that seemed ominous, thudding against the walls. They moved with determination as they belonged to someone with a suave and refined nature. They were laced with fierce dominance and rage, footsteps that shook me to my core. Just who was this person? The pitter patter of the footsteps stopped in front of my room door and I clenched my body in anticipation, my father starting to speak.

"I had long since hired a special bodyguard, son." My father began, standing before me. "Ever since you told me about that symbol. I had known it meant something dangerous and if you were in contact with it, then that meant I had to do something to protect my son. I couldn't let anything happen to you, Nicca." He sighed, running a hand through his hair, not concerning himself with the frequent sputters of apprehension that escaped my mouth. "He's the best in the nation as he was recommended to me by many people." He hummed in amusement at his choices. "I've hired him from one of the high companies in the country so you should be in good hands." He confirmed and I snorted. "He's Russian so he may have bit of an accent but overall, he seems like a nice but intimidating kind of guy and he seems to know how to carry on a long conversation." Nicolai grinned. "Something you can't do."

My father bought someone just to talk to me? Why would he spring this information on me when I was currently fighting for my life? It was as if he was out to get me. I didn't like this. I mean, I had just almost died. The least thing I wanted was for more people to enter my life. I wanted to figure out this situation quickly.

"I'm twenty nine years old Dad! I can handle myself!" I yelled to my dad, who just rolled his eyes as he folded his arms. "Who are you?" He asked, daring me to challenge him and while I was a full blown adult, I couldn't. "Tell me. Who are you?" His glare bored into my soul and I fell back into the cushion of the bed, glaring back at him. "I'm Nicca James Alfarone." I gritted my teeth silently. I had known that I could handle my own in certain situations but I didn't even know what was coming to land me in the hospital like this. "That's right. Now be nice, son. Your bodyguard is right outside those doors. I expect nothing but your best behavior." He stated, then he motioned for his men to open the doors to let the demon in. I had no idea who or what this man would be but knowing my father, he probably found someone ugly and disturbing to look at.

"Hey, good afternoon!" Nicolai smiled and I turned my head, wanting to see what disgusting man has been put on to babysit me. I tried to get a good look but my father was blocking the way of the man. He finally moved out of the way and my eyes widened. Oh. My. God. Who was he? Where did my father find him? My mouth dropped at the sight of the man before me, the man who had many imperfections on sight yet seemed to have none. Suddenly, the pain I felt just vanished into thin air just by looking at him.

"This is your bodyguard, Nicca." My dad pointed to someone who had managed to capture my attention, with his tall stature, his solid muscles filling out the shirt of his suit, clinging to the skin of his abs that had me watering on sight, to the thick thighs that began his legs, to his piercing hazel eyes, hidden behind thick rimmed glasses that seemed to bore into my own very soul, his brown hair that sat in a messy haircut, a mole that sat under his right eye and while most people might see that as unattractive, I thought it was the opposite and that crooked smile of his that showed his white teeth. He seemed flawed but perfect.

"Mikhail Baranov."