Mr. Harsh & Her

Chapter 8

Rachel's POV

It's been several weeks and Alexander was ignoring me. I shouldn't be bothered by it, but I was. I tried to approach him several times to apologize for slapping him. Did I overreact? Maybe. But I felt extremely bad about what I did.

Whenever he saw me he turned the other way or refused to acknowledge my presence. He even slammed the door on my face once. He was so harsh. He once walked past me and pushed me out of his way that I actually fell to the ground and cut my knee.

It was fine though, like I've always said, you can't force something. He was kind to me at first, but now he is cruel and harsh. I just continued with my pathetic life.

It was the end of the day but as usual, Yvette the witch, gave me another long chore to do. Today I had to clean and reorganise the 8 storage closets we had in the mansion. It took me a really long time to do apart from the daily chores but at least it wasn't as bad as the pantry since everything was already in boxes.

It was 9:50pm and I was the last person here but thankfully I finished everything so I don't have to come in early in the morning.

I grabbed my bag and exited the estate. There would no buses at this time because the schedule normally ends at 9:30pm. It's risky to walk but I'm desperately praying to not get robbed. I began my journey and again I had felt as I was being watched. I stopped and took in my surroundings but there was nobody there except me.

I continued walking and clutched my bag tightly to me. I heard the rev of an engine and a black SUV came alongside me. At first I was scared, but the window rolled down to reveal Leeroy.

I let out a deep breath and felt my heart slow down. "You scared me, Leeroy!" I exclaimed quietly. He lightly smiled at my reaction.

"My apologies Miss Harrison. Would you like a lift home?" he offered.

I hesitated thinking about Alexander. "I'm not too sure your boss would be okay with me using up your time."

He got out of the car and opened the back door for me. "Trust me, he won't mind."

I took a minute and decided to get in because it was super late to be walking home. "Thank you," I said in a low voice.

Leeroy was sweet. He had a slight Spanish accent and looked exactly like Luis Fonsi.

We arrived to my apartment and I stepped out the car giving a small wave to Leeroy after thanking him again.

I had an eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked up the stairs to the door. Something didn't sit well with me but I pushed it aside and wanted to shower and sleep as fast as I could.

I did the usual routine of placing my shoes by the door and checking on grandma. Seeing that she was fine, I headed to have a quick shower and then sleep. Food can wait for some other time because my eyes were battling to stay open.

I changed into some old shorts and a tank top and proceeded to set up my bed on the couch. I set my alarm for the morning and went to lock the door before heading to bed. I went to check on grandma one last time and I noticed that her oxygen level was extremely low. Only at 40 and going lower each minute.

Oh no

I hurriedly went to her and tried waking her up. "Grandma," I gently said, "Grandma, wake up." I shook her trying to get to wake up but her eyes were barely opening. I placed the oxygen mask more tightly around her, panicking at what to do.

I looked for my phone and dialed 911. The operator was calm and I explained the situation to her. She said that help would be on the way and I should try CPR in the meantime. I rapidly did as much as could remember but it didn't help at all. I was shaking waiting for the ambulance to get here.

I went by her side and held her hand. She can't leave me all alone. She just can't. We were never close but we were all that we had.

"Grandma..." I wailed. "Just keep trying. Help is coming," I said encouragingly.

I could hear the ambulance sirens downstairs so I hurried and opened the door to find them rushing in and placing her on a stretcher. They held her oxygen tank and placed her in the ambulance. I went with them and sat with her, watching the paramedics frantically say medical terms to each other and inject her with something.

When we arrived at the hospital, they immediately rushed her to the intensive care unit and told me to wait in the hallways. I took a seat on the cold metal chair and hugged myself. Hospitals were always so cold and I was freezing.

I sat there for at least 2 hours when I finally started to cry. I cried uncontrollably, sobbing and hiccupping. I bawled my eyes out fearing the worst and I felt so lifeless. I was drained but the tears kept on pouring out. I covered my face with my hands trying to relieve the pressure until I was strongly pulled into someone's embrace and my face was buried in the crook of their neck.

I didn't care who it was because I honestly needed the support, so I even cried into the person's shirt with my tears wetting it.

After a good few minutes, I pulled back with splotchy eyes trying to wipe my face and get my hiccups under control.

"Sorry," I mumbled out and looked at the person.

It was Alexander.

My eyes widened at the sight of him. He was the last person I expected to be here or anywhere remotely close to me since he was ignoring me.

He noticed me shivering and took out his blazer jacket and placed it on me. He was dressed all formally so I assume he just got back from a meeting of some sort.

The doctor came up to me and I immediately stood up. "Is my grandma going to be fine?" I frantically asked.

Alexander stood up too and came next to me. He shoved his hand in his pocket and looked a bit uncomfortable being here at this moment.

"Your grandma's cancer is only getting worse. It almost impossible to recover from Stage 4 cancer. It's spread even more and there is not much we can do. Her oxygen levels are hardly stable. She's on observation for now," he professionally said and left as there was another emergency.

I stood there not knowing what to do or how to react. Alexander brought a bottle of water to my lips and he rubbed my back as I drank.

"Let's go. They'll call us if they need to," he said and ushered me outside. I wore his blazer properly and it completely swallowed me. Even though I wasn't exactly petite, Alexander was a huge man.

He parked his car not too far from the entrance and he opened the door to the sports car. He must have been renting it because he doesn't live here, neither did I see this particular model in the Ashford garage.

He was on his phone messaging somebody as he drove. It was dangerous but he was always in control so I didn't even bother to say anything. I was so drained. I wanted to curl up in a ball, sleep for a few months and then wake up from this nightmare of my life.

Again, we arrived at the apartment and I expected him to drop me off and drive away but he parked his car and also stepped out.

We went upstairs and I did feel a little bit embarrassed to show him where I lived. It was a shoebox sized apartment that had mould on the wall. Hardly anything to be proud of.

He stepped inside and did a 360 degree analysis of everything. His expression was unreadable but he did look dissatisfied.