She's My Sleeping Pill

Fortunately, or probably as she calculated, she fell on a heap of garbage bags, and the sound of bottles breaking and cans bumping caught the attention of many people.

Stefan looked at the third floor where the child jumped from and he saw two men who poked their heads out to see what has become of the child. They also scanned the crowd and their eyes met with Stefan’s. One of the men was startled and his knees were shaking from fear. He knew they were done for good.

“Boss -”

“Let’s go. That girl must have died from that fall.”

“Boss -”

“What? Are you afraid that someone saw us? Even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to catch us.”

.....

The other person wanted to say something but the warning glare was enough to shut him down. He didn’t want to cause more trouble and since his boss was sure that nothing could go wrong, he trusted him once again.

“What happened?” Cayenne asked. Her eyes were still covered by Stefan’s hand but she could hear people talking about a child who fell from the third floor of the building. The murmurs around her added to her fear and she started to breathe heavily. She also heard Stefan talking to someone and gave them their current location.

“The bodyguards are checking on the child,” Stefan responded after ending the call and pulled her closer until she pressed the other side of her face on his chest. Stefan covered her exposed ear and it muffled the voices that she was hearing.

“Stefan. Is ... is she dead?”

“Boss, we need an ambulance. The child is still breathing but she has wounds all over her. She probably fractured herself from that fall and without immediate care, she will die.”

“I did that already.”

Instead of having dinner, Stefan and Cayenne ended up going to the hospital to check on the child. The bodyguard who checked on the third floor of the building found a dead bodies of a man and a woman as well. He called for the police immediately without touching anything. It would be troublesome if he leaves his fingerprints on any surface that he touches.

The police investigated the case and they found that the child’s father got addicted to gambling and has borrowed a huge amount of money from someone. No one knows who he borrowed from but every day, someone would knock on their doors to get the payment.

Since the other tenants couldn’t provide sufficient information, the officers were left with no other choice but to wait for the little girl to wake up.

Half an hour later, the doctor responsible for the child’s recovery has come out of the room with all the lab results in hand. He looked devastated and when he approached Cayenne and Stefan, he couldn’t stop himself from sighing heavily.

Stefan knew that the doctor wouldn’t bring them good news so he looked for an excuse to make her leave for a while. “Ayen, how about you check the child inside? I’ll just stay here and discuss things with the doctor.”

“Okay.”

The moment she got inside the room, the doctor opened his mouth and told Stefan what the found from the test results.

“The child is covered with bruises and she has a lot of wounds; old and new. Some of the wounds have scabbed over time and turned into scars while others are still fresh. She has a concussion which can result in many negative things. I just hope that it won’t. At the same time, the child may need a psychologist once she wakes up. This may sound nasty but this child has been raped several times. The heavy trauma she went through will surely affect her development and it is something crucial for a woman’s life. She needs help.”

Even after the doctor left, Stefan was left rooted in the same spot. He felt a burning rage deep inside his heart and he didn’t know what to do to let it out. He clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white but he didn’t show any emotions on his face.

“Martin, guard the room and make sure that Cayenne is safe. I will just make a phone call.”

“Yes, boss.”

Stefan went out of the hospital and made several phone calls to different people. He called Lucian to get the list of wanted criminals since he wasn’t able to see the men’s faces clearly. In case he couldn’t find them from the list, Lucian has someone who can draw the suspect for him. Tristan and Shein were also checking on cases that involves child trafficking and illegal gambling.

He wasn’t someone who voluntarily checks and ruins these kinds of illegal activities. However, when he gets involved in it or meets someone who got involved in it, he will make sure to destroy them and make them pay for the things they have done. It didn’t matter to him if he makes enemies because of this. He will just wipe them out until no one’s left to take revenge on him.

“Another problem,” Stefan muttered to himself while looking at his phone. They haven’t eaten anything and he was sure that Cayenne won’t have the appetite after what happened. It only added to his headache. He called Lucia instead and asked her to make some porridge for Cayenne. At least, she can get something warm at home to fill her empty stomach.

***

At 11:00 in the evening, Stefan was still wide awake and was looking at the high-resolution images on his laptop. Cayenne just fell asleep beside him after a long staring contest with their ceiling. She also had a hard time sleeping but Stefan reassured her that the child will be alright. He told her about the concussion and the wounds and the possible maltreatment but he didn’t tell her the rest of the information that he got from the doctor. She didn’t need to know it as far as he was concerned. He didn’t want it to add another burden to her mind.

Stefan clicked next and next, next and next – going through hundreds of criminals in their city alone. He has forgotten to check the appliances that they received from so many people as gifts. He was supposed to do it along with the things that the interior designer sent him.

It wasn’t until past 1:00 in the morning when Stefan came across a picture of a man who looked like one of the men he saw earlier. Since he only got pictures and names of the criminals, he contacted Tristan to know more about the person instead of contacting Lucian. He believed that his secretary could find more things than the police.

While waiting for Tristan’s reply, he continued to check on the list.

***

“Boss, I want to tell you something.” One of the criminals spoke with his hands trembling in fear. It was his first time accompanying his boss in collecting fees and he didn’t expect that the man would kill the people inside. As far as he knew, his boss works for someone else who has the true power to decide on things. His boss was just an underling but he had the guts to do things without even consulting the people in a higher positions.

“What is it? Can’t you see that I’m relaxing? That child got on my nerves!”

“Boss, is it really fine to keep this matter a secret? What if that child is alive? We didn’t really check on her. She could be alive, you know.”

“Alive? Don’t joke with me. If she’s a cat who has nine lives, she could be alive.”

“Even if she’s not alive, we are not safe either. Someone saw us.”

“That far?!”

“Yes, boss. Someone saw us. He was looking at us and I am sure that he has contacted the police.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this first?!” The man yelled and kicked his subordinate. The other person falls to his knees and he was pressing his stomach which was in pain from the strong kick.

“I tried to tell – ”

“And you are blaming me now!” And he gave another kick.

Every time he tried to explain, his boss would kick him and stomp on him like he was an insect. It wasn’t even his fault that the man didn’t give him the chance to explain earlier. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t!

***

The next morning, Cayenne woke up to the sight of her husband’s dark eye bags. He was checking something on his laptop and she thought he was still working on the accident yesterday. She got up from the bed and at the same time closed his laptop without seeing the content. “It’s not a good morning for both of us but I’m glad that you are here beside me.”

“I don’t want to leave the house.” Stefan retorted as he kissed her cheek.

“Then, stay. You can get some sleep while I attend my class in the next room. You can work at home in the afternoon if you want. I’ll just give Tristan or Elena a call to let them know.”

“Okay.”

“You look really exhausted. Shall we have a light breakfast first before you sleep? I’ll cook.”

“Sounds good.”

Cayenne smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was worried for him. After washing her face, she left in a hurry to make breakfast in the kitchen. Stefan also opened his laptop and saved the work he had and lay on the bed to get a little bit of rest.

However, when Cayenne returned with a tray of food, he was already sleeping deeply while hugging the pillow she used. Her heart ached for him. [I don’t want to dream of anything else. I just want to take care of you.] Cayenne thought as her tears fell on her face. She felt so guilty for not having any idea to help him.