Tangled By Fate

Chapter 101 - ARTHUR WOKE UP

"…Never thought there would be a day, you would sleep like a dead animal," the leader of the desert tribe scoffed.

The elderly woman slapped her husband on his shoulder. "He slept because he was tired. He didn't wake up because he believed we would protect him. Why are you being so heartless?" She reprimanded him.

The old man didn't back down either. "I just told the truth. Why are you supporting him? You have already spoiled him too much."

"What did you say?" His wife put her arms on her waist. She was ready to fight.

As the old couple bickered, their foster child stayed silent.

"…" Arthur was dumbfounded and so he couldn't speak. He was in a daze. 'I was healed completely. Why did it take me so long to wake up?' He wondered. He finished his meal absentmindedly.

The elderly woman noticed that his bowl was empty and said, "Oh, you finished your meal already. Do you want more?"

"No, I want to see Veronica. Where is she?" Arthur asked for Veronica immediately. He remembered that they avoided answering what she was doing earlier. It made him slightly anxious.

"Aha, you are worried about her, I see. I knew something was going on between you two. But, you went ahead and denied your thoughts about being in a relationship with her, saying I'm letting my imagination run wild for nothing." She threw his words back at him, not letting this rare chance of being able to lecture him go to waste. "She was present at that time. She must have been hurt by your words. You should apologize to her as soon as she wakes up."

"Wake up?" Arthur frowned. He looked outside and knew from the sun's direction and the temperature that it was very late in the morning. "Why is she sleeping in the daytime?" He questioned them.

"Do you think only you can sleep in the daytime and others cannot?" The leader of the desert tribe rebuked.

His wife glared at him before turning back to face Arthur and answered in a concerned voice, "She has been like that ever since we saw the light."

Arthur almost interrogated her, "Light? What light? Healing light? Did she heal me in front of you?"

The elderly woman slowly shook her head and answered, "No, after we treated your wounds, we went outside and left her here, in your room. She was still unconscious. Later, we saw a strong light. We couldn't keep our eyes open. The light came from inside your room. Thinking something happened to you, we rushed into your room only to find that you have stopped bleeding. Your wounds were completely gone and a person was lying beside your bed."

"A girl with silver hair?" Arthur wished to make sure.

She nodded. "Yes, a girl with long silver hair. It reminded me of the girl you bought before and the cat. I looked for the cat with everyone else, but we never found it anywhere. Then your father noticed the collar on her neck and we concluded that she was the cat. Somehow, she became a cat, healed you, and then turned back into a human."

"So, the collar gave away her identity," Arthur remarked thoughtfully.

The leader of the desert tribe shrugged and commented, "Well, she was only wearing that. It was hard not to notice."

"What did you say?" Arthur's expression became solemn and his golden orbs darkened. "You saw her naked?"

The leader of the desert tribe argued back, "The cat wasn't wearing any clothes, dummy. When she turned into a human, how could she have any clothes on?"

"But you saw her naked? Old man, speak truthfully or I swear I will gouge your eyes out of their very sockets," Arthur warned him. He wasn't a person to get mad at people easily, but right now he just couldn't control his temper.

"I did not. Happy? Your mother was taking care of you and I was nearby. She saw her first and covered her with a blanket." He glared at his foster son and then complained to his wife, "What an ungrateful bastard we raised. Look at him! He wants to make me blind."

His wife responded, "It's because you spoke in a misleading way. So what if she wasn't wearing any clothes? Her entire body was covered by the time you came back from the search. You then saw the collar and found out that she was the cat he brought."

The leader of the desert tribe got displeased because of his wife's favoritism. "Still taking his side?"

"So what if I did?" She asked him in return, not backing down.

Arthur realized that there was no end to this couple's bickering. He got up and wore his shoes.

His foster mother glanced at him and asked, "Where are you going? You should rest."

Arthur put on a robe and answered, "I want to see Veronica. Where did you keep her?"

She replied, "In the next room. Her belongings are there too."

"Okay, prepare some clothes for her. She will feel uncomfortable after waking up," after giving the instructions, he went to the next room.

"Ordering his mother. So shameless," the leader of the desert tribe complained in a low voice.

Smack!

His wife hit his head and glared at him.

Arthur saw Veronica lying on the bed, unconscious. Her body was covered with a brown-colored thin blanket. Her long silver hair was spread all over the pillow beneath her head.

He hesitated before stepping closer. He was scared of making any sudden loud noises, in case she woke up from her deep slumber. He sat on her bed and observed her carefully.

Her face was ashen. It was as though there wasn't a single drop of blood on her face. It reminded him of a dead human.

His heart skipped a beat. He touched her cheek and it was cold. He quickly checked her pulse. Her pulse was low and weak.

He couldn't explain how he was feeling at that moment.

He ran to his room and shouted, "What are you doing? She is dying!"