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He was making too much out of this. It was a little bump. That was all. “Niko, I’m okay,” I called out.
He spun around and rushed to my side still holding his cell phone. “Ovi, don’t move, you hit your head. You need to go to the hospital,” he ordered.
I raised my hand to my head, which didn’t hurt half as badly as my feet did from those darn heels. “I’m fine.” Not listening to his instructions, I tried to sit up and he placed his hands on my shoulders so I couldn’t move.
“Please, Ovi. You could be seriously hurt,” he said.
“The only thing that still hurts is my pride. I passed out because of lack of sleep, and I didn’t eat anything today. That’s all,” I tried explaining.
His hand came up and touched the spot where my heel had made contact. “This is not from lack of food.”
“No. It’s from my heels. When I fell, I hit myself on the head. It’s just a small cut. A little water and a band-aid are all I need.”
Niko looked at it closely. The care and compassion in his eyes sent my heart pounding.Who is this man? It can’t be the same man who fired my father. This man would never do that.“Once I eat, I’ll be fine,” I stated. “If you don’t believe me, then ask whoever you have on the other end of that call.”
He looked at the phone as though he’d forgotten he had been talking to anyone. Niko brought the phone to his ear and said, “She said she fainted because she hasn’t eaten.” He listened and then turned to me and held up three fingers. “How many fingers do I have?”
Trying to make light of it I said, “Ten.” He snarled and I quickly replied, “Three. See. I’m okay.”
He listened to what the person on the phone was saying, then back to me. “They said that is possible, but you should still go to the hospital and get checked out. I agree.”
“I don’t. I just need to eat,” I said firmly.
Niko listened again to the person on the phone, then said, “Okay. Twenty-four hours. Got it.” He ended the call and looked at me. “You don’t have to go to the hospital.”
“Told you.”
He raised his hand. “I wasn’t finished. You don’t have to go to the hospital, but you need twenty hours of observation.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, puzzled.
“It means you’re coming home with me,” he stated.
Gee. Not as romantic as I would’ve thought that invite would sound.I looked at him, then laughed. “I think not. As I said, I’m fine.” I went to stand up and instantly felt lightheaded again.
Niko reached out and caught me. “It is not up for debate. My house, or the hospital. Which is it?”
I didn’t like either option. Most of all, I didn’t want Niko to think that he could tell me what I had to do. “I’m sure when I get home and rest, there will be no need for a babysitter.”
“Home wasn’t on the list of options,” he replied.
“Your list, not mine. I’m going home,” I said firmly.
He shook his head, but said, “Fine. Home it is.”
I was glad he wasn’t going to argue with me any longer. I didn’t have it in me currently. “My purse and keys are still down in the factory.”
“Look at the size of those boots. No wonder you fell right out of them. Why on earth were you wearing them?” he asked.
“Because my heels were killing me. And I had no idea how much longer I was going to be supervising production today,” I said.
He looked stunned. “What do you mean, you were supervising production? Where is Almi? Did he...”
Niko stopped and didn’t finish his statement. Was he about to say something about my father?If you were, I'm glad you didn’t. I don’t need that right now.
“Almi is at the hospital with Ibby.” Niko looked puzzled. “You mentioned that the blood belonged to Ibby. What happened?”
“I wasn’t here and had just arrived at work when I saw Almi in the hallway. He looked distraught. All I know is what he told me and that isn’t much. I guess Ibby had a serious cut and was rushed to the hospital. Almi went to retrieve Ibby’s wife and was going to stay with them. He asked me to keep an eye on the production until you arrived.” I sighed. “I figured that was going to be a few minutes, maybe an hour tops until you came into work. When lunch came and went, I assumed something had come up. All I could do was answer questions and keep production moving. I know how important it is to get back on track and not lose any more ground.”
