ENDS

Third person p. o. v.

Louie sat in the corner of the room, softly crying as she had been since yesterday. Her eyes were already puffy and reddened and her frail figure if possible, looked a lot more tinier than she had been two nights ago.

She had deliberately refused to eat anything and it was slowly riling Santiago up.

If she died of hunger in his arms not only would Soldo have his head but he would never forgive himself.

” You know… if you had a little something to eat, you might just fall asleep ” He tried another tactic in wooing her into feeding.

Santiago had sat on the floor a few feet from where Louisa had crouched herself and he watched her. He had assumed that leveling his height with hers would make himself seem a lot less intimidating, probably assuming that it was his size that frightens her. But it didn’t work. She hadn’t put anything into her stomach since yesterday and considering her size, Santiago was definitely afraid of the outcome.

Louie only stared at him the exact same way she had stared at her mothers wardrobe when she heard that the bogeyman existed.

With wide eyes and a lot of suspicion.

The young man released a sigh, growing wearily tired of the girls stuck up attitude. Honestly, at her age she’s already playing hard to get. He silently had mercy on the poor man who’s going to fall in love with her.

He stood to his feet and walked towards the opposite window before reaching into his pocket to grab his phone place a brief call.

He was calling the crews nurse. Maybe, just maybe, she might have a dose or trick to get the little girl to feed. A few seconds later he was done with the call and the nurse had promised to be there in a few minutes.

Why do they have a personal nurse?

Well.. due to the kind of businesses and activities they get themselves into, there’s a very high chance of a lot of blood and injuries and when you don’t want the government in your business, you hide from them. Simply meaning, the hospital is against the rules.

” You can still try eating something before she arrives so I don’t have to invite another stranger” Santiago tried once again to woo the little girl into eating but the girl was still proving to be as stubborn as he.

He groaned and took at least two deep breaths before walking towards where she had crouched herself. Her eyes widened even more as she saw him come closer and she made herself appear even tinier.

Santiago slowly approached her and crouched next to her, causing Louisa to flinch away and he sincerely felt bad for keeping such a little girl hostage over the sins of her father.

They may be brutal men, but if Soldo did do something to this child he would never forgive himself.

” Louisa I’m not a bad guy ” he softly said and that caused Louie’s wide eyes to narrow a bit.

Deep down Santiago was only glad that he had finally gotten her attention and not just a wary look.

” You have to eat something. Okay?” He went on.

Only to receive a negative gesture from her by the way she shook her head.

” Please… it’s delicious. I promise ” Well, he wasn’t giving up just yet.

” My m-mommy told me n-not to collect things from s-strangers” came out Louisa’s silvery but tiny voice.

It was only when she spoke that he realized she wasn’t only trembling in fear. The little girl was also shivering.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Before replying, Santiago took off his leather jacket and wore it over the girls shoulders and on reflex, Louisa squeezed the cloth tighter onto her frame.

An unknowing smile made its way to his lips as he watched her.

” Can we be friends then?” He finally responded to her statement and managed to grab the little girls attention again.

But rather than be interested in him, Louie was fascinated by the tattoo on his left arm. The image of a howling little wolf on a cliff.

” My d-daddy has a-a wolf p-picture on his body t-too” the little girl commented and Santiago was beyond happy that they were finally having a conversation.

” I know. Do you wanna touch it?” The question caught Louie off guard and he noticed the way she internally battled with herself if she should or shouldn’t go ahead with it, but Santiago didn’t give her much room to think about her decision before he picked up her tiny hand and placed it on the tattoo.

As soon as Louie’s cold hand landed on his bicep, she began tracing the drawing with her index finger.

” I miss my daddy ” she gently whispered as she kept following the outlines of the image.

The sincerity in her voice when she made that comment almost broke Santiago and when he looked into her eyes, he saw she was at the brink of tears.

Sadly, he was thinking of what to do when a knock came on their door.

” I’ll be right back okay?” He said and stood to go confirm who’s at the door.

Once he saw it was the doctor who had masked her face before arriving, he stepped aside and let her in.

The doctor had already been briefed about the girl as she had always been briefed about all their missions, so an introduction to who the girl is was unnecessary.

The lady marched into the room with her kit in her right hand and scanned the place for the patient, when she caught sight of Louisa at the edge of the wall, she took her strides towards her.

Louisa on the other hand had panicked because of another strange face and stood to her feet to begin running, but sadly she wasn’t quick enough and the lady caught her with her free arm.

The little girl began screaming and thrashing at the hold they had at her a little violently. Santiago had to come in to keep her stable.

” it’s okay. We’re friends right? I wouldn’t hurt you ” Santiago cooed into her ear as he held her still.

His words had calmed her down but it didn’t stop the tears from rolling down her eyes.

The doctor set up a needle dosage and injected it into Louie’s neck. In a few seconds, the baby girl fell unconscious like she was in a deep slumber.

Whilst Santiago carried her in his arms, the lady set up an apparatus she claimed contained multivitamins that they were going to insert through a drip into Louisa’s body so she could feel a little more hungry and not resist eating.

After they had settled every issue at hand, the doctor ran a few tests and found out that Louisa was actually still suffering symptoms of a recently untreated anaemia.