SURVIVORS
Chapters 188. Mustafa
Silvia opened her eyes slowly. The ceiling above was different from his room.
"Miss, you're conscious. Thank goodness."
Silvia looked for the direction of the familiar voice. The voice of the female servant who had been taking care of him for the past month.
"Where is this?" ask Silvia.
"Miss drink first." The girl thrust a cup into Silvia's mouth.
Silvia took a sip of that warm and fragrant tea. There was a faint hint of sweetness left on his tongue. Slowly his strength recovered. His body is warm again.
"What's going on?"
"You fainted, miss. Back then, in the living room in front of your savior." explained the girl.
"Huh? Fainted?" muttered.
Silvia tried to sit down. He started to remember the previous events. Silvia realized that this room she was lying in was not the living room. There was no one else there but the maid.
"Where is my physician and savior?" ask Silvia.
"It's still in the ladies' living room." replied the servant girl.
"Let's meet. I have to apologize" Silvia said as she stood up.
"Are you sure it's okay, miss? The doctor told me to let you know if the lady was conscious. You better wait here." Said the girl.
"But isn't that disrespectful? I have to thank him." - denied Silvia.
"No, you wait here for a minute. The doctor says you may be anemic and easily exhausted to the point of fainting earlier." the girl stared worriedly.
"Hem, okay." Silvia nodded. The servant girl went out of the room.
Silvia knew very well, not because of tired walking that made her faint. But shocked to see someone very similar to his late fiancee, Ethan.
"Lord, what are your plans for me?" whispers smooth.
Her eyes are glazed. His heart felt sore again. The wound lost two years ago was bleeding again. Some memories flashed in his mind. Memory of happy moments she and Ethan knit the cord of love. Two years ago, Ethan fell while climbing Mount Rinjani. Although intensive care, but his life could not be saved. Silvia has let her go. That was because his heart shook when he saw the duplicate of his fiancee in this world. How could?
There were sounds coming from the door. Silvia wiped away her air quickly. He stood up and waited for them to enter politely and his head lowered.
"Sit down, don't stand up" said the healer.
Silvia followed obediently. The healer and the rescue man were sitting on the bench there.
"Your body is still weak. I will prescribe the right foods so that your body will recover soon." said the healer.
"Thank you." said Silvia softly.
"Sir, thank you for saving my life. I owe you." Silvia said softly and politely.
The man nodded. His eyes were smiling as he smiled. It made Silvia's heart again hit by a storm. Quickly diverted the view.
"Tell me how do I pay this life debt? If only I could do it, I would have fulfilled it."
Silvia had made a firm limitation, that the man in front was someone else, not her deceased fiance. He can't play with feelings right now. Or, he is the one who will be hurt by living in a dream of the past.
"Follow home with me." replied the man flatly.
???
Silvia raises her head.
"Is there anything I should do in your house?" ask Silvia.
"Hemm, you're smart." The man nodded.
"alright. But how long do I have to work with you to pay the debt?" ask Silvia again.
"Why? You got any other plans?" the man began to be interested. Next to his eyebrows raised.
"Yes, I have to go home and find my other friends" Silvia replied.
"Your friends?" The man and the doctor looked at each other.
"Yes. That night our ship encountered a violent storm at sea." Silvia told me about the sea journey on the night of the storm.
"But I only found you in that desert. I'll ask the other caravan for that information. Maybe some of them found your friends."
"Thank you sir. Then, I'm willing to follow you." break up Silvia.
"That's great!" the happy healer.
Before long the servant lady healer brought all the things Silvia left in her room. They hugged each other and shed tears.
"Miss, I've included medicinal herbs for you to drink and ointments to treat wounds later on." Whisper the servant girl.
"You're my best friend here. Thank you." Thank you." Silvia took off her embrace.
"No, miss, it's my job to take care of you. And I'm glad to hear stories about your country. May the lady see the family again." The girl wiped away her tears.
"All right, let's go." The man broke off their conversation.
"See you later" said Silvia.
"Thank you for your treatment." Silvia bowed slightly towards the healer.
"That's my duty. Glad you recovered faster than expected." The doctor replied low.
Silvia was taken towards the horse carriage. He followed his helper into the carriage. Before long the group moved slowly leaving the courtyard of the healer's residence.
In the carriage, Silvia could not see out the window because the curtains were too thick. And he would feel impolite if he was reckless to reveal it. Silvia was eager to see what the city was in care of for this month. From the residence of the physician it is impossible to look out, because it is entirely fenced off by a high wall.
"Ehem.."
After a clumsy silence, the man finally started a conversation. Silvia averted her gaze from the closed window beside her.
"My name is Mustafa" said the man softly and kindly.
"I'm Silvia" replied Silvia.
"Do you want to see the city?" ask the man.
"Ah, thick window coverings must be meant so that passengers in the hall are not known, right?" guess Silvia.
"You're smart. But after wearing this, you can unravel the curtain a little." The man handed him a piece of cloth.
"What's this?" silvia asked not understanding.
"Facial cover. Do you want to wear it?" bargained for.
Silvia grabbed the cloth. He tried to cover his face with that thin little cloth.
"Is this so?" ask Silvia.
"Let me help you."
The man held back his smile from exploding so laughter saw the way Silvia wore a face mask.
"Hemm, okay." Silvia let the man pair his face cover properly.
The man leaned over, then his sturdy arm revealed a bit of window curtain. It made Silvia nervous. His heartbeats became irregular because the man's body became closer to him.
'Aware Silvia, she's not Ethan' Silvia's inner self. The breath is drawn and the breath is exhaled slowly to calm down.
"thank you. I can be alone." Silvia refused politely. His white face was red.
The man realized Silvia's embarrassment from the hue of her face. He sat back up straight.
"Sorry, please" he said with a smile.
Silvia revealed a little window curtain. Now he could see the wall building on the side of the road. The color is almost the same. Sand color, yellowish white. Some people then walked around in tight clothes and covered their heads. It looks like a rocky road covered in sand. There was not much he could see, as the carriage immediately exited the city gate. Only sand seemed as long as the eye could see.
'Am I now in the land of Arabia? What country is this? What year?' inner Silvia.
Silvia closed the window curtain to avoid sand dust entering the carriage.
"What city did we leave behind?" ask Silvia.
"That's the city of Arudh" Mustafa replied.
"The only city closest to the sea" Mustafa added.
"Is the oasis with the trees I saw before fainting is this town?" ask Silvia again.
"really. The lake is across the gate we passed. Without that lake, there's no way this town can survive." Mustafa explains.
"Why don't we go through that gate?" silvia asked to know.
"Because now I want to go home. The lake path we used to go on business trips to other cities."
"alright. I get it." Silvia did not want to extend that discussion. The hot air made him tired immediately.
"You can open the curtains of the window, so that there's wind coming in." Mustafa bargained.
Silvia tried to flick the window curtains wide. Hot wind immediately rushed in. So hot that it burned his skin.
"No. The wind is very hot." Silvia removed her face cover and used the cloth to fan her reddish face.
"Then, just close it." Mustafa looked worried to see the white skin back flushed.
"Did you bring medicine from a healer?" tanyanya's worried.
"Yes. Where's my stuff?" ask Silvia.
"It's in the box. I'll get it for a second." Mustafa got up from his seat and opened the box closer to him.
"There are 2 places of medicine. Which one is the cure for your face? Ah, you choose yourself." Mustafa handed over 2 small boxes of medicine.
Silvia looked at the contents and immediately found a cool ointment that was treating her skin all along. He immediately smeared his face which was warming up. A cool feeling was felt after a while the ointment was applied.
'It seemed like my skin was too thin, as a result of the blisters from the burn at that time. For a while can't get the sun first he thought.
The train is back. All that was heard was the crackling of the wheels of the sand-clad carriage. Silvia fell asleep after feeling the coolness on her face.
Mustafa only looked at it with his shady eyes. Add a pillow to the left right of Silvia to make his sleep more comfortable.
*****