Shall Under Your Charm

Chapter 53

"You niggles? Is that how you feel?". Ryan widened his eyes, and Farah realized the man was trying to imitate him. "My dear! Though, I think you feel good living on that hot island. It must be refreshing to stay away from the men, after months you have to face their behavior at the Dark Devil headquarters."

Ryan waited until Farah's smile appeared and disappeared again, before bowing to their interlocking hands. Farah observed curiously, as Ryan stroked the surface of his nails with his index finger. Ryan's expression looked very soft.

Did Farah finally see Ryan's true side? That made Farah's heart beat fast.

"My poor little cat.... Did you really think I was gonna whip you?".

Suddenly Gege came to the room with a tray of breakfast, just in time to hear Ryan's last sentence, and he casually chimed in, "How could he not think so? You should have seen yourself when you were angry."

Ryan watched Farah pull her hand slowly, and placed it on a pillow near the girl's cheek. "You're right. I have to see it" Ryan said as he stood up, giving Gege free space to bring Farah his breakfast tray.

Feeling strange, light, and awkward for no apparent reason, Farah meets Gege and says the first cheerful thing that comes to her mind. "Look! I'm healthy again even though Ryan won't admit it. I want to change clothes.”

"You can change if that's what you want" Gege said, "But today you still have to lie on the bed. You've improved, but you're not completely healthy."

"Why? Don't worry too much." Farah smiled. "What do you think is wrong with me? I hope it's just a genital infection. Can't you recover from that disease?"

Suddenly, Ryan turned his face to the window and seemed to see something interesting there, but there was an amused smile stuck on the man's lips.

Turning his head towards Ryan, Gege said wryly, as if to explain, "That's the teaching of Will and the others. They love to teach Farah lewd language and listen to Farah speak it without understanding its meaning, after which they will laugh out loud. Only God knows what they want to change Farah, if you decide to return her."

This was the new thing someone alluded to about repatriating her, as if it was something that was about to happen. Farah recalled Aunt Okta, as she waited for a moment to see if Ryan would comment on her, and when Ryan said nothing, Farah grinned at Gege. "This whole experience might come in handy someday, if I were to become a writer. Publisher companies are always looking for female writers who have direct experience in dealing with strange people."

Feeling happy about her ability to look cheerful. "More, because my voice type suddenly turned into a soprano-soprano

"Soprano high, especially if you're happy" Timpal Gege.

"Sopran," Farah repeated, ignoring Gege's interlude and finishing his sentence. "I don't think it's fair if I say I squeak. Why didn't you and Ryan tell me what's wrong with me?"

"Come on. Don't let your imagination go down like a jeep sliding down a hill" Gege said. "It's just a fever. What else do you want to know? Save your energy for breakfast. Do you have to use-"

"No, and don't divert the conversation.If you don't mind, please don't treat me like a sick person."

The three of them made silhouette portraits of each other using nail clippers and paper torn from Keith's notebook. Farah laughed at their astonishment, because although their artificial results were not too bad, but Farah's work looked very similar to the original, almost like a reflection in a mirror.

Farah thought he had improved, so the cold he felt was considered a normal thing, maybe because it had entered the rainy season and storms always hit the island. Farah just covered her body with a wool jacket, then a blanket, but she was still cold. In the end, the painful pattern she experienced in the days that followed made Farah realize something was wrong with her. Farah will feel a cold and a severe headache, then followed by a fever for eight hours, after which her body will cool and sweat, to make her weak fatigue.

The attacks came regularly, as if there was a special clock on his body calling out to him. Two out of three days Farah would feel sick, and among them she was well enough to sit, eat, read, chat, and to realize that the longer her body was getting weaker. Malaria, Gege finally admitted that it was the disease he suffered.

Gege gives him a drug that Keith's personal doctor recommends. The goal is to kill the disease before it kills its patients.

Ryan, whose demeanor is much softer than everyone has ever seen, always accompanies Farah as she experiences hallucinations. Ryan taught Farah all the card game tricks the man knew, all the hand gestures to cast a shadow on the wall, reciting all the verses from her favorite love ballad. Ryan fills Farah's afternoon with fairy tales and legends, then turns to a conversation about a falling comet, and ends with a taste of grilled corn in a snack of potatoes that Farah likes.

They both enjoy the simple things in life. Others may think they have a deepening attachment, but Ryan and Farah have too many distractions to notice. When Farah had enough strength to ponder, Farah only thought that time passed quickly while she was with Ryan. The goal of all of Ryan's stories is to remind Farah of the many reasons she had to stay put and to prevent her from guessing how close she was to death.

Finally, even sleep was excruciating for her, dreams, discomfort, and the paralysis of the mind made her only half asleep. One night, sand flies from the island came in his nightmares, their wings sparkling with sweat, as they thrust their poisonous snouts repeatedly into his skin. Farah woke up crying, rubbing her stained face with the sleeves of her sleep shirt made of cotton. The disgust made Farah rub her face too hard. A small button on the sleeve of his shirt scratched his already sensitive face from the heat.

Farah is not sure what makes her sure that Ryan will come for her.

"Farah, let me do it." Ryan released Farah's body-arm loop, hair and blanket into one like a ball. Ryan used a damp cloth to gently wipe his mouth and cheeks.

"Where else?" ryan asked, While gasping, Ryan touched his forehead and closed his eyes as the cloth shifted to the forehead. When she finished, Farah heard the splashing sound of water, as Ryan wet the cloth and wiped his face again. Other women will probably be amazed at how accurately Ryan meets his needs and how quickly Ryan responds to them. The pain has eroded Farah's ability to see and appreciate Ryan's kindness. Farah only knew that she was relieved that she was awake, and because Ryan was with her.

"The nightmare." Ryan whispered those words automatically. Ryan guessed it. From Keith's desk, a small light fell onto Ryan's face and added to the man's good looks. That was what Farah saw as she opened her eyes, and saw Ryan nod to declare the man understood what he was feeling.

Farah was just about to ask how many times the bell rang, when she heard a soft singing voice, as if coming from below, vibrating the moist air around her, and bouncing back into the sea. Then came the sound of the second chant, then the third, it was like the singing of a lonely sea monster.

"Ryan!" Farah's voice sounded trembling.

"It's just the pope" Ryan said, recalling years ago, when Mr. Yanka said the same thing to him. "You can hear them talking if the night is as quiet and quiet as it is now."

...♤♤♤...

Likeeee, komeeen, hadiaahh 🤣