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It was a sunny afternoon, but the power of the sunbeams was slightly numbed by the cool summer breeze, turning the hotness into comfortable warmth. It was the perfect weather to spend the time in the garden. The young man who brought his master out in his wheelchair was thinking the same.
"The fresh air will do good for your health and strengthen you up more, Mr. Milverton." He said to the sitting man while he stopped the wheelchair in the shadows of the trees.
"I doubt that it will bring my ability back to walk." Charles Augustus Milverton murmured grumpily, but he didn't start to complain about Ruskin’s idea.
"You don't need to walk, sir. I will bring you anywhere you want to go. I will never leave you, I promised you that." Ruskin swore again and he settled down next to the wheelchair, leaning his head to the armrest.
It was definitely not the way you imagined our future, Milverton thought, but he didn't say this out loud. After all, the truth was that he didn't imagine this life for himself either.
He failed his evil plan on that fatal night when he needed to come out victorious and this almost cost his life. He got shot and fell to the sea - the only reason he didn't drown there, his lungs slowly filling with water in his loneliness because Ruskin didn't leave him and saved him at the last moment. He stayed on his side, nursing him for long, long months, keeping him alive - but even his devotion was unable to give him the ability back to walk. One of the bullets injured his spine and he was unable to use his legs anymore. He was alive, he recovered from his other scars perfectly - but he only had a chance to continue his life in a wheelchair.
Milverton was aware that he should be grateful that he had at least that, and he was not lying dead in the bottom of the sea. And he was grateful... for most of the time. His new state didn't stop him from plotting his evil plans, especially that he still had his right hand, Ruskin, who did everything what he ordered without hesitation. But sometimes the helpless feeling he had made him grumpy, poisoning his mood. Those times, he was even bitter with Ruskin, but his secretary didn't pick up on his bad mood.
He glanced at Ruskin who was sitting on the grass next to him quietly, his head within reach of Milverton's hands. He sometimes wondered if his secretary was satisfied with the life he currently had - needing to take care of his disabled boss. Ruskin was skilled and hardworking, so Milverton didn't doubt that if he would make a different decision that night, running away like his other henchmen did, he was now working for a successful businessman and having a high salary. Was it worth it for Ruskin to give up on that? Didn't he regret it? Milverton was unable to stay quiet on the matter any longer and the question that echoed in his mind spilled out of his mouth.
"Did you regret it?"
Ruskin turned his head towards him.
"What, sir? Bringing you out here?"
Milverton shook his head.
"No. That you stayed on my side - when you would have been able to lead a much better life if you let me die."
Ruskin turned red from the question. One of his hands wandered onto Milverton's lap and grabbed his hand.
"It wouldn't be better, sir. Without you, I don't want to live. I didn't regret anything and I never will. I will be on your side forever." He told him in an intimate voice.
Milverton smiled back. If it wouldn't come from Ruskin, he would brush this confession away with a cynical attitude - but it sounded sweet and true from Ruskin's mouth. And, despite that he was unable to move his legs, it filled Milverton with power again. Like he was the same evil incarnation as he was back then.
"I never regret that I chose you to be my secretary once either." He noted and his other hand, which was not holding Ruskin, started to brush the soft hair. Ruskin let out a chuckle and leaned even closer to Milverton.
"I am happy to hear it, sir."
"Let's live without regrets then." Milverton said and he turned his head back towards the garden.
No matter what happened in the past, the present was currently beautiful and comforting.