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The beating of his own heart. This is what Charles Augustus Milverton first took note of before he opened his eyes. He felt like he just came back from the dead - until this moment, he was completely unaware of his own existence, unaware that he was still alive. Now that the light blinded him which was followed by a slight pain in his arm, he inhaled a deep breath and sensed as the air filled his lungs. It seemed that he was truly alive.
But what even happened to him?
It felt like eternity as his memories slowly came back to his mind. First, they were only fragments - he heard his own evil laugh, the sounds of gunshot then the waves murmuring above his head. Then he started to see the entire scene in front of him. Him, trying to escape after he failed his evil plan and got shot in the back.
He could recall that he wore a bulletproof vest, but he had no idea who shot him. That seemed to have been erased by the hit to his head when he fell to the sea and knocked himself out. He didn't know for how long he had been in the coma or who was the one who even saved him - but he was sure that it was a luck that he was still alive.
Alive and here... somewhere.
Where was he exactly?
When his dizziness eased and he was finally able to look around, he saw a bright, clean room. There was a window at the other wall in front of him, through it, the sun was shining in as it was not raining outside. As Milverton's gaze wandered over the place, he still couldn't determine where it was, he noticed a figure on his bedside. A young, brown-haired man was sitting there, he slightly leaned to the bed onto his arms and he was sleeping like he hadn't slept in days. Milverton saw the worry on his expression and the wrinkles under his eyes. The young man looked even weaker than he was - like it was him who got injured and not Milverton.
Unlike for the rest of the things, Milverton only needed a second to recognize the young man. It was Ruskin, his loyal secretary who followed him everywhere he went and who was the only person he had his complete trust in - and who was still with him, on his bedside, most likely waiting for Milverton to wake up... but he ended up falling asleep from the exhaustion.
Ruskin. His precious, little Ruskin.
Milverton felt a strange warmth for the realization that it must have been his secretary who saved him from the waves and didn't let him die - and since then, he was taking care of his injuries and hoped that he would wake up from the coma. He knew that Ruskin could have just left him behind and start a new, wealthy life, Milverton left him enough money in his testament Ruskin was aware of the existence of - but he didn't choose freedom. He chose to continue serving Milverton, despite that he lost, despite that everyone else had ran away in the crucial moment. Ruskin didn't and Milverton knew exactly the reason for it.
It was love. Ruskin loved him more than anything in the world and he stayed true to his promise that he would never budge away from Milverton's side.
No matter what it takes.
A smile appeared at the corner of Milverton's mouth as he watched his devoted assistant. He slowly reached out and softly started brushing Ruskin's hair. He was aware that he should have just let him sleep now that he was finally able to, but he was sure that Ruskin would be overjoyed if he saw that he woke up. And Milverton wanted to see his joy. He kept caressing Ruskin's head, running his fingers down on his cheek. He saw that this was the moment when Ruskin woke up. For a second, he stared at Milverton like he was just a dream. But Milverton made sure that he would realize that it was not.
"Ruskin." He called his secretary in a hoarse, but gentle voice. Ruskin's eyes widened from the sight and at the same time, they began to fill with tears. They were the tears of joy and they transformed Ruskin like he was a different person than a moment before. His exhausted, worried expression disappeared and an ecstatic one took its place.
"Mr. Milverton..." Ruskin whispered and he was unable to hold himself back. He wrapped his arms around Milverton's neck and buried his head in his chest while he started crying like a child. Milverton continued pampering Ruskin's head and he felt a similar joy by their reunion. Ruskin was here - and he knew that no one could hurt him anymore.