Summary: Emotions come to surface when Daphne arrives in Istanbul.
A chilly winter breeze blew against Daphne’s skin as she stepped out of the hotel, trying to remind herself it’s improper to put her hands on her pockets or fold her arms. She looked at the busy avenue in bewilderment. She knew Istanbul is the biggest city in Europe, but it was like the articles she read and all the things Yusuf and Hamid told her came to view all at once. The smell of spices, street food and oriental fragrances filled her lungs as people passed by on the street. Many of them stared at her. Cats strolled everywhere and were always greeted with smiles, cat food and fondles. It was odd and sweet at the same time. Everything in the city told her a lot about her favourite Istanbulite.
As she spotted a friendly face stepping out of a luxurious SUV, she beamed and sauntered over, greeting him with a kiss on one cheek.
“Welcome to Istanbul, Daphne,” Yusuf smiled.
“Thank you! I hope I didn’t leave you waiting for too long. I needed to freshen up before going to the hospital.”
“It’s all right, I took the time to have tea and reply a few emails,” he smiled. After opening the door for her, he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“Did you tell anyone else I was coming?”
“Aside from my brother and Sevim, no one else knows you’re here,” he answered. From the corner of the eye, he glanced at the lady idly toying with wrapping around the red tulips and roses bouquet on her lap. “Those are lovely flowers. Hamid certainly will like them.”
“I hope so. I honestly don’t know if he’ll be happy to know that I chose to be here instead of making amends with my grandmother as he asked me to.”
“I’m sure he will be happy to see you. Soon you will see why he insists on it. Family is important to him and his default behaviour towards conflicts is find a way to compromise.”
Daphne chewed on a nail. “Do you think he’ll be upset that I didn’t stay and tried to fix things with my grandmother?”
“It’s possible,” he said as he stopped at the traffic light. “But he’ll understand if you need time to think before talking to her again.”
“Yeah, father said I should do that, but I’m not so good at compromising.”
“I see,” Yusuf nodded. “This is something you can learn with him. Your relationship is new, but I think you two have a lot to know and learn with each other. It’s what makes the two of you so good together.”
“Is it the fandom opinion or yours?” Her lips curled up.
“I can’t speak for the entire fandom, but as Damid fan number two and moderator of the group chat, I believe they would agree with me,” he explained with a grin, though his attention remained on the heavy traffic.
“Number two?”
“I’m done fighting for number one with Briar and Bart,” he lifted one hand pretending to be on his guard.
Daphne let out a chuckle that easily faded. “I know I didn’t seem to be fully invested in this relationship as much as he has always been, but I really like us,” she sighed, doing her best to hold back tears.
“I understand,” he gave a gentle pat on her shoulder. “I’m rooting for the two of you.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a weak smile. “I hope he gives me fewer heartaches in the future because this first week was not easy.”
“Now I can speak for everyone when I say that we all hope you can rub your indoorsy traits on him.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“In the name of our growing Damid fandom and all of his friends who haven’t joined it yet, I appreciate it,” Yusuf looked at Daphne’s with a smile and switched lanes, parking right in front of the hospital. “We’re here.”
“Really? Didn’t we just get in the car?”
“I told you I booked you the closest hotel to the hospital,” he grinned.
“We could’ve walked here.”
“And we would’ve got here faster, but I have a few documents Hamid asked me to bring here and I’m also helping a friend moving to a new place.”
“Well, aren’t you a good friend? And speaking of which,” Daphne unbuckled her seat belt and fished a small gift box from her coat pocket. “Since it’s almost Christmas, here you go.”
Yusuf received the box, admiring the red and white twine wrapped around the kraft paper. “You didn’t have to.”
“This gift is from somebody else. I’m just the delivery girl.”
Undoing the bow and tearing the wrapping, he opened the box and his brows furrowed whilst he eyed the green wool scarf.
“I believe you must be familiar with the tradition of couples using matching sweaters for Christmas.”
“Yes.”
“Well, Bart would never agree to wear a tacky Christmas sweater. But he wouldn’t say no to a nice designer scarf.”
The diplomat’s features softened as he touched the soft fabric.
“Make sure to you wear it on your next video chat,” she winked and opened the door to step out of the car.
After picking a documents folder from the backseat, Yusuf followed the lady. “Are you playing cupid, Daphne?”
“If it helps to bring my OTP together, why not?” She shrugged with a smile.
As the two of them walked into the hospital reception, Yusuf briefly chatted in Turkish with the receptionist, who seem to know who he was. While he translated the conversation between the clerk and Daphne, a man in his twenties wearing a lab coat approached them.
“Daphne, this is Ali Konevi, my brother.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Dr Konevi,” Daphne extended her hand to the man.
“Pleased to meet you as well.” He replied with a firm handshake. “And please. Just Ali is fine.”
“Okay,” she simpered. “I know this is all part of your job and you’ve been friends with Hamid for years, but I’m grateful you were there to provide medical first aid. Thank you for everything.”
He looked at her as if taken aback by her words and smiled. “Of course.”
“Have you seen him today? How is he?”
“He’s fine. His tests didn’t show any signs of permanent damage due to the concussion, but Dr Delin decided to keep an eye on him for one more day, just to be safe.”
“Abi¹ may be fine, but he’s getting bored. I need all the help I can get with that knobhead,” a female young girl sauntered over. “You must be Daphne. Hi, I’m Sevim. Thank you so much for coming,” she grinned and offering a handshake.
“Yes, I am. Hi there,” Daphne answered with a smile.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what else I can do to keep him distracted,” Sevim headed a sigh.
“He’s not that bad,” Ali chortled. “Hamid can get a little moody when he’s not travelling or socializing. His parents usually help with that, yet both of them on business trips.”
“And we think your pretty face will be the solution,” the girl gave Daphne a meaningful look.
“All right. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Great!” Sevim smiled and guided her brother’s girlfriend to the elevator with Yusuf and Ali in tow. After going up for a few minutes, the four of them stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway. “Daphne, do you mind if I go home for today? We’re all staying here for a while to help Hamid because can’t walk on his own, but I’m kinda beat.”
“Sure. You’ve been for the last couple of days, you deserve to take a shower and sleep on your own bed tonight. Don’t worry about it. I’ll stay here until he gets discharged and ask a nurse if I need help.”
“Thank you!” Sevim beamed then turned to the siblings. “You guys go ahead. Daphne and I will wait for the signal.”
The two men nodded and entered the private room.
“Merhaba!”² Ali smiled.
“Geçmiş olsun!”³ Yusuf approached the bed to greet his friend. “İşte imzalamanız gereken belgeler.”₄
“Çok teşekkür ederim, abi,”₅ Hamid answered with a smile as he started to look into the documents and sign.
“How are you feeling today?” The doctor asked.
“I’m fine and ready to go home,” he gave his friends a knowing look.
“Abi, we just found the perfect nurse for you,” Ali insisted.
“Yes. She’s quite efficient on her job and she’s tough enough to keep you on your toes,” Yusuf added.
“Is that supposed to convince me to behave until I get discharged?” Hamid raised an eyebrow as he handed back the folder with documents to his friend.
“I could mention all her traits and qualifications, but you won’t believe me until you meet her, so let’s just bring her in, shall we?” Yusuf grinned.
Hamid simply gave his shoulders. But when his friend opened the door again, his eyes sparkled with joy. “Daphne…” he mumbled as his girlfriend followed Sevim into the room and ambled over to his direction, holding a delicate bouquet of red tulips and red roses.
“Geçmiş olsun, Hamid bey,” she said with a smile, her eyes getting glossy as she gave him the flowers, ran her hand through his hair and kissed his temple.
Hamid closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, then held her hand, kissing her knuckles. It hasn’t been so long since they last saw each other, yet he couldn’t contain his joy. She was everything he needed.
“Now I get why they have a fandom,” Sevim murmured to Yusuf, who simply chuckled.
The couple shared coy smiles and blushed at her comment.
“Well, since our nurse is approved, I’ll see myself out,” Ali announced, heading towards the door.
“I’ll take these documents with me,” Yusuf smirked
“And I’ll get water for the flowers,” Sevim grabbed the bouquet.
As the of them said their goodbyes and left the room, Hamid patted the empty spot next to him on the bed for Daphne to sit.
“Are you sure?”
“No. I’d rather have you sitting on my lap as usual but I know you won’t do that just because I had surgery,” he smirked.
Giggling, she took a seat on the bed and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. But as soon as he responded to the embrace, the warmth of his arms elicited mixed feelings inside her. Daphne buried her face on the crook his neck and began to sob.
“Daphne?” His brows furrowed as he felt small drops on his shoulder. “Are you crying?” He tried to pull away to look at her, but her grip around him grew tighter, hands balling on his hospital gown.
“I missed you.”
He smiled softly and tightened the embrace. “I missed you too.”
“Please don’t do this again,” she begged.
“I won’t. I promise,” he kissed her shoulder, soothing her as she melted into arms. “I’m sorry, aşkım. Can you forgive me?”
Daphne nodded, then pulled away to look at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m more than okay now.”
“You’re not lying to me, are you? What about your head? Do you have any other bruises?” She cupped his face and turned his head to the sides, then looked at his neck and visible parts of shoulders and arms.
“Should I take off the gown so you can have a better look?” He teased.
Daphne narrowed her eyes.
“I’m fine. I don’t feel a thing,” he grinned. “Though I have to say I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you were going to stay in Edgewater and talk to your grandmother.”
She pressed her lips together. “I need time to think about it.”
“I understand you’re hurt and don’t want to talk about it,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “Just don’t forget she still is your grandmother and this animosity isn’t good just for the two of you. It can be hurtful to your father and your brother as well.”
“Mmhmmm.” She heaved a sigh and rested her head on his shoulder.
“So… You didn’t tell me how long you’re staying.”
“I’ll go back tomorrow night.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re going home tomorrow. You’ll have your family and your friends to take care of you.”
“You can’t stay for less than a week here. Istanbul is amazing! You have to stay and explore the city.”
“Tempting, but the jet comes to pick me up tomorrow. Besides, my favourite tour guide can’t even put his left foot on the floor for at least a week, let alone take me to see the sights,” Daphne gave him a knowing look.
“And this is why you should stay for a week.”
“Christmas is in three days, Hamid.”
“You can celebrate it with me and stay until morning with plenty of time to arrive for dinner with your family. Isn’t it what you wished we could do together?”
“Yeah…” she bit down her bottom, unsure of what to say next.
“Look, I get that I might be pushing my luck with your family, especially your grandmother, who already seems so fond of me,” he made a face, making Daphne chuckle. “But all I’m asking for is two more days. I was really looking forward to seeing you on New Year’s Eve. I had so many things planned for us. After the accident, it hurts me to think we had to cancel everything because I can’t travel to see you next week and I can’t even to go back to Cornell with you. Having you here during your favourite holiday can be our only chance to be together for a while.”
The lady frowned, pondering the possibility of wasting such a unique opportunity, then looked at her boyfriend, squaring her shoulders. “You know what? I’m calling dad right now,” she said, producing her phone from her coat pocket. “And you’d better tell your mother about us because I’m coming to visit you whenever I can.”
Hamid grinned and gave a small kiss on his girlfriend’s while she waited for her father to answer the phone. “Yes, ma’am.”
_____
¹ Brother
² Hello
³ Get well soon
₄ Here are the documents you have to sign
₅ Thank you very much, brother
