His Unwanted Bride ~Editing~

Chapter Twenty Four: Alexios

     "You keep saying that you needed to get away from there and that you needed to flee that place. Please help me understand. What were you running from?" I pled.
    I tried to figure out how things went so wrong so quickly. One minute we were kissing and I was holding her against me. I was so grateful that she was here and breathing. When we were in that elevator I thought she was going to die. So very quickly that changed and it seemed like once she started, everything came pouring out.
    I hadn't realized until now how truly horrible I had been to her. I wanted nothing more than anything in the world to fix this, but I wasn't sure that I could.
    "You're still making demands!?" She laughed incredulously. "You don't get to ask me that after telling me that you would never ask because you weren't sure if I would be trustworthy."
     She was right. I needed to fix this.
    "Please just give me a chance, you wont regret it," I begged as there was a knock at the door.
      The doctor poked her head in the door and focused her attention on me. "Mr. Laventis, please come with me. I will be back to speak with you shortly, Tabitha."
     "Al-alright," she replied. I looked back at her. Tears streamed down her face. I wanted to hold her, and dry her tears.
    I took a step closer to her and she flinched reflexively, cowering on the bed. I felt a stab at my heart, and it finally registered that I was the one causing her pain. "Please understand, I would never hurt you," I spoke sadly, pulling my hand back.
      "There is more than one way to hurt a person, and you already have," she muttered, turning away from me.
      "Mr. Laventis, please," the doctor urged.
      "I'll be back," I said to her as she fought to catch her breath. I hated seeing her like this. Even more, I hated knowing that I was the one who caused her to feel like this.
      I followed the doctor out in the hall. "Dr. Mason, what is going on?" I asked her immediately.  "One moment Tabitha was fine, and the next she was panicking and crying. Granted, I may have had a hand in that, I haven't been the best husband so far. Pretty close to the worst actually. But I'm trying to do better," I asked worriedly.
     "Rest assured, her emotional instability at this moment is not caused by you. Unfortunately it is still caused by the drugs in her system. One crushed up pill is a typical dosage for this exact drug. In her toxins screen we found the equivalent of five pills worth in her system. Someone was most definitely intending to harm your wife."
     "Is there any way to tell who it was from the drugs?" I asked her.
    "Not at this time. This is such a common formulation that nearly anyone could have obtained it."
    "When will it wear off?" I asked her.
    "That is hard to tell, for this amount I'd guess 24-36 hours from when she was dosed. How much of your wife's past are you aware of?"
     "Not much yet. We are working on our communication though," I mumbled sadly.
     "Your wife has built up a bit of a tolerance to this drug. It is the only reason that she did not die from the high dosage she was given," Doctor Mason explained.
    "What do you mean she has a tolerance? She has been drugged before?" I asked.
     "I said nothing if the sort," she said with an over the top wink. "Just like I didn't tell you that I accidentally left her patient records in the waiting room and will be going to gather them when I get back from my lunch in 45 minutes."
   "Thank you," I whispered.
   "Please also keep in mind that there is a large chance that she may not remember much of your conversations during this time."
     "Thank you," I nodded and she smiled before leaving for lunch. I stepped back into the room. She lay on the bed, fast asleep, trails of dried tears marked her face.
     "I will figure this out," I promised her and kissed her forehead.