𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 - 𝙔𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍 ✓

12.

━━━

Stanislav only continues to stare, lips in a sly, small smile. His eyes widen a little, his pale blue iris's darting from each of my eyes. It's erratic. He's still, but his eyes tell me everything. My breath hitches as I see the way he's looking at me, it's not stable. 

"Stanislav, please, let's just go inside," I urge with desperation, sniffling and wiping away my past tears to compose myself, yet my fear seeps out. Mania is an extremely frightening thing to attempt to compose when it comes to patients, because at the end of the day, you can't. You can't compose that; you can't control manic patients. You can only try to accommodate to their safety, but this is a situation that makes that really, really hard.

He only boars his gaze deeper, his jaw gently unhinging to speak. "Do you know why I would kill him nurse?" He questions with a crooked, casual smile, his tongue gently sucking at his teeth by the end of his words. I feel myself shutter in uncomfortable nausea, my inside's turning in the worst way possible. I only shake my head, and I watch him shake his head and mutter to himself. it's something incomprehensible to me, because it wasn't English. I can only listen to the way he mutters in his mother's tongue before turning back to me, sighing quite deeply. 

"I would kill him, because you are married to someone who lets his wife waste away. You, are married to a man that places you in a very complicated position,"

He speaks in a matter-of-fact tone, his eye's darting back down to my unoccupied ring finger once more. 

"Very complicated."

He almost scoffs in laughter, but resists. A short, forceful exhale of amusement leaves his nostrils instead. And I only glare. I hate how he speaks; I hate how he's acting; I hate how he's right. Especially by the way he explains it. Nobody has ever placed it in better words then he has. He meet's my glare, unfazed and casual as his gaze glazes over my bruises. 

"I know you, nurse. I know that you are a an emotionally intelligent woman. Because you were able to front everyone in this building, pretend that you are in such a loving marriage, no matter how suspicious it sounded. Everyone. Not many people can pull that off. I would admire it, if you weren't trying to hide something so dangerous," He expresses, and I try to keep myself composed. It's so hard, he's digging into me so lethally. 

He's studying me, how I react, what expressions paint my face, what emotions he brings out. "You would rather hide it, cover the marks, instead of coming face-to-face with the fact that he hurts you. Why is that? is it because it's too much baggage to face, or is it because you do not want to admit that it's not your fault?"

"Stanislav, stop." I beg as my teeth grit, my tear's attempting to build once more. I've never felt as though I could explode at any moment, but he's brought it out with ease. He brings every emotion out I've buried, and it's horrible. Stanislav is horrible, the way he looks at me, the way he knows me. He knows me, it's true. He knows me more then I know myself. He's not stupid. This man has discovered every single secret kept of mine by the most vague and insignificant interactions with me, with little to no work. 

He leans closer once more, his scent enveloping me. It's so strong but undeniably good. It's rich and musky, clean and a little smoky. He leans towards my ear once more, his body towering and closing me. "Why. Should. I." He whisper's, "You wouldn't tell me to stop if It was false, and we both know that."

My heart pounds intensely, his warm breath lifting the hairs on my neck. "Nurse, I am not trying to hurt you. But I am telling you what's what, because nobody else will. The sooner you hear it, the sooner you will grow." He assures in a flat, stern tone as he leans back. His head darts to the side, hearing someone approaching by the distant sounds of crunching footsteps. He tugs my collar and smooth's it with ease, my bruises hidden once more before he begins to casually stride off. 

I feel my knee's lock and my body tense, I can't move. Sinking down against the brick wall, I crouch and cross my arms over my body protectively. I feel so confused, like everything holding me together had just been slammed to the ground and smashed into pieces. Stanislav is the plague that visits me with nothing and leaves me with everything. Mentally, everything. As if every word drips addictive acid afterwards, but in the moment, it's a horrible, confusing interaction. He make's and breaks me with ease. 

The person approaching turns the corner, being Dr Diaz. A cigarette sits in his fingers, his tracks pausing when he sees my crouching figure, approaching me slowly. "Nurse Y/N? what are you doing out here, its freezing," He questions with worry, dropping his cigarette to the ground and running his shoe across its remanence. 

I bite my cheek, furrowed brows. I can't tell him about that interaction. I can't. That type of interaction could put me in a very bad spot professionally. I sigh, the fog leaving my mouth as I exhale slowly. "I was just taking a walk, I just have a lot on my mind..." I mutter, tracing my nail through the snow under me. He tilts his head as he observes me intently, crouching down by me. "Would you like to come to my office? we can talk about it, if you want." He offers, adjusting his glasses with a small smile. 

I ponder it for a moment, questioning if it'd be an issue or a waste of his time. Then again, it would be nice to ask him a little about Stanislav, and see if he knows anything else about that man. It might explain a little more as to why he acts the way he does and could give me some personal answers. 

I nod, lifting myself up against the brick wall with a sigh. "Thank you, that'd be nice," I thank quietly, making my way back across the field with him. We walk side by side, walking up the buildings steps and pushing through the outside door. The warmth of the building soothes the harsh cold-burn on my cheeks, melting the tiny snow specks that dot my hair and clothes. 

━━━