Passion's Instinct

Forty Five

Hayden

I paced the hallway outside of Natalie's room in the hospital, anxiously awaiting some kind of answer. I was so scared of what would come of all of this craziness. What if Benjamin did something bad to her while I was gone? It was clear he did something to cause this, but I didn't know what, and that's what was making me really nervous.

He did do something, and I had no clue as to what it was.

And then I remembered something. Something aside from my worry and anxiety.

I was standing in the hospital when I asked Natalie to marry me seven years ago. Seven years. Looking back, they had gone by so fast.

I smiled, thinking back to that moment of our lives. One of the best moments, for sure. She was so happy. And so was I.

And now I was standing in the hospital waiting to see if she was even be okay or not.

What about our kids? What about our life together? What if she wasn't okay?

It was driving me crazy. It was surreal. It didn't even seem possible that Natalie would be in this serious of danger from something Benjamin did. Why did she pass out in my arms?

It was the strangest thing ev--

My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a nurse coming out and letting me know I was allowed in the room. I walked in and Natalie was awake, staring at me with wide eyes.

I rushed up to her and gently brought her into an embrace, and she rested her chin on my shoulder, lacing her arms around my torso. "I love you, Hayden," she mumbled, hugging me tighter.

When she let go, I pulled away to look at her and placed my hands on both sides of her neck, rubbing her comfortingly. "I love you. I don't know what else would've happened if I didn't get there just then." I sat on the edge of the bed, and she reached forward and laced her fingers around mine. "What else did he do to you?"

"Hayden, I don't know. I don't even remember what happened. I just remember being home alone, and then he knocked on the door and came in, and that's it. I don't know."

"You let him in?" I asked, my eyes fire when I glanced in the mirror beside the bed.

"No!" she said. Her face twisted in frustration, and she buried her face in her hands.

"Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that," I said calmly, running my hand through her hair. She took her hands away from her face, her eyes red and watery.

"I don't know. I have no clue why he was in our house. But he's the guy from my nightmare."

"Yeah, I know. And he's the weak guy on my hockey team."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

Her jaw got slack for a minute, but she just covered her mouth and shook her head in disbelief. "How do we have connections like that? And how did neither of us realize? And why was he in that nightmare I had?"

"I don't know, babe. Did they say what was wrong?"

She shook her head and shrugged. "Not that I know of."

I called a doctor over and he told us that it seemed Benjamin must have given her some kind of sleeping pills, and that if I hadn't gotten there the time that I had, Natalie could have been a victim to sexual assault. Or she could've been kidnapped.

I was so going to get him back. I would figure out some way to do it. Eventually.