The Price of Pride

Chapter 4

Emir rushes towards Reyhan's room, only to be stopped by the nurses instructing him to get into protective gear ... gloves, mask, gown, covering for his head and feet.

"She's still in a delicate situation," the nurses had explained as he quickly put on whatever they gave him. "This is to help keep her safe."

"Emir bey," the doctor calls to him just before he goes inside. "Don't tire her. Or put too much stress on her. She needs to stay as calm as possible. Her heart rate is still accelerated and we're concerned about the effect on her body."

He nods at the doctor's advice, but he's too focused on getting to her. He'll get more details from the doctor later about all that. Right now, he just wants to see her. He needs to make sure she's really okay.

He finally makes it to her room. He gives her a tentative smile that she can't see behind the mask, but he can't help but be happy to see her awake. He was worried about her. He sits next to her bed and takes her hand, relieved when her momentary shock of him touching her is replaced by her own smile. He likes that she seems as happy to see him as he is to see her.

"How are you?" he asks.

"Good ... now that you're here."

His heart gives an unexpected leap in his chest at her shy words. It's almost as if there was a physical barrier preventing him from really seeing her before. And now it's gone, and he can't help but see how precious she is and how lucky he is to have her. It's like he's seeing her for the first time.

"I'm here for good. I'm not leaving you anymore," he promises. "And I won't let you leave me. We're going to work this out and we're going to be fine, okay? There's a lot we need to talk about. Starting with an apology from me."

"Emir," she says, lifting a finger to cover his lips to try to stop him from talking. But she lets out a little yip of surprise when he kisses her finger. He's finding it impossible to hold back anymore.

"You scared me," he admits. "Falling into my arms like that terrified me, Reyhan. I had no idea what was wrong with you. All I knew was that I had to get you here immediately. And that if I had been there for you in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"Can you tell me why any of this is happening?"

He knows she's asking about more than why she's in the hospital. She wants to know about before. When things were so bad between them. That disastrous beach date that still makes him shudder. How could he have been so horrible to her?

"I can and I will," he nods. "I'll tell you everything when the time is right. I promise. We need to get better at communication. Learn a new way. We weren't working before because we weren't talking to each other. I admit that I was actively pushing you away, but you were also keeping yourself apart from me."

She looks down, embarrassed at having him realize the way she had distanced herself from him. He moves a finger to her chin and tilts her face up so that she's looking at him again.

"See? Running away again," he points out. "But it's okay. I get it. I now know the reason for that distance. And now more than ever, I'm so sorry for how I treated you before. There's no excuse for it. Neither of us wanted to be married. But I punished you for something that wasn't your fault."

"Where is this coming from?" she asks curiously.

He sighs to gather his courage. Then he stands and walks over to the bag of her things the nurse brought in before. He reaches inside and pulls out her journal.

"Melike abla asked me to bring some of your things. I saw this and... I read it," he confesses. "I didn't plan on reading it. But your stuff fell and it was open when it landed. I couldn't resist."