Chapter 176 Feelings Can Come Back
Emilia’s POV
My mind raced. Titus had met with Abigail before she ran off with Damien? What did that mean?
"You think I drove her away?" Titus sounded shocked. "Sebastian, I would never..."
"Wouldn’t you?" Sebastian cut him off. "You’ve always been big on duty, on pack alliances, on doing what’s ’right’ for the family. Abigail was from a smaller pack. Not a smart political match. Not the Luna you wanted for the future Alpha of Silver Moon."
"That’s not true," Titus said, defensive now. "I had nothing to do with her leaving. I don’t know where you heard this, but..."
"It doesn’t matter where I heard it," Sebastian said. "The truth always comes out. Just like it did with Emilia. She couldn’t hide what she’d done forever. Neither can you."
I stepped back around the corner as Titus came out of the room, his face pale. Mila waited by the elevator, and from her face, she knew something was wrong.
"What happened?" she asked as they passed me.
"Nothing," Titus said. "Let’s go home."After they left, I stood there turning over what I’d heard. Titus had met with Abigail before she left. Sebastian suspected his own father of driving away the woman he’d loved.
"This is bigger than we thought," Eve murmured.
"Way bigger."
A nurse came down the hallway with a tray of medications. I recognized Sebastian’s room number on the chart.
"Excuse me," I said. "I’ll take that in for you."
The nurse hesitated. "Are you family?"
"I’m his wife."
That was still true, wasn’t it? Even if he hated me, even if he wanted me gone, the bond between us hadn’t been broken. Not officially.
The nurse handed over the medication. "He needs to take all of these. Doctor’s orders."
"I’ll make sure he does."
I walked to Sebastian’s room and pushed open the door. He was staring out the window. He looked thinner, the hospital gown hanging loose on him. But he was awake. He was alive.
He turned when he heard me. "I thought I told you to leave."
"You did," I said, setting the tray on the bedside table. "I chose not to listen."
"Of course you did." His voice was thick with sarcasm. "Following rules has never been your strong suit, has it?"
"Pot, meet kettle," I shot back. "You’re the one who drank yourself into a hospital bed because you couldn’t handle your feelings like an adult."
His eyes flashed. "Get. Out."
"Take your medicine first."
"I don’t want it."
"Why?" I crossed my arms. "Planning to kill yourself just because you don’t want to see me? Because if that’s your brilliant plan, you’re smart enough to let the nurse bring your medicine instead of throwing this little tantrum."
"I don’t want anything you bring me."
"I’m your wife," I shot back. "What’s wrong with me bringing you your medicine?"
"Nothing’s wrong with it." His voice was cold. "I just don’t want medicine that came from your hands."
He hit the alarm beside his bed without looking at me. "I want to rest, but someone keeps bothering me. Please see her out."
Fine. Two could play that game.
I leaned in. "You, collapsing like this, makes me wonder why the hell I picked someone like you for my revenge plan. If I’d known you’d be this weak, I’d have chosen better. Someone with an actual spine."
"Get out."
I was already at the door when his voice stopped me.
"It was you, wasn’t it." Not a question. An accusation. "When I was unconscious, did you whisper in my ear that feelings can come back?"
I turned, meeting those angry green eyes. No point denying it. "Yes."
He let out a short, bitter laugh. "Really? You actually think feelings can be taken back? Then tell me. How exactly do I take mine back? I’d love to know the secret."
After a moment, I said quietly, "A long time ago, someone told me feelings could come back. But I never learned how, because I never wanted to take mine back."
"Feelings?" Sebastian’s sneer was sharp enough to cut. "Do you even have those? A woman who sells herself to different men, you think you’re capable of real feelings? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard out of your mouth."
Eve stirred, angry for me, but I pushed her back. This was my fight.
"Believe whatever you want, Sebastian. But you’re the first and only man I’ve ever loved. Those days you were unconscious, you couldn’t see how scared I was. You don’t know what this place does to me. Hospitals. The two most important people in my life ended up in beds exactly like yours. The first one left me. I was so afraid the second one would too..."
I took a shaky breath. "So hate me all you want. I deserve it. But don’t torture yourself. Don’t drink yourself into internal bleeding just to punish me. Please."
"So what?" His voice was flat. "Internal bleeding? The only thing that really hurts is the heart anyway."
Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. "You looked into my relationship with Leighton Lind. Fine. But why didn’t you dig deeper? Why didn’t you look into what happened before those ten years? What kind of life I lived?"
I met his eyes. "Maybe if you knew my whole story, you’d understand why I did what I did."
I turned and walked out before he could answer, before I could fall apart. Eve whimpered in my mind.
"He’s hurting," Eve said softly.
"So am I," I whispered back.
The next few days passed in a strange, tense truce. Sebastian’s attitude softened a little. Or maybe "softened" was too generous. He stopped throwing me out of his room, at least. He just pretended I didn’t exist instead.
Progress, I guess.
The night before his discharge, I came to the hospital after work. The nurse said he’d barely touched his lunch, so I called Mila on my way up.
When I walked into his room, Sebastian had his eyes closed, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. His breathing was off, and the tension in his shoulders gave him away.
"You didn’t eat lunch," I said.
He didn’t answer. Typical.
"Do you feel like roasted potatoes? I can go get some for you."
His eyelashes flickered, just barely, but he kept up the sleeping act.
"If you don’t say anything, I’m taking that as a yes." I reached over and smoothed out his blanket. "Aren’t you even a little curious how I know what you like?"
I didn’t wait for an answer I knew wouldn’t come. "Your mom told me. She said when you were little, you’d refuse to eat anything else if you had your heart set on roasted potatoes. Who does that, by the way? What kind of stubborn kid..."
I smiled at him, even though his eyes were still shut. "I’ll be back as soon as I can. And don’t worry, you don’t need to thank me."