I Bled for You, Then I Walked Away

1: 1

To save my fiance, Erica Henson, from a drunk, I took seven stab wounds to the stomach.

During surgery, the doctors said one of the wounds had hit where it counted. It was serious.

After the operation, I woke earlier than expected, and in that half-conscious haze I heard Erica talking with her best friend beside the bed.

"Erica, I've taken care of the suspect's family. Not a word will get out."

"But the doctor already said it'll be hard for Marlin Gilbert to father a child. Why did you have him sterilized behind his back?"

"That's too hard on his body. He might never get out of bed again."

Erica smiled, soft and indulgent.

"Oh, it's all for Louis's sake."

"I promised I'd only marry Marlin, that I'd never carry his child. The sterilization was the only way to settle it once and for all."

"So he's crippled. Fine. I'll just take care of him for the rest of his life."

It felt like I'd been dropped into ice water. My whole body shook.

So three years of love had been nothing but calculation.

Fine.

I would step aside and let the two of them have each other.

Only after the friend left did I slowly open my eyes.

"Marlin, you're awake?"

Erica leaned in at once, her face full of worry and concern.

She reached out to touch my forehead. I turned my head aside and let it miss.

Her hand froze in midair, and something startled flickered through her eyes.

"How do you feel? Does the wound still hurt? Should I call the doctor?"

The questions came one after another, in that gentle voice I'd known for three years, the voice I'd once clung to.

I didn't answer any of them. My eyes rested calmly on the white ceiling.

My voice came out low and hoarse from the weakness, but it was perfectly clear.

"Erica, let's break up."

The air in the room froze.

She went blank, those eyes that always seemed to shimmer now stretched wide, filled with disbelief.

"Marlin? What did you say? Is the anesthesia still not worn off? Are you talking nonsense?"

Just then the door was pushed open, softly.

Louis Morton walked in, in a pressed suit, every hair in place, a bag of expensive fruit in his hand.

"Ms. Henson, is Marlin awake? I brought some fruit"

He didn't finish. His eyes caught the strange atmosphere in the room, and his voice cut off.

Seeing him, I remembered the phone call from last night.

"Marlin! Come to the Nightfall Bar, quick!"

"I heard Ms. Henson's being cornered by some drunks. I'm really worried about her!"

Louis's voice on the phone that night had been frantic, almost choked with helplessness.

Thinking about it now, that was some superb acting.

A wave of disgust and fury surged up into my head. I gripped the sheet beneath me hard, and only that kept me from throwing the bag of fruit in his face.

I stared at him, spacing every word, my voice cold to the bone.

"You're not welcome here. Get out."

The concern on Louis's face went stiff in an instant, his fingers tightening slightly around the fruit bag.

He looked at Erica, his eyes carrying just the right amount of helplessness and hurt.

Sure enough, Erica went off like a lit firecracker.

"Marlin! What's gotten into you?"

"Louis came out of kindness to see you!"

"You wake up spouting nonsense about breaking up, and now you're throwing a fit at Louis for no reason?"

"If you've got a problem, take it out on me. Don't make things hard for Louis!"

Louis tugged at her arm, his tone gentle. "Ms. Henson, don't be like this."

"Marlin just woke up. He's not feeling well. It's normal for him to be unstable right now."

He looked at me, his eyes openly full of worry, as if he truly had my best interests at heart.

"Marlin, please don't get worked up. The doctor said what you need most now is rest. Getting upset will affect how the wound heals."

Every sentence was airtight, showing off how considerate and thoughtful he was, and throwing my "unreasonable outburst" and my "ingratitude" into sharp relief.

Erica only got angrier, her chest heaving as she pointed at me and said to Louis, "The moment he woke up he was like a different person. He's crazy! He actually told me he wants to break up!"

Louis frowned faintly, studying me.

"Marlin, is there some misunderstanding between you two?"

"Ms. Henson was so worried about you she didn't sleep a wink all night."

Misunderstanding?

I laughed coldly inside.

The biggest misunderstanding of my life was believing that the love I'd given my life to protect was real.

2: 2

The wound in my stomach started to throb.

I closed my eyes, drew a slow breath, and forced all the churning hatred and humiliation back down to the deepest part of me.

When I opened them again, what was left in them was a calm that was almost numb.

"There's no misunderstanding."

My voice came out tired and hoarse. I didn't look at Louis. I kept my eyes on Erica.

"Erica, I don't want to keep going with this."

"Let's break up."

The mask of false concern on Louis's face nearly slipped.

He took a deep breath and spoke in a tone tinged with self-reproach. "Ms. Henson, maybe... maybe this really is my fault."

"Marlin sees me always at your side, and he got the wrong idea."

"I wasn't thinking. I overlooked how he felt."

He turned to me, his eyes full of "sincere" apology.

"Marlin, I'm sorry."

"If I'm the reason there's a rift between you and Ms. Henson, I'll resign right now and leave Riverport."

"I only want the two of you to be happy."

Retreating to advanceevery word of it hinting that I was the small-minded one, the one making an unreasonable scene.

Sure enough, Erica flared up again.

She grabbed Louis, who was making a show of leaving, her voice flat and final. "You don't have to go! Louis, this isn't your fault at all!"

"You're my assistant. Of course you stay at my side."

"He's the one throwing a fit out of nowhere!"

She turned to me, fury burning in her eyes.

"Marlin, have you had enough? I know you're hurt and feeling low, but there's no need to threaten me with a breakup, and no need to take it out on Louis!"

She was still living in the old understanding, believing that after three years of pouring out everything I had, I couldn't live without her.

Every bit of my resistance, to her, was nothing but a play to lure her in by pushing her away.

Suddenly I felt tired. Worn out.

I didn't argue anymore. I let silence answer for me.

I closed my eyes and shut out all the sickening performance, all of it.

The last bit of warmth still left in my heart quietly went out.

In the days that followed, my time in the hospital grew unusually quiet.

Erica came once every few days, staying a few minutes each time before hurrying off.

Sometimes she didn't even bother to talk to me.

Louis knew better than to show his face in front of me again, as if he'd vanished.

The day I was discharged, the sky was overcast.

Just as I'd expected, Erica used a meeting as her excuse not to come.

I finished the discharge paperwork alone. The wound still ached faintly, but the pain in my body was nothing next to the numbness inside.

I caught a cab back to the villa.

I pushed open the heavy carved doors to a silent house.

Dragging a body that hadn't fully healed, I'd barely made it up the stairs when the sight in front of me froze the blood in my veins.

Louis was in my dark blue silk pajamas, lounging comfortably against the railing, a cup of coffee in his hand.

The clothes hung a little loose on him, but they lodged in my eyes like a poisoned barb.

He looked at me, not surprised, the corner of his mouth curling slowly into open mockery.

"Well. You're back?"

He took a light sip of coffee, his tone flippant.

"Looks like you recovered nicely. Even managed to walk home on your own."

"Here I thought you'd be stuck in bed the rest of your life."

I clenched my fists, nails digging deep into my palms, forcing myself to stay calm.

"Why are you here? Who said you could wear my clothes?"

"Your clothes?"

Louis laughed, as if he'd heard something funny.

"Marlin, let me be honest with you."

"Soon, none of this will have anything to do with you."

"Erica didn't want me getting bored waiting for her here, so she told me to find something comfortable to put on."

"I looked around, and yours were the only ones that more or less fit. Though... they carry a bit of bad luck."

He set the coffee cup down and strolled over to me, unhurried.

He looked me up and down, his eyes full of contempt.

"Marlin, look at the state of you. You can't even stand steady. Like something useless."

"You think taking a few knives for Erica makes you a hero? That it earns you a lifetime with her?"

"Please. In her eyes, you're nothing but a pitiful little thing."

I clenched my jaw, every muscle in my body drawn tight, the wound throbbing faintly.

"Get out!"

"You're the one who should get out."

Louis stepped closer, his voice dropping very low, like a snake flicking its tongue.

"Be smart about it, Marlin. Disappear on your own. Don't come back."

"Erica's soft-hearted. Maybe she'll even leave you a little alimony."

"Otherwise, when you get thrown out the door, it'll be a very ugly sight."

3: 3

I told myself I couldn't do it. A man like this wasn't worth it.

I tried to step around him, to go back to my room, pack my things, and leave this place for good.

But the instant we brushed past each other, that voice rose again, dripping with pure malice.

Light, almost careless, and yet enough to shatter the last of my restraint.

"Oh, right. Erica mentioned that dead mother of yours."

"Did she never teach you to know your place?"

"Guess not. That's why you turned out to be such an ungrateful dog"

Crack!

A hard, ringing slap landed across Louis Morton's face.

I put nearly everything I had into it, enough that my own arm went numb from the shock, and the wound in my belly, only just healed, tore at me with a pain like ripping cloth.

He could humiliate me. I could take it.

But he humiliated my mother, and that I could not.

Louis's head snapped to the side, and five clear red finger marks bloomed across his pale face.

He clutched his cheek, staring at me in disbelief.

His shock curdled fast into something dark and venomous.

Right then, the front door of the villa swung open, and Erica Henson walked in carrying several shopping bags.

A faint smile still on her face as she came. "Louis, I got the sushi you like"

Her voice cut off the moment she took in the scene in the living room.

The smile froze, then gave way to shock and a sudden, blazing fury.

Louis switched expressions almost in the same breath.

He pressed a hand to his face, his eyes reddening at once, and choked out in a voice thick with humiliation and hurt. "Ms. Henson, Marlin saw me wearing his pajamas and got really angry."

"I... I was just about to explain, and he hit me. The look in his eyes, it was like he wanted to kill me..."

Erica's glare cut into me like a blade. There wasn't a flicker of curiosity about how it had started, only a towering anger aimed at me.

"Marlin! I told Louis to change into those clothes. What right did you have to hit him?"

She screamed it, dropping the bags in her hands and rushing at me in a few strides.

I opened my mouth, meaning to tell her how Louis had insulted my dead mother.

But looking into those eyes, all but spitting fire, every word jammed in my throat.

"You lunatic!"

Beside herself, Erica shot out her arm and drove her hands into my chest with everything she had.

I'd been standing near the top of the stairs to begin with, my body already weak.

Caught off guard by the shove, I lost my balance in an instant and toppled backward.

My back and the base of my skull cracked hard against the cold, unforgiving marble steps, a string of dull, heavy thuds.

Pain shot through every limb, and the sharpest of it came from my belly.

I could feel it clearly, the knife wound that had only just closed splitting open again under the force and the pull.

Warm liquid soaked through my clothes fast, sticky and cold.

As the world spun, I suddenly remembered the first time I met Erica.

That night, a sharp screech of brakes and the huge crash of twisting metal tore through the quiet.

Her sports car had slammed into a barrier and crumpled.

She was pinned in the driver's seat, her face white, blood sliding from her temple.

I happened to be passing. Without a second's hesitation, I ran over and tried to pry open the warped door.

While I was pulling her free, a sharp shard of metal caught my belly and opened a deep gash.

Warm blood surged out at once, staining my shirt and the standing water beneath me.

The second I gritted my teeth and dragged her out, the near-wrecked car went up in a roar of flames, the heat rolling over us.

I'd lost a lot of blood, and my mind was starting to blur.

Erica held me, her hands shaking, her voice breaking.

Calling for help on one line and shouting at me on the other. "Don't sleep! Please, whatever you do, don't sleep! Look at me!"

Her tears fell on my face.

In that moment, I thought I was looking at an angel.

But now she couldn't be bothered to spare me a single glance.

She only rose on her toes, carefully inspecting the faint slap mark on Louis's face, the tenderness and anger in her eyes all but spilling over.

The next second, I passed out completely.

The dark went on for a long, long time.

When some blurred awareness came back, I felt my body being moved.

A jumble of voices, the smell of disinfectant, the cold touch of instruments.

Erica's voice reached me, edged with impatience. "...do what you can, cost isn't an issue... why does he have to be so much trouble..."

"Wait, have the doctor check Louis first. Marlin doesn't know his own strength. If it's a concussion, that would be terrible..."

4: 4

The voices faded away, and I slipped back into darkness.

I don't know how long it was before I came to again.

The first thing I saw was the same pale hospital ceiling.

The wound in my belly had been stitched up again, wrapped under thick layers of gauze, and every breath tugged at it with a stabbing pain.

The door swung open.

Louis Morton walked in, the gloating plain on his face.

"You're a tough one to kill, Marlin." He stood over the bed, looking down at me. "Bled that much and still didn't die."

I closed my eyes and said nothing.

"I'll be honest with you. Erica kept me over last night. We went at it, over and over, barely slept a wink." He leaned down and dropped his voice. "Near dawn she lay there next to me and said she finally didn't have to smell your sweat anymore."

I gripped the sheet, my knuckles white, but I stayed silent.

"She likes it when I hold her while she sleeps. Says it's so much warmer than you."

The door opened again. Erica Henson came in with the head nurse.

The moment she saw Louis standing by my bed, her face changed. She rushed over in a single stride and pulled him behind her.

"Marlin! What are you trying to do to Louis this time?"

She glared at me, her eyes full of suspicion.

Louis instantly put on his fragile look. "Ms. Henson, don't misunderstand."

"The AC in my room broke. The repairman says it won't be fixed until tomorrow."

"It's so hot, so I thought I'd come cool off in Marlin's room for a bit."

Erica let out a breath.

"It's still too dangerous for you to be near him."

"Let's just do this. The two of you should switch rooms."

She said it without a moment's hesitation, not even bothering to ask what I thought.

"Ms. Henson, that's absolutely out of the question." The head nurse objected at once. "Mr. Gilbert has just come through a second surgery. His wound is badly torn. He needs to stay completely still right now. Any movement could put him in danger."

Erica frowned and looked me over. "It's just moving him a little. How serious can it be? Louis is at risk of a concussion. He needs the rest more."

"Ms. Henson, this really goes against medical protocol"

The head nurse was still trying to explain, but Erica already had her phone out.

After a short call, she handed the phone to the head nurse.

The head nurse took it, listening to the instructions on the other end, her expression darkening more with every word.

"...Yes, Director, I understand." She hung up and lowered her head, resigned. "Ms. Henson, I'll arrange the room change right away."

Erica nodded, satisfied, then said gently to Louis, "Louis, go sit over there for a moment. I'll handle things here."

Louis nodded obediently, and from an angle Erica couldn't see, he shot me a mocking smile.

The head nurse called in two orderlies, and they moved my body with great care.

Every slight sway brought cold sweat to my forehead, and the wound in my belly burned like fire.

Just as they were shifting me onto the gurney, Louis suddenly stepped up.

"Let me help."

He pretended to steady the edge of the bed, and in the instant no one was watching, he drove his elbow hard into the wound on my belly.

The pain exploded, and I couldn't stop the scream that tore out of me.

At almost the same moment, Louis staggered back several steps and slammed into the wall with a dull thud.

"Marlin! How could you do that?"

He clutched his shoulder, his eyes going red on the spot.

"I was trying to help you. Why did you shove me?"

Erica rushed over to steady him and whipped around to glare at me. "Marlin! Have you lost your mind?"

"Louis just wanted to help, and you raised your hand against him again?"

"You really are a violent maniac. I must have been blind to ever fall for you!"

The pain left me unable to speak. I could only gasp for breath, cold sweat soaking through the hospital gown.

"I've had enough of you!" Erica went on scolding. "Hurt this badly and still can't behave. Just how vicious are you willing to get?"

The head nurse hurried to check my wound and found blood already seeping through the gauze.

"The wound is in danger of splitting open. This has to be dealt with immediately!"

Erica acted as if she hadn't heard, focused only on whether Louis was hurt.

"Louis, are you all right? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

Louis nestled against her and gave a soft shake of his head. "I'm fine, just startled."

"Maybe Marlin didn't mean it. He's just... too impulsive."

"You're still defending him, even now!"

Erica held him closer, aching for him, then shot me a cold glance.

"Get him out of here already. I don't want him in my sight."

That one look put out the last little spark left in my heart.

The orderly wheeled me out of the room.

As we passed through the corridor, I gathered every bit of strength I had and forced out the words, trembling.

"Please... where is my phone?"

"I want to call my family."