All the Things Between Us

Chapter 19

  I wake up feeling weird. Opening my eyes, I realize I'm naked under Apex's sheets. I immediately panic and pull the sheets tighter around me. Looking to the right I see Apex next to me sitting with his knees in his chest. It's weird to see him look so small. His face is in his hands and his shoulders are shaking.
"Apex?", his head shoots up and he looks at me. He's immediately at my side.
"Diana are you okay? Are you still in pain? How do you feel?", he fires concerned questions at me. His eyes dart around my face fearfully.
"I feel fine", I say surprised. I hadn't expected all the concern. Why wouldn't I be okay?
Memories of last night hit me all at once. I start to feel as panicked as he looks. I shoot up in the bed with sheets still pulled around me to protect my modesty. I back away from him and he doesn't try to stop me.
"What happened?", I ask panicking, "did you drug me?". My breath is heaving in my chest. He could have slipped something into all the water he gave me yesterday. It's not like he's never drugged me before. I know that he isn't above trying to force himself on me.
"No no no", he says panicking and running his hands through his hair, "I wouldn't. I-I I". He tries to convince me before giving up and staring down to where his hands have fallen back to his blankets.
"Take me to the doctor now", I demand. His eyes shoot back up to me.
"I didn't do anything that would-".
"I don't trust you", I tell him. I realize that he still has his pants on, but I still don't trust him. He concedes my point and nods his head. He stands from the bed and starts walking toward the door.
"I'll leave you to get dressed", he says, "come downstairs when you're done, and I'll take you to doctor". With that he walks out the door without so much as looking at me.
I take a moment to gather my feelings. I can't believe it. How could this happen. Looking back, I hate how willing I had been. I was so desperate for the pain to go away that I'd just given in to him.
I pull myself together and get dressed. I head to his kitchen where he stands waiting for me.
"Ready to go?", he asks still not looking at me.
"Yes", he nods at my response and leads the way to the front door. He pushes a few buttons and it beeps twice. The lock clicks and he opens the door. He lets me go out first before following me. He leads me a familiar black car. He opens the passenger side door before getting in himself.
"Please put on your seatbelt", he says quietly still not looking at me. He doesn't put the key in the ignition until it clicks into place. He backs out of the space he's in before heading down the long driveway towards the road.
It takes about twenty minutes for him to reach the hospital where I went after he'd kidnapped me the first time. When we pull into the parking lot, I step out immediately. He follows me toward the door. I get the paperwork from the front desk and find a spot to complete it. He sits down one chair from me.
It takes about an hour of waiting before I get called back. He starts standing to follow me before I tell him not to. I follow a nurse back to another room to wait for a doctor. Luckily this time I don't have to wait long before one enter the room
"Hello Ms. Cimorelli it's good to see you again, though I do wish it was under different circumstances", looking up I see Dr. H.
"See your here for a pregnancy and STD testing as well as a drug screening, is that correct?", I nod in response. She sighs probably guessing what brought me here.
"Can I ask what the symptoms of the drugs were? We don't have one test for everything and knowing the effects could help us narrow it down", she says. I nod in response.
"They hurt really bad", I tell her, "it was like horrible cramps". She nods thoughtfully.
"Were you perhaps bitten by anyone about a month ago?", how could she know about this? I nod in response not trusting my voice. She sighs in response.
"I don't think you were drugged", she says, "I'll still run tests for the most common date rape drugs though. I doubt I'll find anything and if I don't then I'd suggest you have the one who bit you explain everything. In the meantime, I'd like you to take this cup so we can run tests on your urine. When you get back, I'll take a blood sample and I think it'd be a good idea to check your genitals for any sign of trauma". I agree and accept the cup she hands me. She directs me to the bathroom where I do as instrucedt before returning.
When I come back, she's prepared the examination table for me. She takes the sample from me before I get up on the table. She takes my blood and then asks me to remove my pants. I do what she asks, and she provides me a sheet for privacy and helps me into the stirrups. The exam goes by in a blur.
"Okay I see no signs off tearing or bruising of any kind. There doesn't appear to be any sign of ejaculation either. I will still be taking a sample though", she says. After taking the sample she allows me to get dressed.
"We do have a lab here so it will only take a few hours to get the work back if you'd like to stay", she tells me.
"Yeah the shouldn't be a problem", with that she leads me back to the waiting room. I return to my spot by Apex, not knowing what else to do.
"How'd it go?", he asks me.
"What do you care?", this shuts him up and we spend the next few hours in silence.
After a while Dr. H returns and asks both of us to come back with her. She takes us to the same room as before.
"Okay so you're not pregnant and no signs of STDs or drugs were found, this being said I believe your partner here has some explaining to do so I'll let you guys go", she tells us. After that she directs us back to reception to have us sign out.
"Before you go Ms. Cimorelli, I'd like to leave you with my card", she says. She puts her card in my hands before signing the necessary paperwork.
Once we're back in the car Apex once again tells me to buckle up before starting the car.
"I don't want to stay with you Apex, I'm sick of you holding me against my will", I tell him. He pulls over into a parking lot. He parks and shuts off then engine before turning to look at me. He looks into my eyes for the first time since this morning.
"Please don't leave me", he says with a cracking voice, "I promise to explain everything just don't leave me". His eyes are red and glassy. His lower lip is trembling.
"Then explain", I say with bite in my voice. He sighs at my words.
"You're my mate", he says.
"What are you talking about?", I ask.
"I'm a werewolf. Werewolves are gifted with the ability to find their soulmates when we come of age, for males that's eighteen and for females its sixteen. When I'd found you, I'd given up on ever finding a mate. When you came along, I had no idea what to do and was completely unprepared. I thought that I could keep you hidden but near to me. Then you started not eating and I knew it had to stop. After cleaning you up my wolf completely took over seeing you. Then before I knew it, I'd hurt you.
I'd never thought I could hurt me mate like that. I know I hurt when I forced you under the bed, but it didn't feel real until I'd gotten you out from there. And then you were being hauled away on the stretcher and I just", his sobs force him to pause. I don't know what to say so I just wait for him to calm down.
After some time, he pulls himself together and continues, "when you were hospitalized the first time, I had no idea what to do, so I just waited for you to get out. When you did, I wanted to know everything about you. I started hiding in your house because I knew you didn't want to see me.
Then when you hurt yourself, I had to come out and save you. There was so much blood I knew you'd die if I didn't mark you. I knew if I marked you then you'd be strong enough that I could get you to the hospital before you bleed out. If there had been any other way to save you, I would have picked it.
I'd known what the side effects were. I'd hoped that I could have marked you later. That we could have bonded more organically.
After you got away, I thought that I could eventually try again, and we could fall in love like humans do. Marking is supposed to be something special and sacred and I ruined that. Most consider forcing a mark to be a form of sexual violence. But I couldn't let you die.
When we were together in the hospital, I'd stupidly hoped we could bond. You never wanted to talk to me though. I could tell how much you hated me. I'd hoped that if I just kept talking then maybe you'd respond eventually, and I could have a chance. So, I decided to tell you all the best things, but there wasn't anything good about me, so I told you about my family.
Then when you got out of there, I followed you. I had been delusional to think you'd come with me. When you rejected me, my wolf took over again to try and protect me from the pain. I know he'd only wanted you to stop you. We were both terrified of you rejecting us.
Then when you were in the hospital again, I wasn't allowed up because they were worried that I would upset you. I know they were right. While you were there, I checked myself into an inpatient care facility; I was there for a week. After that I found an outpatient therapist.
I was trying so hard to get better for you, but I couldn't stand you being away any longer. So, I convinced a nurse to help me.
Once I had you back, I thought things would be okay. I thought we had time. I knew your heat was coming, but I'd thought I'd have time to explain.
I'd thought by the time that you went into your first heat that I'd have had time to tell you everything. I'd planned to tell you everything after dinner last night. It was just too late.
I couldn't just let you lay there in pain like that. I'd even heard cases of abandoned mates dying from the pain of the heat. I couldn't let you feel that. I didn't want to do what I did, there was just no other way."
This is a lot of information to take in at once and it's so insane.
"I don't believe you", I tell him. Surely, he's lying. He's crazy and unstable.
"Prove it", I tell him.