chapter 15
1273 Words
Soraya's POV
“Please don’t worry, ma’am,” the nurse said quickly. “It’s not something serious. Just a minor surgery will do. He’ll recover.”
I swallowed hard, looking at him again.
Mrs. Opaline finally nodded slowly, her shoulders slumping as though she had been holding in all her fear. The nurse gave her a small bow of understanding before stepping out.
It wasn’t long before she returned, this time with two other staff. They moved, preparing Darius. I froze when I saw the syringe, but then realized they were sedating him. His body relaxed almost immediately, his breathing softening until he fell into a heavy sleep.
Carefully, they lifted him onto a stretcher and began wheeling him toward the ICU. My chest tightened as I watched him disappear down the corridor.
Surgery. The word still echoed in my mind, but I clung to the nurse’s promise that it was minor.
Beside me, Mrs. Opaline suddenly turned, her eyes glassy with tears. She reached for me, her hand trembling as it pressed against mine.
“Soraya… thank you so much, dear.” Her voice broke as tears fell freely down her cheeks. “If not for you, Darius would have probably killed those people and who knows what would have happened to him afterwards. I don’t know…” Her voice cracked harder. “His wolf got agitated. This is why Darius sometimes goes away from home when he feels his wolf is about to take over.”
I looked at her and my heart ached.
“It’s okay, Mrs. Opaline,” I said gently. “Everything will be fine.”
She gave me a teary smile, clutching my hands tighter.
“Now that you’re here,” she whispered, “I know for sure everything will be fine.”
Behind us, Dante exhaled softly, shaking his head. “Thank you so much, Soraya. Honestly.”
I smiled softly at both of them, though my chest still felt heavy.
We waited a while in the hallway, pacing and sitting and pacing again. Time passed, but finally a nurse appeared and told us the doctor wanted to speak with us.
Mrs. Opaline and I exchanged a look before standing. Together, we followed the nurse toward the doctor’s office, while Dante and Sam chose to stay outside and wait.
When the nurse led us down the corridor, my palms grew damp. Every step toward the office made my heart beat harder.
We finally entered the office. The doctor looked up from his files and offered a small smile.
“Mrs. Opaline. Good to see you.”
Mrs. Opaline's lips smiled faintly, though her eyes were still red from crying.
“Dr. Barry… it’s good to see you too.”
He gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk. “Please, have a seat.”
I slipped into the chair beside her.
Dr. Barry folded his hands on the desk, then leaned back with a slow, heavy sigh. His eyes flickered between the two of us.
“Your son, Darius, was brought in earlier,” he began carefully.
My stomach tightened. Mrs. Opaline nodded slowly. “Yes.”
He opened his file again slowly, as if buying himself a moment. Then, he looked at us directly.
“I want to talk about his… aggressive behavior.”
The air in the room seemed to grow heavier.
Mrs. Opaline let out a shaky sigh beside me.
Dr. Barry leaned forward, folding his hands on the desk. His eyes hardened slightly.
“I got information about Mr. Dovenia's behavior earlier when he was taken to the emergency room,” he said slowly. “He strangled a nurse. He destroyed things. He was extremely aggressive, and this is not a good report.”
I swallowed, glancing down at Mrs. Opaline.
“You see, Mrs. Opaline,” Dr. Barry continued, “this is a hospital. Anything could have happened at any point in time. He could have killed somebody. And I’m surprised at this behavior because your family is reputable in this city. I am wondering why this happened. What do you have to say about this?”
Beside me, Mrs. Opaline trembled slightly. She drew in a deep breath before speaking.
“I’m sorry, doctor. You see… my son wasn’t in his best state of mind. He didn’t mean anything he did.” Her voice cracked a little, but she steadied herself. “You know Darius. You’ve done some business with him before. He’s a very reasonable man, but something happened with his wolf at that time, and he wasn’t in control. This will never repeat itself.”
Dr. Barry tapped his pen against the desk, studying her.
“Listen, if this were some other family or some other case, I would have called the police or even had professionals for mental care involved immediately. But because it’s you, I decided to call you into my office and talk to you directly.”
He paused, then added, “Look, I don’t want this to spread in the media. I’ll speak to the two nurses involved not to disclose anything, so your family’s image doesn’t get tarnished. But… how am I so sure this will not repeat itself?”
Mrs. Opaline straightened.
“Know that it will not repeat itself, Dr. Barry. Thank you very much.”
The doctor leaned back, letting out a tired sigh.
“What about the damages? He broke a lot of expensive drugs and equipment.”
“We’ll cover it all,” Mrs. Opaline said quickly. “Just tell us whatever amount is needed, we’ll cover it, I promise.”
Dr. Barry nodded slowly, softening his tone.
“Very well. That’s fine. Just try to sort out whatever may have caused this.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
When we finally stepped out of the office, Mrs. Opaline looked drained. I followed her quietly, both of us returning to sit in the waiting area.
Shortly after, one of the nurses passed by.
Mts. Opaline rose up from her seat, quickly.
“How is my son? How did the surgery go?”
I rose up as well, eagerly looking at the nurse.
“It went well, he's been moved to the recovery room to rest. I could take you to him.”
“Yes, please.” Mrs. Opaline breathed. We followed the nurse to the room Darius was in.
There he was, lying on the bed with a bandage on his injured leg. He blinked up at us, his eyes open. For a second I couldn’t move. Seeing him so human after what had happened made my throat tighten.
“Darius!” Mrs. Opaline burst out the moment she saw him, rushing forward. “Gosh, look at what you’ve caused for yourself!” Her voice was filled with fear and relief all at once.
I moved and stood beside her.
“Mom, I’m fine. It's nothing.” he said.
Mrs. Opaline wasn't having it. “You’re fine? Your leg tissues and muscles got badly damaged. I could literally see flesh and bone. What is wrong with you? You could have died from blood loss. And when you lost control, so many things happened. And you’re saying it’s nothing?”
Darius sighed. “I know. Fine. This won’t repeat itself,” he muttered, more to placate her than to promise.
Then his gaze moved to me. For a moment the room froze. “You…you're here?” he said, surprised.
“If not for her,” she told him, “your wolf would have killed those two nurses and you’d be in jail for God knows how long.”
- Writer
