She turned to look back at him, her heart lifting at the sound of concern in his words. She didn’t deserve him, she knew that. She’d always known that. He’d always been too good for her, and this just proved it. When they had first met, she’d felt like the luckiest woman in the world.
He came from a well-respected family. He had money, confidence, good looks and charisma. She was shy and conservative. Her parents were poor, but they’d scraped the money together for her to go to university. They eventually took her to the doctor and found out about her schizoaffective disorder, but they didn’t know how bad it would get, no one did. Especially not Michael, he never would have looked at her twice if he had known.
She hadn’t been stupid and completely naïve. She known he’d liked the fact that she was subservient to him. She knew he enjoyed lording over her, but she put up with it, because she liked the attention he gave her. And he was so sure of himself. He made her feel safe. She knew she was lucky to have a man like him.
“Okay,” she replied.
“We need to talk when I get back.”
“Okay.”
He frowned at her, his brows pulling into a small dark V on his forehead, as his eyes bore into hers. His lips were pursed and tight, as if he were holding back a thousand hates. A thousand angry words that he refused to let out just yet. But soon.
He would soon. She could see that. And she urged that day to arrive.
“I don’t know why I did it,” Delores whispered as Michael turned away from her. He glanced back over his shoulder, his piercing blue eyes boring into her brown ones.
“It’s because there’s something wrong with you,” he said, his voice thick and gruff.
She nodded, the tears building in her eyes again. “There is,” she agreed.
Michael lifted his arm and pulled back his sleeve. He looked at the watch on his wrist for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. He turned back to her.
“You need your meds,” he said
Delores shook her head. “I don’t want them,” she replied. She didn’t want to feel sane again. She wanted to slip away into her insanity and get lost within it. “They can’t help, nothing can help.”
Michael huffed out his annoyance with her and a sharp pang of pain hit her chest. She had always hated letting him down, but even now, after all that she had done, she was still doing that.
“Okay,” she relented, “okay.” Because it wasn’t about her now, she recognised that, this was about him and his pain. The sound of her own voice hurt her head, but no more than that it hurt her heart.
Michael stepped closer to the bed. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a small clear bag. He pulled out a small pill and then he leaned forwards, gesturing for her to open her mouth for him. Delores complied, and he placed the pill on her tongue, before forcibly closing her mouth. He kept his hand tight over her mouth, squeezing her jaw painfully.
“Just keep taking your meds, Del’, and this will all be over soon.” He watched her through hooded eyes as he finally let go of her and stood up straight. He closed the bag and slipped it back into his pocket.
Delores nodded, feeling the pill dissolving on her tongue. It tasted strange, but then, everything tasted and looked and sounded strange now. Her world was a blur of color and confusion. It was both moving too fast, and moving too slow. It was almost like she was running through quicksand to save herself, her movements sluggish yet the world was still a frantic blur.
“I don’t know why I did it,” she whimpered around the pill. “I’m so sorry, Michael.” Hot tears bled from her eyes and trailed a blaze down her cheeks. No amount of apology would ever be enough, she thought, but she couldn’t stop herself.
Michael leaned forwards, his face an inch from hers. His features blurred as he came so close, until his breath was a hot fan of air on her face. Small strands of her hair tickled her until they got caught and clung to the dampness on her cheeks. He came closer still, the tip of his nose touching hers, and then all she could see were his eyes. They burned into hers, full of hate and anger, and something she didn’t have the words to explain.
Blue sapphires that burned with fire.
“You’re evil, Del’, that’s why,” Michael finally said, his voice full of contempt. Delores breathed out a shaky sob and nodded, her heart catching in her chest and skipping a beat. “You’re an evil woman.”
She nodded again. Yes, she was evil. Yes, this was all her own doing.
Michael stood back up and straightened his jacket and shirt. He smiled down at his poor sick wife and her broken fractured mind, and then he turned and left the room, giving orders to the nurses that no one be allowed in to see her without him being present.
Chapter Thirty-Four.
Michael
Michael left the room, clicking the door closed behind him.
He passed through the hospital, waving goodbye to the nurses as he went. One of them in particular was beautiful. Striking grey eyes and a wide smile that stretched on for days. He could only imagine what her body looked like under the uniform she wore. Delores had wanted to be a nurse, many years ago. He’d soon stolen that idea from her when he’d gotten her pregnant.
While the idea of a nurse for a wife turned him on, what he wanted more was a woman he could manipulate. Growing up, he’d had the perfect family. The only son to a wealthy mother and father. They’d loved him and he’d had everything a child could ask for; toys, parties, clothes. Anything he’d wanted.
