Vulnerable
1152 Words
Dawn.
I let my thumb run along the cold gold plated design of the name even as I walked away behind one of the hotel attendants. My head was low, my eyes trained on the way my dress kept pushing in front of me in sync with my feet.
I swallowed. Could Gerald be wrong? Because just the prospect of Fabian wanting to get me something like this, but with the inscription of some other woman...it made absolutely no sense. Could he have been trying to show me the woman his heart belonged to so I would keep it in mind that I am only his wife on paper?
I sighed a little, his words rushing back to me. Strangely, I wondered where he had gone. What if he got in trouble? He was heavily drunk after all. But knowing Fabian, the highest trouble he could get in is with some woman.
I closed my eyes for a brief second, just as the attendant stopped in front of a door. 417.
"Here. You can change the password. The default one is the room number with a leading zero."
I nodded, then gave her a small smile. "Thank you."
"You are welcome," she added politely, then turned away, leaving me in front of the door. I turned to it, then slowly started to punch in the room number, when the door suddenly gave way under the pressure of my fingers and opened up slightly, offering me a glimpse of the room.
My eyes widened, and I turned to the attendant, but I was alone in the large hallways, and she was gone.
I turned back to the door, then gently pushed it. The room was dark, and I swallowed. Maybe she had left it open for me. Maybe I was just being paranoid.
I walked in, then without bothering to turn on the lights, started to unzip. I took my untrained feet towards the closet, only guided by the dim night lights. True to Gerald's word, there was a supply of clothes, the neat stacks of boxes that had been brought, and toiletries. There were also clean pyjamas, and I grabbed the first one I saw.
I started to walk back to the bed, when I heard a faint groan. My brows furrowed and I froze in place. Gerald hadn't told me there would be anyone and just the fact that the door had been opened was enough to send me into a fit of paranoia.
I swallowed, holding my unzipped dress in my hands, then retraced my steps to the wall. I reached for the walls, then turned on the switch, my heart beating in wild anticipation.
The lights came on, illuminating the room, and consequently, Fabian's sleeping frame. He was on the very edge, his hand dangling off the bed.
His shirt was rumpled, and I wasn't mistaken that the red specks splattered on it was blood. I wasn't sure if I should be worried if the blood was his or not.
The lights seemed to disturb him, and he turned a little, a wince passing his face. His face came into full view now. He had a broken lip, and a small bruise on his chin. The worst part, however, was the blood on the part of his shirt just below his right shoulder.
"Fabian," I said, then quickly dropped the dress and pushed my head into the pyjama gown, then walked to him.
He seemed disturbed in his sleep, his breaths sharp and fast, his brows furrowed tightly. I went on my knees, then slowly brought my hand to his shirt. The first button was ripped off, and I slowly reached to open the second.
I had started to get it off, then pull the shirt away. I started to see the beginnings of the wound, when suddenly, his hand clasped around mine, stopping me in place.
I gasped and turned to him, my eyes wide.
"What do you think you are doing?"
I swallowed, then fell back, my hand still in his. "I...I...you are injured."
"Don't touch me," he spat, letting go of my hand. I fell back a little, and swallowed, my hands breaking my fall.
Slowly, I stood up, my chest heaving, my lips pursed.
"Fabian, let me check your wound."
He said nothing as he tried to sit up, a groan leaving his lips. I watched as the blood on his shirt increased with the exertion.
"Please, let me check it, Fabian. Let's at least, clean it up."
He swallowed, then looked up to me. "You...stay the f**k away from me."
"You are bleeding!" I yelled, standing, my brows furrowed in confusion.
"How does it affect you, Aurora?"
"Fabian..."
"How the f**k does it affect you?"
I closed my eyes. "I...I am your fiancée, Fabian. What will Gerald, Aunt Meghan, everyone say if you're this injured and I do nothing about it? What would..."
"Let them talk! If you are going to be concerned about me because you are scared of what someone else will say, then let them talk."
I swallowed, my fists clenching. "You...are you like this because of the marriage?"
He didn't reply, and I gave a slow nod. "Fine. I will go down right now and tell everyone we don't want to go this anymore. That seeing me hurts you so much you would rather let yourself bleed like that. I will call it off."
"I paid for this," He said, his brow raising. "I paid for you."
"I don't care," I said, watching his eyes lift to me. "Father will return it."
I turned away without waiting for him to say anything else. I barely got a step away when I felt his hand clasp around mine. His touch was gentle now, and I turned, my eyes wide.
"Don't you dare," he said, but his voice was soft now, his eyes averting mine.
"Then let me check your wound. Please, Fabian."
He slowly looked up at me, his eyes surprisingly vulnerable. The last thing I expected to have tonight was Fabian...my high school bully, injured, his hands around mine, his eyes so vulnerable I thought I was seeing him c***k in front of me.
"Is this a bargain?" His voice was low, like he was aware of how he looked, and he was scared to have me hear it in his voice.
"Bargain?"
"That if I let you treat my wound, you won't leave me?"
"What if it is?" I asked, then came to sit in front of him. His hand never left mine, the band on his finger cold against my skin.
"Then, check it." He seemed annoyed to have to give in like that. "Check it, Aurora," he said again, his hands dropping away from mine.
For a second there, I believed I was seeing a different man. For a second there, Fabian seemed like a different man.
- Writer
