The two days that had passed had felt like a week because everything seemed to be going slowly.
The doctor had come, taken care of Ruby’s bruises, and said she would recover nicely and wouldn’t scar.
He had also said that she was mostly fine and just had minor scratches and bruises. But some particular ones were prominent on her body.
When the doctor told him, he felt like beating the man all over again. His jaw ticked, and he now slightly regretted why he didn’t beat the man some more because, heavens knew, the man deserved every punch he got doubled over.
It had been two days. Two days of him watching Ruby mope around the house. She had been recovering well, thankfully, he could see her bruises fade from a deep purple, and they were now slightly yellow.
Aside from her physical injuries healing, he hadn’t noticed much change in her behavior. He had asked the doctor who told him it was her way of coping and that she would go back to normal with time. But he didn’t want to wait, he wanted her to go back to normal now.
He hated seeing her be a shell of her former self. She didn’t talk to him, she didn’t eat much and she was always crying. He had tried his best to be there for her but he wouldn’t deny he was frustrated that he couldn’t do anything more for her.
She didn’t let him touch her either. Not him or anyone else. She was always curled up in her favorite living room chair or curled up in the bedroom.
He tried several times to reach out to her, but she would either break out crying or she would start shivering, and her eyes would light up with fear. He hated that. He hated that so much.
He had opted to give her space since then and he hadn’t even slept on the same bed with her because he noticed the first night that she would get something similar to a panic attack when he tried.
He’d slept on the couch in the room because he was too worried to leave her alone. That’s when he noticed she was suffering from nightmares, probably of that day, and she would wake up several times at night.
It hurt him to see his Gem like this and he only hoped she would get back to her normal self soon.
Another day passed, and Jaxon walked in on her in the dressing room where she was getting ready for the day.
He noted satisfied that some of the smaller bruises had healed and vanished and the bigger ones were well on their way to follow them.
Ruby stiffened when she heard him enter and his heart never failed to squeeze itself when she did that. You would think he would get used to it because she did that once he entered her line of vision.
The questions in his head were churning over, and he needed answers badly. He had endured not knowing what had led to the incident but it was eating him up alive at the fact he knew nothing.
“Ruby, we need to talk about what happened.” He told her head-on. He wasn’t going to wait any longer and there was no more beating around the bush.
He needed answers and he wanted them now. She turned to face him fully but didn’t say anything and remained quiet. She had been an awful amount of quiet these days and he had almost forgotten how chirpy she could be.
“Why were you at the hotel Ruby?” He asked and she continued to stare.
“Do you know that man?” No response.
“Did he drag you off the street or something?” Nothing.
His patience waned thin and he fought the anger that threatened to flare up.
“Why did you go there, Ruby? I need answers.” He yelled. He didn’t win the fight. He marched further into the room and stood a few feet away from her.
“Answer me damnit. You’ve been acting strange for a while now, and I didn’t want to point it out, thinking that you would trust me enough and come to me if you had a problem, but no! I had to find out you had a problem when you almost got raped in some classless hotel.” He yelled.
“I don’t think you understand how I feel Ruby. It hurt me to know you still couldn’t trust me, again, with your problems.” He seethed lowly. His eyes studied her face and he noticed how pained she looked.
“I don’t even want to imagine what could have happened if I didn’t get there on time.” He said to no one in particular. But both of them knew exactly what would have occurred.
Frustration and anger chewed away at him. Ruby still hadn’t said anything and looked really sorry. For herself or for him, he wasn’t sure. He thought it would be easier to talk to a brick wall because talking to her wasn’t doing anything to get to the bottom of the situation.
He now also regretted why he didn’t question the man before dealing with him. He had gotten carried away in anger and killed the man. Big mistake on his part because now he didn’t know how he would get to the heart of the situation. If he did get Ruby to talk, which he would, she only knew so much herself. What if she didn’t know who had sent the man? Jaxon took a deep breath and looked at her with a softened expression.
“Ruby, why were you at the hotel?” He asked.
“Nothing.” She whispered and he realized this was the first time she had spoken since he found her. That, however, didn’t stop him from losing his cool.
“Just tell me the fucking truth Ruby, why don’t you ever trust me?” He let out in anger. He seethed as he gave her a hard look and Ruby broke down in tears.
“I didn’t have a choice but to go there Jaxon.” She whispered and he got confused. She didn’t have a choice? His heart sank as he thought of the cause.
“I was being blackmailed.” She cried out and he froze.