Maxwell’s POV
“You can stop treating me like a vase that can shatter at any second, I’m fine now Steph, I can take care of myself, I promise.” Ciara told Stephanie, smiling warmly as she walked towards the door. She is finally getting out of the hospital after such a huge ordeal. Doctor Fred is not happy with my decision to take her out of the hospital, he said he need to monitor her closely, he said there is something wrong with her but he just can’t seem to figure out what it is. He wants to keep her in the hospital until she shifts for the first time, then he can determine exactly what is wrong with her.
He wants to carry out more tests on her, that is the only way he would be able to determine if it is safe for him to let her out of the hospital. He claims that she could be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, he said she needs to be kept on strict watch, but I just don’t believe it, I just don’t can’t accept that. She can’t be suffering from PTSD, at least not now, I won’t allow it. I know I fucked up big time, I did not pay attention to my guests, I allowed that bastard to abuse her repeatedly. She nearly died when he marked her and left her bleeding to death. He did not seal her bite marks with his saliva when he marked her, he left her to bleed to death. And he stupidly fed her with Vampire blood before marking her. That only complicated things for her and it nearly killed her.
It’s all my fucking fault and I intend to bring justice to he assailant and his accomplices. I won’t let him get away with what he has done, the moles have been caught already, and in due time, I will give them exactly what they deserve. But in the meantime, I need to focus on taking down king Ashford. That is the most important thing on my to do list, I can’t be thinking of revenge and playback when all of our lives is in danger. It’s not done anywhere. And I won’t fucking do it.
“I’m telling the truth, King Max, I am so sure about it. I’ve been keeping a strict eye on her because her case is very special and I am very curious to see what she shifts into, but something tells me that she is not telling us everything that happened to her in there, she gives me reasons to believe that she has PTSD. She has the Symptoms, Dom, I see her having nightmares and flashbacks. Sometimes she curls herself in the corner of the room and sobs hysterically. She can’t sleep without the lights and she wakes up in the night screaming and fighting with her pillows. You have no idea how many times we’ve had to change her pillows and beds since she got here. You know what they say about PTSD patients, she needs to avoid any situations that could bring back the trauma, heightened reactivity to stimuli, anxiety or depressed mood. All this can happen in that Castle and you know it. Going back home would do more harm than good and you know it. You just have to leave her here until I’m sure that she is perfectly safe to be out there with everyone else, she could be a danger to herself and to everyone else out there. You can’t take her out there yet, it’s just too dangerous.” He pleaded hysterically, and he sounded so serious about it, I he almost got me to change my mind about bringing her home, but I can’t let him fool me, I won’t be easily deceived. He just wants me to leave her with him so he can keep experimenting on her just to satisfy his scientific curiosity.
“If you knew all this is all along, why didn’t you tell me about it all this while, why did you keep telling us that she is getting better, why did you make us all believe that she is now fine, what the hell were you trying to achieve by lying to everyone, why the fuck will you lie to me?” I asked.
“I didn’t really lie, per se, I told you she was getting better, and I was right, she really is getting better, you can see the improvements in her behavior and I have to admit that she is way better than when we found her. When she first arrived here, she was half dead, we had to try so hard to get her to stay alive. But now she is healing like she is supposed to and she is starting to respond to conversations and questions. I didn’t tell anyone about her PTSD because I wasn’t so sure about it and I did not want to get you all worried again, I wanted to be sure about it before I come to you, I thought I would have more time to study her case, I never expected you to tame her away so soon. I knew you were going to come for her, but it’s just too soon and I need more time with her, I need to study Max, I need to know more about this girl before you take her away from me. You know I’ve been so busy with the powder you gave me to analyze but you need to understand that this case is equally as important as any other case you have asked me to handle. I need more time, I mean it, Max. She is not ready to be out there with everyone.” He explained, trying to sound convincing.
“I’m sorry, Fred. I would have listened to you, but I need her as well. In a few days we are going to the big city to meet up with her sister. There is absolutely no way that I would go there without her. You see, her sisters fiance is someone of great importance to me, I need him to win this war. You haven’t been able to figure out how we can counteract the power of that powder, so right now, our only course of action is to get that guy to team up with us because we are all dead without him, I mean that literally. I need her to get back to her usual self before we go and meet her sister. I need her to come back to her normal self before we get there, I need her to hang out with her friends like she used to, I need her to be normal again, Fred. So I’m taking her out of here, with or without your permission.” I told him firmly, ignoring his doubts as naggings. I left him looking stunned and I went to meet up with Fiona and Stephanie. They came with me to pick her up from the hospital, but I asked them to take her out while I spoke with doctor Fred. It’s a good thing that I’d sent them away, it would have been so weird if they had both heard all he had to say, they would have cancelled this trip immediately and it would be so bad because it would ruin all my plans and I can’t let that happen.
I know it sounds mean, but I have to do all it takes to win this war, a lot of lives are at stake here, I can’t let her to ruin it for us, I have to do it my way. But I did listen to all doctor Fred had said and I will try my best to take precautions so she doesn’t slip into depression. First, I would not take her to the castle, I can’t take her back there. Like Fred had said, she needs to avoid any situations that could bring back the trauma, heightened reactivity to stimuli, anxiety, or depressed mood. That is why I took her to another location, I mind linked Jason and Jasper and I asked them to prepare a room for her at my staff quarters. I know she is not supposed to be in the staff quarters, but I have no choice, that is the best I can come up with, considering the fact that all this is happening so fast.
While the guys prepared her room, I took the girls shopping, watching them spend time together. I told Jasper to handle my affairs in the Castle while I took time to observe her and see if I can see any traits of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It still sounds like something that doctor Fred made up because, she looked okay to me. I meant, apart from the occasional mood swing and outbursts, I would say that she looks pretty good. I guess he still wants to do his tests and experiments on her, that is why he wants to keep her in the hospital. I understand him perfectly, he is curious about her condition, he wants to witness her first shifting and so do I, but that doesn’t mean that he would try to sabotage my plans just because he wants to satisfy his scientific curiosity, I just can’t allow it.
All the same, I still kept a close eye on her and I tried to keep her away from any situation that could remind her of the time she spent with Fabius. She looked okay, I mean, she shopped with girls, she smiled a little and she even made some request, she chose some places to go to and we gladly obliged her. Everything was going well, the guys were arranging a nice cute room for her and we were having fun in town, I thought everything was perfect, I was beginning to shrug off everything that Doctor Fred had said about her condition but everything took on a dramatic turn when one of my generals approached me in the restaurant. He was wearing his usual uniform that all my generals had, and he came to deliver a message to me. I had no idea what message he had come to deliver and I couldn’t find out what he had come to say because we got distracted by Ciara’s reaction to his presence.
She jumped in fear when she saw him and she ran to the corner and hid her face between her legs, trying to hide away from him, or something like that. As a general, he reacted like any general would react and he moved towards her to find out what was wrong with her and help her, but she attacked him like a wild beast. She tackled him to the floor and sank her fangs into him like a vampire, trying to drain his blood.