Adonis paled.
“What…” he swallowed. “What are you insinuating?”
Cara tried to stifle her sobs, the words in her head, causing a pang to shoot up through her heart as they fell from her trembling lips, “I think we should…”
“Don’t finish it.” He interrupted, his voice deadly.
“You don’t even know what I was going say.” She cried.
“I don’t want to hear it.” He turned, walking to the closet to get rid of the towel around his waist. “Go to bed.”
“You can’t just push this away, Adonis.”
If he heard, he didn’t reply, nor did he stop.
“I want a break.”
Adonis froze. “What… did you…” He shook his head, his breath ceasing. “No… Don’t say what you don’t mean.”
She squared her shoulders, “It’s a good thing I’m serious about it then… I can’t be around you. It… It… isn’t healthy for me or the babies. I’d keep worrying and worrying… the stress… it’s for the best.”
“No!”
Cara picked up the covers once again, sliding into bed. “First thing tomorrow morning…
“I said no, Cara-
… you’ll leave.” She ignored him, settling under the covers. “I’ll explain it to my father. It’ll help you make your plans easier to believe.”
Adonis spun around,
“You won’t lose me.” He declared, “I didn’t go through all those trainings for nothing.”
His shameless bragging would’ve brought laughter to Cara’s lips some other time-not now. There was nothing funny about the situation.
“I promise, Bel. You can’t leave me. You can’t rob me of this experience with you.”
“You were away for two; what’s another three? Moreover, I’m not robbing you of anything. It’s just a break.” She turned on her side.
“You’re overreacting.” Adonis exclaimed, the plea instantly vanishing from his eyes as he straightened up, “This doesn’t make sense. Why are you doing this to us?” He walked back to the bed, flinging back the sheets.
“Take that back! I’m not going.” His voice was firm.
She glared at him, “What is wrong with you? Get the f*ck off me.”
A soft pounding began at the door.
“Guys… Is everything alright? We can hear you from our room.” Cecelia called out but before Cara could say a thing, Adonis had pulled away, storming back to the dressing room as he hurriedly threw on his clothes.
She sat up, “What are you doing?”
Adonis didn’t spare her a glance, not halting his actions as he moved to stuffing their clothes into boxes.
“Adonis, what are you doing?” She repeated.
“Packing! Can’t you see?” He yelled. “If you don’t want me to protect you, then we’ll leave together. Away from all these. Away from the mafia. It’ll be just us both. We’ll start a new life.”
What?
Cara got off the bed.
“Stop that! I didn’t ask you to give it all up.” She tried to stop him. “I just wanted you to go away till all is settled.”
He let out a loud growl of anger, throwing the suitcase against the glass wall.
She stumbled, startled at his angry state, confusion enveloping her mind.
How did they arrive here?
Her wide eyes stared up at him, involuntarily taking a step back.
The pounding increased.
“Cara, is everything alright?” This time, Cecelia wasn’t the only one speaking; harsh, inaudible whispers filtered through the door into the room.
Her lips quivered, “Adonis-
-you!” He raised a hand in silence, “You just want to see me vulnerable.” A dry laugh escaped his lips. You want to see me weak.”
“I never-
“And you want to leave me. Just like everyone else.” His voice was thick with pain.
Cara stared up at him, the small scare he gave her, evaporating immediately. It felt like she had been doused in a bucket of cold water… the wake-up call she needed.
What had she done?
Adonis was a man stuck in his ways as a result of circumstances, so she couldn’t blame him. Many times, it worked in their favour, yet in situations like these, it was easier to convince a two-year-old to get rid of their favourite blanket than to show him the reason.
She had promised herself that she wouldn’t be self-centred. Yes, she was tired and fed up; his actions from earlier had also hurt her, but she didn’t want to make it about herself.
A lot more important things were at hand than to play the pitiful victim. She felt embarrassed. She knew him more than anyone else.
How could she get caught up in her feelings and forget that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to compromise but he didn’t see the need to, or understand why he should?
Steadily, she rose to her feet, slowly approaching the man standing amid the scattered clothes on the floor, a picture of desolation. His fingers were tangled in his hair, their grip tight and shoulders hunched.
“Adonis…” she started softly. “Calm down.”
“I can’t.” His voice was hard and strong, but his eyes… his eyes betrayed him. She saw a man on the verge of breaking.
“Camilla?” It was her father’s deep voice. He pounded on the door, harshly. “Say something! I swear with everything I have, if Dimitri’s boy did anything to hurt my child, I’ll…
She didn’t reply to him either, taking her husband’s large palm in hers.
“Listen to my voice. Let it guide you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Adonis clutched his head, his face contorting in pain as his breathing turned shallow and rapid.
She frowned, “What is it?”
“I can’t think… it feels like… all I can see is you walking away from me.”
He let out a strangled groan, his body swaying slightly.
“Oh my God. Adonis, you need to stay calm. This is on me.” Cara’s voice sounded frantic. “Guys. Help. Come in.” She called out to the people at the door and then knelt by his side. “Adonis… sit. It’s okay. I’m here.”
Regret flooded her heart.
She had fallen for him despite his past and vulnerabilities. Shouldn’t she have dealt with it? How could she inflict pain on a man that was already broken?
The door burst open, pitter patters of feet filling her ears as they found them.
Cara looked up at her father at the four figures, who looked like they didn’t want to part ways with their beds.
“It’s my fault.” She gripped a groaning Adonis hand tightly. “I caused this.” She choked out, her voice barely above a whisper.
They could only look on with worry-filled eyes. The man who never showed an ounce of emotion, was before them, looking totally different.
“It isn’t,” Luca replied, going over to his side. “Hey man, do you think you can make it to the bed?” Adonis squinted, his body tensed as his muscles clenched.
“Come on.” He helped him up, addressing a stiff Cecelia. “Get Doctor Bruno on the phone. Tell him… it’s an episode.”
****
Cara popped one eye open at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. She blinked furiously, trying to get rid of the sleepiness in her eyes.
“Where’s everyone?” Luca asked, dumping himself beside her. The stress of the whole activity was obvious on his face.
“They left a few minutes ago. I told them they could retire for the night. Didn’t want to keep anyone awake.” She said softly, glancing at the hallway, then at the other man in the room.
“What’s up with him?”
Doctor Bruno sighed, “Can you tell me what happened before he ended up like that?”
“Well… we were arguing-he switched all of a sudden. One minute, he was angry and irrational; the next, he was acting sick.”
He shared a knowing look with Luca before asking again, “Do you think you can remember what you said that triggered the switch?”
She nodded. “I… told him I wanted a break.”
“Wooah,” Luca exclaimed. “He said you hated him, but I didn’t think it was this bad.”
“I don’t hate him. I just… ugh. Please tell me, how is he?”
“He’s fine and resting. I placed him on a sedative.” Doctor Bruno informed. “I want you to know that this is a normal occurrence for Mr. Bernardi, so you do not have to worry.”
Normal occurrence?
Cara frowned. She’d heard Luca say something about an episode, but she was too out of it, to process his words. Sitting alone during the last hour had given her time to collect her thoughts.
The other time she could relate this scene to was a few months back when she first met him. The two scenarios were too much alike.
Could it be caused by the same thing?
She heaved, “What exactly is wrong with him?”
He gave her a summary of Adonis’s not-too-frequent episodes of unexplained headaches.
Cara peered at him, “Do you think you know what the cause is?”
“Honestly, I don’t. We conducted a lot of tests that came up short. I believe it is a psychological issue since it’s mostly triggered when he’s stressed-my recent observations are correct.”
“What do you think can be the cause medically?”
“As I said, the tests showed nothing, so it can either be tension headaches, fight or flight responses due to the release of stress hormones, or lifestyle factors.”
Her face scrunched up at the latter word, her mind drifting back to the discussion she had with her father and Adonis a few days ago.
They shouldn’t be connected, yet it slightly made sense if seen in that light.
“Can… can it be a withdrawal symptom?”
Luca’s nose crinkled, “As in drugs?”
“Yes.” She proceeded to briefly explain the kidnapping issue with Sarah.
Doctor Bruno observed quietly till she was done, “How long was he gone for?”
“I think two days?”
“Then it may be possible. It’s too long to tell. I’d have to find out when the headache started.”
“He had his first episode not quite long after. Before you joined the Bernards as their family doctor.” Luca offered. “He was having a bad day at training when he suddenly began screaming of a headache. I remember because I had started coming to the mansion by then-two weeks later, you joined.”
“You weren’t around when he was taken?” Cara asked.
“No.” He frowned, “This is the first time I’ve heard of it. I’d put a call through to my father when I get home.”
She felt her heart drop. “Is there anything we can do… to stop it?”
It was her first time seeing him that way yet she didn’t think she had the mind to watch him go through it again.
“If it turns out that the source is really from the kidnapping incident, I think we’d be able to battle it. It’ll be easier to know what to do to stop it, unlike before when we kept doing it blindly.”
She sighed, exhausted. This was exactly what she was trying to get Adonis to understand. Why wouldn’t he deem it necessary to tell her this?
What if they were alone, and she didn’t have anyone around to help?
Her lips parted to ask the question she really hoped would have positive news-the first one that popped into her mind when Doctor Bruno explained his condition.
“So… is it deadly?” Her gaze met the doctor’s. “Should I be worried about the future?”