Chapter 4: Words More Painful Than Wounds

The door closed softly behind the nurse. Her footsteps sounded hurried, nothing like the steady, composed gait the hospital staff usually kept. Across the corridor, Sebastian had just arrived. He had come to visit his best friend’s wife, to see how Arabella was doing — she had never been far from his thoughts these past days.

Then he stopped.

The woman who had just stepped out of Arabella’s room glanced nervously left and right, then quickened her pace as if something were chasing her. Her appearance was wrong, too — her mask sat crookedly, her hair was untidy, and she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, afraid to meet anyone’s gaze.

Something was very wrong.

Sebastian stepped forward quickly. “Hey — wait!”

At the sound of his voice, the woman broke into a run.

“Stop! Come back!” Sebastian shouted, giving chase. But she turned sharply down a side corridor, darted into the stairwell, and was gone before he could catch her. He stood catching his breath, a cold, heavy feeling settling in his chest. This hospital was supposed to be safe. But that woman… something was truly, terribly amiss.

Without wasting another moment, Sebastian turned and ran back to Arabella’s room.

“Arabella!”

The sight that met him made his blood run cold.

Arabella lay twisted on the bed, shaking violently, her body arching uncontrollably. Her limbs jerked weakly, her head tossed from side to side, and her breathing came in faint, ragged gasps.

“God — Arabella!” Sebastian rushed to her side, gripping her shoulders, terrified and helpless. “Doctor! Someone — get a doctor now!”

His voice echoed down the hall. Moments later, the real medical team burst into the room. The space filled instantly with urgent voices, the beep of monitors, and the quick, purposeful movement of hands.

Sebastian stepped back, retreating into the shadows, his hands trembling. He watched them work, his mind reeling. He knew. He knew what Leonard was doing — his friend had been pulling away, slowly preparing to let her go. That much had been painfully clear. But he had never imagined… someone else might mean her far worse harm.

Someone had tried to hurt her. Someone disguised as a nurse.

He pulled out his phone, his fingers still unsteady.

“Find the woman who left room 317 just now,” he said quietly, sharply. “Dressed as a nurse, acting suspiciously. She fled down the emergency stairs. I want to know who she is, where she came from, and where she went. Now.”

He ended the call. Then looked back toward the bed where the doctors were still working. A terrible anger rose in him, mixed with dread. He could call Leonard. He should call Leonard. But then he thought of Margaret Ashcroft. Of Vanessa. Of the way his oldest friend had looked at his own wife lately…

If Leonard was told, if the Ashcroft family got involved… the person responsible might be protected. Worse still — the danger might be coming from inside that very circle.

He stepped over to the head nurse.

“Do not call her husband,” he said, low and firm. “And do not inform anyone from the Ashcroft family about what happened here. Only the medical team and my people will handle this.”

The nurse hesitated. “But sir —”

“I take full responsibility,” Sebastian said. “Please. For Arabella’s safety — tell no one from her family.”

She studied him, then nodded slowly.

Soon after, the doctor turned away from the bed, his face grave, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead.

“Her condition has stabilized,” he said quietly. “But we found something.”

Sebastian drew closer. “What is it?”

The doctor pointed to the IV line running into Arabella’s hand.

“Something was introduced into her drip. It is not any medication we prescribed. It is a poison — enough to cause these convulsions, and if untreated… it would have been fatal.”

Sebastian stepped back, cold dread flooding through him. Someone had deliberately poisoned her. Right here. In the hospital.

He clenched his fists. Leonard might be preparing to leave her — but someone else wanted her dead.

“I will find out who did this,” Sebastian vowed, his voice quiet but burning with purpose as he looked at Arabella, still pale and still. “And no one will ever hurt you again.”