Chapter 4

I woke up to the smell of antiseptic and the steady beep of a machine. My head was pounding. A doctor with kind eyes and a tired face was checking my chart.

"You're awake," he said gently. "You took a pretty nasty fall. You've got a concussion, and the stress has put a strain on your system. You need to rest."

Liam appeared at my bedside a few moments later, his face a mask of guilt. He was holding a large bouquet of roses, the kind he used to buy me for our anniversary.

"Liv, I'm so, so sorry," he said, his voice low. "I brought you flowers. And I transferred a hundred thousand dollars to your account. For the trouble. For whatever you need."

Material things. He thought money could fix this. He thought flowers could erase the damage he'd done.

I ignored the bouquet. I ignored the money. "The photo," I whispered, my throat raw. "Did you save the photo?"

He winced, his guilt deepening. "Liv, it was just a picture..."

"It was the only one I had," I said, tears starting to burn my eyes. "It was the only one."

"Scarlett didn't mean it," he said, launching into her defense. Again. "She's been through so much. Her PTSD was triggered, she wasn't in her right mind. She feels terrible about it. She's just... she's not well."

He was making excuses for her. He was downplaying the deliberate cruelty of her actions. I turned my head away from him, staring at the blank white wall. I couldn't look at him anymore. There was no point in arguing. There was no point in trying to make him see. He was blind.

I let silence be my answer. I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, hoping he would just go away. He stayed for a while, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, before finally leaving with a sigh.

The next day, she came. Scarlett.

She slipped into my room when the nurse was gone, a cruel smile playing on her lips. She looked healthier than ever.

"Look at you," she cooed, walking over to my bed. "So weak. So pathetic."

I tried to sit up, to tell her to get out, but my head spun.

"Don't bother," she said, her voice turning sharp. "Liam feels so guilty. He'll do anything I say right now." She leaned down, her face close to mine. "You see, he needs me. A strong woman who understands his pain. Not a fragile, broken little wife."

She reached for my IV line. My heart hammered against my ribs. "What are you doing?" I gasped.

"Just a little adjustment," she said sweetly. She called out into the hallway. "Nurse! Dr. Scarlett needs some assistance in here! The patient is agitated!"

A young, flustered nurse rushed in. "Dr. Scarlett? What's going on?"

"Her sedative is wearing off," Scarlett said with an air of authority, gesturing to my IV. "Liam Patterson authorized me to oversee her care. Up her dosage. And hold her down. She's a danger to herself."

Liam Patterson. She used his name like a weapon. The nurse, intimidated and believing she was following orders from a respected therapist and a war hero's wife's doctor, hesitated for only a second before complying.

She and another orderly held my arms down while Scarlett, with a look of pure, sadistic pleasure, fiddled with the drip. A cold sensation spread up my arm. My body felt heavy, my thoughts sluggish. She was hurting me, right here in the open, using her professional standing and Liam's authority as a shield.

I struggled against their grip, but I was too weak. The drug was pulling me under, a thick fog descending over my mind. Scarlett leaned in close, her whisper a venomous hiss in my ear.

"This is just the beginning," she said. "By the time I'm done, he won't even remember your name."

Just as the darkness was about to take me completely, the door flew open. It was Liam. He took in the scene in a second-the nurses holding me down, Scarlett standing over me with a smirk on her face.

"What the hell is going on here?" he roared, his voice shaking the room. He rushed forward, shoving Scarlett away from me and pulling the nurses back. "Get your hands off of her! Get out! All of you, get out now!"

He cradled my face in his hands, his eyes wild with a fear I hadn't seen in a long time. "Olivia? Liv, can you hear me?"

But it was too late. The drug had done its work. My world went black.