"I apologised for my behaviour the other night. I admit I went a tad too far," Frederick explained and glanced to see the brown-haired woman look shocked at his words. Instead of expecting her to accept his apologies, Audrey stood up and grovelled at his feet.
"H-h-heyyy... What are you doing?" He bent down to pick her up from the floor.
"It's my fault. I deserved them."
The dark-haired man was speechless. He bit his lower lip and shut his eyes with seethe. Right after he took a deep breath, he uttered between his gritted teeth with carefully chosen words, "You deserve it? Care to tell me exactly why?"
"I must have invoked your anger."
The captor was livid! He slammed his fist against the table and swore under his breath. How could he not? Especially after he read Pearson's report of her, Frederick started to feel sorry for his prisoner. To make matter worse, he had not even finished reading them but only a paragraph.
It was confirmed that she is a true Bloodsworth. And it is also true that she had been subjected to physical and mental abuse. When he read the report, he started to understand bit by bit of her actions.
'They must have gaslit her to the point she believed it's her fault for everything that had happened to her.'
"Listen, Audrey," his hazel eyes stared into her brown orbs, full of sincerity. "That was not your fault. It was mine."
Audrey nodded. But he knew she was not convinced by his words. Nonetheless, he did not want to push it. At least, not for now.
"Anyway, I'm having a medical officer dropping by later in the afternoon. Please make full use of his service," he offered medical assistance to her. "Anything you want to ask for or get yourself professionally checked, he's the guy."
Come that afternoon, the doctor wanted a word with him. He was prepared to hear the medical report version of the abuse.
"The young miss is refusing to cooperate," snitched the bespectacled man to his boss.
"What do you mean? Half an hour had passed. What were you doing in there?"
"I tried to persuade her, sir."
"Tsk, and you call yourself a doctor? Sheesh!!"
Frederick walked into her room with the medical officer trailing behind him. His prisoner had rolled and wrapped herself with the blanket.
"Hey, burrito girl! Unwrap yourself and let the doctor do his job," he demanded as he sat by the couch and waited for her to do as she was told.
Audrey slowly unwrap herself and climbed down from the bed.
"There! That's not so hard, is it?"
The medical examination took almost the whole afternoon and when the night deepened, the doctor insisted to deliver the report personally and verbally.
"Pregnant???" Frederick spat out upon hearing the news.
"Yes, sir."
Even though he heard the confirmation, he still had a hard time believing the absurdity of the news. He was shocked at the length the Bloodsworth would go to torture the poor lady for goodness knows what reason.
"She doesn't LOOK pregnant! I mean, how far along is she??"
"I would need the ultrasound machine to determine how many weeks she is. I would humbly suggest bringing her to the institute for a thorough check-up."
"No! You bring that damn machinery here!" He demanded. There was no way he would bring the lady out of his house when it was surrounded by hungry horny men who would shag anything that smelled remotely like a woman!
* * * * *
Audrey walked into the study to see her captor was already sitting down waiting for her to join his tea.
"I hope you don't mind a little splatter," he spoke with a gentle voice.
Ever since that incident, Frederick never raised his voice at her. Instead, he had been giving her a little too many gifts that she was overwhelmed.
"Think of it as an apology from me," was what he said.
Prior to the altercation, she had been treated well but now, his kindness knows no bounds. Although she had been confined in the windowless room most of the time, the brown-haired lady felt like a spoilt Princess.
She was lavished with beautiful and comfortable attire. It was as though he had been attentive to her. Her likes, her dislikes. What with her room decorated with much more adorable items - cute-looking goods that she had been yearning for since she was a young girl. Most of all, the compassion she received was unimaginable. Let alone, receiving such kindness from her kidnapper!
"You remember the doctor the other day?" He asked, breaking her happy thoughts.
"Yes."
"He said you're pregnant. Are you aware?"
"Yes."
With her head still hanging low staring at the variety of biscuits on the fancy plate, she could hear him taking a deep and sharp breath.
"Is it... Is it a result of... I mean, is it...?" His voice was strained and his words came out dragging.
Audrey knew instantly what he wanted to say and answered on his behalf, "It's not what you think it is."
He sighed with relief and asked whether the child is a byproduct of her lover.
"No."
"No?" He questioned with a hint of bafflement and curiosity evident in his tone.
"No." It was true. She was not raped and she had no lover. Audrey knew that the topic alone would be a one hell of a ride of conversation.
"Come again? If not one or the other, then how?"
Audrey was not comfortable with the discussion at all. She fidgeted about with her fingers as she umms, buying for some time to find the proper word. Then the word popped up in her head.
"Science."