Emilia woke up the next morning feeling very different - much better. Her body was still sore but
she felt energised enough to get up and get herself dressed. But she was not yet well enough to fully steady herself up on her feet so when she was walking down the stairs she balanced using walls as her support just to be sure that she didn't fall over. She still felt faint and fatigued, but she couldn't remain still. She hated just laying in bed and doing nothing.
"Emilia?" Christopher spotted her from the dining room. His face was serious and he has lost the spark that she saw several weeks ago, and not the slightest hope of smile was visible in his creases. He walked up to her, ready to offer the assistance. "How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Please be careful."
"Uh-huh." Emilia responded automatically. They both knew that it was unlikely to be the case that she will listen to warnings.
Christopher didn't argue against her almost dismissive tone at his request of caution and instead he offered her a hand and led her to the chair.
"Breakfast?"
"Possibly. But I am currently more thirsty than hungry. A glass of water would be amazing." Emilia said as she expected Christopher to make that request to Bernadette.
"Of course." Christopher nodded before going into the kitchen. Emilia looked behind him in equal surprise as to ever since she met him.
He returned with a glass of water which Emilia downed in a single gulp while he sat down on the end of the table, on Emilia's right side.
Bernie brought Emilia a bowl of porridge which she slowly started eating. Her stomach was so empty that it hurt at first, but after a few spoonfuls, she realised just how hungry she really was.
"Please know that I will fix it." Christopher said as he looked down at his untouched breakfast.
"What do you mean?"
"As I've said, I have already called the lawyer who is most likely to know how to annul our marriage with the least amount of consequences."
Emilia was silent as she observed Christopher. It was hard to fake that level of sincerity. She not even once doubted that he was innocent and knew nothing of the lies she was told by Patrick.
"I can get him here as soon as today to resolve this matter. As per your abductors, they are sought after by the FBI. For now, there is a heightened security around the manor. There are bodyguards, security officers, more cctv. Anything I could think of." Christopher paused momentarily. "I will provide you with the protection anywhere you go. At least until there is more further information on the group that took you."
"They have requested the ransom, haven't they? They wanted the money…" Emilia spoke quietly. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to speak of that yet.
"Indeed." Christopher nodded as he slowly looked up at her. He didn't like her timidity. He didn't like her cautiousness. And ever since she learnt that they were married, she seemed more wary. He deducted that it was because she hated to be married to him rather than the true reason which was a complete overwhelm with everything that has happened recently and that she felt bad for Christopher to be in the midst of it as well.
"Why?"
"As it turns out, it's an organised group that feeds off the rich and influential. They use that money to manipulate economy, markets, support their political allies. It's a form of terrorism. They have targeted others over the years. Thankfully they rarely hurt the abductee." Christopher omitted that they've rarely hurt the abductee if the ransom was paid. He was still thankful that the agent supported his decision to pay the money and he still tried to work out the best way to reward her and her work partner for getting Emilia back. His detective of choice was useless in comparison.
"What I mean is, why did they take ME?"
"They worked out that you were married to me and thought that this was a weakness they can exploit. I am still trying to find out how they found out though."
"They had the contract. The supposed marriage contract…"
"A very few people saw it so that definitely limits the circle of suspicion."
"They also spoke of my finances."
"They would have known my in-goings and out-goings. They must've worked out that the regular transfers were to your account."
"I see."
"You seem troubled." Christopher said directly which made Emilia bite her lip as she tried to explain at least some of her thoughts to him.
"I am curious about how I was found."
"Police and FBI searched for you." Christopher said shortly. "Miss Bleam was concerned when you didn't answer your calls."
Emilia nodded again.
"When can I see the lawyer?"
"Whenever you wish."
"I suppose the sooner the better?"
"I suppose." Christopher agreed. "I'll see if he has time this afternoon."
"Thank you, Mr Hayden."
"After you finish your breakfast, I'll help you change your dressing."
"That's unnecessary." Emilia shook her head.
Christopher hasn't answered but he patiently waited for Emilia to finish her porridge. He took a bite out of his toast, and ate only one of his two eggs. Even coffee didn't seem to go down that morning.
After breakfast, he walked with Emilia up the stairs. They were both surprisingly silent, like never before.
He followed her into her room where he urged her to sit on the bed while he picked up the boxes with gauzes and antiseptics.
Christopher sat down on the chair beside the bed and skilfully he took the bandages off, cleaned the wounds, and started applying the new layer of gauze and bandages.
"How do you know how to do it?" Emilia asked curiously as she watched what he did. She was hyper aware of his large hands brushing against her skin, of his focused face so close to her, his eyes fixated on her wrists with a sadness and worry. His face changed. Whether it was stress or something else, his eyes lost the twinkle in them and his face seemed to have aged within days.
"I do have a first aid training, but also, I did double check with the nurse when you first came back home." Christopher explained without looking away from his task. "I wanted to make sure that I do it right."
"Why didn't you get a nurse to do it?"
"I wanted to be more actively useful to you."
"It's unnecessary, sir."
"You were hurt because of your affiliation with me. I can only work on overcoming my guilt by trying to fix what I can."
"It wasn't your fault though. There's nothing you should feel guilty about." Emilia protested but Christopher remained silent. There was enough he felt responsible for, and which fed his overwhelming guilt.
"How are you feeling, Emilia?" He asked as he was almost finished.
"I'm much better. Thank you." Emilia mumbled. It was a lie. She didn't feel that much better than a few hours ago.
After changing Emilia's dressing, Christopher excused himself to request the lawyer to come to the manor at the earliest convenience.