A Hazard To Myself And Everyone Else

"Where did you go?" I asked in a cold tone.

I woke up to being alone in the room. My first thought was he took off with Scarlett like he had threatened in the fight. I called out to the nurse who then explained Scarlett was in the nursery because Damon had to do some business. That set me off as well, one of the most important days of our lives and he ran off.

"I had something I needed to go do." He answered.

"Something more important than being with your wife and daughter?! You are so fucking impossible right now!" I tried to keep my voice down but also make sure I got my point across with him.

"Would you please just listen." He pleaded with me.

"All I've done is try to listen to you Damon, but you never want to talk unless you're forced to and I'm really sick of it." All my frustrations with him began to resurface.

"Love-" He started but a knock at the door interrupted him.

The nurse poked her head in. "Is everything okay in here?" She mainly looked at me. I thought my voice had been low enough but I guess I thought wrong.

"Yes." I answered. "Everything is fine."

"Okay. Just let me know if you need anything." She looked between Damon and I and then left the room quickly.

"You know, I really thought for a moment I had my husband back. After everything I thought maybe this was the thing that would knock some sense into you. But here you are choosing business over your family." I was hurt he would leave me at a time like this.

"I have a reasonable excuse if you would just listen." He sighed but remained calm as he spoke.

"Reasonable excuse my ass." I scoffed.

"Calm down Love." he spoke softly. "I'll explain everything."

"Yes you will." I responded. "And you'll do it now."

He sat in the chair and pulled it close to the hospital bed. It was just him and I. I wanted Scarlett to remain in the nursery as he and I had our conversation. She didn't deserve to be around any kind of negativity right now.

He pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. "I went and talked with Dr. Henrie."

There was a prescription scribbled on the paper and I handed it back to him. I suppressed my anger as I was ready to hear the details. "Well?"

As he tried to find the words I could see it it was difficult for him. His eyes became a mix of sadness and regret. "Kaydence, I've never been good with processing how I feel. When my mother passed it was like my father forced me to grow up, I always felt from then on showing emotions was weak and I always ran from feelings I didn't know how to deal with. I've lived that way for a long, long time."

I placed my hand on his as he started to go into details. "I know. You proved that when you ran away to do business because you started having feelings for me. You always run to go do business it seems when things get serious and you don't know what to do." I spoke as I looked at him.

"Exactly." He nodded. "After being shot I just, I felt so weak. I look in the mirror and all I see is the shell of who I was before that night. It just pisses me off so much that this has happened to me and to our family."

"I know. I hate that this happened too but it did." I responded.

"I know and it bugs me that there's no lead. I've checked into the one I have and I haven't really gotten anywhere with it." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I just want to protect the three of you but in trying to do that I've managed to turn myself into someone you guys feel you need to be careful of. I feel like I'm a walking fucking nightmare." He bowed his head with shame.

"It's okay handsome, we can figure this out. I just need you to be honest and let me help you. As long as you can do that I'm sticking by your side." I was trying to be reassuring to him.

He looked up and I noticed he was shedding a tear. "I've been so used to being someone who was untouchable. Someone people feared because I would make them pay. It's been really difficult accepting the fact that I'm-." he paused as he looked for the right thing to say.

I placed my hand on his cheek and stroked it gently with my thumb. "That you're a human who isn't invincible. That you were caught off guard and now you feel vulnerable."

"Yeah." he spoke and then took a deep breath. "I guess that's it and I feel like this whole thing was my fault. I should've taken the measures to prevent it."

"You have no control of a situation you didn't know was going to happen. Don't blame yourself." I responded. "What did the doctor say about all of this?"

"Well he agrees, I definitely do have some PTSD." He sighed. "So he gave me a prescription and I'm supposed to get with a therapist for a twelve week program. He thinks that I can get back to feeling like myself as long as I get this taken care of sooner rather than later."

"I'm proud of you." I looked into his icy blue eyes that were a mix of emotions.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I knew that had to take a lot for you to be willing to go down there and talk with the doctor." I answered.

"I hated it the whole fucking time if I'm being truthful. I think I feel weaker now than I did before." He spoke honestly. "But I did it for us. For our family. If I don't do it then I'm just a hazard to myself and everyone else around me."

"Thank you." I spoke as I placed a kiss on his cheek.

I could feel the sense of relief wash over me. He seemed to be taking the proper steps and that's all that I wanted for him. I wanted him to get better so that we could thrive together once again. We had worked so hard for this and it would've killed me if this is what made it all go up in flames.

I could tell a weight seemed to be lifted off his shoulders. He seemed a little more relaxed now. "You still love me after all this?" He asked.

"Of course." I spoke without a second thought. "Why would you question that?"

"Do you remember what I told you twice? Once when you agreed to that dumb ass agreement and then again when we decided to pursue things for real?" He questioned.

"Kind of?" I gave him a puzzled look. "It's been awhile."

"I said that I was never letting you go, and I still mean that." he placed a soft kiss on my cheek.