Chapter 9 : Dereck

I woke up to the noises of saucepans which must have probably came from the kitchen.

I slowly got out of bed, I had a terrible headache and some kind of fuzzy flashes.

I stumbled towards the kitchen, when I got there, I saw Catherine from her profile stirring something in a frying pan.

I silently walked into the kitchen and sat down on a stool that was near the door, she walked over to the sink to rinse off some vegetables and then I noticed some bruises on her back and shoulders. I could see them because she was wearing a backless dress.

I felt panickand fright evade me, had I done this? I didn't remember much. My migraine got worse when I tried to remember anything.

I got up and walked towards her, without warning I touched her back, she jumped with a cry of terror, she turned around quickly and carried the knife with which she was cutting vegetables on me. When she saw me, she let go of the knife which fell to the ground and took me in her arms, she hugged me very tight, not being used to this kind of display of affection, I did not hug her at the beginning, then I circled her waist and hugged her, I felt good in her arms, almost at peace.

She smelled good, chocolate and vanilla, we stayed like that for a while before she cleared her throat and pulled away from me.

She was looking everywhere except at me. She seemed to be embarassed.

"My apron looks good on you" I said softly with a smile.

She curled a lock of hair between her fingers and thanked me.

I hesitated for a moment before asking her the question but I needed to know.

"Catherine, did I give you those bruises on your back and shoulders?" I asked in a trembling voice already dreading the answer.

She seemed shocked by my question but quickly recovered and took my hands in hers and offered me a reassuring smile.

"No" she said before stroking my cheek.

A relieved breath escaped me immediately, but I tensed immediately afterwards. If it wasn't me who did this, who was it?

"Who did this to you?" I growled

"You don't have to worry about that"

"But...."

"I'll tell you after you've eaten"

"Alright" I said wistfully

She sat me down and served me something to eat, she had made me rice, with vegetable sauce accompanied by a steak.

She sat down across from me after pouring me a glass of fresh orange juice. I then began to eat, it was very tasty, I was not long in finishing my dish and asked her to serve me again, which she did with a huge smile.

In the middle of my second course, I realized that she hadn't stopped looking at me and hadn't eaten. I dropped my spoon on my plate.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"No, I am not hungry"

"Open wide" I said, imitating the action she had to do.

She blushed, and shook her head. So I got up with my plate, walked around the table and sat down next to her.

"Open wide" I repeated

She protested again but this time I took the opportunity to put the spoon in her mouth and laughed when I saw her shocked look.

We shared the rest of my meal jokingly, she got up to go do the dishes, when she returned I was assaulted by a horrible migraine and an image of myself pointing a gun at Catherine formed in my mind. I put my hands on my head, groaning.

Catherine was immediately worried and asked me what was wrong and what to do. I told her to go to my bathroom and open the mirror, there was a pharmacy behind; and take whatever medicine she could find. She did so immediately and brought me all the medicines she found and put them on the table in front of me with a glass of water.

Shakily, I opened several pill bottles and took them under his stunned gaze. She sat down next to me and stroked my back tenderly.

As soon as my migraine and tremors subsided, I turned to her.

"Why" I asked, not understanding why she was still here.

"Why what?" she asked

"Why are you still here?" I asked softly.

"Because I want to," she replied simply with a smile.

"I pointed a damn gun at you Catherine, I could have hurt you and you are there as if nothing had happened" I said almost angry.

"But you didn't," she replied simply.

"But...."

"But nothing," she said categorically. "However, I have questions"

"I was wondering when you were going to start your interrogation"

A mischievous smile spread over her pretty face.

"You can start," I said quietly.

"To begin with, why do you have a gun?" she asked nevously, pummeling her fingernails avoiding my gaze.

"For security reasons" I said simply

"I don't understand. What would you want to protect yourself from?"

"Catherine, believe me, the less you know the better"

"Alright" she said wistfully "Why are you taking all these drugs?"

I hesitated before answering.

"I'm sick" I replied weakly.

She took my hand in hers and cheered me on.

"I have bipolar disorder, psychosis, personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. I know, that's a lot, isn't it? I'm a beast of burden."

She didn't seem to know what to say.

"When you first kissed me and at the coffee shop, were you yourself?"

"No, it was one of my personalities, Christian. On the other hand, the last time it was me"

She nodded absent-mindedly, I could see that all this information only intrigued her further.

"One last question"

"Hmmm?"

"Your mother....."

"No" I said immediately "I think you know enough, that's enough for today"

She lowered her head quickly, but I saw the tears in her eyes and her gaze filled with guilt. My anger vanished and I hugged her before apologizing. She buried her head in the crook of my neck before sitting down on my thighs and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"It's just that you were talking about her in your sleep. You seemed to be struggling, I just wanted to know more."

"I was in the middle of a psychosis crisis, I understand that you want to know more but it will be little by little Catherine. I'm not ready to talk about it"

She nodded and relaxed in my arms, it mase me happy, her body language made me understand that she you trusted me and was comfortable with me. I stood up with her in my arms and walked over to my room.

I made us lie on my bed, she placed her left leg over my right leg and put her left arm around my waist and placed her head on my chest. I wrapped my right arm around her waist as I stroked her face with the other.

"You haven't eaten much this past week, am I wrong?"

"No"

"Let me take care of you while you get well"

"That would make me very happy, Catherine" I said before kissing her languidly.

"But?" she asked

"I'm not good for you, I'm dangerous. I could ruin you."

"One day you will explain everything to me" she said sure of herself

A throaty laugh escaped me and she smiled.

"You are really the bold kind"

"Yes" she said proudly.

We chatted until we fell asleep.

............................

Samuel and I are playing hide and seek in the backyard and we were having a lot of fun.

I couldn't find him this time around, so I started asking the servants if they had seen him, and they all said no.

I thought to myself that maybe he was hiding in our mother's room, since he knows how much I hated disturbing her when she was resting. If he was there, I was going to scold him.

I was climbing the stairs quickly, I was out of breath once I got to the top. I walked over to my mother's bedroom.

When I got there, I opened the door and a putrid smell lashed my face. I went in and turned on the light, I saw her, my mother, she was on the floor with her wrist cut open. The blood had already clotted and there was a syringe stuck in his arm.

I was petrified, her body was pale and she obviously wasn't breathing. I approached her and fell on my knees next to her inert body, I started to shake her while denying off all my might in my head that she was no longer of this world.

I started screaming and crying, it caught the attention of the servants and Samuel.

"Big Brother?" Samuel asked, trying to see what was going on.

I couldn't let him see this, so I stood up and dragged him out of the room quickly, blocking his field of vision with my body. Why did she do that, I .....

.................................

"Dereck!" she screamed, shaking me by the shoulders.