Chapter 30 : A Series Of Unfortunate Occurrences 

The Master Bedroom, The Rawsone Residence, Denver, Colorado

Morning made itself known despite Hadrian Rawsone's best efforts to block out the sun that came through the drapes as he found himself confused as to why he'd been lying on his back on the cold hard floor. He felt an intense pain on the right side of his jaw and grimaced for a moment before attempting to make sense of his surroundings. The bedroom was a mess, broken glass, the stench of alcohol and sweat filled the rather stuffy space. The pillows and covers were scattered all over the floor and the mattress was as bare as could be. One of the sheets seemed to have been trapped behind the bathroom door and Hadrian thought it curious to awaken in such a state after whatever it was that occured the previous night. There was no sign of Julia which was concerning and he followed the sheet that was sticking out of the bathroom.

"Jules?" he asked now given to panic as he approached the door. "Jules are you alright?"

After several moments there was the sound of movement followed by a groan before whomever had been on the other side of the door finally got to their feet and opened it long enough to snatch the sheet inside and wrap it around themselves before slamming the door closed again.

"Jules." said Hadrian with more concern in his voice than before. "Jules answer me...are you alright?"

A few clicks and the sound of rushing water later saw to Hadrian coming to the conclusion that she'd gotten into the shower. Knowing all too well that she'd come out when she was good and ready, he turned his attention to cleaning up the mess they had made of the bedroom. Getting a good look at the place in the light of day, Hadrian realized that there were several holes in the walls from what appeared to have been someone's fist as well as more broken glass this time from an empty whiskey bottle.

He had no idea what went on but he knew that his best bet for finding out would be to get his answers from Julia.

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The Kitchen, The Rawsone Residence, Denver, Colorado....

Hadrian found it difficult to eat with his jaw hurting as much as it did, but attempted to down a bowl of sugarless breakfast cereal nonetheless. He struggled with his chewing for quite a while before Julia came downstairs dressed and ready for her day with her hair down to her shoulders. She seemed uneasy around him as she moved about the kitchen slamming the cabinets and avoiding him at all costs it seemed.

Sensing the hostility as well as the fear coming from his wife for the first time since he met her, Hadrian attempted to get to the bottom of what occurred as well as smooth things over with her.

"Jules..." he began only to be cut off via his wife.

"Sober now are we?" she growled looking him over with contempt behind her eyes. "Apparently you don't remember your nefarious adventures from the previous night."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hadrian with an arched brow.

"Last night was the first time you'd touched me in over a month and I have to say it was entirely unwanted." said Julia with her arms folded across her chest. "I don't know what you've been doing when I am gone but whatever it is, it's making you lose your mind again."

"All I've done was see to my current caseload." replied Hadrian in confusion.

"Apparently that's not all, you were drunk last night Hadrian...I've never seen you so much as pick up a glass of wine without there being an occasion and last night you were so drunk I could barely recognize you." replied Julia now with concern creeping into her voice. "You came bursting into the bedroom in the middle of the night beating on the door and calling me a whore and when you finally managed to get in..."

She trailed off clearly terrified to both relieve the incident and to tell him what he had done.

"Jules?" replied Hadrian sensing there was more to this story.

He got up from his bowl of cereal and approached her cautiously.

"What's happening to you Hadrian?" asked Julia bursting into tears. "Last night...I didn't even recognize you...it was like you were a man possessed psychotic even...I've never been so terrified of you in all my life."

This admission shocked Hadrian to his very core and he found himself unable to recall anything that happened.

The last thing he knew was that he was working on his current caseload and it had been extremely stressful to deal with a few unruly patients, one of them had attacked him and he had gone home. Julia was out and he had the place to himself to go over case files in his study. It got to be pretty late and the session had taken a lot out of him so he turned in early. It was all that happened to him the previous day as far as he could recall.

"All I remember was that I went to bed early after a particularly trying day with a patient whom had been violent and you were nowhere to be found." he recalled. "I figured I'd take a nap while you continued your errands so I didn't bother you and turned in."

"When I came in you went out, you didn't so much as look at me before getting into your car and driving off without a word." recalled Julia now increasingly concerned for her husband.

"I don't remember leaving the bedroom." replied Hadrian horrified on top of his confusion. "I don't even recall when you came in."

Julia recalled Hadrian having a glassy look in his eyes and he didn't seem to even know who she was when he stepped passed her, his movements were more akin to the iconic doorman Lurch in The Addams family than his normal range of movement. His expression was a blank one and he didn't seem to want to hold a conversation or at the very least it seemed he couldn't.

"Hadrian...I don't suppose you were sleepwalking?" said Julia attempting to make sense of what was happening to her husband.

"Sleepwalking?" asked Hadrian unsure of the explanation. Being as much a man of science as he was about helping people heal, he'd need more evidence before coming to that conclusion. "Don't be ridiculous...I don't sleepwalk...I've never had a problem with any of that before."

"It could be a side effect for all you know." reasoned Julia. "From the shooting, from the stress, hell you've barely been home a month since you've been missing what if it's all this stimulation from familiar surroundings after being gone so long."

"I went to bed early, Julia." said Hadrian skeptical. "It was one time after a trying day."

"No." replied Julia turning away from him. "This wasn't the first time you've done strange things without explanation."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hadrian with an arched brow.

"I thought it was just you adjusting to being home again, but....I remember very vaguely that some time after your being taken off that strange boy's case you were not acting like yourself." explained Julia. "You were drinking, but swore you didn't, you went out at all hours of the night and when you did come home you slept like the dead for hours nearly missing time with your clients until I woke you to get to work and you'd come in and sleep through the day all over again."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" asked Hadrian unsure of what to make of this news. "What else did I do?"

"Well, last night you stormed into the room angry for some reason and woke me." replied Julia. "You were after sex which was strange because you already smelled like you were getting it beforehand and I was disgusted with your attempts to get me in on it....I had to slap you to get you to leave me alone and you went raging through the house after being rejected...I was terrified hearing only broken glass and your incoherent yelling and grunting through the door."

Hadrian couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Jules...I'm so sorry." he said wrapping his arms around her.

Understanding that he had not been in his right mind, she seemed to have forgiven him and allowed herself to relax in his embrace.

"Hadrian what's happening to you?" she asked as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "All I kept thinking last night was that I was very happy the girls were off to college and didn't see you this way."

"I know." he replied still holding his trembling wife.

He could only imagine what she must have been thinking when he had attempted to hurt her.

"I love you, Hadrian." said Julia resting her head against his chest. "I love you and we are going to get through this."

Hadrian had not been so sure due to the fact that he had no immediate means of identifying the problem.

He made up his mind to see if Maureen could attempt hypnotherapy on him in a bid to get to the bottom of this when the time came for his appointment.