Chapter 17: Things Goes Wrong

"Are you crazy?" she screams.

Mechanically, she pulls the needle out of his chest. How naive she was to think she could fight such a ruthless devil! Evan smirks at her and nibbles her shoulder.

"I said I was going to punish you, and I'm a man of my word," he says.

A breeze from the window rekindles the smoldering carpet, and the flames begin to flicker again. Her entire body aches and trembles.

"What should I do to punish you?" he asks against her collarbone.

The feel of his lips on her skin and the overwhelming effect of the spilled candle make her body soften to him. His low voice is like a spell bewitching her; it seems impossible to move. He tosses the quilt onto the carpet to quell the flames, and gives her a hungry look. Then he collapses on top of her.

Powerless to push him away, she feels trapped beneath his body. Despite the heat, her face had gone deathly pale. She closes her eyes and desperately bites her lip, ready to suffer whatever blow he decides to give. She waits and waits. His weight on top of her makes it almost impossible to breathe.

"Is he trying to suffocate me?" she wonders.

She wiggles an arm out from underneath him and prods his back. He doesn't respond. She tries again—nothing.

"Has he gone through all this trouble just to fall asleep on top of me?"

She calls his name and tries to wake him. Her voice echoes in the large room, but Evan remains unresponsive. She gathers all her strength and tries to push him off of her, but he doesn't budge. A horrible thought enters her head, and she begins to panic. What if the needle pierced his heart? What if she's killed him?

She takes a deep breath and forces herself to calm down. She reaches for the phone and manages to grasp it. She tries to make a call but her hands are shaking too badly and she misdials the number. After several tries, she gets it right.

Charles answers on the first ring.

"Avery?"

"Charles, I think I killed someone."

He's driving and slams the brakes; Avery can hear them screeching in the background.

"What? Who did you kill?"

He can hear the panic in her voice, and it makes him anxious. He wants to help her immediately.

"I stabbed the needle in the ring into Evan's heart."

"Have you checked to see if he's still breathing?" Charles asks.

Avery could kick herself. In her panic, she didn't even think to check his breath. His chest looks motionless so she places her hand in front of his nose. He's breathing, but faintly. She sighs with relief.

"He's breathing, but only barely."

"It's OK," Charles says, "He's probably just in shock. The needle likely hit a nerve. Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I'll call Dr. Walter."

When Dr. Walter arrives he pulls Evan off of Avery and flips him onto his back. He listens to Evan's heartbeat and lowers the stethoscope with a nod.

"His heart is fine, but he didn't sleep last night. He's just in shock. Don't worry, he'll wake up soon"

"He went the entire night without sleeping?" Avery wonders, "Did he wait for me all night?"

Avery gives the doctor a perfunctory nod. The side-effects of the candle are starting to kick in and she feels low-spirited and sick. Dr. Walter glances at the broken candle, the mess on the ground, and the unusual blush on Avery's face.

He fiddles with his stethoscope and avoids eye contact as he says, "It'd be better if you used restraints next time."

"What?"

"Sometimes people go in shock when they are overexcited."

Avery pushes her fingers into her temples. She doesn't understand what he's talking about.

Dr. Walter coughs awkwardly. He's envisioning a scene of aphrodisiacs, role-playing, bondage, and hot wax, though he never would have suspected that Evan enjoys such sexual games.

"Well, as you know, it's very common for couples to pursue more intense stimulation and pleasure," he explains, "But these things should be done carefully and gradually. This much borrachero is quite dangerous, and as you can see, Evan overexerted himself."

Avery wants to correct him, but she's too embarrassed to know where to begin. Dr. Walter starts to speak again, "You need to take medicine after inhaling this much borrachero. It'll calm your system within an hour, but you can soak yourself in a cold bath if you want it to work faster."

Avery gratefully takes the medication. She calls Robert to tend to Evan and returns to her room. Despite David's medicine, she feels weak and sinks into a cold bath. Submerged in the icy water, she feels her restless blood calming.

She reflects on the day. Her risky actions will only have irritated Evan even further. Even the most clueless observer can see that he loathes her. It should have been easy to get him to agree to a divorce, but her provocations seem to be having the opposite effect. She knows he hasn't fallen for her. No, it seems that torturing her drives him wild.

"The man is a sick devil!" she says aloud.

Her phone rings, interrupting her reply.

"Charles?"

"Is he all right?" Charles asks.

"He's in shock, but he will wake up soon."

"How about you? Are you OK?" Charles asks with concern, "Could you come to the hospital tonight. I need you to sign your nanny's new treatment agreement."

Meanwhile, Evan wakes with a raging headache.

"Mr. Howel, you're awake!" Robert says, offering to help Evan out of bed.

"Back off," Evan growls, "Where's Avery?"

"She ordered me to take care of you, and then she left."

"Where did she go?"

He can't believe she'd stab him with a needle and then just run away. Though, she does seem to have gotten very good at disappearing lately.

"Dr. Walter said Mrs. Howel went back to her room to take a cold bath after she took his medicine. I've asked a maid to keep an eye on her."

Evan gets out of bed and hurries to Avery's room. He rushes into her room while Robert stands guard outside the door.

"Where the hell is she?" Evan roars.

Robert runs into the room and finds it empty. Avery isn't in the bathroom either. The men hear something rustling in the dressing room and Robert promptly slides the door open to investigate. Inside, a maid is kneeling on the ground; her hands are tied behind her back and a blanket has been wrapped around her naked body. A pair of white underpants have been shoved into her mouth.

Evan recognizes the underwear as his own. The maid mumbles something against the cloth in her mouth. Robert swiftly removes the underwear.

"Mrs. Howel took my clothes away, tied me up, and left me here," she says.

"Damn her!" Evan thunders.

Avery has disobeyed him again and again. Now she's gone so far as to disguise herself as a maid to sneak out.

Robert grabs his tablet and tries to track Avery using the chip Evan had installed on her phone, but he can't find her. She has turned her phone off. Robert rushes away to begin the search for Avery, leaving Evan brooding in her room.

Over half an hour later, Robert returns.

"Mr. Howel, the head nurse of the hospital just called. She saw Mrs. Howel with—" he pauses nervously, and his voice grows fainter, "Dr. Meyer."