21. Best Kept Secret

**MAEVE**

It was one of those maddening days at the hospital when the ER was full of trauma patients, cardiac arrests and assault cases. Wasn’t Prescott supposed to be a small and quiet town?
My legs had strained as the muscles started getting these pins and needles when I compelled myself to sit down. Today was truly the definition of a long, hard day. On top of that, I barely got a night’s sleep, although it was the most beautiful night of my life. For the sake of it, I would probably not complain.
“Third cup of the day, Maeve,” I chided myself as I placed the coffee cup of the smooth worktop.
As I stared down at the computer, at the varied colour of post-its stuck all around, I found myself groaning. The worst part of my job was filing the data for the patients, and I truly hated it. My disgust was mainly directed towards the device, but nevertheless, it was utterly boring and tedious. Besides, my eyes were already burning.
“Hey, where have you been?” I looked up to see Heather, dressed in a loose-fitted black top and washed out jeans. Beside her was Marinna, who was in her blue scrubs, just like mine. “We have been so worried about you,” she said, crowding near the place where I was seated and leaned down, balancing on her elbows. Marianna hugged the file to her chest and propped herself against another table.
“Um...I am so sorry,” I apologized heartily, looking between them. “I should have informed you both.”
“You don’t have to say sorry,” Marianna waved her wrist in a dismissal manner. “It was totally my fault and I am taking responsibility for it.”
“Yep, that’s what happens when you break up with one jerk of a boyfriend and try to find rebound in a drunken state,” Heather piped in, flashing her quintessential wicked smirk.
“Thank you very much for your kind words,” Marianna shot back.
“Well, I am nothing if not awesome.”
My gaze bounced between them as I chuckled and wondered if I would ever get tired of listening to them bicker. Heather and Marianna were modern-day Thelma and Louise.
Marinna whirled her attention back to me. “Seriously, I feel terrible, Maeve.”
“Hey, I heard that really hot and really angry bar-owner drove you home. Is that true?” Heather inquired. Curiosity lit up her face a thousand watts brighter.
Instantly, an embarrassed flush crept up my cheeks.
“Really? Where was I?” Marianna jumped in. It seemed like her curiosity levels were equally picked.
Shit. I only hoped to god that I can lie flawlessly.
“Pissing drunk somewhere,” Heather squinted her eyes at her and made a face before turning to me for the final reveal. “Spill please. What’s the hot guy’s name?”
“Relax, guys,” I muttered, feigning disinterest and sipping my coffee. “He is just my neighbour, I mean…”
“Oh, my God.” Both of them squealed out so loudly, the passing doctors and nurses threw glances at our way.
“I need the full story. Right. Now,” Heather demanded, rubbing her hands in glee. “And please don’t leave behind any juicy details. I had three bat-shit crazy patients, and I could really use uplifting gossip.”
“There’s no gossip,” I quickly averted away my eyes. “He just…got me home and that’s it.”
“No hot sex or scandalous nip slip?” Marianna pouted.
Then Heather. “Or an accidental French kiss?”
“No and no,” I glared at both of them. My supervisor walked by the lobby where we were sitting and stopped to give me a ‘look.’ “Can you both please stop? I am going to get fired now.”
“Oh, don’t mind the supervisor,” Marianna winked and then spoke in hushed tones. “She just seem like someone out of action for a really, really long time.”
The girls giggled softly as my eyes quickly scanned the place and suddenly halted on a man.
It can’t be…I could also be wrong.
“Maeve…” Heather nudged me a little, cracking into my trance as I looked up to her perplexed face. “What happened?”
“I think I saw that man somewhere…” I whispered, following the movement.
“Oh, he is the husband of the woman admitted in 203,” Marianna informed. “Why, what about him?”
The vision struck me as a bolt of lightning. The woman came with multiple assault injuries, obviously from domestic abuse or something akin to that, but she kept on persisting that it was an accident. However, she ultimately refused to inform her family.
“That’s the patient I have been assigned today,” I mused slowly.
And because I was cursed of the vision of another’s pain and suffering, the flashes of the night burned right before my eyes. Without a thought, I quickly rose from my seat and trailed after him.
“I will just be back.”
Almost jogging my way to catch to him, I kept hollering behind his back. “Sir, Sir, excuse me!” And even if he just heard me, he didn’t bother to stop. Finally, I caught up to him at the nick of the time before he could enter.
“What?” he grunted, shooting daggers as I blocked his way.
“Stop. You can’t go inside.”
“The hell I can’t,” he snarled and simply pushed me aside to force his way into the room.
Shit.
“You need to step out of the room, sir, or I will have to call in the security,” I said with a deliberately raised tone. His wife was thoroughly sedated and would not be up for another couple of hours.
“You are trying to stop me from seeing my own wife? Bitch, you are crazy.”
This time, I successfully prevented his movement before he could proceed. “Yeah, like that’s going to stop me,” I scowled back and dared a step ahead. “This is the last warning I am giving you. Get out of here right now or I will call the security. And then I will personally see your ass rotting in prison afterwards.”
“Fuck off, bitch.”
“Fine,” I gritted and whirled around to press the red button beside the bed. But before I could, a large hand grabbed me by the neck and shoved me down the floor.
“Ah!”
Next thing, I know, a vicious slap resonated, and I almost tasted blood. The brute tried to kick my stomach, though I managed to roll off the floor and reach for the security button. The next ten seconds were a blur. One moment he tried to attack, and the next moment the security dashed in. In the chaos were Heather and Marianna, who appeared out of nowhere and helped me onto the nearby chair.
“I am okay, I am okay,” that was all I could whisper.
________________

A bruised lip, an ugly mark on my left cheek and a couple of minor red bruises of my hand.
Changing out of my scrubs, I quickly slipped into the casuals and wondered how I would explain these to him.
But my fear was absolutely at the threshold. Shutting close the locker, I turned around and almost stopped dead in my tracks.
*Xander.*
I could see the blast of anger spilling toward the surface. The animal that was hiding in him was slowly wanting to claw its way out.
“Xander, what are you doing here?” I breathlessly whispered.
“Maeve, how many times?” he gritted out, simmering in a barely controlled temper.
“I know, I know,” I soothed, flattening one of my hands on his chest. “Please calm down. Please, for my sake,” I implored, hoping he would.
“You promised me. You said you will be careful.” I could feel the vibrations of his rage as I crooned again and again. There was no way I would let him explode in the middle of the hospital.
“I was. I have no idea that the man would turn so violent before I could even stop him. I mean, obviously I should have guessed by the state of his wife and the scars he has given her. He suddenly attacked me when I was about to call the security,” I explained.
“You should have called the security first, instead of trying to stop him yourself!” he exclaimed.
I kept shaking my head. “It would have been late, Xander. He has already beaten her up to the point of death. God knows why she was hell-bent on protecting him.”
“How can you be so sure if she is denying the assault?” he argued.
“I know…I just know.”
With the utmost gentleness he could afford, Xander took my face in his big hands and forced my gaze on his. “That’s what I am asking—how? Maybe you were wrong.”
“I am not wrong, okay?” I jerked away and winced slightly in pain. “I saw it. He was the one beating her last night.”
As soon as I said, I realized my mistake. My face was ashen as he squinted his eyes and searched my features. There was no place where I could hide or lie through my teeth.
“Last night? How can it be? You were with me last night.”
I pursed my lips for a moment before finally gathering the courage to whisper. “*You are not the only one with secrets, Xander. I have mine too.”*

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***How do you think Xander is going to take the news?***