บท 22: ICU

Cruden Tiberias didn't understand his wife. He had saved her life at the restaurant, but she was mad at the method? Why did it matter? At the end of the day, she was alive and breathing.

Cruden contemplated the idea to no avail. Sitting in the boring meeting, he was growing frustrated with every passing second the more he thought about it. All his life, he grew up under the strict and cruel regime of his father. Emotions were a luxury that Cruden couldn't afford to have. Weaknesses were even worse. The deadly concoction of both could bring his downfall. An idea beaten and battered into Cruden since birth.

"...above average return of investments on our online retailers based on the recent multimedia social channels…"

Cruden kept his distance from Roselia. He didn't know how to deal with her disappointment and rejection. She refused to tell him about her necklace and even tried to protect Atticus Kerpan! The audacity. If Cruden wanted answers, he'd always get it. One way. Or another. Whether it was torture or bribery, nothing was off-limits.

But how does one interrogate a wife? Cruden's fingers twitched. He couldn't use his usual methods on her. He couldn't get her to talk with coercion. She was an enigma that he could never understand.

"Remove the billboard campaigns, this is an era of modern technology," Cruden finally snapped, rising from the marketing meeting.

Kallum straightened from the notes he took. Sebastian, the secretary quickly tapped on his tablet, despite having this week and next month's schedule memorized.

"The return of investment is mediocre at best. Come back with guerrilla marketing tactics that'd make a bigger impact." Cruden stormed off, Kallum and Sebastian in his wake.

"We scheduled lunch with one of the Alphas in attendance during the wedding, he is very displeased by the way you handled everything, for the marriage was one of monetary gain as well," Sebastian explained to Cruden. "If Bruce Kerpan had married Roselia Fiore, he would've been able to receive half of her shares from Fiore Investment Management, which would've increased Kerpan Corporate's stock price—"

"Cruden." Kallum came to a screeching halt, his eyes glazed over in the mindlink. "Your wife is hospitalized. Again."

Cruden growled under his breath, turning in a heartbeat. "What happened?"

Sebastian frowned at the meeting disturbance. He was growing frustrated. Ever since Alpha Tiberias got married, his schedule became unpredictable. From spontaneous shopping tips to buy her presents to random hospital visits, everything about that irritating wife was throwing their work life upside down!

"Allergic reaction," Kallum sharply exhaled. "Noah came back from school in time to find Roselia unconscious and foaming at the mouth—"

Cruden rushed off to the elevator. He furiously pressed the buttons, nearly breaking the poor technology as if it'd make the elevators come faster. He cursed every technician in the company and debated firing all the engineers. Why was it taking ten seconds or the elevator to reach the top floors of this building?! He knew why. He was an engineer at heart, but knowing the truth infuriated him further.

"That's impossible," Cruden coldly said to Kallum as they stormed towards the car in the underground parking lot. Sebastian opened the door for the Alpha as Kallum roughly slid into the passenger seat. "I've eliminated every ingredient that Roselia has an allergy to, no matter how mild."

"Yeah, now I'm forced to drink f*cking nuts milk in my morning coffee just because she decided to be lactose intolerant, which, by the way, isn't even a major allergy," Kallum snorted, folding his arm across his chest as he typed the hospital into the GPS for Sebastian.

"This downgrade is going to kill me one day, I swear," Kallum muttered. "It's just so unnatural to milk a nut. The concept itself—"

"It's just water blended with nuts. Get over yourself," Cruden deadpanned. He impatiently tapped his fingers on the window rest, unable to sit still.

Yet again, Roselia was endangered under his care. This was the third time in the three weeks they've been married. Bitter anger itched Cruden's chest, his blood boiling at the idea. First, she was poisoned by her father, second, held at gunpoint, and now, a deadly allergy?

What would Cecil Fiore say? He'd want his daughter back.

'Over my dead body!' Tobias snarled, furiously pacing back and forth in Cruden's mind. His canines snapped forward, ready to fight and claw his way to keeping Roselia.

'You don't even know her wolf. Shut your yapping,' Cruden responded. He was getting a headache from Tobias's constant whining and complaints. The great wolf was reduced to a fool over a single woman.

If Roselia wasn't an Alpha's daughter, Cruden think she was a human girl. Was she switched at birth? That'd be impossible. Her mother had an at-home birth.

Tobias always nagged that he couldn't connect with Roselia's wolf. He couldn't communicate at all with the creature until the two realized, Roselia didn't have one in the first place. Instead of a soft, feminine voice, they were met with a blank canvas of nothingness.

This left one prediction—Roselia didn't have a wolf. She would be an abomination of a werewolf.

"Noah is with her right now," Kallum explained to Cruden when they exited the vehicle.

Cruden stormed into the hospital, startling the front-desk staff. Security got to their feet, alongside all of the employees.

"Alpha Tiberias!" they greeted in unison, their fist over their heart in loyalty with heads bowed.

"Where is my wife?" Cruden sharply demanded from one of the trembling administrative nurses.

The poor woman trembled under his intense glower that immobilized all rationality. No one dared to get in his way and expected to survive. Her hands quivered as she rapidly typed in the information. Roselia Nicolette Fiore Tiberias.

"The EMS personnel have tried their best to resuscitate her at the scene, and she's had her stomach pumped in the hospital, but her body is shutting down. She's currently in the ICU and we wouldn't recommend visiting her—"

"Beatrice, was it?" Kallum revealed a slight smile, leaning over the counter before Kallum murdered the poor woman. "The Alpha needs a room number, not the hospital policy."

Beatrice exhaled shakily. "But Beta, visitations to the ICU for such an at-risk patient is not allowed."

"Neither is murder, but we still commit it daily, do we not?" Kallum smoothly said, his tone silky and dangerous. He always dealt with the negotiations.

Beatrice's eyes widened at the threat. Not only was her job on the line, but so was her life. She wasn't stupid. She knew the soft nurse gowns were provided by Tiberias Conglomerate's expert materials, the advanced state-of-the-art hospital equipment was sponsored by Tiberias Pack, and they owned a hefty share in the chain.

"I will escort you there, Alpha," Beatrice finally relented, knowing the two would only cause more chaos trying to crash into the ICU. She could feel her colleague's pity, but departed anyway.

Cruden always got his way. He was seething the entire walk to visit the ICU. And the sight of her unconscious body only triggered him further. Rage took over his rationality. His fingers curled into fists. Icy anger washed into the room, suffocating everyone present.

Roselia was hooked to various machines. A breathing mask over her mouth. She was taped to various wires. With each droplet of the IV drip, her condition grew more pitiful.

"She hasn't gained consciousness yet," Beatrice explained. "We've administered an aggressive treatment of IV medication and are currently monitoring support for her breathing and circulation through intubation. She needs to be closely monitored on advanced life support measures in the ICU."

Cold water poured over Cruden, numbing his mind. He hated hospitals. Despised the sterile stench of disinfectant. He didn't mind the needles and drilling. It was the hospital rooms and beds that bothered him. Unpleasant memories of his youth filled his mind. There she laid, yet another woman he failed to save.

"Cruden!" Noah called out from behind the two.

They spun around to see their youngest with a bag of chips and coke in his hand. He blinked at everyone's dreadful expression and slowly lowered his snacks.

"I called the ambulance as soon as I could," Noah explained. "She was all alone, with a half eaten sandwich and—"

"That should be impossible." Cruden narrowed his eyes, doubting his brother's story. "I sent a maid to look over Roselia's every need. I tested her food, damn it! She shouldn't be allergic to anything."

Noah slowly blinked. "What maid?"