The Cursed King

The doctor continued to speak as she consulted with her notes. 

"It seems like not all of the records were transferred properly, or you may have had the pregnancy in secret, but rest assured, you can confide the details with me without any leaks of information. This will help provide a better picture about your current health, Mrs. Ashborn."

"...."

"Mrs. Ashborn?"

Elise looked down at her hands as her entire body trembled. 

"I was pregnant before…" 

Not only once, but twice too? 

"Mrs. Ashborn?" The doctor tried to call out to Elise again. This time with a hesitation on the doctor's face as it was obvious that there was something very wrong happening right now.

Elise buried her face in her hands and cried silently. Why couldn't she remember anything about her past? Who was she really? How did she have her powers? Was she married before? And what happened to her babies?

So many questions raging in her mind and hurt her head. 

***

When Loriel returned to the doctor's office, he stumbled back to where Elise was waiting patiently for him alongside the doctor. And yet he noticed that there was something amiss.

"Loriel, you're back." Elise smiled brightly at him and quickly turned away from the doctor.

Despite the smile on his wife's face, Loriel could see that her nose was currently red and stuffy along with slightly puffy eyes. He placed the medicine he bought aside and immediately knelt in front of her. 

"Are you okay, honey? What happened?" Loriel asked the last question to the doctor with a touch of venom in his tone. He was only gone for a couple of minutes but his wife was in tears? 

The doctor cleared her throat uneasily. "Your wife… Mrs. Ashborn is just currently overwhelmed with emotions right now. It sometimes happens when one is feeling extremely stressed or fatigued, my apologies."

Loriel turned to his wife and held her hand. "It's alright now, honey. I'm here with you. What happened? Would you like to get back home now?"

Elise looked at him and slowly nodded. Her voice was a bit scratchy as if she screamed earlier. "Yes, please."

"Then we'll consider this current checkup finished." Loriel nodded to the doctor and then reached out to his wife. In one sudden movement, Loriel carried Elise in his arms and gently kissed her head. "It's time for us to go home."

"Loriel put me down, this is unnecessary!" Elise's face suddenly flamed at her husband's grand actions. She grabbed ahold of the collar of his shirt and tried not to give in to the tears that were once again pricking the back of her eyes.

"I'd like to do something to make you smile, honey. This is the least I can do." Loriel whispered soothingly to her ear and made sure that Elise knew that he was here for her.

It only made the tears sting harder.

There was so much that Elise didn't know about herself and yet Loriel accepted her all without any questions. How could someone like Loriel love her this much?

Elise didn't think it was fair for her to be like this right now and she tried so hard to control her tears but they trickled down her cheeks.

The pain that ebbed within Elise's chest at the revelation of her two previous pregnancies that she absolutely had no idea of? It really wasn't something that Elise could tell Loriel. 

What was Loriel going to think of her if he found out?

***

When Loriel and Elise arrived back in the penthouse, Loriel was quick to lay Elise down in their bedroom and this time, there was not much resistance on Elise's part unlike when they were in the hospital.

Instead, Elise seemed quite reserved and as if she was lost in her thoughts about a matter that Loriel did not know about at all.

This worried her husband even more.

What did the doctor say while he was gone that would bring Elise to tears? Did the doctor say anything about her ability to conceive? Did the doctor say it would be difficult for someone like Elise?

Those were the possibilities that ran through his head. Loriel would never let it go when he figured out what was wrong, but first, he needed to make sure that Elise stayed put and recovered from her current distraught self.

"Are you feeling lethargic or unenergetic, honey?" Loriel asked her.

Elise smiled a little at her husband's unceasing concern. "Is it because I'm no longer protesting that you're taking care of me like this? The doctor didn't say anything about me needing bed rest..."

"You know how much I want to dote on you and yet you refuse me from doing it too much," Loriel admitted with a small sigh as he tried to read the expression on his wife's face. "Would you like me to get you something to eat?"

Elise shook her head and held on to the edge of his shirt. "No, please just stay with me, Loriel. I don't think I can handle being alone right now."

At the words of his wife, Loriel quickly nodded and joined her in bed. If his presence was able to provide relief and comfort to his wife, he wouldn't ever leave her side.

"I'll be right here with you, wifey."

"Thank you."

The two of them stayed in bed together like this for a couple of hours with Loriel making sure every now and then that Elise was comfortable.

Loriel wrapped an arm around Elise's waist as his breath tickled her ear. "Tell me if you need anything, okay? Something to snack on, water or anything else?" 

Elise nodded without saying anything else.

But it was enough of a response that Loriel needed to hear from his wife. The two of them, with Loriel spooning his wife and helping her feel better and safe from her troubles… He wanted to be here for her.

Right before Loriel knew it, despite his conscious efforts to stay awake, he soon drifted off to sleep as the quietness of the room and Elise's presence gave him comfort as well.

That was the moment that Elise began to move.

.

.

*************

Poor Elise. She thought Loriel will stop loving her if he found out that her past was bad. She didn't know that he KNOWS her past and he was the bad one.