After getting into the requisite mask, gown, and gloves, the nurses finally let Reyhan into the room to see Emir. They had tried to prepare Reyhan for what she was about to see, but nothing could have prepared her for this. All she could do was grab his hand and collapse into the chair next to his bed and cry.
"Reyhan," Narin says as she enters the room some time later, similarly gowned and covered. "Don't make yourself sick, canim. Let me take you out of here so you can calm down."
"No!" Reyhan protests when Narin tries to pull her away. She takes a deep, calming breath before looking straight at Narin, her eyes still tear-filled, but determined. "I'm not leaving him."
The doctors leave her for now. She stays well past the time limit, but Narin is able to help her bend the rules. Emir's condition is actually more stable with Reyhan there. And while there isn't much improvement and he hasn't woken up, the threat to life seems much lower with Reyhan present. So they let her stay.
After the first day, they move him to a private suite, a benefit of the many years of Tarhun donations to the hospital. The suite is better accommodated to care for both Emir and whatever needs arise due to Reyhan's pregnancy. It has a bed for her, but she spends most of her time in a recliner that's been placed next to him. Suna and Zeynep have used the bed more than Reyhan, alternating which one spends the night. Tonight is Zeynep's night.
It's a rare sight to see Reyhan not next to Emir. She tends to be always next to him, holding his hand, wiping his brow, stroking his hair. She talks to him. Almost non stop. More words than she's ever said in her life. But she feels like if she stops, she'll lose him.
A nurse comes, and Reyhan decides to take a stretch while the nurse does all her necessary checks on Emir.
"How has he been, Reyhan hanim?" the kind hearted nurse asks. She's one of Reyhan's favorites. Most of the nurses are nice, but this one is an older woman who has treated Reyan and Emir like her own children.
"The same," Reyhan sighs, getting a little sad. It's been nearly a week and he still hasn't woken up.
Reyhan sucks in a quick, sudden breath and her hand shoots to her stomach.
"Reyhan hanim?" the nurse gives her a concerned glance before coming over to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. They're just getting a little feisty in there," Reyhan explains, a tear in her eyes. The babies have started kicking, and the one person she wanted to share it with doesn't even know.
Understanding, the nurse leads her next to the bed and then lifts one of Emir's lifeless hands to Reyhan's stomach.
"Let him feel," she says with a smile. "Let the babies help heal him. All of them."
The nurse looks over to see a sleepy Zeynep watching them. She nods her head to bring the girl over and Zeynep quickly comes. She wraps one arm around Reyhan's waist and places her free hand onto Reyhan's belly too.
The nurse slips out, leaving the family alone.
"Come back to us, Emir," she hears Reyhan whisper just as she closes the door. The nurse sends up a quick but sincere prayer that Reyhan gets her wish soon. For all of their sakes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Reyhan's miracle comes three days later. She's sitting in her usual spot, next to Emir while she reads to him, sings to him, or talks to him. But this time, she has his hand firmly planted on her every growing belly. The babies give a particularly vigorous kick and it jolts Emir's hand. But when she looks closer, she notices that he's moving his hand on his own.
"Emir?" she calls out, quickly getting to her feet and standing over him. "Emir! Emir!"
She calls to him over and over until the noise she's making brings in the nurse.
"He's waking up," Reyhan tells her excitedly.
The nurse looks him over and can see no signs of activity aside from an increased heart rate. But she goes to get the doctor anyway. Just when she leaves, Emir blinks open his eyes, meeting Reyhan's. She's crying and kissing his hand when the doctor comes in.
"Emir bey. Welcome back," the doctor says, surprise evident in his voice. Each day that passed without him waking up made it that much more unlikely he ever would recover. But it would seem that he has defied the odds. "Let's take a look at you, shall we?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emir doesn't take his eyes off of Reyhan the whole time. He can see that she's been through a lot. Once the doctor is done examining him and he's alone with Reyhan, he reaches a hand out to her. She eagerly comes to his side, laying her head on his hand. He can feel her hot tears on his skin.
"I was so scared I'd lose you," she cries.
The sound breaks his heart.
"Never," he promises. I'd never leave you. Not as long as you're by my side."
"Always," she promises in return, finally lifting her head to see the sight she's been praying for for days.
"How long?" he asks, wondering how long it's been.
"The longest nine days of my life," she admits. "But I haven't been alone. Everyone has stopped by to see you. Kemal, Narin, Zeynep, Suna, Zafer. Even Sefer and Nigar. At least one of them has been here with me at all times."
He frowns, not hearing one name.
"Annem?"
She sighs and he isn't sure he's going to like what she has to say.
"She's fine. You pushed her out of the way before she could be shot. You took the bullet instead," Reyhan explains. "But she was arrested shortly after your surgery. They all have been arrested. Your mother. Talaz. Cemre."
He just nods. They expected that would happen. But it still hurts that it had to come down to this. But looking up at Reyhan, he realizes how lucky he is she's there with him. Despite what his mother tried to do, she couldn't separate them.
"Come here," he says, easing over in the bed to make room for her. "I need to hold you."
She protests for a second, but just smiles and climbs into bed with him. Having her in his arms is just the medicine he needs. He drifts off to a peaceful sleep, this time the darkness filled with light and hope as he holds his whole world in his arms. She's proof that with her, he can survive anything.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Kemal and Narin come in later and find the two still sleeping on the bed. But when they step closer, they see that Emir is awake and just watching his wife as if she's the most precious thing in the world.
"She must be exhausted," he whispers, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"She's been with you the whole time," Narin explains. "I barely managed to get her to leave your room. But I threatened to tell her OB/GYN on her and we managed to get her to take short breaks."
When Emir finally looks up at his new visitors, he's stunned to see Narin in her hospital coat.
"What have I missed?" he asks with some shock and some amusement. "You're a doctor now? Reyhan said it's only been nine days."
"She saved your life," Kemal says proudly, putting an arm around Narin's shoulder. "She was apparently quite the surgeon in Azerbaijan."
Emir smiles. His uncle is obviously smitten with his wife. It's good to see him happy.
Just then, Reyhan lets out a loud yawn and stretches.
"Look who's finally awake," Emir teases her, kissing her on her nose.
She blinks sleepily, nuzzling her nose in his neck when she hears a muffled laugh. She's instantly embarrassed when she looks up and notices Kemal and Narin.
"Emir," she blushes at having been caught in bed with her husband.
She tries to get out of the bed, but he holds her to his side and arrange them so that they're both sitting up in the bed. She rolls her eyes when she realizes he's not letting her go. Kemal and Narin are having an even harder time holding back their laughter.
"We're happy to see that you're awake and doing well, Emir," Kemal starts. "But we're actually here with news for you."
"It's about my mother," Emir guesses, receiving affirmative nods from Kemal and Narin. Emir just sighs, closing his eyes.
"Are you sure this is the best time?" Reyhan asks, the concern for her husband evident in her voice.
"You heard the doctor," Emir says. "I'm fine, recovering nicely from the surgery. I'll probably even be released within the next few days. And something tells me this news isn't going to be any easier to hear, no matter what my condition."
Kemal looks to Narin in question and she nods.
"I've looked at his chart and he's right. He's fine," she confirms. "I'm actually more worried about Reyhan. She's exhausted and hasn't eaten much. But I know she isn't going anywhere."
"Hello," Emir interrupts. "We're both sitting right here. And we're both fine."
But he can feel Reyhan tense, so he holds her a little tighter, gently stroking his hand up and down her arm. Up and down. Up and down. Until that slight tremor in her body eases and she relaxes against him, her head falling to his shoulder.
Giving them one last look, Kemal nods and then goes to get a file from the briefcase he left by the door. He gives the file to Emir and waits for the man to open it and start flipping through the pages.
"That is the final report from the detective," Kemal explains. "Your mother wasn't at all cooperative. She seems to think that if she says nothing, then nothing will happen to her. But we got more than enough evidence from the video Zafer took and testimony from Cemre, Nigar, and Yonca. Cell phone records also proved to be very informative. In addition to the attempted murder charges for what she did to your father, two counts of kidnapping were also added."
"Kidnapping?" Emir asks. "I don't understand. We'll read this report later. But just sum it up for us right now. Where does kidnapping fit in?"
"Emir, your mother has basically been trying to get rid of Reyhan since before the two of you even married. She never wanted Reyhan for you. That was all your father. She wanted you to marry Cemre. At first things weren't dangerous. According to Nigar, at first she just tried to threaten Reyhan directly into leaving. But she soon noticed that you weren't quite as indifferent to Reyhan as you started out. She got worried and realized she needed to be more proactive. Her first big scheme came when she found out that Suna had been in online communications with Vural. Testimony from Cemre along with cell phone records show that Cavidan contacted this man and paid him to pretend to be Reyhan's secret lover. That incident, as you both know, ended in Reyhan's kidnapping."
And his shooting, Emir recalls.
"I knew there was something behind all of that," Emir says, covering his eyes with his hand and rubbing furiously. "I knew it. I tried to question her about it, but the subject got changed and it never came back up. Reyhan and I were both safe, so I never worried about it much after that. I just figured Vural was greedy and came up with a plan to extort money from the family once he figured out how rich Suna was. It never occured to me to dig into how or why he became so fixated on Reyhan. None of that made sense, but I just let it all go."
"It wasn't your fault," Reyhan assures him, trying to console him. "Why would either of us think Vural was sent after me on purpose?"
"By my mother," he adds, head dropping in shame. "I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point, considering all the other things we know she's done. But I can't wrap my head around this. That man took you. He shot me and left us both to die. Even with those circumstances, my mother remained quiet. Didn't say a word. And worse, she didn't learn her lesson. She kept on with the tricks clearly. Because you said she's charged with two kidnappings. What was the other one."
Another guarded look passes between Kemal and Narin making Emir nervous.
"What?" He asks.
"Zeynep," is all Kemal says.
"Zeynep? What do you ..." All the blood drains from Reyhan's face as she realizes what they're trying to say.
"When Zeynep first came to the house and disappeared," Emir says as he catches on. "My mother set that up too?"
"The detective believes Cemre was the mastermind of that one," Kemal explains. "But yes. Again, thanks to cell phone records, evidence of conversations between Cemre, Cavidan and Zeynep's stepmother from around that time point to that being the case. The police were able to locate the stepmother to arrest her as well. She's confessed."
"Why did they do that to her?" Reyhan manages to ask through her tears. "She was just a little girl. Why would they take her and lock her in that horrible little room? What did Zeynep have to do with their problems with me?"
"Remember their main goal, Reyhan," Kemal says. "They wanted to get rid of you. The kidnapping was to send you to prison."
"They did that to Zeynep just to get rid of me?" she asks in disbelief. "They terrified her, they left her in that rotten hole with rats. They left her in the hands of that disgusting man. All to get rid of me?"
Narin starts to get concerned as Reyhan's breathing gets faster and faster.
"Reyhan? Honey? What is it?" Emir puts an arm around her and catches her as she begins to sway.
"I need ... bathroom ... sick ..."
She tries to scramble from the bed as fast as she can, but Narin stops her before she goes tumbling to the ground.
"Slow down, canim. Let me help you."
Narin grabs her arm and helps her stand, leading her towards the door.
"I'm going to take her out for some air," she explains when Emir shoots a glare at her. "This was too much for her."
Kemal manages to stop Emir from trying to get out of bed.
"Stop, Emir," Kemal pleads with him. "Let Narin take care of her."
Emir still struggles, but eventually settles down. He remains uneasy, though. Staring intensely at the door, as if willing Reyhan to appear. She's been through so much. And even after hearing more of what his mother has done, he still doesn't think he knows half of what she's put Reyhan through.
"Why, Anne?" he practically whispers. "Why did you do this?"
Hating his mate is one thing. Lots of mothers don't get along with their in-laws. But there was no reason they couldn't live together in peace. He loves his mother. But right now, he can't understand why. Not when there's so much hate as well.
"Can you give me a minute?" Emir asks Kemal.
Kemal understands the need for privacy and nods, walking out the door to leave Emir alone.
Emir picks up the file from the detective and starts from the beginning. Reading it may not give him peace, but at least he'll know all that he's been blind to from the beginning. At least he'll know how to protect his family in the future. Because until his mother and Cemre are permanently stopped, he has a bad feeling this isn't over yet.