Like the trip out to the garden, the trip back to the room was made in complete silence. This time, the silence is heartbreaking. But Reyhan can't handle any of this right now. It's all too much. She feels like Emir has lived a lifetime of changes in the short time she was in the coma. And it's all too overwhelming.
When she looked into his eyes, she was blown away by the love she saw there. So unexpected. So powerful. So against anything he's ever said before. It nearly knocked down all her defenses. She needs time and space to put her walls back up. She won't let him hurt her again.
"Thank you," she says once they get back to the room and get her settled back into her bed. "I think I'll rest now."
Clearly a dismissal. But he ignores her.
"Reyhan, can you just talk to me. Please. That was a promise we made to each other not so long ago ... to talk. To communicate. To not let misunderstandings come between what we could have here."
"I just don't understand what's happening," she says to him, tears starting to fill her eyes.
"Don't you remember?"
"It's all a jumble," she shrugs. "Reality mixed in with dreams. I don't know what to believe."
It's a blow to his heart, but he understands. He's never given her a reason to trust or believe him before. He's never given her a reason to believe that he would want this with her. In fact, he went out of his way to let her know he wanted nothing to do with her. But all that was before his heart changed. An event that happened earlier than she realizes.
"This is a lot for you," he finally says. "I get it. But what did I just say? What did we promise?"
"Communication?" she says, repeating his words from earlier. But still sounding unsure.
"We never talked about anything before," he adds. "And we ended up only hurting each other. That's mostly on me. I hurt you so much."
His sad eyes do something strange to her heart. This time, she's the one to reach out for him. It makes no sense, but holding on to him seems right.
'I'm sorry," he apologizes. "For everything. I'll tell you as much and as often as you need until you believe me.
"I'm here for good. I'm not leaving you anymore," he had promised her. "And I won't let you leave me. We're going to work this out and we're going to be fine, okay? There's a lot we need to talk about. Starting with an apology from me."
The memories are getting clearer now. She still has questions, but now she thinks she's ready for the answers.
"Okay, Emir." She gives him a shy smile. "Let's talk. About everything."
"No running? No hiding?"
She nods her agreement. She has to take a leap of faith, she realizes. For the first time in their marriage, there's no one around. No one to stop them. No one to fill Emir's head with who knows what lies to make him hate her. But she's still afraid.
"Can you promise me something?" she asks, needing this more than she realized. "Can you promise to never again do to me what you did to me on that beach?"
"Reyhan," he sighs, looking away in shame. "I'm so ...."
"I know," she interrupts him, giving him a sad smile. "I know you're sorry. I'm starting to remember everything more clearly. You already told me how someone tricked you into thinking something terrible about me. But you never told me who or what."
"I think you can guess the who."
She doesn't say anything to that and he can't help but wonder why. Because he knows she has a theory. He's read her journal. He knows all the things his mother has done to her. But what he doesn't know is why she never told anyone.
"Why didn't you ever say how my mother tortured you? How her lies and tricks made your every waking minute miserable?" he finally asks. "How could you be so patient with the way I treated you after my mother constantly made me think the worst of you? I know I was unreasonable and believed everything my mother said. But why didn't you ever say anything to my father?"
"Why would any of you have believed me?"
It's a sad truth that neither of them can deny.
"I wish I had," he tells her. "From the very beginning there was something about you that had taken hold of my heart. I've had a lot of time to think over these past few weeks and that first time we met, that first time I saw you in the kitchen ... that was it for me. My life, and my heart, was forever changed. But I never believed in love at first sight. So I fought hard. But the more I fought, the harder it became to deny what I was feeling. And that just made me even angrier. Because my main goal was to prove my father wrong. It killed me that he was right about us. And it kills me now because based on how I treated you before, you have every right to tell me exactly where I can shove these feelings. I've been so unfair to you. And it's unfair now to expect you to ever forgive me."
"You've hurt me a lot," she agrees. "And at first, the only thing keeping me in that mansion was the oath I made to my uncle. And the hopes that one day you'd be on your knees before me telling me exactly what you're telling me now."
"On my knees?" He gives her a curious glance. But if that's what she needs ... he just shrugs before sliding out of his chair and kneeling next to her. "Your wish is my command."
The unexpected action takes her by surprise and before she realizes, she's giggling. Uncontrollably.
"Emir, what are you doing?" she asks between laughs. "Get up!"
His heart swells. Her laughter is one of the most beautiful sounds he's ever heard.
"This is the first time I've made you this happy."
He makes a silent promise to himself that it won't be the last time, either. Her days should be filled with nothing but love, happiness, and laughter. And he wants to be the one to bring her those things.
"For real," she says when the laughter dies down enough for her to speak. "Get up off the floor."
She slides over in the bed and pats the space next to her. The bed is small and it takes a little bit more adjusting to get them both to fit, but they work it out. He throws an arm over her and she rests her head on his shoulder.
"We're going to be okay," he promises her, reveling in the feeling of peace at having her in his arms finally. "One day I'll be the husband you deserve."
"You already are," she sighs happily. "And better yet, you're the one that I want."
He just smiles and pulls her a little closer. Yes. They're going to be fine.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Zafer visits the next day, bringing some work for Emir to do and also a surprise for Reyhan.
"Dayı!"
Her excited smile warms Emir's heart. He loves whatever makes her happy. She spent so much of the beginning of their marriage unhappy. He wasn't kidding when he promised to always put a smile on her face. Arranging this surprise visit from his father was just one way to do that.
"Thanks for coming, Baba," Emir says, giving his father a hug. "I'm going to give you two some time."
He motions to Zafer to follow him out into the hallway so that Reyhan and Hikmet can have the room.
"Thanks for bringing him," Emir says to his friend. "I think she was really missing him."
"Anytime. How is she, by the way? Last we spoke you said the medication still had her kind of confused."
"She's better. We're better. I think this move is going to be good for us," Emir says hopefully. "Istanbul was full of distractions. Here, we only have each other. We have the chance to really get to know each other."
Emir gives Zafer a questioning look when the other man starts laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You, my friend, are so in love with your wife," Zafer continues to laugh. "A wife you didn't even want, I remind you."
"I've changed," Emir shrugs. "We both have. I made so many mistakes and hurt her so much. But she's giving me another chance and I feel like the luckiest man alive. You should try it."
"Me? With a wife? Never!" Zafer puts emphasis on the never.
"I said the same thing and look at me now. Life comes at you unexpectedly," Emir warns him. "Learn from my mistakes and be open to whatever comes your way. It could end up being the best thing to happen to you."
"You're talking crazy," Zafer laughs, dismissing Emir's warning. "Now sign these papers and I'll head over to the office here to drop them off. You can tell Hikmet amca I'll be back for him when I'm done there."
Emir shakes his head and takes the stack of documents needing his signature. He can't wait for the day he can say I told you so to Zafer. Not so much to be smug about it. Which, okay, would be a bit of a benefit. But mostly because he wants his friend to be as happy as he is. He wants his friend to find the person that completes his heart the way Reyhan completes his. Zafer deserves that kind of happiness.
"Emir bey ..."
Emir looks up when a nurse calls him. He signals for her to give him a moment while he finishes the last of the signatures. He gives the stack of documents back to Zafer and sends him on his way before turning back to the nurse.
"There's a problem," she says when she gets his full attention. "It's Ayla."
"What do you mean?" he says, starting to panic. "They said her surgery went well. I was going to take Reyhan to meet her once the doctors clear the visit. What's happened?"
"You wouldn't have been able to do that anyway. Ayla's foster parents checked her out of the hospital days ago, almost as soon as she was awake from her surgery."
"What? Why did ..." He stops his building tirade when the nurse holds up her hand.
"But she's back. She's just been brought into Emergency," the nurse explains.
Emir's heart stops, but he quickly recovers. He needs to get to her.
"Take me to her," he orders the nurse, who quickly follows his direction.
He's not sure what he's going to do when he gets there. But for now he just needs to see her and make sure she's okay. Then he's going to whatever it takes to make sure that she'll always be okay.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"How are you really doing, Kızım?" Hikmet asks Reyhan once they're alone. "We've been really worried about you."
"I'm getting stronger every day. I'm feeling much better," she assures him. "But I think it's been harder on Emir, though. He seems very tired and looks like he's lost weight. I feel bad that I put him through this."
She noticed it when she woke up, but it just didn't make sense to her. Not until they had their little conversation the other day. So much has been cleared up. Things aren't perfect between them, but they both seem to be headed in the right direction. Her heart is learning to trust him.
"Don't worry about Emir. He's a grown man. He can take care of himself. You need to focus on yourself," Hikmet says.
"I'm going to worry about him. He's my husband."
She's confused by the strange look that crosses her uncle's face at that statement.
"Listen, Reyhan. All this has really gotten out of hand," he says with a sigh. "I realize now that I shouldn't have asked this of you. It was wrong of me to force this wedding on the two of you. So right here, right now, I'm releasing you from your vow. I'm giving you your life back."
"My life?" she asks. "What does that mean?"
"It means you are my niece. You will always be my niece. And I should have done a better job looking after you. But I'm going to make it up to you. Don't feel as if you have to stay married to my son to still be my family. Say the word and I'll send you anywhere you want to go. This is a good clinic, but it isn't the best. I can send you to the best. And I can make sure Emir doesn't follow."
"You think I should leave my husband?" she asks, just to clarify.
"I think you should seriously think about your own life for a change. Don't do what you think is best for me or for Emir. Do what you think is best for you. Kızım, you have every opportunity open and available to you now. I can make it so your marriage never existed."
The pain she feels in her chest when he says those words to her has nothing to do with her physical body. Nevertheless she feels it as if someone had stabbed her through the heart. It's at that moment she realizes there's no learning to love Emir or learning to trust him. Not anymore. Because she's already head over heels.
"Dayı," she starts, about to decline his offer and let him know that leaving Emir is the last thing she wants to do. But out of the corner of her eye, she catches movement at the doorway. She looks up to see Emir standing there, utter devastation on his face. Her heart breaks because she knows his has been crushed.
"Emir," she calls to him just as he turns to leave. She's afraid he's about to leave, so she starts to get out of bed to go after him.
"Reyhan! What are you doing? Stop, Kızım. You'll hurt yourself."
"Emir is leaving," she tries to tell him, still struggling to go after him. But her uncle succeeds in stopping her and gets her settled back in the bed.
"Maybe it's for the best," Hikmet shrugs. "Maybe this is a sign. I love my son, but he can be spoiled and immature. You deserve a better husband than he can ever be."
But he's the husband that I want, she says in her head, repeating her words from earlier.
"Think about what I said," Hikmet says, leaning over to press a kiss on her forehead. "Take this time alone and really think about what you want. No matter your decision, I'll handle Emir. If you want, that will be the last you see of him."
Hikmet leaves and the emptiness of the room steals her breath. For the first time since her mother died, she feels truly alone. For the first time in her marriage, she feels she might truly lose Emir. And now more than ever she understands that she doesn't ever want to be without him.
Her uncle had told her he could keep Emir from her forever if it's what she wants. But it's not what she wants. It's not at all what she wants. What she wants is to scream at the top of her lungs so that Hikmet, Emir, and everyone in the whole hospital hears that she wants her husband back.
But she won't get him back by doing nothing. Before she knows what she's doing, the call button for the nurse's station is in her hands and she's frantically pushing it to get their attention.
"You have to help me," she says to the nurse that finally comes into the room. "You have to help me get to Emir."
She has a strong feeling that her marriage depends on it.