The Sweetest Temptation
Chapter 113: Overheard

Chapter 113: Overheard

Xavier’s heart slammed in his chest the moment he entered the dimly lit room of the hotel.

Rhys was nowhere to be found even though the CCTV cameras showed he had checked into this room and haven’t left since

The room smelled of alcohol and stale cigarettes, the place looked a complete mess.

There were empty bottles of beer on the counter and on the coffee table.

The bed was disheveled, There was no sheet on the mattress or cover on his quilt, and there were clothes along with most of his other things sprawled all over the bed and floor.

Empty bottle, syringes and needles were splattered on the floor too.

"Rhys!" Xavier yelled but no response. He made his way towards the bathroom and turned the doorknob, but the door wouldn’t open, it was jammed shut.

His heart slammed in his chest because he had seen this before and it wasn’t an experience he wanted to go through again.

"Rhys? It’s me, it’s Xavier . Open the door, c’mon."

"Rhys!" Xavier yelled when he get no response.

He was banging against the door with his fist,

"Rhys open the door, please fucking open the door."

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Pure panic and adrenaline coursed through him.

Xavier started to feel a sense of dread as he realized something might be wrong. He toke a deep breath.

"I’m breaking the door!" He yelled and then raised his foot and kicked the door with all his might.

The door splintered and broke, and Xavier stumbled into the bathroom.

Xavier had been trained to be a killer and heartless at a young age but nothing could have prepared him for the scene in front of him.

Seeing the cheerful young boy whom he had played with when he was a kid like this was awful.

As he laid eyes on Rhys, everything around him appeared to come to a standstill. Time seemed to have come to a halt as he moved towards him in what felt like slow motion.

He couldn’t take his gaze off of him and his heart felt as though it had been torn out of his chest upon seeing him.

He violently opened the glass shower door and fell to his knees upon reaching him, momentarily paralyzed.

"Rhys?" He called out but he remained motionless.

Curled up in the corner of the shower, in the fetal position with his hands over his ears and his face buried against his knees, he still hadn’t moved.

He was completely naked and was shaking. The only thing that showed that he was still alive was the fact that his whole body was trembling.

"Hey man, it’s Xavier." He muttered as he pulled Rhys’ hands away from his ears and held his face to make him look at him.

Rhys flinched and pulled away from him.

"D-don’t touch me...please don’t touch me." He croaked out.

Xavier nodded and raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry, I won’t. Have you taken anything? I need you to answer me."

Seeing his face, Xavier sighed. He knew he had been through hell for the past couple of days.

Rhys’ eyes were heavy, so bloodshot and swollen from crying but it was how fucking exhausted he looks... it was as if he hadn’t slept in years.

It was difficult to put into words the emotion etched on his face, a combination of emptiness and deep pain. He seemed like a shell of his former self, completely devoid of life.

Avoiding Xavier’s gaze, Rhys was asked again, this time in a more forceful tone, "Rhys. Have you taken anything? Answer me or I’m calling an ambulance right now. Did you take anything?"

Despite the question, Rhys remained quiet, tears streaming down his face, and his breath shook with each inhale. The only reply he gave was a slow nod of his head.

"Fuck!" Xavier cussed.

"Let’s get you out of here first then I will call the doctor okay?"

He blinked but didn’t answer:

"I’m going to pick you up, are you okay with it?"

Xavier watched as the warning bells rang in his mind. Rhys was frozen, fear gripping him in his warm embrace.

"I won’t harm you. Remember the hide and seek we used to play? I always helped you to find Damien. Now let me help you find him again, okay?"

No answer from him again was all Xavier had to work with, so he took a breath before slipping his arms under his thighs and managed to squeeze his other behind his back.

Waiting a couple of seconds to see how he would react, when he didn’t move he gritted his teeth and used all his strength to lift him slowly and made his way to the bedroom.

"C’mon, let’s go. I’ve got you."

He still couldn’t process what the fuck had happened for him to relapse again. It had been years since he had gotten worse like this. Probably seeing that man again had awoken his demons.

The last time they had found him bleeding to death.

Today he looked so helpless. Like a lost little kid trying to hide themselves away. Curled up in the corner of that shower.

He gently placed him on the bed.At first he was rigid, like every muscle in his body was tensed as tight as it could be, and all she did was stare down at the ceiling .

Xavier removed his phone from his pocket and went back to the bathroom to call the doctor.

When he came back,he found out that Rhys was asleep. He knew he should be glad that he was now sleeping but Xavier knew better.

It was like he had literally passed out from utter exhaustion.

When was the last time he slept?

Xavier sighed and started cleaning the room. He packed all the beer bottles and left the vials that contained the drugs he had injected for the doctor to inspect when he came.

After he was done he waited for the doctor to come and while he was waiting he decided to call Beatrix. She had been worried sick about Rhys these past few days.

Funny how her father is the cause of all of these nightmares and now she was the one set to help him overcome these nightmares.

******

Even though Xavier had assured her that Rhys was okay, Beatrix couldn’t help but still get worried.

She knew what he was going through even though she didn’t know what had caused those nightmares and terrors.

She really hoped that he was okay.

"Miss, please sign here." The nurse’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Beatrix nodded, "Alright."

She read through the discharged forms before she signed.

"Okay you can now leave with Mr. Niarchos. You are to bring him in two weeks time for review. But in case you notice anything out of the usual you can bring him back."

The nurse muttered and Beatrix nodded, "Okay, thank you."

Beatrix thanked the nurse and made her way back to Damien’s room. When he reached the door she heard him on the phone.

"How bad is he?" She heard him asked the person and even though she didn’t know who he was referring to she was sure it was Rhys.

He heard him sighed, "Fuck. I thought—I had lost him. I was so scared. He took the drugs, didn’t he?"

"Overdose? Stupid. Does he want to die before we take revenge or what?" Damien mumbled.

Beatrix’s heart slammed in her chest. Overdose? Did Rhys overdose? God! She hoped he was alright. She really wished she was by his side right now.

But wait, revenge? What revenge was Damien talking about?

"Yeah, the bastard was here. His presence probably triggered his memories. If I knew it was going to be that bad I would have never let him meet him. I thought seeing him again would show him that he had no power over him again but fuck—"

Beatrix frowned, what was he talking about? Whom did he meet? Did someone visit them when she wasn’t around?

"Hmm let me know what the doctor will say." She heard Damien said

"Hmm." He said before he hung up the call.

Beatrix bit her lips and waited for a moment before she entered the room. She didn’t want him to know that she had overheard his conversation.

"Hey, I’m done with necessary requirements for your discharge. Now we have to wait for Remo."

Damien gave her a curt nod. She could see that he was in a very bad mood.

Beatrix fiddled with her fingers and sighed, "Are you still worried about Rhys? We can visit him before we go to our new home. What do you think?"

She saw Damien frozen at her words. So they were really hiding how bad Rhys’ condition was from her.

"No. Xavier is with him. He will visit us with him."

Beatrix furrowed her brows but didn’t argue with him.

Forcing out a smile, she nodded.

"Alright."

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