Third person's POV
Tabitha was taken to the emergency room that night.
Kamp was at the Black Thorn Pack in Seattle. When he heard the news, he felt he was gonna lose it.
His premonition that had been haunting him came true. He flew overnight.
Derek stood outside the emergency room. His shirt was stained with Tabitha's blood, but he wasn't bothered at all.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Alvin approached him cautiously and hesitated before finally speaking, "Alpha Derek, I just had someone go to the Werewolf Hospital where Orson used to work and get Tabitha's medical records."
Derek stood with his hands behind his back, his face icy. He was immersed in his thoughts until Alvin spoke, snapping him back to reality.
Alvin handed him the pathology reports, a total of two.
"Tabitha fainted while taking care of John, so she went to the Werewolf Hospital for an examination, and the results were in the first report. At that time, her wound couldn't heal, and after Orson's examination, he figured that the claw of the rogue that scratched her should have been smeared with wolfsbane.
"The second report is the full physical you had Kamp do on her. After investigation, we found that the report had been tampered with. By that time, wolfsbane was detectable in her blood, but someone paid the doctor to change her report to normal in order to hide the fact."
Derek looked at the contents written on the report issued by Orson, his fingers trembling lightly.
He glanced at the time on the report, and with his photographic memory, he recalled that day was the day he was with Daphne and Kyrian at the Black Thorn Pack.
Back then, he and Tabitha hadn't been on speaking terms for three months already. That day, Tabitha suddenly called him. Her voice on the other end of the line was different, filled with great exhaustion and weakness.
To this day, he still remembered her tone. "Derek, let's end it. Let's reject each other."
He thought, 'At that time, she found out that she had a terminal illness. She must have been so scared and anxious.
'What was I doing at that time?
'The house was deserted, and the flowers in the vase were withered. Clearly, something was off.
'She loves life so much. How could she see the flowers wither without doing anything?
'Why didn't I notice it back then?
'She told me so many times that she was sick. Why didn't I believe her?'
Derek tightened his fingers little by little, crumpling the reports.
When Tabitha needed him the most, he hurt her again and again for revenge.
He always claimed he loved her, but in the end, he was the one who hurt her.
Orson stood behind him, seeing the back of his head but not the expression on his face.
Then Orson spoke softly, "I used to persuade her. At that time, her condition wasn't in the late stage, and there was a fifty percent chance that she could be cured. But she gave up treatment. Do you know why?"
Of course, Derek did. Back then, the burden of life was overwhelming her, and he kept the truth about Daphne from her. Whether it was her love life or her family ties, reality had pushed her to the edge of a cliff, leaving her with no way out.
"Because of me."
"Yes. Because of you. She had thought it through and decided to get treated, and I even conducted a session for her, purifying her through the moonlight in the forest, and my treatment worked well. However, then she gave up again. She said she owed you."
Derek's usually upright back was now hunched over, and all Orson could see were his trembling shoulders. Tears streamed down Derek's prominent nose and fell onto the papers, which soon became wet.
Orson walked step by step towards Derek, and at this moment, Derek, the man who was always noble, looked like a withered grass.
Orson coldly looked at him and asked him word by word, "In the end, is it her who owes you, or is it you who owes her?"