I woke to the ceiling of our bedroom suite in Humphries Tower just like the first time I woke up with Elodie's body.
How long had I been unconscious?
The lights were dim, and I could hear low voices nearby.
My arm ached. I turned my head to see an IV line running into my vein. Clear fluid dripping steadily from a bag hanging on a portable stand.
There was a doctor I didn't recognize. He seemed to be a middle-aged man in expensive casual attire and he was checking my vital signs.
Knox stood behind him, arms crossed.
As soon as he realized I was awake, he immediately sat beside me.
"Elodie, are you all right?"
"What happened?" I whispered, my throat dry.
His gaze dropped to the IV line, then back to my face. "You collapsed. You've been out for a day."
A day?
It didn't make sense.
I was never this weak.
I'd gone thirty-six hours straight in the OR stitching wounds, and surviving on caffeine and adrenaline.
Then I recalled Elodie's words. "My body is failing from poison administered over months."
I immediately looked at the IV. "What is that?"
The doctor glanced at Knox before responding. "Just fluids and vitamins, Mrs. Humphries. You fainted from exhaustion. This will help you recover."
"What's in it?" I asked more forcefully. "What medications?"
The doctor's smile was professionally placating.
"It's nothing you need to worry about, Mrs. Humphries. Standard IV fluids with B-complex vitamins and electrolytes. Perfectly routine."
Nothing you need to know.
It's the same dismissive response I'd heard doctors give to patients they didn't respect.
Patients who asked too many questions.
My heart rate spiked.
"I want to know exactly what's in the IV," I demanded, trying to sit up despite the dizziness. "I have a right to know what's going into my body."
Knox moved to my side immediately, his hand gentle on my shoulder.
"Elodie, you're being paranoid. Dr. Adams is one of the best private physicians in Coastfields. He's just helping you recover from fainting."
Dr. Adams.
A name I didn't recognize.
A doctor I'd never met.
And he was injecting something into my veins - Elodie's veins - while I was unconscious.
Every instinct I'd developed through years of medical training screamed danger.
"No." My hand went to the IV line. "I don't want this. Take it out!"
"Mrs. Humphries, please…" Dr. Adams reached for my arm, and I yanked it away from him.
"Don't touch me!"
The monitor beside the bed shrieked as my heart rate jumped.
Knox's expression shifted to alarm.
"Elodie, what's wrong? Why are you…"
"I don't know him!" I pointed at Dr. Adams with my free hand. "I don't know what he's giving me!"
"Just trust me, he's…"
"I don't trust you!"
The words exploded out of me before I could stop them.
There was a deafening silence.
Knox pulled back like I'd physically struck him. His jaw ticked as his entire body went rigid.
The warmth that had been building between us all evening - the protective touches, the gentle concern, the tentative softening - vanished like it had never existed.
When he looked at me again, his eyes were back to ice.
"I see," his voice was flat, emotionless. "My mistake for thinking you changed."
Then he turned to the doctor.
"Dr. Adams, what's your professional assessment?"
"Given the extreme personality changes, the paranoia and the emotional volatility, these could all be neurological side effects of the medicine she's taking. She needs to be sedated for her own safety. She's already injured herself removing the IV. We need to stabilize her mentally before we can address the underlying issues."
"No! I don't need to be sedated. I just need…"
"Do it," Knox's voice was final. He didn't even look at me. "Sedate her until she's calm."
"No!" Panic clawed at my throat.
They're going to drug me. And I won't know what they're putting in my body. I won't be able to protect myself!
Dr. Adams moved toward me with a syringe.
"No!" I scrambled backward on the bed, my wounded arm leaving smears of blood on the silk sheets. "Don't touch me! Knox, please, just listen…"
But Knox had turned away. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, shutting me out completely.
He's really going to let this happen?
He's going to let them drug me?
Something broke inside me.
All the fear, the confusion and the betrayal ever since I came into this body broke loose. It all came pouring out in a flood of rage and pain.
"Youre a fake!" the words ripped from my throat before I could stop them. "I shouldn't have believed in you!"
My voice cracked, breaking on the words as tears streamed down my face.
"You came into my life, making me believe that you loved me. You made me think we had a future! But you're secretly making an empire behind my back?"
Knox froze, his back still to me. Every muscle in his body went rigid.
"You said you wanted me to be your wife!" I sobbed, the words poured out in a flood. "You talked about marriage, about forever, about building a life together! But you're already married? Screw you, Knox!"
Now, Knox turned towards me. His eyes widened.
Elodie must not have told him that.
But I will.
I'm not Elodie.
I'm Yuna!
And I will not let anyone hurt me without permission!
Not then.
Not now!
"I thought you were a good man. I thought you cared about justice and helping people. But you're supporting illegal drug testing? What, for money? All for your precious hotels and your empire?"
"Mrs. Humphries, please…" Dr. Adams tried to approach again, hands raised.
"Don't touch me!" I lashed out, my palm connected with his chest, shoving him back. "Don't any of you touch me!"
I saw Knox struggled. Every line of his body screamed with effort of maintaining control.
"Elodie…" he said, his voice strained. "You need to calm down. You're not making sense…"
"I'm not Elodie!!"