AN : Hello guys ! Here we go for chapter 8 ! I hope you still like this fanfic hihi, let me know :)

Disclaimer : I do not own any of these characters and I don't make any profits out of this

Chapter 8 :

Her eyes immediately found his : "Henry" her eyes widened and before her husband could say or do anything, she fled to the bathroom quickly…

/-/-/-/-/

In the bathroom

Catherine was breathing heavily and was holding herself with her both of her hands on each side of one of the sinks. She was trying to catch her breath and briefly looked at her reflection in the mirror just above the sinks. She looked miserable… she had even cried in her sleep… just when she was wiping away some of the mascara that had stained her cheeks, she heard the echo of her husband's steps that were coming closer.

In the bedroom

Henry had been so surprised to see her like that ? Was she having a nightmare ? or maybe she was in pain ? After all, she had just given birth less than two days ago… It took him a minute to follow her to the bathroom…

Back in the bathroom

Catherine certainly could never let Henry see her like that again… he would ask questions she wasn't ready to answer… her only possibility was the toilets… she nearly ran and locked herself inside just when her husband set foot in the bathroom.

"Catherine ?" He had just had enough time to see the door of the toilets closing before he entered.

Catherine was sitting on the toilets and had put her face in her hands and choose to avoid answering him…

Henry sighed and walked to the toilets' door. There, he knocked softly on the door. "Catherine come on… I know you are in here…"

His wife sighed nearly inaudibly… she was shaking "Go away Henry. I don't want to see anyone now…." She had tried successfully to hide the trembling of her voice.

Her husband sighed loud enough for her to hear "Catherine… please… tell me what's wrong…"

"Nothing's wrong." She replied shortly and quite coldly.

He swallowed as he heard the coldness in her voice. "Are you in pain ?" he was quite worried now.

Catherine saw her chance to get rid of this situation "Yes… yes I am…" It was only half a lie, she was indeed in pain… but not the kind of pain her Henry was thinking of. Unfortunately for her, her husband saw clear in this little game "No you're not Catherine… it's not that. Tell me what it is please ? A nightmare ? What could have you so shaken ?"

The exhausted woman was overwhelmed by all his questions and put her hands over her ears as tears filled her eyes.

"Catherine ? Catherine ? Answer me…" He insisted but she could now barely hear him and silent tears fell down her cheeks as she began to hyperventilate.

Henry put both of his hands flat on the door when he heard suffocating sounds. "Catherine ?! Are you alright ?"

She was so lost and panicked that she had lost control of her breathing.

"Catherine ! Calm down it's alright, just breathe…" He was getting worried.

She tried to focus on his voice to stay in the present. On the other side of the door, Henry was trying to remember what he used to do when they were younger when his wife had a nightmare… "Caterina… just focus on my voice" He remembered that she usually needed to hear someone to avoid getting absorbed by her thoughts. His wife tried to listen to him but it wasn't easy.

"That's it Catherine, just breathe you will be fine." He continued to talk to her for all the time it took her to go back to "normal".

Catherine cleared her throat and wiped her tears… the past days had been far too much for her and her panic attack was just the result of these overwhelming emotions… "I… I'm alright now".

Henry closed his eyes in relief… "Would you open the door now please ?"

She took a deep breath "Only if you promise that you won't ask any more questions."

He nodded even thought she couldn't see him "I promise…" A few seconds later, he heard the door being unlocked and took a few steps back. Catherine got up and opened the door slowly, she looked at him briefly and then walked into the bathroom while trying to avoid is eyes.

On his side, Henry observed his wife carefully to make sure she was indeed alright. He wanted to speak to her so bad… but he had promised her and certainly wouldn't break that promise.

Catherine washed her face with water from the sink and dried it with a towel, then she walked back to the bedroom. She was grateful that her husband had respected his promise to stay quiet.

Henry followed her silently to the bedroom and watched her get into bed. His wife covered herself up until her nose with the blankets.

He was desperate to do something for her. He hated nothing more than to feel so helpless and useless. He wanted to help her so badly… just at this moment, he remembered he used to make her an infusion when incidents like this happened. He thought it would be a good thing if he did that know, after all, she hadn't forbidden him from bringing her a tea…

On that thought, he went down to the kitchen silently… Catherine was watching him discreetly, in a way, she was relieved to see him leaving, but a part of her had hoped he would have stayed… but that was just another disappointment, just one more to add to the list….

AN : Here we go for this chapter guys. It's a shorter one sorry hihi :) Let me know what you think please ;)

Laura D.