ONE Ledger
ONE
Ledger
It has been two weeks since Ledger and his team went to bring Violet back home with them. Since then, the swelling around her face has decreased and some of the bruising has faded. Even though he has seen a picture of her, Ledger can’t wait for her to open her eyes.
Doc took her off the coma meds a few days ago, all the new tests showed she has healed enough physically and now it’s a waiting game to see how she is mentally. One can never be too sure when abuse comes from someone you once loved.
Ledger sat down in the chair next to her bed to take his turn watching over her. They don’t want her to wake up alone and be scared because she’s somewhere new and around people she’s never seen before.
One of the nurses came in to check her vitals.
“She should be waking up soon by the look of things. Make sure she stays calm, give her small sips of water. Don’t bombard her with questions right away.
Talk to her and explain how she got here, she’ll open up more once she understands what’s happened. ”
Ledger nodded his head at her before she walked out the door. He felt like he was being scolded by his mother. That made him chuckle a little to himself. Ledger looked at Violet and saw her eyes were open and staring right at him.
He stood and walked closer to her side and poured some water into the small cup next to the pitcher. Ledger put the straw into the cup before he moved closer toward Violet.
“Here take a few small sips then I’ll explain where you are.”
After she took a couple of sips, Ledger placed the cup back on the stand and sent a quick text to Doc letting him know Violet was awake.
“I sent word to Doc that you are awake. My name is Ledger and a mutual friend of ours called me to ask for my help. Carp, well Carpenter is how you know him, called to see if I might be able to get you away from what happened to you.”
He saw a tear slide down the side of her face and land on the pillow. Without thinking, he brushed his thumb against her face softly to remove the tears. Doc walked in with a nurse and Ledger stepped back to give them space to make sure Violet was doing alright.
Violet
Surrounded by darkness, Violet doesn’t know how long it’s been since her ex last beat her. If she’s dead then why is she in the dark? Even though she hasn’t done anything bad in her life, except falling in love with a douchebag, Violet figured she’d end up in Heaven when she died by his hands.
She heard voices or at least she thought she did, and tried hard to open her eyes. Violet saw a woman in a nurse’s uniform talking to someone and as she moved her eyes, she saw the sexiest man alive.
He nodded his head at her. He closed his eyes and chuckled a little to himself. She liked the sound of his laughter, even if it wasn’t all that loud. His eyes moved toward her face and once he registered, she was awake, it was like lightning struck her.
Violet followed his movements and saw he was getting her something to drink. After a few sips, he explained a little how she got here. Her friend, Carpenter, made good on his promise to her that the next time she got hurt, he would find a way to get her out of there and somewhere safe.
A single tear rolled down the side of her face to land on the pillow under her head.
Ledger without hesitation moved to wipe away the trace of it.
Normally when a man’s hand would come near her face, she would flinch as a natural instinct from all the abuse, but for some reason, when Ledger’s hand came close to her, she didn’t have any fear. If anything, she felt safe.
A moment later there was some noise by the door, and a tall man with a white coat on and the nurse she saw leave earlier came into the room. Ledger walked away from her to give them room, and she felt sad with his actions.
“My name is Doc. This is nurse Kelly. How are you feeling, Violet?”
Violet tried to talk but only managed to whisper a few words to let them know how she felt. She noticed that it was a little hard to pull in a full breath and her throat hurt to swallow as well as talk.
Doc explained all the injuries that she had gotten from her latest beating, but most of the major problems had healed, and some would take a little longer due to the amount of damage done.
“How long?” was whispered by her. Violet needed to know how long she had been out to know how bad it really was.
“I’m not going to lie to you…you almost died. You were in a coma for a month before we were able to take you off the meds. For the next few weeks, you need to rest and once you heal a little more, we’ll get you some therapy. Both physical and mental.”
Doc continued to explain what happened to her. Her vision got blurry with unshed tears. She felt something being pushed through her IV cannula in her arm. Violet knew it was something to help with the pain as well as to help calm her down.
Ledger walked over once more when the pair had left the room, but Kelly said she’d be back to bring her some soup. Ledger’s hand once again wiped away the tears that fell without her knowledge.
Without warning, she was pulled into his chest as she sobbed. He carefully rubbed circles on her back as he held her while she broke down. Violet couldn’t understand why she did, but maybe it was hearing how close she actually came to dying this time.
Her head felt heavy and she knew the meds were kicking in as she slowly closed her eyes while still being held in Ledger’s arms. Her last thought was how safe she felt for the first time in a long time.
Ledger
When Doc told Violet all the injuries she sustained, something inside him cracked.
He looked at her break a little bit more with the information he told her.
Ledger hasn’t felt anything for a woman, and he wasn’t planning on it while still in the service, as he’d seen many of his friends get married for it to end in one way or another… divorce or death.
Violet’s tears had him on the move. Once Doc was out of the room, he strode over and brushed the tears away. Ledger knew he didn’t need to say anything because really what could be said to make it all right? Nothing.
So, he carefully pulled her into his arms and allowed her to break within his comfort. He hoped she felt safe with him and the others who were wanting to help her heal.
Ledger waited for her breathing to even out and still held on for a few more minutes before he gently laid her back down on the bed, so she could get some rest. He knew part of it was from the meds Kelly had given her, and the other was from exhausting herself after just waking up.
He wasn’t sure how long it was before Kelly brought in some soup along with some applesauce. Ledger called out her name softly so as not to spook her. Kelly helped move the bed a little higher so one of them could help her eat something.
After only a few spoonfuls of soup Violet’s eyes closed again. Kelly was okay with how little she ate but knew it was at least a good start. Watching her sleep, Ledger thought about who he was going to get to help her with what he knew she would need to help her feel safe once again.