nine | ~ Serenity ~
My eyes slid open, but I forced them shut again. The singing had stopped and I didn’t want it to end. It had chased away my nightmares and terror. Then Teak’s voice reached through my darkness, his finger a gentle caress on my arm. “Can you hear me, Baby? Can you open your eyes? Please open your eyes. God, I’ve missed you so much.”
Teak was with me. I was safe. When I opened them again, my vision was blurry so I slowly blinked, hoping to bring things into focus. The first thing my gaze landed on was Teak’s anxious face. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was a rumpled mess – worse than his usual bed head – and he had more than a bit of scruff on his face. As the picture got clearer, I got a better look at his eyes. “You’ve been crying?” My question rasped out between dry lips.
He gave me a huge smile. “I’ve missed your beautiful eyes and you talking to me.” Leaning over me, he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “I was so worried . . . ” He didn’t need to finish his thought.
Even though deep down I knew I was safe here with him, terror crawled up my spine and the horror of what I had gone through slammed back at me full force and made it difficult to breathe. “It was her.” Tears welled in my eyes before falling down my cheeks. Shudders rippled through my body. “She tried to kill me.” The words hurt coming out – not only because of my unused throat but because of the memories they summoned.
He cupped my cheeks in his hands. “I know. But it’s okay. You’re safe now. Calm down, Baby. You need to stay calm while you’re still healing. But there’s no reason for you to get upset. They caught her and the bitch hung herself in her cell. It’s all over. She’s gone. She can’t hurt you ever again.”
She was dead? I didn’t even have to face her in court? A strange combination of emotions flitted through me – relief, elation, and sorrow. However, relief was the only one that stuck around. “I should feel bad she killed herself. She was a sick and twisted person who needed help. But she was cruel and almost killed me, so I can’t feel bad.”
“And you shouldn’t. And don’t let Ivy hear you say you should feel bad. She wanted to kill her too.”
Slowly, I raised my hand and set it on top of Teak’s. “I love you. I know you would have done anything for me.” And I was glad the temptation for revenge was removed from both him and Ivy. “Where is Ivy? I couldn’t imagine her being reasonable about not being permitted in here.”
“She was starting to go stir crazy. Which reminds me. I promised I would text her if you woke up. And I should probably alert the nurses to your being awake.” He kissed my cheek before stepping out into the hall. He walked back in a minute later. “I also texted your parents to let them know you were awake.”
“My parents are here?”
“Yeah, I called them Saturday night and they drove right up.”
“Did Ivy give you the number? And thank you so much for thinking of telling them.”
“It wasn’t the way I had planned on meeting them, but they needed to know. And no, I used your phone.”
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open right before I covered it with my palm. “You found my phone?”
“That was how we found you. Ivy tracked your phone from hers.”
A knock sounded on my door and then a young nurse with brown hair and kind brown eyes walked over to my bed. “I just want to check your vitals and get some readings to record for the doctor. He’ll be in later to check on you. But it sounds as if you aren’t having any complications. It must have been your fiancé’s singing that pulled you back, huh?” She fussed with my machines and wires before assessing me. “Everything looks really good. How does your abdomen feel? Do you want any more pain medication?”
“No. It’s still really sore, but I don’t like the slight effects I’m feeling right now from it so I can just imagine how it would be when it’s working full force and not wearing off.” I was able to hold a coherent conversation with Teak, yet on the edges of my consciousness lingered that feeling of being loopy. And I didn’t like it. It made me feel out of complete control and after not having any control recently, my sanity needed to have that absolute power.
“Okay. As long as you don’t seem to be in distress. You need to be comfortable to aid in your healing. After the doctor sees you, he will hopefully release you to start eating real food.”
My stomach picked that moment to grumble its agreeance. “Yeah, that would be great.”
“Buzz if you need anything.” My file in hand, she headed back out the door.
I studied him for a moment. “You didn’t propose to me, did you?”
He gave me a boyish grin. “No. But as far as anyone knows, we are engaged. I had to make sure I was given information and access to you. I was going out of my mind.” His grin faltered briefly as sadness crept back into his eyes momentarily.
“I don’t mind.” I shot him a silly smile. “I’m just glad it’s not something I had forgotten. Between having my head slammed off of the outside of the car by the – ” My smile vanished, my lips trembled, the blood rushed from my face, and my heart hammered in my chest, causing the beats on my monitor to race. “That was why the security guard gave me those strange looks at the door. He helped her. He dragged me out of the hall. Then he banged my head off of her car before tossing me into the back seat. Combining that with then being whipped around in the back seat and crashing my head into the door several times; there was no way I could get my body to obey orders and I was worried I was going to end up with some sort of brain damage. If I even survived at all.” I worked to swallow down my panic. The threat was gone, by her own hands.
The nurse peeked her head inside my door. “Is everything okay in here?” She moved inside and eyed me curiously.
“Yes. She got a little upset when she started remembering some things.”
She nodded. “Very normal. And you usually can’t control when they will resurface. But try to avoid things that will upset you. You want to stay calm while you are healing.” She reminded me before closing the door behind her.
“Thank God you found me. When I lost my phone and then blacked out when I was trying to find it; I didn’t know what was going to happen.” I took in a deep breath to calm my rampant nerves. It was over. Right? There was no sense rehashing the horrors I had lived through. “What about that security guard? Do I have to worry about him? He was only doing it for her. He didn’t hold any resentment toward me.” Another deep breath.
“Fuck, Serenity. I wish I could crawl in that bed and hold you. I wish I could ease your pain. But I would end up hurting you more. You’re still in pain and I don’t want to impede your healing.” He dragged his chair right up to the edge of the bed, sat down, and took my hand in his and entwined our fingers, while his other lightly traced up and down my arm. “You don’t have to worry about him either. She ratted him out, so the police have him. I’m sure you might have to ID him, but between her spilling about his involvement and then you confirming it; it’s over, Baby. Finally, completely over.” He ran his hand down my hair.
I closed my eyes to his soothing touch. As I lay there, with his fingers and words comforting me, a peace I hadn’t felt since before my abduction rushed over me, filling my heart and my soul. Deep breaths centered my anxious thoughts. Then I took a bigger sniff. “Um, Teak. Is that stench you or me?” I popped my eyes open.
He chuckled. “I’m sure you were cleaned up somewhat, but I haven’t showered since Friday night. I know I’m ripe. I haven’t left since we brought you here. Now that you’re awake, once either your parents or Ivy and Ascher come back, I’ll grab a quick shower. Be glad I’ve at least been brushing my teeth. Now that would be really offensive.” He winked at me.
Placing my free hand onto my stomach, I stifled my laugh. My insides burned and pulled, but at least it wasn’t excruciating. I could deal with some discomfort, but I’d work to avoid it as much as possible. “I don’t want to cry, but I don’t want to laugh either. That’s so not fair.”
His cheerful expression dimmed. And because I knew him so well, I read that look.
“Hey. No more about that. How about we agree to steer clear of anything that has to do with that which we won’t mention. The only one to blame is her. And I don’t want to give it anymore thought until I have to hash things out with the police. Although I do have one question and then I’m done with it; what day is today?”
“It’s Tuesday.”
“Okay. Not great, but could have been so much worse. So now we’re done with that topic.”
The door burst open, snapping our attention to my new visitors. Ivy stepped inside with Ascher right behind her. She squealed, slapped her hand to her mouth, and bounced on her feet. Then she wrapped her boyfriend in a huge hug before gesturing wildly to me. “My best friend is awake. She’s going to be okay.” She shot me a smile so wide I was afraid it was going to split her face in two. While she continued to bob on her feet, she tapped Ascher’s arm. “Look, look. She’s awake.”
He chuckled at her before tugging her into his arms. “Yes. Everything is good now.”
“You can come over and see me. You don’t have to stay at the door.” I gave her a wave. “But it has to be a gentle hug.”
“I know. I just have to get my excitements under control. I don’t want to hurt you. But fuck, I want to squeeze the hell out of you.”
“In that case, keep your ass over there and you can hug me through Ascher.”
“To hell with that.” She shook out her hands and took in a steadying breath. “Okay. I’m good.” She rushed over to my bed, leaned down, and much to my surprise gave me the softest hug I’ve ever received from her. “I’m not going to squeeze at all. I just need to touch you, to know this is real.” When she released me, she ran her hand down my arm. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she smiled at me. “Girl, you scared the fuck out of me. I love you, bestie.”
“I love you, too. And we made some rules; no discussing what happened and no making me cry, get upset, or laugh.”
Her gaze drifted to my stomach briefly. “Well, hell. The harder I try not to be funny the funnier I’m sure I’ll be.”
“You’re probably right, but let’s try to keep it at a minimal.”
After Ivy and Ascher got settled in the other chairs, Teak took the opportunity to grab a quick shower and put on clean clothes. His shorts and t-shirt looked much better than his ruined dress pants and hospital gown. His hair was his normal sexy loose waves; his face now clean shaven; and he smelled like soap and him instead of four day old rotting road kill.
My parents arrived about a half an hour later and the doctor stopped in a little after that. My prognosis was good; I was ordered some dinner; but I wasn’t going to be released from the hospital for at least another three days. That last bit brought a frown to my face.
When visiting hours were over, Ivy, Ascher, and my mom and dad headed out. My parents were driving the entire way home but planned to return in about a week, after I was released, to visit again.
“I’ll be okay here tonight if you want to go home and sleep in a real bed and get some decent rest.”
Teak grasped my hand and ran his thumb over my knuckles. “No way. That bed won’t feel right without you in it. And I’m not leaving you alone at all. I know you are safe, but I want to be here with you, for you. You are mine to take care of.”
“I like you being here too, but I just feel bad. That chair has to be awful. Although, this bed really sucks too.” I dropped my gaze to the blanket covering me and pulled at some of the fuzz. “I’m going to need to talk to someone about this. I know; we agreed we weren’t talking about it, but I wanted you to know, I feel like I’m going to need help moving past it. Sometimes when I close my eyes or someone says something; it triggers those horrible memories.”
“I’ll help you find someone who comes highly recommended. You’re probably suffering from PTSD. I’ll make sure you get the best care available. And on that note, I decided to postpone our upcoming tour.”
Stunned, I snapped my eyes up to meet his. “Wait. What? You can’t do that. You don’t need to do that.”
Releasing my hand, he reached up to stroke my hair. “It’s going to be six weeks until you are allowed to start doing things and months after that until you are back to normal. And I’m talking about your physical and mental health. I’d take you with us, but that will be a strain on your body. We’re still going to release our next album, but we don’t have to tour every year. Besides, the guys are okay with taking an extended vacation. Although, we do need to get together and record.”
“But what about your disappointed fans?” Without my permission, her venomous words bubbled to the surface. I tried to swallow the bit of fear they summoned.
Still running his fingers gently through my tangles – even though he was careful not to pull – he stood up and leaned over me to give me a tender kiss. His tongue swept across my bottom lip so I opened and he dipped inside to softly tangle with mine. This kiss was short and sweet and enough to help me get my nerves under control. When his eyes locked on mine, his strength washed over me. “This will be something you can talk with your therapist about, but the chances of you ever meeting someone like her again are slim to none.” Then he beamed at me, his eyes twinkling with humor like he was in on some private joke. “Besides, according to social media, my fans adore you. Between my manager sharing the snippet of you on stage with me and others who were in attendance, our pages have been blowing up with comments and posts. They were raving about the new song and how excited they were about my sweet, shy, adorable girlfriend.” He shot me a wink. “And then there were some more boisterous ones who voiced their demands for ‘Justice for Serenity.’ They were outraged that someone, who claimed to be one of my devoted fans, could be so cruel and monstrous. I’m not sure who leaked about that, but those posts have gotten a shit ton of views, likes, and comments. From what I could tell, they don’t know anything about the new developments though. I spent a bit of time scrolling social media while I’ve been here and that was pretty amazing to see. It helped lighten my heart. Although it didn’t make me truly happy until after you woke up. Now I can fully embrace it. And I want you to think about that. I know it’s going to take you a long time to fully heal from all of this, but let that little tidbit help ease your mind somewhat.”
Tears streamed down my face in a never ending torrent. “Oh my God. That is so unbelievable. They don’t even know me.”
Teak’s eyes shifted to my monitor.
“It’s okay. I think releasing the tears is actually helping me not to get worked up. If that makes sense.”
Reaching over to the portable table, he grabbed me some tissues to wipe my snotty face and nose. “In just those few moments on stage, I think they could see the real you that I had fallen in love with. After all, I started falling for you when you conveniently got lost looking for the bathroom after my concert.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, a teasing smirk tugging at his lips.
“Oh my God. Not that again. Whatever. You believe what you want to. I know the truth. And truthfully, I love you.”
“I love you too. Are you ready to try to get some sleep? You’ve been awake since your eyes opened. You probably could’ve used a couple of naps today.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And knowing you’re here will help me sleep.”
“Not going anywhere.” He placed a long kiss on my forehead before settling back in his chair and fussing with the pillow.
“What if you put the pillow on the side of my bed at my hip? You won’t disturb me. Will that make it more comfortable for you? If we raise the bed a bit too so like you’re laying your head on the bar in the kitchen or something.”
“It can’t be any worse. And bonus, it will put me closer to you and I think it might be a touch more comfortable.” Teak turned off some of the lights and then arranged the pillow by my hip. Once he settled his head beside me, I ran my hands through his hair.
“That feels wonderful.”