A young man struggles to carry on, scarred and broken by everything that's happened to him since he was kidnapped and held prisoner. What happened to the beautiful, mysterious girl who haunts his dreams? Will the love they shared be strong enough...
He sighed deeply as he laid there listening to Georgie scream.
"Robert!"
He didn't want to go out there.
"Robert!"
He remembered what it had been like the night before, how much it had affected him to hold her.
"Robert!"
But listening to the desperation and fear in her voice as she screamed for him was like torture.
"Robert!"
Then her screams changed to the long piercing screams of agony and grief as her nightmare progressed. As he listened to her screaming over and over, it reminded him of all those nights in the flat he'd spent lying in his bed listening to her, waiting for her to finally be quiet so he could go back to sleep. Then he remembered how incredibly guilty he'd felt after they were a couple, knowing how much he'd allowed her to suffer for all those weeks. He got up with another deep sigh and pulled on his jeans over his boxers.
When he shook Georgie awake, she cried out, "Robert!" and grabbed onto him just like she had the night before but he was ready for it and braced himself. He hesitated for a moment while she sobbed against him, then sat with her on the couch and put his arms around her. When he felt her body trembling with fear against him, he began rocking her slightly and shushing her while she sobbed into his shoulder, handfuls of his t-shirt in her fists.
While he comforted her he told himself he would do this because she needed it, and because he owed it to her. He owed it to her for all the nights he didn't do it in the flat. It didn't need to mean anything more to him than that. He tried hard not smell her and he didn't rub her back even though he could feel her thick, silky hair under his hands but as the minutes passed, he couldn't help relaxing, feeling her warm, familiar body in his arms, the ache in his chest easing a little more. She was relaxing too, the tension slowly leaving her body as he comforted her.
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When she finally stilled with a deep shuddering sigh, he couldn't help sighing a little too. He knew he should let go of her, but before he could make himself do it, she released him, saying, "Thank you, Robert."
"Yeah," he said tiredly as he stood up. She didn't look at him while she wiped her eyes and he turned and walked back to her bedroom.
"Night, Robert," she said as he started to close the door.
"Night," he said, just before it was shut.
As he pulled Georgie's pink floral quilt over his head, he was filled with a grim resignation. There was no way he was going to be able to lie here listening to her scream night after night, knowing how much she was suffering. He had no other choice and he might as well face it. He had twelve more days and twelve more nights with her. It wasn't that long really, he told himself again. He could get through this.
