Our Broken Girl

Chapter Eleven

   (Unedited, but please enjoy)

   Richard comes into the room in a rushed manner. I watch as he slams the door and walks to the dresser dropping his towel to the floor. I admire his backside as he picks out a pair of boxers and gym shorts. He slips them on and then makes his way back to the bed. Something is bothering him if his obody language is anything to go off of. It’s stiff, his face looking to be a permanent scowl. I sit up as he lays back on the mattress. 

   “What happened?” I ask softly, reaching out to twirl a piece of his wet hair around my finger. He sighs heavily, his eyes sliding closed.

   “It’s nothing, baby. Just got a lot on my mind.” He whispers to me, his eyes opening back and slidng to mine. I could tell there was more to it than that but I dropped the subject. He obviously wasn’t ready to talk about it. I decided to change the topic to hopefully distracted him from his mind.  

   “I think I want to start therapy.” I say, letting the piece of hair drop from my fingers. “It would be good for me to talk to an outside source about everything that happened.” 

   “Therapy?” He says, rolling the word around for a moment. “It could be quite beneficial for you.” He agrees, sitting up and facing me. “We just have to be careful what information we give them. If they know we didn’t let the police handle it, that I shot someone, we could get in a lot of trouble.” He finishes, staring into my eyes. I sigh out a breath, my shoulders sagging because I hadn’t thought of that. 

   “Oh, you’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t get a therapist.” I chew my lip as I contemplate what to do. I really would enjoy having someone outside of this house to talk to but things weren’t  handled legally and that could cause a lot of issues. “Yeah, forget I said anything.” I shake my head as if to physically shake the thought out of my head.

   “No, please, I want you to. I think you could really use the help and I know a wonderful therapist. I’ll call for you.” Richard reaches out and cups the back of my head to pull me towards him. He presses his lips to my forehead before getting up and grabbing his cell phone. He scrolls for a moment before pressing the phone to his ear. 

   “Hey there.” He says and I can hear the tiny voice of the person on the other end. “I actually don’t need one for myself. I’m calling on behalf of my girlfriend.” Hearing him call me his girlfriend makes the butterflies erupt in my belly and I smile. “You can just use my card on file. We have an open schedule but probably the sooner the better.” He says and then looks at me. “Tomorrow’s fine, three pm? Sounds great, see you then.” He hangs up and sets his phone on the nightstand. 

   “I’ll see if Matt can take you tomorrow, I have work.” He leans over and kisses my forehead again before plopping down next to me. I could see the stressed look again and I couldn’t help but feel guilty, as if I caused it. 

   “Are you okay?” I softly say, reaching out to run a hand through his hair.

He sighs heavily, his closing tightly. “I’m fine, just trying to think through some stuff.” He opens his eyes and catches my eye. “No reason to worry your pretty little head about.”

   I gave him a smile and even though I didn’t quite believe him, I lay down with him and cuddled into him. He wraps me in his arms and pulls me closer. “Thank you.” I say in reference to the therapy appointment he booked for me. 

   “No problem princess.” He teases as his fingers begin to caress my side softly. His voice sounded deep and thick, like he was fighting sleep so I didn't respond. Just cuddle into his side and prepare to slip out of bed whenever I hear his breathing even out. We are quiet for a long while before I hear him ask, “Can I ask you something?”