How He Saved Her

Chapter Thirty-Three

Oliver

She is laying down next to me, her long hair flowing down her shoulder. She is the definition of pretty and my heart tightens whenever I think about how much she is feeling right now. I know that, realistically, whatever I say or do will never heal her from what she heard. 

What she felt. I could never understand how much she felt when her sister took her last breath. I keep trying to imagine it, I know she was shouting but how bad was it? Did she feel as though her heart was about to fall out? I'm sure she did; at least I know that's how I felt when hearing her. 

The way she shouted when the memory came back to her scared me. She never had raised her voice and to hear the hoarse shout so let out made me want to hold her forever. She didn't want me to do that, she wanted to let her emotions out not be concealed from it. God knows she hid the truth from her brain for two years. 

She went two years hiding the fact that her sister died, from herself. I could never understand that. The trauma response was so strong it shut out the memory.

I wish I let her hit me when she was shouting, maybe then she wouldn't be whimpering next to me. I wish that we let her express her emotions without sedating her. Maybe it's good that we sedated her, she woke up more calm. That's all we want from her, we want for her to feel okay, even for a little while. 

That is why we lay half naked in bed. I had wanted her to feel good. She had smiled through a few kisses, but now her head is turned away from me, toward the wall, and I can feel her whimpers. 

"Principessa", I say my voice low in the dark and quiet room. My parents had fallen asleep a while ago, but we were awake, our thoughts wild. She doesn't reply to me— maybe she didn't hear me because I spoke really soflty. I hold out a hand and lightly place it on her shoulder. She flinches and I hadn't seen her flinch that way for a while. 

But when she turns around and sees me, her eyes soften and her lips curve up to a smile. The way she looks at me makes it seem as though I hung up the moon for her. I wish I could tell her I'm doing the bare minimum, and that she is the reason she is so strong. 

"Amore", she whispers and I feel my heart clench at the tear that runs down to her ear. 

"Are you going to be okay?", I ask and regret it in that moment. Of course she was, she is the strongest woman I knew. 

She nodded, her blonde hair glowing in the dark and falling past her naked shoulders. I move her hair away from her shoulder and instead place my hand on her collarbone. I give it a little squeeze and she closes her eyes, savoring my touch. "I'm going to be fine." 

I nod,"You know Frankie loved you?" She looks away from me and I move the hand up to her jaw, turning her around making her look at me. She does and there is pure sadness in her eyes, even the fake smile can't help it. "Frankie was wrong for dying on the phone with you. For making you go through that, but I'm sure she didn't mean that." 

"Then what did she mean?", she says another tear falling out of her eye. I wipe it away with my index finger and let my finger linger on her cheekbone. "She loved you the most in the world. She wanted to hear you while she took her last breath. She wanted you to be here with her." Aurora nods, taking in my words. She closes her eyes and I miss her green eyes. When she opens them, her eyes flash of anger. 

"She put me through that. God, I was just turning sixteen. I had no one in the house, I was alone", her voice breaks and I can't do anyhting but run my hand down her cheekbone, hoping to calm her. She closes her eyes even so tears run out of her eye. When she opens them once more, her eyes are remorseful.