Behind These Wings

Tightrope Dreams

Drew felt his relationship with Izzy was like walking a tightrope whilst being afraid of heights.

The morning of their trip to Valency had felt like the half-way point when you began to be hopeful that this nightmare would soon be over and you thought that you were starting to get the hang of it. He had had happiness so close that he could taste it; awakening next to the angel that he loved was an experience that he would never tire of and those seconds, when her eyelids fluttered just before her emerald eyes were ready to face the world, were moments that he would eternally treasure.

That evening and the days that had followed, however, felt to Drew as if Izzy had fallen off of the rope and he had been clutching onto her with one hand, desperately trying to haul her back up. An impossible task when Izzy didn't seem to want to get back on the tightrope. She had been making so much progress, allowing him to touch her, to kiss her even and letting herself relax every now and again but that day something had triggered her to regress and now she was back to the stoic character with an iron mask.

Drew didn't know how much more he could take; looking at her now from across the room his entire mind was consumed with fear. It was not an emotion Drew was used to, he had spent half of his life training not to feel the effects of the inhibiting emotion but when it came to his Isabelle, he was terrified.

She was stick thin, thinner than he thought was possible. Her collar bone pronounced through her ashen skin and her once animated face now struggled to produce a whisper of a smile. She sat tall and proud but Drew could now see through that mask now. He knew the pain she held in, the insecurities, the sense of worthlessness but he didn't know how to address the matter. How could he let her know that he was there for her without bruising that damn pride? He knew that she wasn't eating enough but whenever he tried to breach the subject she would seize up as if someone had fused her jaw shut.

He was worried about the pressure that her petite body was being put under and wished for nothing more than to just take her away from the Palace for a few weeks, days even. A couple of moments of normality in which he hoped he could talk some sense into her, but the Rebels had just attacked the Eastern Isles and the evacuated residents were being brought to the Palace so that they could be cared for whilst their houses were being rebuilt. There would be no time for the Archangels to sort through their own issues.

He watched carefully as she lowered herself into a chair after standing for only five minutes. The pale complexion and dark bags under her eyes told him that she was exhausted and so she should be as he doubted she had slept for more than five minutes with all the tossing and turning she was doing last night. Drew was feeling the effects of the restless night himself and he knew that he had fallen guilty to the clutches of sleep for far longer than she had.

Currently, the couple were undertaking the daily task of addressing any matters that had arisen; letters that had arrived, news that had come in from their land or even the occasional angel who had missed the morning session and wanted desperately to personally air their dilemmas. Usually it was a time that Drew enjoyed for he liked to see that he could make a difference but it was also a time when Izzy thrived, her naturally compassionate nature made many of their trails much easier. However today this was not the case.

Drew could barely keep his eyes open to read the document before him and Izzy looked ready to collapse as she conversed with a plump woman who was relaying a problem she was having with her hairdresser.

"How about you try mine, Mrs Roberton, she is extremely attentive and I have no doubt that she will be able to fulfil your brief without any issues." Isabelle suggested just as Drew signalled to Ian not to let anyone else in. Drew could see that Izzy was getting to the end of her tether and he would rather they ended the session before she snapped.