His Secret Bodyguard

Part 54

"What do you mean?" I asked. "It's you. When you were talking to him, he was reacting. I can't be sure, but he may only be semi-comatose. Meaning he might be able to hear us, but can't move or speak." He explained..

"He can hear?" Anne asked, walking over and sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed. I pulled my hand back, and she grabbed Harry's hand, holding it..

"Well, we don't know that for certain. We've never actually been able to prove that. But when Brynn was talking to him, his heart rate went up and his breathing changed." The doctor explained to her..

"So then, why does he only react to her?" She asked, confused. I felt her looking at me.. "I'm not sure. He also seemed to be able to feel her touch. It's not normal for patients in comas to move at all. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say his brain is still trying to adjust to his injuries. There may be a part of it that's working, which is what's causing this. But, again.. Alcohol poisoning is dangerous. In his case, it was running through his blood stream at a very high level, for over twelve hours. Some of that could've infiltrated his brain at some point, which is dangerous." He elaborated.

"So.. Wait. You're saying he might not ever wake up?" I asked, jumping when Harry's right arm twitched. His mom looked at me, and then back to Harry.. The doctor was staring at me, but went on-to answer my question. "There is a slight chance of that, yes." He confirmed. I looked back over at Harry, who's heart rate had gone back down to normal..

"I did this to him." I said quietly, linking one of my arms around his right one. He was warm. I was almost never warm..

His mom was looking at me. "Will you talk to him again?" She asked. I glanced over at her. "I wouldn't know what to say." I commented, letting go of Harry's arm. "Anything." She replied. I hesitated. I really didn't know what to say to him, so I reached down, slowly dragging my fingers down his forearm, and onto his hand. I softly let them slide across his palm. His heart rate started going up again, but he didn't move. Anne was still holding onto his other hand, watching me.

"Keep going." She said quietly. I hesitated. In general, I don't like being touched, and I don't really like touching other people either. So, this was already testing my limits..

I wasn't sure exactly what they thought this would change. Me touching him isn't going to magically wake him up. I know enough about the human body to know that.. But, this was her child. And, it's my fault he's in this state. This is the least that I can do.

I hesitantly reached up, softly pushing some hair over his ear. I let my fingers slide down across his jaw, lightly brushing them against his neck. His heart rate was going up again.. I couldn't completely reach his other side, so I moved a little closer to him... I gently rested my hand on the other side of his face, letting my thumb run over his cheek. He had a slight stubble growing, despite Anne shaving him a few days ago..

Touching his face made his breathing change slightly, and his mom continued to watch me. I leaned closer to him, quietly telling him to "please wake up." His left arm moved, surprising Anne, who let go of that hand.

I moved away from his ear. My hand was still gently holding the left side of his jaw. I pulled my hand away from his face, softly dragging my fingers down his neck. His heart rate was now in the 100s, higher then it had ever been since he'd gone into this state. His right arm twitched, making me jump since it was right next to me.. I let two of my fingers slide across his left collarbone, lightly tracing over one of his tattoos.

This time, his right hand was the one that came up, and he grabbed my arm, holding onto it. But his arm didn't fall back down like it usually did.. "Oh my god." His mom whispered. I looked at her. She was staring at Harry, as was the doctor and Jeff.

I looked back over at Harry, having to move back a little. He was moving, just ever-so slightly. Blinking; as if he were dreaming. I hesitated, trying to pull my arm back. His grasp tightened slightly, and it took everything in me not to panic and go back into that bad state-of-mind. But the memories had already started flashing across my vision like a film..

Jeff was watching me, his eyes going to where Harry was holding my wrist.. He nudged the doctor, saying something to him. I shut my eyes, trying to push the flashbacks away before they got bad, but they came anyway.. I whimpered, trying to pull my arm back. His grip tightened further, forcing more memories to tear through my mind like fire..

"Okay. Okay. Brynn, you're alright. He's not going to hurt you." Jeff said, standing next to me now, his hand on my shoulder. I still had my eyes tightly shut.

"What's going on?" I heard Anne ask.. "Her wrist. He's holding onto it. That's one of the things that we think triggers whatever past-trauma she went through." The doctor explained quietly.

Harry's heart monitor was still beeping at a fairly high pace. I felt one of them grab my arm, trying to get Harry to let go of it. Whatever reflexes he had in this state, reacted to that, and he pulled my arm closer to him. His grip was still tight around my wrist, forcing unwanted flashbacks to flip through my mind like a movie..

I let out another small whimper, and instinctively started pleading for Ryan to stop, all of it in French. The flashbacks progressed into more vivid memories of him hurting me. It was one of the many times I'd tried to leave.

*
He was hitting me, and I fell to the floor as his last attempt struck the side of my head.. He was on top of me in less than a second, pinning me down so I couldn't get away from him. I was struggling as hard as I ever had, but he wouldn't budge. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there, to get out of the house. Away from him.. He continued to ignore my begging as he held down my right arm, deeply slicing the knife across it——
*

I was suddenly pulled out of it. Someone was yelling at me. I opened my eyes, and my heart nearly stopped. Harry was leaning over me, trying to get me to calm down, his hands on my arms. He was awake. He wasn't in the coma anymore.. But how was that even possible?

He relaxed when I finally went still. "You're awake." I whispered, shocked. "Okay. Harry come on, you need to lay back down now." The doctor said. Harry slowly leaned back, and laid back down, with the help of the doctor.. We were both still on the bed.

He started examining Harry. Checking his pupils and whatnot. Anne was watching me for some reason, and not him..

"What was she saying?" Jeff asked, and the doctor glanced over at me. "I was talking?" I asked quietly, hating myself. "In French, but yes." Anne answered..

The doctor cleared his throat a little, and looked at me.. "What was I saying?" I questioned, hesitant..
"Well, at first... You were telling someone to stop hitting you.. And then, you started panicking, which is when Harry woke up and let go of you..." He trailed off, his eyes still on me.

"What?" I asked. He hesitated. "You were begging for someone to get off of you, and saying 'you don't have to do this. Please don't do it again...' " He continued. "You were telling them not to hurt you.. More specifically, begging them not to cut you." He explained...

I looked down, letting my head rest against the pillows. Harry was watching me. I hated that they now all knew something about me. Something that I hated for people to know..

"Sorry, what? Someone cut her? Like, intentionally?" Anne asked. Jeff also seemed confused. But I was looking at Harry, who was watching me. "I think so." The doctor commented, handing Harry a glass of water.

Harry sat up, with some help from the doctor. "Brynn." Jeff said. I looked over at him. "Did someone cut you?" He asked...

I sighed, glancing back over at Harry.. They pretty much already knew. And there was no changing that. I just didn't want them to pity me. Their opinion of me would be forever-changed. I would no longer be seen as this strong-willed, sarcastic bitch. They would see me as weak. They would see me as someone who's the way they are, because of their past..

I didn't want that.