hiding

Going overboard like my hopes and dreams

The dining hall was abnormally quiet, as Marco walked in.

"What yoi?" Marco was suddenly aware of the mass of eyes that were focused on him.

"Where's the girl?" The short, brown-haired male closest to him asked, "We thought she'd come with you today, we all wanted to meet her." He started to sound disappointed, growing aware she would not be attending.

"She's not ready to join us for breakfast Haruta." Marco began to walk towards the kitchen for his food, assuming the subject was dropped.

"Ah, Pops offered her a place in the family." The big, muscular, tan male next to Haruta stated, not even asking.

"Yes, it didn't go according to Pop's hopes. She needs time to adjust." Marco looked at everyone in the hall, mainly eyeballing Haruta, Thatch and Izo, "Alexia has some major demons in her mind. She needs to trust us with them on her own accord, don't push it."

Marco walked out of the dining hall with two plates in his hand. He saw Alexia standing next to the railing on deck. He frowned slightly, seeing her mask resting securely on her face. She was hiding herself again, in her own way. He was about to leave for his room, to provide her space, when he saw Thatch approaching her from behind, Alexia completely unaware. Thatch had the grinning expression of a clueless idiot as he reached out to tap Alexia on the shoulder. Marco internally groaned, knowing this wouldn't end well.

Just as Marco was about to speak up, Thatch tapped her on the shoulder. Alexia's whipped around, her fist flying up to meet Thatch's face almost too fast for either him or Marco to register it. Expecting this reaction, Thatch held his arm up to block the blow, unfortunately knocking Alexia off balance. Before either could react, Alexia went tumbling over the railing. Both shot over to the railing, looking to see her surface, but saw nothing.

"Namur!" Marco shouted. The fishman appeared next to them, quickly understanding what was needed, jumping over the railing. What was truly only a few seconds, felt like minutes as Namur surfaced with Alexia. Pulling them up with a rope, Marco realized Alexia was fighting against Namur in a frantic manner.

"Lexi, calm down." Marco knelt next to where Namur had dropped her onto the deck. Claw marks were noticeable on Namur's face.

Grasping her shoulders, Marco was very aware of how hard she was trembling as she thrashed against his hold. Her eyes threw him off though. They were cold, empty almost, and most definitely far away.

"Stop! Get off me! Stop please!" Alexia's voice was filled with terror. Not fear, Terror. Marco widened his eyes, releasing her.

Alexia curled into a ball, her arms covering her face, hands grasping her hair roughly. She trembled violently as she continued to cry out despite Marco releasing her. Her eyes remained far away.

"Get the doctor to my room, now!" Marco snapped at Thatch. Noticing everyone now outside on the deck watching, Marco picked Alexia up, carrying her to his room as she violently thrashed against him.

Izo remained a step ahead of him, opening up the door, closing it as they entered the room. Marco attempted to place her on the bed gently, finding it quite difficult as she continued to fight him. The door opened, and Doc was right beside him, grabbing Alexia from his arms quickly.

"Out now, both of you." Doc tried not to sound harsh.

Marco and Izo stood outside the door for what felt like hours. Marco continued to pace, angry.

"Don't be too rough on him." Izo pressed lightly.

"Too rough on him yoi? Did you not see her?!" Marco was livid, "I told him many times not to touch her. I told him she wasn't ready for friendly contact, and he had to do it anyways!"

"He was just trying to be friendly Marco." Izo himself looked irritated now, "You know our brother, he lets good intentions get in the way of his brain. You know he's probably beating himself up about it."

"It's been a day! A day since she's been up and about the ship, and already we are ruining it." Marco ran a hand through his hair, "Pop's doesn't take no for an answer, and we are pushing her farther and farther from trusting us."

Izo was about to say something when the door opened. Doc came out looking exhausted, closing up his bag.

"I gave her something to help her sleep. She should be out for the rest of the night. But with how tiny and malnourished she is, I'm not sure how well I got the dose. I played it on the safe side so it might not last her."

"What was that? I've never seen anyone react that way to being thrown overboard." Izo asked.

"Post traumatic stress reaction. Nasty one too. There would have been no way for anyone to get her out of that episode for well over a day, she was too far out of it." Doc shook his head sadly.

"Post traumatic stress reaction? Are you saying she has PTSD?" Marco felt his chest tighten a bit, "She's too young for something like that yoi."

"Unfortunately, it appears so. These demons of hers you mentioned, she's got to have a hell of a lot of them for something like this. She is going to need time, a lot of time. There is so much she is going to need emotionally, mentally, everything." Doc sighed, "Come by tomorrow Marco, I can give you some medicine to help her with any anxiety and problems sleeping for the next month or so. There's no doubt in my mind she's going to need it."

Marco sighed, entering the room, leaving Doc and Izo behind. He frowned looking at the girl resting on his bed. At least after everything she looked peaceful. Marco pulled the covers over her, feeling a sudden rush of tiredness overcoming him. It had been several days since he had actually had any sleep. Not wanting to piss her off when she woke up, but wanting to be close in case she did, Marco settled for laying at the foot of the bed. Sleep overcame him before his head even hit the bed.