Tough Love

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Eli

After I leave Dani to shower, I go out to the dining room to smooth things over with my folks. As soon as I step into the room, my ma bursts out an apology. She looks like she's about to cry.

“Ma, it's not your fault. The last 24 hours have been absolutely crazy for Dani. There's a lot she needs to process but she hasn't been able to do that. Unfortunately, that manifests itself in memories and nightmares. It's honestly not your fault. She just needs some time to go through everything in her mind.”

My pops asks, “Is she due another dose of Modecate? That was quite a severe one.”

“Yeah, I think next week. She will be ok, honestly. As sad as it is to say this, its not a new thing for Dani. She just needs some time to process.”

My ma looks shocked as she questions, “Don? You knew about these memories?”

“Don't look so surprised, Connie...”

I interrupt my pops. I don't want my ma to be angry with him. It's my fault he couldn't tell her anything about it.

“Ma, I told him not to tell anyone. I made him promise not to mention it to anyone before I told him what was going on. You don't want or need to know about this. Please just trust me. Besides, it's Dani's life and she doesn't want me to tell anyone. Please don't be mad at pops.”

“I'm not angry, Elijah. Just a bit shocked. Although, I probably shouldn't be. Your father has always known how to read you guys better than me. It's probably where you get it from. You will make sure Dani is ok, won't you?”

“Yes ma'am, I will. She needs a little bit of space right now though.”

The mood is dampened drastically, so I quickly finish up my food and head into the bedroom. I quickly change and lay on the bed, waiting for Dani to appear. I don't know how long I wait, but I must drift off to sleep, because I'm woken up by the sound of the bathroom door opening. I can feel the steam from the bathroom hit my face, and it doesn't take a genius to know Dani has been scrubbing her skin raw again. I don't move or even open my eyes, because Dani is being really quiet. I don't want her to think she woke me up. She'll feel bad about that. When she comes to bed, I'll just fall asleep again.

Dani climbs onto the bed. She shuffles around for a bit and I assume she's trying to get comfortable. After a few moments of silence, she whispers, “I'm sorry, Eli. I want to tell you, but I don't want you to hate me.”

Hearing those words almost makes me sit up and tell her how much I love her and how I could never, ever hate her. Just as I'm contemplating this I hear her pause, so I wait it out. It's like she's thinking about something and then she lays down and quietly speaks.

“I knew something was wrong, you know. I should have listened to my instincts, but I was so caught up in watching you guys on the cameras, and making sure you were safe, that I convinced myself I was imagining it. I heard noises outside my door, but I just thought I was being paranoid. I grabbed my gun, but I should have got out of there... None of this would have happened if I'd been more alert... I knew something was very wrong when I heard the shots at my door. It flew off the hinges and I tried to run, but they were too fast... It's amazing how quickly your mind works. In just a few seconds I realized the bomb scare was a diversion and then I wondered if they had something else planned for the team. Then I noticed they weren't wearing masks. I knew they were either going to kill me or they were going to take me back. I couldn't decide what was worse... I knew you'd come looking for me if they took me, but I knew I couldn't go through that all over again. But I didn't want to die. I didn't want to leave you like that. I was so scared, so so scared...”