Risk It All - Raph X OC

My Protector

With Sidorov's threat echoing in her mind, Brooke felt an overwhelming urge to throw up. She swallowed hard, blaming the queasiness of her stomach on the richness of the grilled-cheese sandwich she'd eaten. She should have stuck with coffee. Concentrating hard, she managed to keep her nausea in check, but not her fear. Anxiety wrapped around her like a python, squeezing her chest so hard she expected to feel her ribs crack. Her heart hammered and her vision blurred. Hard to believe she'd once received an award for her bravery. Of course, she'd been a different woman then. That had been changed irrevocably the night two bullets had slammed into her body, nearly killing her and destroying the mental toughness she had taken for granted.

Her breathing grew shallower as the airflow was restricted by her tight chest. She became increasingly light-headed, on the verge of blacking out. Oh God... could a person suffocate from fear?"

"Brooke?"

The sound of her name made her start. She'd forgotten where she was and the two turtles who were close by, watching her.

"Brooke, ain't nothing bad is going to happen to ya." Raphael's 3 fingers curled around her wrist.

He must be able to feel the frantic beating of her pulse, she realized. She should pull her arm away. Make some smart-ass remark to show she was fine, that she had taken the recording in stride like she'd assured him. But that would take breath -- and moxie -- she didn't have.

His touch was light...gentle. Soothing. The opposite of everything Raph is known for. As warmth from his hand seeped into her skin, the pressure in her chest eased up. She sucked in desperately needed air.

"I ain't lettin' anybody hurt you," His thick Brooklyn accent rough. She used to be the one to reassure victims. Now the tables had turned, and she was the one needing reassurance. She couldn't make the transition in her mind. It felt so wrong. If only she could go back in time, she'd change the event that had changed her. But that was impossible, and she was foolish to keep wishing for it. Somehow, she had to learn to accept that the trauma of that night would forever be a part of her. And when something triggered a memory of it, it was okay to freak out inside, so long as she gritted her teeth and held it together on the outside until the fear and panic subsided.

She concentrated on her breathing, instructing her lungs to fill and empty so she wouldn't keel over like a fool. All the while, Raph stroked her hand as if he had nothing else to do, no better place to be. Her heart rate gradually slowed until it matched the unhurried pace of his fingers. How strange that a guy she barely knew could ease her panic.

After a moment, his hand slipped away to rest on his muscular, bare, green thigh. "Feelin' better?"

Before she could respond, Donny quietly got up and said, "I'll leave you guys be." With that he left, swiftly just as Raph did before on Sidorov's property.

Brooke stared at Raph. Up close, his honey eyes shimmered and his gaze darkened when he realized how close he was to her. She wondered how kissing Raph would be - Would his kisses be slow, deep, thrilling-

"What are ya thinkin'?" he asked.

Heat flooded her cheeks, but she wasn't about to embarrass herself further. Fidgeting in the chair, her gaze flitting anywhere but into those two-perceptive brown eyes of his, she caught sight of the flash drive attached to Donny's laptop. "I'm thinking about Sidorov. Can he be arrested based on the recording we just listened to? You heard him. He threatened to kill me." Donny returned from giving her privacy, leaned his weight against a lab table.

Donny shook his head, "He said you wouldn't be a problem for him."

"That's because he's going to get rid of me."