Trying to Heal

ZANE

After we showered, we curled up on the couch. She cried into my chest for what felt like an hour. I didn’t say anything, didn’t ask any questions. I just held her until she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

I gently laid her on the bed, pressing my forehead to hers. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I wish I could take this pain away from you.

“Don’t shut me out. I love you with all my heart. I’ll be here for you, every step of the way.”

I left the room quietly, closing the door behind me. Up on the main deck, everyone was gathered. Conner turned to me as I approached.

“The ship’s engines are back online. Someone slipped a worm into the system and shut everything down. They’re waiting for us to return so we can set sail. How’s Sunshine?”

“Not good,” I admitted. “Whatever he did to her, she can’t talk about it yet. I just held her while she cried until she fell asleep. I can’t take her pain away, but God, I wish I could.

“If I could erase those memories for her, I’d give everything I have. Seeing her in this much pain is killing me.”

Forest stepped forward.

“I’m moving in with you after this cruise. I’ll help keep an eye on her. It took me two years to pull her out of that dark place the first time. I won’t let her fall back in.

“I can run my business from my laptop at your place. Unless you’d rather she stay with me at my house,” he added with a smirk, knowing full well what my answer would be.

“Fine, do what you want. You’ve already made up your mind. I could use your help anyway. You were there with her the first time.

“You can guide me on how to help her.” I crossed my arms and looked at him.

Noah climbed up the steps to join us. “Man, it’s chilly up here. Did I walk into a pity party?”

We all laughed.

“No, man. Just hurting. Trying to figure out how to support her through this emotional roller coaster.

“Should we head back or stay on the boat for the rest of the cruise?”

Conner raised his hand like a schoolboy.

“Let’s see what happens if we stay on the cruise. It might help her to have things to do, to distract her from what happened.

“If she can’t handle it, we’ll leave.”

A voice came from behind us. “If you cancel this trip, I swear I’ll castrate every one of you.”

We all instinctively covered our crotches as she walked up to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist. “I thought you were asleep, love.”

“I was, but I woke up hungry and went looking for you,” she said, giving me a quick kiss.

“How are you feeling, princess?” Forest asked.

She rested her head against my chest. “Fine. Let’s address the elephant in the room.”

I pushed her back gently, looking into her eyes. “No, baby. We won’t talk about that until you’re ready.”

“I want to, Zane.”

Forest nodded at me, so we all settled into the cushioned seats and chairs scattered around the cabin.

“I didn’t know where I was at first. The room was different, but I knew I was still on a boat. There was a man watching me until I woke up.

“He fetched Luca when I woke up, then left us alone. Everything happened so fast. He tied me up while I was still groggy, stripped me, then himself.

“I tried to escape into my mind while it happened, but he forced me to kiss him, to look at him while he... while he took advantage of me.

“He was terrible at it. When he was done, he lay beside me for a while, touching me. Then you came and got me out of there.

“Thank you, Forest, for not letting me see what Zane did to him.”

We all stared at her in shock as the story spilled from her lips. I didn’t know if this was her way of coping with the pain, or if she was trying to block it out completely.

Forest moved to sit beside her, looking deep into her eyes. “Shay, I’m moving in with you for a while. I want to make sure you don’t fall back into that dark place.”

She laughed at him. “Really? Three years of therapy, and you think moving in will make everything better?”

“No, that’s not why I’m moving in. I want to be there for you. If you need to talk and Zane isn’t around, I’ll be there.” His eyes were filled with sadness and concern.

“Shay, love, we’re all here for you. We just want to be there for you, however you need us,” I said, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

She took a deep breath, and the tears started again. I knew this was a terrible ordeal for her to face alone.

We’d tried our best to get to her before anything happened, but we were too late. I held her close as she buried her face in my chest.

Forest laid a hand on her back while she cried. Soon, we were back at the cruise ship. We boarded and returned to our room, hoping to salvage the rest of the trip.

Maybe we could keep her busy enough to ease the pain she was carrying.