Chapter - 43
Nick''s POV
On feeling a lot of movement beside me , I blinked open my eyes. It has been three days since Sophia
was discharged from the hospital. Since then I have be a light sleeper. I was trying to be alert in
case she needed something in the middle of the night.
I looked at Sophia to see her squirming , her eyebrows furrowed . Leaning on my elbow , I roamed my
eyes over her body to find the cause of difort. Her face was scrunched up in what seemed like
pain.
" Sophia , does anything hurt?" I asked only to get no response. Her squirming increased every
passing second which was making me anxious. I couldn''t wait for the pain to be unbearable and
as I was about to get up to call the doctor , I heard her mumble something.
" No - please no.." My eyebrows creased in confusion. Was she asking to not call the doctor? But I
didn''t say it aloud . Then how-
My thoughts were cut off when she spoke again.
" No... it hurts. Stop... please stop." Hurts !? What hurts - My eyes widened in realization. She was
having a nightmare. Shit!
I quickly moved closer to her and patted her cheeks to wake her up.
" Sophia , baby ." I called .
" Sophia , wake up." She pped away my hands and continued thrashing.
" Please don''t." Her forehead was covered with sweat beads. I was honestly feeling helpless. I had
never dealt with nightmares and seeing Sophia, the one I love, in such a condition was tearing my
heart apart.
" Sophia , you''re dreaming. Wake up." I held her shoulders in ce to restrict her movements. I
desperately wanted to wake her up , to relieve her from the pain.
" No-"
" Sophia, wake up. Look at me. Wake up." I raised my voice and shook her . She opened her eyes .
Grasping, she sat up and immediately winced , what I suppose, was because of the pain in the ribs.
She frantically looked around the room.
" Sophia ." I softly called cing my hand on her shoulder. Her head immediately snapped towards me
and the very next moment she was hugging me like her life depended on it.
To prevent more damage to her ribs from that bending, I carefully pulled her to myp . Bringing my
hand around her waist I brought her trembling body close to mine.
" Shh baby , you''re fine. Don''t cry. " I rubbed her back in circr motions to calm her down.
" N-ick....h-he was..... h-hitting..." She was choking on her sobs , keeping her face pressed in my chest.
" No baby , no one is going to hurt you again. I am here with you. Stop crying, you''re safe." . Her heart-
wrenching sobs were too unbearable for me but they seemed to never cease.
She was having nightmares of being abused. Listening to her howls, I wondered how agonizing her
days were , in that hell hole.
Christina . My jaws clenched at the thought of that woman. All because of that bloody woman. Because
of that psychopath, my wife was passing through this trauma.
Even though Sophia had said a thousand times that none of this was my fault, I couldn''t help but feel
guilty somewhere. That vanishing guilt was now resurfacing. I tried pushing it away but the sinking
feeling in my heart was back.
I kept whisperingforting words in her ears while stroking her hair with another hand. After what
seemed like an hour , her sobs died down but she kept holding onto me. I didn''t move , considering this
was the least I could do for her. Once her breaths evened , I gently ced her on the bed and kissed
her forehead. Keeping a hand lighly around her waist, Iy down beside her.
" Sleep tight baby." I whispered before closing my eyes.
............
Sophia''s POV
When I woke up , Nick wasn''t beside me on his side. I strectched a bit and sat up carefully, not to hurt
my ribs more than they do.
As I got up ,st night''s memory came shing back.
I had a nightmare. I saw that I was in that dark room sprawled out on the floor. Blood was running down
my nose while Christina kept kicking and hitting me. She wasughing maniacally at my excruciating
sobs. Still not satisfied with her work , she had her men beat me up who kept me punching and kicking
mercilessly. The more I begged , the more severe the beating was.
I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt a pair of warm hands cupping my cheeks. Looking up, my
grey eyes met with Nick''s warm brown ones. I realised that I was crying when his thumbs wiped away
the tears.
" What happened? Why are you crying?" He looked at me with concern in his face. He was searching
for signs of pain in my face.
This is the property of N?-velDrama.Org.
" I don''t know. I don''t know why I am crying but....but everytime I remember my days there , I feel
scared. What if- if she does something like this again? I''m behaving like a baby. I can''t even control my
emotions. This feeling..it''s so...I feel so weak." I clenched my eyes shut . I hated feeling so... so weak ,
so vulnerable. Nick sped my hands in his .
" Open your eyes." I kept them close to avoid showing any more of my impuissant self to him. Although
he had seen me in my most defenceless state , there was this hesitation in the back of my mind.
" Sophia , look at me." Taking a deep breath, I looked at him. His piercing gaze was fixed intently on me
yet nothing was diforting about it.
" You''re not weak and you''re definitely not behaving like a baby . That was indeed a dreaded
experience you had there and all this has been overwhelming which is not helping your emotions. It''s
okay to cry, to let out but that doesn''t make you weak. So don''t you dare call yourself weak. You''re one
strong woman, Sophia." The amount of sincerity in his voice had my heart melted into a puddle. The
love I had for this man was increasing every day.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his . Almost immediately, he kissed back but it wasn''t a deep ,
passionate kiss. It was a soft, gentle kiss through which I was holding up my vulnerable self to him and
he was promisingfort , assurance and support, promising to protect the vulnerable me. Pulling
apart , he tucked my hair behind my ears and stared deep into my eyes.
" We will get through this. Together." He was whispering but there was a strong determination in his
voice to which I found myself nodding.
" Together."