Chapter Thirty

Chevelle



With my back towards the door, I pretend to be asleep when Joe opens it, poking his head into the room that he's kept me in, praying that he will just back out without coming any further into the room.

He hasn't touched me other than that one time, thank Christ, that one time was enough to bring back the nightmares from my past. It's also brought back the panic attacks that I used to suffer. And sadly, I know that it's just a matter of time before he forces me to either accept or do something that I am in no way willing to do, or ready to accept.

I will fight with everything I have before I let him hurt me again.

He's kept me practically locked up in this little room day in and day out, not allowing me to leave other than to use the bathroom. I've not even been allowed to take a damn shower, maybe I stink too badly and the thought of getting close to me again disgusts him.

*One can only hope*, I think to myself with a sigh. But then I roll my eyes at my thoughts, *there's no way that I could be that lucky.*

I hear the door shut, and I hold my breath, praying that it's because he left and not because my luck has run out.

When the air in the room doesn't shift, I take a chance and turn over, holding my breath at what I may or may not find.

Fortunately, I find that he's left me alone and I release the breath that I'd been holding. *Oh thank you, Jesus!*

Another thing that I notice is that the door isn't shut completely, as though it bounced back open a little bit when he shut it.

*This could be my chance!* I think as I hear a door somewhere in the house slam shut.

Getting up out of the bed, I quickly make my way over to the door, peeking my head out into the hallway to see if the coast is clear.

When I hear nothing other than the sound of my own heartbeat thudding in my ears, I slowly creep down the hallway, holding my breath as I glance around, on high alert that at any moment I could run in to him and find myself in a situation that may push him beyond the control that he's managed to hold on to up to this point.

As I inch my way into the main room, I see a phone sitting on the kitchen counter and rush over to it, quickly thumbing in River's number and rushing back towards the bedroom before he shows up from wherever he's gotten off to.

"Hello?” River says, finally answering the phone after what seems like forever.

“River?” I say, whispering his name, afraid to speak too loudly and risk being overheard.

“Chevy?” He says, his tone frantic, “baby, where are you?”

“River, listen to me." I tell him, then continue quickly, “I don’t have much time, but you have to save me. Please…” my emotions, the feeling of despair that has hung over me like a black cloud since waking up in this room get the better of me, and I begin to sob through the line as I try to tell him who has me.

“Baby, you have to calm down, I can’t understand you.” He tells me, his voice soft, gentle as if he's talking to a wild animal.

“Joe…” I say, the sound of his name crossing my lips causing a full body shudder within me. Before I get the chance to say anything more, the phone is ripped away from me and thrown across the room, hitting the wall and falling to the floor. I don't have time to see if it's busted or not because he's standing over me, holding both of my hands against the floor, his knees digging into my thighs as he holds me down. Even still, I try with all of my might to buck him off of me, fighting with everything in me to fight him off.

"You stupid bitch!" he shouts seconds before something slams into my face, and then the side of me head. "You're going to regret that, you stupid cunt,” are the last words I hear before I welcome the darkness that closing in around me, the silence and the peace that it offers like that of an old friend welcoming me back into its embrace after a long time away.

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The throbbing in my head is the first thing that I register as consciousness begins to make the darkness recede.

The second thing that registers is the sound of distant beeping and voices of people somewhere not too far away.

Groaning, I try to bring my hand to my head, needing to try to bring some form of relief to the pulsing ache in my skull.

"Shhh!" Someone says, "guys, I think she's trying to wake up." At the mention of that, all of the other voices become quiet except for one.

"Chevy?" a deep voice says, and it's one that causes birds to take flight in the pit of my stomach and my heart to beat harder, both at the same time.

*River.*

*My River.*

I try to open my eyes, wanting more than anything to see those beautiful gray eyes staring back at me, but when I try, the brightness from the overhead lights cause me to immediately close them again, unable to handle the piercing pain that it causes to shoot through my skull, adding to the already throbbing pain that won't seem to lessen.

"Chevy, baby?" River says, his voice soft. A hand clasps ahold of my left one, and seconds later another hand cups my cheek, stroking the skin back and forth as they wait for me to open my eyes again, and I immediately turn into it, already knowing that it's the man that I love.

*Because if there's one thing that I've realized over the last several days—hell, who am I kidding? I’ve known it since I left him and went to stay with Caprice at Camille's—and that is that I love him. Even when my head was telling me that I shouldn't after he lied to me, I couldn’t deny what I knew in my heart.*

*The heart wants, what the heart wants.*

*And who am I to deny it?*

"Too bright." I manage to say, although it comes out as more of a moan than actual words.

"Alright, baby. That should be better," River coos, not once leaving my side, or removing his hand from mine or from my cheek.

When I finally manage to peel them open, the throbbing doesn't lessen, but the piercing pain from the bright light never comes as I take in the man with a look of relief written all over his face.

"River." I breathe out his name, as though the sight of him allows me to finally do just that, breathe.

"God, is it good to see those beautiful blue eyes of yours." He tells me, plastering on a smile as he tries to mask his concern that I can still clearly see in his eyes.

At the concern that I see staring back at me, the events that lead to my being here come back to me. *Being taken from the park. Being locked in that room. Waking up to Joe hovering over me, fixing to rape me. Making that phone call and risking everything. Joe finding me, and knocking me out and doing...*

The heart monitor begins beeping quicker as I scan the faces around the room, terror gripping me at the fact that I don't know what happened after he knocked me out.

"D-did h-he—," clawing at my neck and throat as I try to gasp for air, unable to get any oxygen past the vice that is restricting airflow to my lungs. Tears build in my eyes as I look around the room, my eyes once again landing on the pair of gray ones belonging to the man who owns my heart as he stands next to me, clasping ahold of my hands.

I watch as his mouth moves but between my panic and the sound my heart pounding in my ears, I can't make out what he's saying, but as he takes them, placing them against his own chest, I realize what he's doing and I try to follow suit, counting from ten down to one in my head as attempt to mimic his breathing.

By the time I reach the number one, it's no longer quite so hard to get air in and out of my lungs, and I can make out what River is saying as he speaks gently to me, telling me to just breathe.

"There you go, beautiful. That's it, just follow my lead, breath in and breathe out. Good." The panic in his eyes begins to lessen just as my own does and I'm able to get my breathing back under control as I follow his instruction, the feel of his strong heart thundering beneath my palm also a comfort.

As soon as the last of the weight that had been on my chest disappears, the door to my hospital room opens.