Her Regret, His Resolve; Bouncing Back, Book 2

23

"Good afternoon," the man in the armchair beamed. "I'm Sebastien Stein. You’re here for couples counselling, correct?"

Leaning forward, his forearms resting against his knees, Russell nodded. "Yes, that's right."

He glanced at Skylar, who was sitting with her head down, her face hidden behind the thick brown curtain of her hair. Her shoulders were shaking subtly, and he could tell by her methodical movements she was nervous. His fingers formed a steeple as he took a deep breath. Looking up at the man, he wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything on the first day.

Doctor Stein jotted something down on his notepad before handing out a few papers. "Before we begin, there’s the small matter of the paperwork that’s required to be filled out."

"Sky," Russell called out in a hushed tone. When she looked at him, he smiled softly as he said, "I'll go first, alright?"

His eyes closed. Focusing on his own heartbeat, he fought to stay on his side of the couch and not take her into his arms. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Let's just get through this one day at a time," he said. She nodded slowly, knowing that he wasn't joking.

The man in the armchair tucked the papers into two separate folders. "Mr. Reyes, where would you like to begin?"

"Well, no better place to start than at the beginning. My earliest memory of my parents is from when I was four. They took me to my grandparents’ house, and said it was only going to be for a few days, and when they came back, we would all live together. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. After a few years, it was clear they had pretty much abandoned me save for the scattered phone call or letter." Russell stole a glance at Skylar, who was staring at him with a shocked expression.

Continuing, he said, "Two years after they dropped me off, my grandparents started abusing me."

"They beat you," Doctor Stein asked.

Russell nodded. "My grandfather would find any kind of fault with something I was doing, and would hit my palms with a ruler until they were red. My grandmother kept telling me that I was a mistake, that she didn't know why my mother had me. Soon, anything I did that they didn't agree with was worth beating me over. I dreaded going home after school, terrified of what was waiting for me there."

He listened to Skylar sob into her hands. Reaching out, he plucked a few tissues from the box on the table and handed them to her.

"Did you ever mention it to anyone?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Russell nodded, "I did, but no one believed me because my grandparents came off as loving and caring people."

The doctor bent his head, jotting something down on his note pad. "Did you ever try to get to a safer place or attempt to run away?"

"I ran away once, because my grandfather told me I was in for it when I spilled a drink on his shoes. That was the first time I met David. He was a Social Worker back then. My case got put off to someone else, but all they did was visit now and again. When the case was closed, it started all over, but this time it was worse. I had embarrassed them, and they didn’t like it."

The shocked, pain-filled expression on his girlfriend’s face told him exactly what she was thinking as she stared at him intently.

“What about your school? Surely someone saw something worth investigating,” the doctor asked. Though his words were sympathetic, Russell could see the judgment in the man’s eyes.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Russell shook his head. “Yeah, right. My grandmother was a volunteer with the church, so they sent me to a church-run school. Things like me having a bruise or two were normally overlooked with the excuse that I was a clumsy child.”

Doctor Stein looked up at the clock with a frown a little while later. “It seems time really can fly. Mr. Reyes, I'm sure there's much more to the story of your life, so we'll pick this up in our next session."

"Sure, yeah," Russell agreed. "That sounds good."

Getting up, he shook the man's hand before helping Skylar to her feet. As he walked out the door, he realized that the weight carried through the years didn't feel as heavy anymore. He gently guided the woman beside him to the elevator.

"Skylar," he whispered as they waited for the door to open. "I'm not even scratching the surface, you know that, right? I'm giving him a watered-down version, but now do you understand why your actions hurt me so much?"

Trying not to collapse, she looked up at him. "Yes. I'm really sorry, Russell. Dad let it slip that you'd been hurt before, and I felt even guiltier for what I did to you."

Stepping into the small square lift, he waited for the door to slide closed before he hit the button for the parking garage. Snagging the hem of her coat, he pulled her closer.

"Come here," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. Unable to fight it anymore, she collapsed in his arms with a moan. His hold tightened, keeping her from falling as he lifted her into the cradle of his muscular arms. "I got you, sweetheart."

Walking over to David's car, he frowned when the man glared at him. "What did you do?"

"Why is she so exhausted? Has she been sleeping?" Russell asked. "And she's lost weight, too."

Cursing, David opened the back seat door and took his daughter from Russell. There was no mistaking the loving care behind his words. Once the man was inside, he gave Skylar back to him. "Take her to your place for the night. Make sure she eats when she wakes up."

"I will," Russell promised. "Why my place, though?"

"According to Jaxon, she's been skipping meals and spending a lot of her time in her room. I've been busy, so I didn't notice what was going on. I think being with you tonight might help her," David admitted.

Dropping his eyes to the girl in his arms, Russell fell silent. Did he want her in his apartment? "My sister-"

"Will understand,” David interjected. “I hate to admit it, but I think she's better off with you than without. If you were anything like your father, you would have hit her back. You would have beaten her for what she did to you, but you haven't. Look, in any case, I'm trusting you with my daughter, so don’t give me a reason to kill you."

******

Hours later, Skylar woke with a gasp.

She sat straight up in the bed.

Not recognizing her surroundings at first, she threw the blankets off and got up. Noting that she was still dressed in her clothes offered her some semblance of comfort. Her feet whispering over the carpet of the room, she moved to the window and looked outside. The all-too-familiar sight of the Towers' shooting range met her eyes.

"This is not Dad's apartment," she murmured.

"No, it's mine," a voice behind her said.

She spun around, coming face-to-face with Russell. "My father's going to have kitten's, Russell."

"No, I don't think so," he replied. Running a hand through his short brown hair, he sighed. "He's the one that told me to take you here. You've lost weight, Sky, and you have bags under your eyes, so I know you haven't been sleeping."

She lowered her eyes to the floor, unsure if she should say anything at all.

His hands closed around her arms, and she looked up. He'd just been standing by the door to the bedroom! How the hell had he moved so damn fast?

Torn between wanting to get him to let go so she could run and letting him hold her, she stared up at him. She struggled, panicking violently as he picked her up and put her back to the bed.

"Shhh, it's okay," he murmured against her hair as he covered her with the duvet. "I would never take what you're not willing to offer, baby."

Baby? He was using pet names again?

"Just let me take care of you for the night, alright? You get the bed, and I'll take the couch. Your father sent your brother up with some clothes, so you can change in the bathroom or in here. It's up to you."

Taking a breath, he left the room for a moment. When he returned, he was holding a tray of fruit and a bottle of water. "You can check the cap, but I didn't do anything to the water."

She didn't bother as she broke the seal and took a gulp of the cold liquid. Checking over the tray, she was saddened by the fact that he'd remembered her favourite treat was strawberries and cream drizzled in chocolate sauce.

As she started eating, he said, "I never wanted to leave you, I just couldn't take feeling like I was living with them all over again. It's hard to face the s**t from my past, so I'm asking you to take it easy and see what you were doing from my point of view."

He twisted to face her, "You and I both know that this is a test to see if we can get along. I want us both to pass, but you have to work with me, sweetheart. Can you do that for me?"

She set the tray aside, pushing the blanket out of her way before crawling into his lap. "I’ll try."

"That's all I'm asking of you," he whispered.