The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

"France," she confirmed with a nod. "Concussion. How do you feel?"

[abrightboy]

"I'm... I have a headache."

The nurse stepped over, pulling out a penlight, urging Edrisa aside so she could assess him.

[thatsfascinating]

She stepped back to give the nurse room, wringing her fingers. A headache was to be expected with a concussion, so he was probably fine...but she was still worried.

[abrightboy]

The nurse decided he was still largely fine and nodded to Edrisa and left with her entourage.

"Let's not do this again soon, okay?" he said once they'd gone. He flexed his wrist. "It was a bad one, right?" He could feel the rawness in his throat and he could feel the tenderness of bruising on his arms.

[thatsfascinating]

She sighed with relief at the nurse's assessment and returned to his side. She nodded at his question. "It was pretty terrible." She winced at the bruising on his arms. "I'm sorry. I forgot to pad the rails. I can do that now..."

[abrightboy]

"No, don't worry about it; I'm not going to go back to sleep," he told her. He looked at her intently. "And this is not your fault," he added gesturing to his arm.

The next morning they released him, told him to take aspirin if the headaches persisted and they headed back to the villa.

[thatsfascinating]

"If you're not going back to sleep," she said, "can you hold me while I sleep a little?"

When they got back to the villa, Edrisa took his hand as they exited the taxi.

"How does a bath sound?" she asked as they headed toward the door.

[abrightboy]

"It sounds amazing," he told her. "I'm just... going to change into a different pair of sweatpants."

He'd let her get the bath ready. He needed to just... breathe for a moment.

[thatsfascinating]

She kissed his cheek, then headed for the bathroom. She turned on the water, got it to the right temperature, then stopped the tub. As the tub began to fill, she sat on the edge, closed her eyes, lowered her head, and let out a shuddering breath.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm put on a fresh pair of sweatpants but didn't bother with a shirt. He paused in the doorway, watching her.

"Are you okay?"

[thatsfascinating]

The sound of the water running had drowned out the sound of his footsteps, so she had no idea he was there until he spoke. If she had, she would have scrubbed the tears from her eyes before he saw them. As it was, her eyes were still wet when she looked up in surprise. She opened her mouth, but it was a second before she spoke.

"...Yeah," she said finally. "I will be."

[abrightboy]

He moved into the room, helping her up from the tub. He started undoing her dress, finally getting her out of the clothes she was assaulted in, much, much too late for his taste.

"You're coming in with me, right?" he murmured.

[thatsfascinating]

She nodded, and let him undress her, moving to help him slip the straps of the dress from her arms, stepping out of the dress when it fell to her feet.

"I liked that dress," she said softly, her eyes lowered so he couldn't see the tears.

[abrightboy]

"We'll find a new one that you like," he promised. "If we have to scour all of France."

[thatsfascinating]

She nodded. "We will. I know we will. We'll find a dozen of them. They'll all be beautiful."

Still, tears spilled from her eyes.

[abrightboy]

"We're going to burn this one," he said, kicking it aside.

He took her hand to steady her stepping into the tub.

[thatsfascinating]

She held his hand tightly as she climbed into the tub, then sank into the hot water with a sigh. Right away the heat permeated her tired, tight muscles, and she could feel them begin to loosen. She nodded.

"This it good," she murmured.

[abrightboy]

He got undressed, then stepped in behind her, sliding in to wrap his arms around her, letting her lean back against his chest.

"Just what we needed."

[thatsfascinating]

She leaned back against him with another sigh, her eyes closed, and lifted her hands to rest them on his arms.

"God yes," she murmured in response.

She had apparently been burying a lot of her own emotions about what happened to keep them going, to make sure Malcolm was okay. Now that he was and they were both safe and able to relax, it was all bubbling back up. Hence the tears that were still slowly dripping down her face, mingling with the steam.

[abrightboy]

He knew she had to be. He'd guessed that even in a concussion haze.

"It's okay," he told her. "Let it out."

[thatsfascinating]

He was holding her close, wrapping her in his arms and in his love. She was safe, her body and her soul, as safe as she could ever be.

The first choking sob tore from her throat. The dam broken, she turned her head, half buried her face in his neck, and wept.

[abrightboy]

Finally, was his first thought. She couldn't keep bottling it up. He knew the damage that could do.

He rubbed her back with one hand and just held her.

[thatsfascinating]

For someone who had to face some of the ugliest realities of life on a daily basis, Edrisa didn't always do a great job at facing her own personal traumas. Like the one that had put the kibosh on her being a doctor for living people. But here and now it felt like she had opened up her heart and all the pain and sadness just came pouring out. She had never cried this hard and this long before. It was several minutes before her sobs began to lessen, and she just lay on his chest, exhausted.

[abrightboy]

That was important, that she had that release.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He didn't say anything. They were going at her pace now.

[thatsfascinating]

She felt wrung out, empty, but also calm. Peaceful, even. She brushed her fingertips against Malcolm's chest, listening to his heart beat.

"Are the police going to come talk to us?" she asked softly.