Chapter Seventy-Five



Eli

As Dani recites the periodic table, I draw circles on the back of her hand, just to reassure her that I'm still here. I know she needs to work through this her way. There's no way I can hand her my gun, but I will sing to her if I have to. I hear Captain Greggson whisper, “What is she doing?”

I almost snap as I say, “She's scared. It's her way of dealing with it. I knew this wasn't a good way of doing this...”

The Cap says, “Eli, it has to be done. She needs to finish looking at the pictures. She needs to tell us who she recognizes. We need to make sure we have the right guys.”

“Let me get her calmed down first.”

It doesn't look like Dani is calming down, so I hum 'Gravity' to her and after a while, I hear her breathing even out a little.

She glances up at me and I shoot her a sad smile. “Hey there. You back with me?”

She nods, but doesn't speak. I can feel her trembling and a few more tears spill from her eyes.

I brush a soft kiss over her knuckles and I whisper, “I'm sorry, sweetheart, but the Cap needs you to finish looking at the mug shots. He needs to know who you recognize. I'm sorry you have to relive this, Dani, but we need to make sure they don't get away with this. Can you look through them quickly?”

She nods again and my heart swells at how brave she is. If I was in the same position as her, I don't know if I could face this either. I hold up the pictures again and Dani quickly glances at them. Before I can even register that she's looking at them, she whispers, “3, 7 and 12. They were in my apartment.”

I ask, “You completely sure?”

“Yes sir.”

I whisper, “Good girl.”

I look over at the Captains and question, “Is that good enough?”

“Yes. Thank you Dani. I hope you get out of here quickly. Eli, we'll start processing this now. Thanks.”

I nod and shoot a farewell to both Captains. Dani is staring into space, so she doesn't say goodbye at all, but the Captains don't seem to take offense at it. I let Dani think for a few minutes and then I whisper, “Hey, you ok?”

She blurts out, “It was awful, Eli...!”

“I know baby, I know. I'm so sorry you had to do that. I'm sorry you had to remember. Do you... remember everything?”

She nods in affirmation, but doesn't speak. She's staring at the bed sheet again, so I give her hand a tiny squeeze to grab her attention.

“Hey. I know it's a shock and it's upset you, but you don't need to be embarrassed, Dani. I don't want you to feel like that around me. I need you to know that it doesn't matter what happens or what you do or say, it's not going to change how I feel about you. I know this may scare you, but I need you to know how serious I am about this. I need you to see that you mean more to me than anyone or anything, so whatever I've seen, whatever I've heard or will hear, none of it will make a difference to how I feel about you...”

Dani sounds distraught as she says, “How can you say that? You've seen the scars! You've seen how disgusting I am! How can that not change things?”

At first I'm taken aback by her tone, but when I recover, I hold her hand tighter in both of mine as I speak. “Because the person you are is more than your physical body. I can't deny the fact that the scars are there, but I see past them to the person you are. You are beautiful, there's no doubt about that, even with the scars. You are beautiful inside, and that makes the outside beautiful, with or without scars.”

My words seem to quieten Dani's panic and she whispers, “But you saw them...”

“I know. I also know you didn't want me to see them and if I could take it all back, then I would. However, isn't it better that I found you and not anyone else? Unfortunately it happened, and no one can erase that, but we have to try to get justice. We can get these guys for this and it'll be justice for you. Not just for this, but also for everything else you've been through.”

I hear Dani mumble, “No more lies...” before she calls my name.

“Yes baby?”

“I've seen more of those guys... On the pictures...”

I take a deep breath and try to control my anger, “How many in total?”

“12.”

“Geez, Dani. They weren't all at your house, were they?”

“No sir. From before.”

I nod, not really sure what to say. I want to get the rest of these guys, but I don't want to subject Dani to any more interviews and scrutiny. I don't want everyone in the precinct to know what she's been through. Heck, I don't want anyone to know what she's been through. It's not because I'm ashamed of her or anything, it's because I know that she would be embarrassed and ashamed.

Before I can say anything else, a nurse knocks on the door frame, “Hey guys. It's time for your evening meds, Dani. Are you staying here, Lieutenant?”

I shoot Dani a questioning glance and she whispers, “If you can, then I'd like you to.”

“Yes, Mandy, I'll be staying.”

“Ok, I'll bring you some blankets in. Did you get something to eat?”

“Yes ma'am. My pops brought me some dinner earlier. Thank you.”

“Good. Dr. Stone said to let you know Dani's head bandage will be coming off tomorrow and the physio starts as well.”

I nod and thank her for the information as I try to gauge Dani's reaction. She's not really giving anything away, but I don't know if that's because Mandy is still in the room, putting Dani's meds into her IV. As soon as Mandy is gone, I ask, “What's wrong?”

“I don't want physio. They're going to want to touch me... Eli, I don't want them to touch me...”

“Hey, hey, look at me sweetheart. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You don't know that they're going to touch you. If you do everything they say, then they shouldn't need to touch you. I'll talk to Dr. Stone before I leave in the morning. It'll all be ok, Dani. Just trust me, ok?”

“Yes sir.”

Dani's eyes are getting heavy; it doesn't take long for those meds to work. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. I'll be right here.”





Dani

I'm back at my apartment. I'm watching the front door because I know someone is there. There's a deafening crash and my door is laying on the floor in pieces. It's not long before a group of men are inside my apartment, descending on me. I can hear them talking in Russian to each other as I reach for my gun. I'm absolutely petrified right now, but I need to remember everything Eli taught me. If I want to protect myself, I have to remember all the training he did with me. He told me to fight through the fear, so I can make an accurate shot. As I try to escape, I see the 'breathing man' coming towards me. There's no doubt it's him; I will never forget his face. I know exactly what is on his mind right now. It's the same expression he wore on his features on that night all those years ago. I will not let it happen again. I take a deep breath and try to steady myself as much as I can before I pull the trigger. I didn't actually think I had the guts to shot anyone, and I think the breathing man thought that too, because his features contort into shock first. As I continue to put bullets into his chest, his expression changes to one of pain before he falls onto the floor. I've never taken a life, but right now I'm glad it was him and not me. All those years of being frightened of him, scared that he'll come back for me, have come out in all of those bullets.He can't get me now. He can't hurt any more girls now. While killing someone isn't something I like, knowing he can't hurt anyone again does give me a sense of relief. This doesn't last long, because the shock has worn off and the other four men are advancing quickly.

I try to run, but they're on me before I can lock myself in the bathroom. My gun is knocked out my hand somewhere along the way, so that's no help whatsoever. The beatings have started and I try to block my torso as much as possible. The need to protect myself is instinctive, but then I realize they're probably going to kill me anyway so I may as well let it finish quickly. The less suffering the better. The blows just won't stop. My head is slammed against the floor and I'm sure I feel my brain shake with the force of it. The blows are like locusts descending on fresh food, relentless. When I think it can't possibly get any worse, my clothes are tugged off my body and I feel a heavy weight on top of me. Panic rises in me, when I realize just what is happening. I manage to see through my swollen eyelids and I find Artur on top of me. I try to move, try to escape or do something to stop this from happening again. This can't happen again. If I'm going to die then I don't want this to be the last thing I remember. I want to remember Eli. I want Eli here! I need Eli!

I hear more shots being fired and Eli appears above Artur. He shoves Artur away and starts beating on him. I try to warn Eli about the other men, but I can't get any words out. I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming because it didn't happen like this. The other men descend on Eli. He tries to fight them off, but there's too many of them and they drag him to the floor. I can hear and feel their blows hitting Eli and it makes me feel sick. I scream Eli's name over and over again, hoping that it will make it stop. I can't even move, so I can't do anything else to stop it. I scream as I feel the tears stinging the wounds on my face. It's all my fault. Eli is going to die because of me. I can't stop screaming for Eli and I see his eyes turn to me. Even though his green orbs are glossed over with pain, he still captures my attention. I can only stare at him as I hear a gun shot ring through my bedroom and Eli's stare turns glassy and empty. A terrified scream is ripped out of my throat and the tears fall uncontrollably.

My eyes snap open and I frantically scan the room for anything to ground me to reality. Eli's face is in front of mine and it's now that I realize I'm still screaming. Eli's hand hovers over my face and then he carefully covers my mouth to muffle the screams. Once I understand Eli is actually alive and in front of me, the screams die on my lips, but the sobs don't stop. Eli's hand moves away from my face and through my sobs I hear him say, “Baby, it's ok. I'm right here. You're ok. It's ok...”

I know he's trying to comfort me, but it's not working. I need to know he's actually safe. I need to know everything that just happened was just a dream. My conscious mind is not exactly rational right now and I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind, “Are you alive?! Are you really alive?”

“Yes baby, I'm alive. It was a nightmare. I'm ok and you're safe now.”

“No!”

“It's ok, baby.”

I reach for Eli's shirt and grab it before trying to lift it up. I need to see. I need to know it didn't really happen. I need to be brought back to reality. I need those images to be dissolved.

Eli grabs my hands and whispers, “Dani, what are you doing? What's going on?”

“I need to see! I need to know it's not real!”

“What isn't real? I need you to calm down, Dani. You need to tell me what's going on.”

“Please! I need to know they didn't hurt you...”

Eli reaches for the bottom of his shirt is he lifts it over his head. His bare chest is free from any new wounds and there's definitely no gun shot wounds. He turns around slowly, to show me his back as well as he says, “See, I'm not hurt. No one has hurt me. It's ok baby.”

Once again, Eli appears in front me of and I weakly say, “Please...”

“What do you need me to do, baby? I'll do whatever you want, just tell me what that is...”

Now, if my mind was thinking normally then I would never ask what I'm about to ask. And even if I did manage to get the courage to do it, I would be a dark shade of red out of embarrassment. But seeing as I'm still frantic and scanning Eli and the room, I don't feel embarrassed as I ask, “Can you lay here? With me?”

His eyes nearly fall out from shock, but he carefully slides onto the bed. I run my fingers over his bare chest, trying to reassure myself that he isn't hurt. I feel Eli shiver under my touch so I snatch my hand away quickly. Eli takes a deep breath and whispers, “Dani, if you need to be sure I'm ok, you can check every part of me. I'm ok with that. I just want you to be ok...”

I place my hand back on Eli's chest, so he reaches between us and puts his hand over mine. As he traces patterns on the back of my hand, I feel my breathing start to slow down. I don't know how he does it, but he always manages to calm me down. When my heart rate has returned to a nearly normal rate, I whisper, “I'm sorry.”

Eli looks into my eyes, “You don't need to be sorry, Dani. Can you tell me what happened?”

“They hurt you, Eli... They shot you...! You died right there...!”

I'm getting upset all over again, so Eli grabs my attention. “They didn't, sweetheart. It was a nightmare. I'm right here and I'm safe. We're both safe. It's ok.”

“You walked in when they were hurting me... You tried to stop them...”

“I wish I had stopped them, baby. Then maybe we wouldn't be here...”

“No! You'd be dead! We'd be dead...”

“Shhh, calm down, baby. It's over. We're not planning on seeing any of them ever again. Shhh.”

A few tears escape as I quietly admit the truth, “I was scared, Eli. I don't want you to die.”

“I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I can't leave you like that. How would I be able to cope without you?”

“I don't want you to leave me... Don't leave me...”

“I promise I won't leave you. I'm here until the end of time. It's you and me against the world.”

Eli slowly leans forward and kisses my cheek. In a normal situation I would be having a heart attack, but after the nightmare, the fear of him dying and the truths we've just shared, I can't bring myself to panic any more. I'm aware that he's there and that I probably shouldn't be letting this happen, but right now I need the comfort. I don't get any creepy vibes from Eli's kiss; no hidden meaning or anything. Just the fact that he cares about me. As sleep tugs at me, my eyes close and I'm overly aware of Eli's scent, the feel of his chest under my hand and his fingers tracing patterns on the back of my hand. I'm so wrapped up in all of this that I think I imagine him whisper, “I'm not going anywhere, baby. I love you too much to leave...”

I'm dreaming, because no one would say anything like that to me. I'm not good enough for someone to love. For right now, I just pretend he actually said those words and I pretend life is normal. That we're not in a hospital after I've just woken up from a coma the Russian mob put me in. The little girl in me is still there as I dream about the life I could have had if I'd have met Eli sooner.



A/N: Sooo, what do you think? Aren't they just the cutest? I loved writing that last part. I only proofread this once, so if you see any mistakes, please let me know. Thank you all for being so patient with me. I do apologise for not updating sooner, but my dog had major surgery and she needs a lot of extra care at the moment. The poor thing had her bone filed down and pinned together, so taking care of her is hard work right now. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and I'll update as soon as I can :)