Page 9 of Rescuing Tobias

The doctor opened her mouth, no doubt to object, but the smile of relief Isabella gave him didn't go unnoticed, and the doctor’s gaze softened.

If it wasn't for the sharp twinge in his back that had him wincing as he crossed the few steps to the door, Tobias very well might have done something monumentally stupid like offer to be there for Isabella while she recovered.

The pain held him back. The poor woman had enough baggage weighing her down, and enough trauma that it could take months or even years for her to process it all. The last thing Isabella needed was the added weight of his injury.

March 14th

9:49 P.M.

“Is theretime for me to pop to the bathroom before we land?” Isabella asked, her hands clenched into fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms.

If she had to spend another second sitting in this seat, with Tobias sitting across from her, watching her with unveiled concern, then she was going to lose it.

Snap.

Shatter into a thousand pieces.

Fall apart completely.

Not only was she running on empty, but it had been a really long day. After being rescued, she’d been transported to a Navy vessel to be assessed by a doctor, then hitched a ride with Tobias on a helicopter, then a plane, then another plane, and now they were approaching New York City, where he lived. She would be spending the rest of the night there, and then Becca and Connor were going to come and pick her up, and she would stay with them until she recovered.

What happened after that she wasn't quite sure yet.

What she was sure of was the fact that she couldn’t stand another second up in the air. Every moment she spent on the plane only made her remember the flight to where she’d been held. She’d been kept in a dog crate the entire time. It wasn't big enough for her to stretch out, her muscles ached from her cramped position, and they hadn't let her out to use a bathroom. Despite her best efforts, she’d wound up peeing in there and then been forced to kneel in it the rest of the flight.

Even though this flight was about as far from that journey from hell as you could get, it still felt the same. She might be on a fancy private jet, sitting on a plush leather seat, but her emotions didn't seem to care. Nor did they care that there wasn't just a tinylittle toilet and sink but an entire bathroom with a huge walk-in shower that would have been lovely to use if she could just calm down. Or that there was an array of snacks and beverages, even if her stomach was too nauseous for anything.

“Yeah, we have about ten, fifteen minutes before we need to be buckled in for descent,” Tobias replied, and she gave a quick nod, unbuckled her seatbelt, and hurried down to the bathroom at the back of the plane. Not only was there this gorgeous bathroom, but also an attached bedroom with a huge king-size bed.

Hurrying into the bathroom, she did her best to avoid catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She’d made that mistake in the infirmary on the ship, and it wasn't something she was prepared to face again yet. She looked like her, and yet at the same time, she didn't. Isabella was only four foot eleven, and she’d always been slim, but now she looked more like a skeleton with skin than anything else. Dark circles were under her eyes, and bruises on her face. Her hair was a mess, and she had this … lifeless look to her she didn't like at all.

This ordeal had changed her in ways she wasn't ready to accept yet.

One thing she couldn’t not accept was that the tears she was trying so hard to hold in were coming whether she liked it or not.

Clamping her teeth together, she quickly did her business and washed her hands, all while managing to avoid the mirror. But as soon as she stepped into the bedroom, she eyed the plush feather pillows and the fluffy quilt that would feel so good against her skin after months of sleeping on a thin mattress with nothing but a scratchy blanket for warmth.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Isabella was crawling onto it. Once she reached the middle, she piled the pillows one on top of the other, then scrambled under the covers. Then she curled herself into a ball, making herself as smallas possible. Scrunching her eyes closed, cocooned in a pile of feathery warmth, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Pressing a hand to her mouth, she stifled her sobs as she cried.

Cried for everything she’d gone through, the pain, the suffering, the fear. Everything those poor people she’d been forced to tend to had gone through. The ones who had lost their lives and the ones who would go home but with literal pieces of themselves missing. She cried for their families and friends, the other nurses and doctors who were prisoners like her. For everyone who had been affected by the trafficking ring.

She wept until her head pounded, and her eyes felt puffy, her chest ached, and her entire body felt heavy. There was every possibility she would have stayed right where she was, crying her heart out for the rest of her life, if a voice hadn't cleared somewhat uncomfortably from the other side of the room.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need to take our seats,” Tobias informed her.

If she had an ounce of energy left, Isabella would have been embarrassed to have him witness her breakdown. She was strong, tough, a survivor, a firecracker as he kept calling her. But she wasn't invincible, and she was scared and hurting right now, physically and psychologically. It was hard to see that she could ever move past this, rebuild her life, and have the future she’d always planned for herself.

In this moment she felt so stuck.

Like she was trapped in quicksand, pulling her down an inch at a time. Sooner or later her head would be dragged right under.

“Are you?—?”

“I'm fine. Coming,” she said, cutting him off, not wanting to acknowledge that he knew she’d been sobbing despite her attempts to muffle the sounds.

“Hey.” A hand landed on her shoulder as she reluctantly shoved the covers back and forced her aching and weary body upright.

---