Page 91 of Alessia
The shrink folds his hands neatly on his lap.
“She’s been through an unspeakable trauma. You’re trying to protect her, but she needs space to process.”
“Space?” I interrupt, leaning forward.
“She’s had space for two days. I can’t just sit here and do nothing!”
He sighs, his eyes steady but unyielding.
“Sometimes, ‘doing nothing’ is exactly what someone needs. She’s back in a safe environment now. She knows you’re here. That’s enough.”
I bite down the retort clawing at my throat. What does he know about enough? Enough is watching the person you love spiral and not being able to catch them. Enough is hearing her muffled cries through the door at night, knowing you can’t stop the nightmares.
“I’m scared,” I say finally, my voice breaking despite my best efforts.
“What if she… what if she’s not okay?”
“Being ‘okay’ isn’t a straight line,” he replies, his tone softer now. “It’s messy. She might never go back to who she was, but that doesn’t mean she can’t heal.”
“She’s stronger than you think,” the shrink adds, almost as an afterthought. “But so are you.”
A knock sounds at the door before Elio steps through.
“Uhm Boss, can I have a second, it’s kind of urgent.” His face is covered in bruises where Harper hit him the other night.
“Yes of course…” I turn to the shrink, “If you could give me a minute, I’ll be right back.” He nods and I leave the room.
“Whatis it?” I snap at him.
“Alex and Vinnie are back, and they brought you a little present.” The grin on his face is pure evil.
“They found him?” Hope blooms in my chest. This might finally be over; we can get our closure. I try not to hope to much, afraid to be let down but it’s impossible and with the way Elio’s eyes shimmer with delight I can’t help myself.
“We’ve got him Boss… He’s in the basement. Alex and Vinnie roughed him up a bit but there’s enough left for you to play with.”
I can’t hold myself back and pull Elio into a big hug.
Elio laughs and returns my hug, putting his arms around me in a fatherly way.
“That’s not all,” He says as we break our hug.
“Tell me!” Anticipation coursing through me.
“Gianni was with one of the guys that did the most damage to Harper, they brought him in as well.”
“No… fucking… way! They got them?” I can’t wrap my brain around it! The man that has been a constant torment in my life for the past sixteen years and the man that raped and maimed my girlfriend are both downstairs. I lean against the wall trying to figure out how to go about this now.
“Go downstairs and wait there for me, I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
“Okidoki, Boss” Elio chirps as he turns around and walks way. It almost looks like his has a little skip in his step. I shake my head and laugh at the sight of a grown man happy to gokill a guy. Only in our world does shit make sense.
I open the door to the room the shrink is still waiting for me and peek my head around it.
“Sorry Doc, I need you to leave now. Something important came up that needs my attention.”
The shrink stands and walks toward me, his expression shifting from calm curiosity to a guarded wariness.
“Something important?” he repeats, stopping just short of the doorway. “You’re certain this can’t wait?”
