Hello. Thanks for your comments and reviews. I swear this will be moving forward in the next chapter. Just hang on there!

Chapter 4

The next time she woke up, she found Heather by her side. She was abroad when everything happened and since then she had been from airport to airport, from train to taxis to get back to her sister.

"Cath! Oh, my God, Cath", she cried jumping from the chair by the bed "I wanted so much to see your eyes again!"

Catherine let herself lose in her sister's hug and both sisters cried against each other for a while. She guessed she knew. She guessed everybody knew by then.

"Don't worry, Heath, I'll be Ok."

After all, she had spent all her life protecting her younger sister from the dark side of life. She could lie again.

Her days in the hospital were made easier thanks to the presence of the people she loved. The worst part of the day came after the nurses cleaned her and took care of all her wounds. They hurt as hell for a while until the medicines kicked in and she felt better. Vincent had behaved all those days, just taking care of her and not asking the questions tormenting him because he knew it was too soon. All her friends took turns to spend their nights with her, so that all of them felt helpful. One of the doctors had told her that, even if he could imagine how hard that experience must have been, an unwanted pregnancy or a STD would have made it even worse. She open her mouth to tell him a couple of things about how a girl felt when she is raped, but what was the point? He was a man. He wouldn't understand. Both Tess and Heather were very worried about Catherine because she acted as if she was OK. She never mentioned the torture, the fear, how weak she felt, how defenseless and trapped, and when one of them asked she always said she was doing fine.

A few days later she was discharged from hospital and both Tess and her sister camped in her living room to help her in the last part of her recovery. None of them was ready to leave her on her own until she was fully recovered. What all of them ignored though was that Vincent spent every night watching her sleep through the window.

"Girls, you don't need to do that, you know?"

"Yes, we do" her sister answered "We are not going to risk this sadist getting to you again. We are not leaving until he is in prison"

Tess cleared her throat before asking,

"Cath, can you remember anything about him? Any special detail that may help us find him?"

Of course she remembered, but she wasn't going to tell anyone, not to her friends, not even to Vincent, because when she was fully recovered, she was going to find him and kill him. For the first time in her life she thought that spending some years in prison was not even a punishment for what he had done to her. He deserved death.

"We are not leaving, sis." Heather said, coming out of the kitchen, unless you want Vincent here all broody hovering over your every move."

"No, thanks" She knew Vincent better than anyone and she was sure that he was somewhere near hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to make a move.

Tess sat on the couch and asked Catherine to sit down.

"I know that you don't wanna talk about it, but you should really consider going to these sessions".

Catherine knew that sooner or later one of them was going to raise the topic and she wasn't ready to talk about it. God, she felt she would never be able to talk about it.

"I…I don't wanna talk with some stranger about…about that", she could feel tears flooding her eyes.

"It will help you, Cat. You have to tell someone before it breaks your heart"

"It already broke my heart, Tess", she cried feeling her sister's arms around her shoulders. "I don't know how I am going to survive this"

"I know" Tess said holding her hands in hers. "I don't know how someone will be able to recover from something like that. But we will figure it out together."

For the first time since she left the hospital, she allowed herself to cry till she felt there weren't any tears left, and then she suddenly said:

"I…I just can't get rid of the smell of my own burning skin, of the noise of his body slanting against mine, of his growls and moans in my ears, of his laughter…"

Both Tess and Heather were crying too.

"I'm so sorry, sis. I'm so sorry this happened to you", Heather sobbed.

"I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel pain. I think I was beyond pain at this point. I just felt it was being so easy for him to ruin me for Vincent…I knew he wasn't going to come, I wish he had!" she was crying again "And I swear to God that I don't want him to feel guilty but…" she couldn't say the words aloud because she knew she wasn't being fair. She was hurt.

Tess looked at her.

"Listen to me" she said while cupping her face "You are not ruined. Your mind will heal as well as your heart because you are strong and determined, you've always been. You have to find a way because if you don't he'll get what he wanted."

"He already got what he wanted"

"No! He hurt your body and you're not just a body. He wanted to hurt Vince and he did, through you. But you love each other and you'll find yourselves again."

A couple of hours later, Cat was sleeping in her bedroom when she felt the most terrible darkness surrounding her, something black and thick which spread quickly around her pressing her body in such a way that she couldn't breathe anymore. She gasped for air and fought against the shadows trying to shout his name. When finally cried "Vincent!" , it sounded like a primal scream, while shaking and trying to open her eyes. She felt his strong hands shaking her shoulders lightly and she sat up on her bed screaming not being able to open her eyes.

"Shhhhh… It's me, Catherine. I'm right here. You're safe."

She wasn't able to open her eyes for a while nor was she able to stop her shaking. Then, when she finally saw Vincent's face and noticed that he was holding her and kissing her temple, she just asked:

"What…What are you doing here?" He was the last person she expected to see there.

"I'm always here. I was with you every night at the hospital, and I'm going to stay around you even if you don't want to." She just let herself be hugged and warmed by his embrace.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked with the saddest look in his eyes.

"No".

"Ok. Can I lay with you while you go to sleep again?"

When she nodded, he just laid by her side holding her tight and kissing her hair. Once her breathing told him that she was asleep, he whispered:

"You will have to tell me who did this to you sooner or later".