I decided to work on this today, since you all were so kind enough to review so quickly. I'm glad you guys are enjoying this fic's progress and have stuck by it even when it moved painfully slow in the beginning chapters. I granted a couple of wishes and brought Selene back. And in this chapter we set the tone for the next few chapters: marital drama, Steph in shambles and Selene and Dr. Morgan having a breakthrough. Enjoy and let me know what you think!
P.S. Nicole I used your "Stephanie/Undertaker nightmares" idea here. Thanks! As for the dancer idea, that one I got from an article on Stephanie, LOL.
Hunter let out a content moan, rolling over with the intention of pulling Stephanie closer to him. They'd had an amazing night together and it all began with the conversation they'd had after dinner. They'd come to an understanding and he was able to see that she really was going to try to address her behavior and change. Over the last week he'd purposely held back from her physically. He had been close to being sexually frustrated, but didn't want Stephanie to think that if they did get physical it meant he wasn't still angry with her. So he'd kept his distance, knowing that if he let her be too close, he wouldn't be able to help himself around her.
After they'd reconnected the first couple of times, Stephanie mentioned that she did have a few things they could turn into dessert. A sexy dessert. She'd left the room briefly and come back with a bowl of strawberries, a can of whipped cream and a bottle of chocolate syrup. They'd eaten dessert all right – mostly off of each other. But it was just as fun and entertaining as it was hot. And then they'd gotten to help each other wash off the stickiness in the shower.
She'd fallen asleep in his arms and he soon followed suit.
So he was confused when his fingers connected with sheets that were ice cold. His brown eyes fluttered open and he sat up, running a hand through his hair.
Again with the disappearing act, he thought bitterly. He had hoped that after last night she would stop sneaking off to do God knows what while he was sleeping. But that seemed to have turned out to be a longshot. Nothing had changed between them. Last night meant nothing to her.
Though he could walk fine without the crutches, he didn't want to do it too often. Not until his doctor had officially cleared it. But instead of using both of them, he simply used a crutch on his injured side, walking into the kitchen to grab himself some breakfast.
In unconsciousness, Stephanie relived her horrifying night. On the floor, she thrashed while she watched herself struggle underneath Ritchie. Her arms were pinned above her head and his hand was covering her mouth and half of her face. Her own frightened blue eyes stared up at something that only she could see while she shook her head back and forth on the bed.
Ritchie moved his hand, exposing the face of the teenager she'd once been. A rip was heard – the tearing of her bra. She opened her mouth to yell and Ritchie took advantage by trying to fuse hers with his.
Teenage Stephanie's eyes fluttered open when a woman yelled, "Get off!" The woman looked how Stephanie did now, but different. Her hair and her clothes were more Selene's style. She jumped onto Ritchie's back, clawing as she continued screaming for him to leave the teenager alone. Her fighting didn't faze Ritchie at all so she stood up, frantically looking around for a weapon of some kind. She saw the fine-tipped pen and walked over to the dresser.
Selene held the pen up long enough for the teenage Stephanie to see it.
Ritchie stopped what he was doing, time appearing to have become frozen in that instant.
The scene changed, with Selene suddenly underneath Ritchie and the teenager nowhere to be found.
Selene wriggled towards the direction of the nightstand; towards the pen she had held. She reciprocated the kiss until Ritchie stopped working so hard to pin her down. He loosened up and she immediately kneed him in the crotch. She sat up quickly, grabbing the pen from the nightstand.
Screwing a look of malice on her face, she stabbed it deeply into the flesh of Ritchie's shoulder. She eyed the pen strangely then looked up. Teenage Stephanie's hand was also wrapped around the pen sticking out from the man's shoulder. But Selene's hands were clean; the teenager's were bloody.
Both Selene and teenage Stephanie disappeared from the scene, to be replaced by the actual Stephanie, clad in her jeans and hoodie. She pushed Ritchie over and made a beeline for the hotel room door.
A hand reached out and grabbed her arm, trying to bring her back into the room. "No!" She shouted. "Let me go!"
"Stephanie, stop!" Hunter said, diverting her flailing hands away from his face.
"No!" She yelled again, kicking her feet frantically.
"Steph! Wake up, Stephanie, you're dreaming!"
Hunter didn't want to do this, but he held her body captive beneath his, pinning her arms in front of her with one hand. He used his free hand to touch her face. "Come back to me, Stephanie. Wake up!" He shouted.
In Stephanie's mind she was once again trapped under Ritchie and about to be assaulted. Her eyes were screwed shut tightly while she tried to get free, but she opened them as she screamed again.
And saw Hunter's face above her instead. She blinked a couple of times, making sure he was real and not another dream. Her chest heaved with her labored breathing and she could feel the tears sloping down her cheeks.
Hunter's forehead tensed with concern. "Are you okay?"
Stephanie slowly shook her head and looked down at the floor instead of at him. "Get off me," she whispered.
Hunter did as he was told, using the edge of the bed as leverage to stand again.
To say he was worried would be an understatement. He'd been in the kitchen getting a bowl of cereal when he heard movement from her bedroom. His irritation with her had disappeared, realizing that she was just in the other room getting some clothes rather than elsewhere. He walked in to tell her good morning and was shocked by what he found: Stephanie had been lying on the floor, thrashing around like a fish out of water or something. He realized that she was having a bad dream, but wondered why she'd been sleeping in this room in a robe of all things. He'd knelt beside her and tried to wake her up.
And then she'd started screaming and crying as if he was hurting her. She still looked petrified, but at least she was awake.
He chewed his bottom lip as he watched her hug her knees to her chest. "Steph?" He asked, reaching down to touch her shoulder.
Stephanie flinched as if he'd just slapped her or something. She quickly scooted away from him and his bewildered gaze. "Just leave me alone, Hunter," she muttered out angrily. "I need some space."
Hunter wasn't entirely sure what he should do or say. It was obvious that her dream had freaked her the hell out. He knew that for a period of time after the Ministry of Darkness plot, she'd suffered from nightmares. Maybe with all the drama that was going on, they were resurfacing. "All right," he agreed, grabbing his lone crutch and heading for the kitchen. He closed the door behind himself.
Stephanie didn't see blackness creeping in and she didn't feel any migraines coming on. All she felt was broken. There was no room for anything else. "Take over," she mumbled softly. "Please." Her eyes welled up with tears and she sniffled. "I-I can't take this. I can't do it. Please take over."
And just like that, she was gone. In her place, Selene continued to sit on the floor for a moment. She wiped at her eyes but couldn't quite keep the tears from falling, either. Her long arm reached up to the bed, dragging down Stephanie's phone.
Mentally willing her fingers to stop shaking so badly, she scrolled through the contacts until she found Dr. Morgan's name. Of course since Stephanie was concerned with Hunter finding out, she'd codenamed the good doctor as simply, "Morgs." As if it was some old female college buddy. The office was closed on Saturday's, so she bypassed that number and selected his mobile number. She pressed the phone to her ear while she waited.
"Stephanie?" He asked quizzically. "Is everything okay?"
Selene shook her head no. "It's not; on both accounts."
"Selene?"
She took a deep breath. "Yes. Yes it's me. I need to see you. I-I need someone…to talk to."
"Well, the practice is closed today," he informed her.
"I know that," she said quickly. "But that's why we have this number. For emergencies. Please?" She asked again.
Thirty minutes later, Selene emerged from the bedroom showered and fully dressed. At Hunter's questioning glance she simply stated, "I need some air."
Hunter puffed his cheeks out, but nodded. He was going to ask her who she'd been talking to earlier, but refrained. Maybe she'd been talking to herself as a coping mechanism. "Okay," he agreed without saying any more.
Selene wasn't going far. Just to a little café a few blocks down from the hotel. She walked there; she really did need some fresh air to clear her head.
When she arrived, she wasn't surprised to find the ever-punctual Dr. Morgan already seated and waiting on her.
He stood up to greet her, but she waved him off by plopping down across from him.
Before he could begin, she decided to lay some ground rules. "If I'm going to start doing this, it has to be done my way. I will tell you things when I feel like it, using whatever colorful language I'd like. We'll meet where I want when I want. But I will allow you to take notes and shit like that. Agreed?"
Dr. Morgan wanted to decline. That wasn't the way therapy generally worked. But since it was a milestone that she'd even come to him, he nodded his head in agreement.
"Stephanie…well the bartender guy I sucked face with and gave her number to…he tried to blackmail her. He did blackmail her, really. Threatened to come up and tell Hunter what all I've been up to. Knew all about the crutches and said he wasn't scared of him."
The doctor arched an intrigued eyebrow. "What did she do about that?"
Selene let out a disgusted breath. "She agreed to his demands. Agreed to meet up with him in his room…to talk. He – well he didn't waste much time. He was all over her and she made it clear she didn't want him. So he tried to take her."
"Take her where?"
"No not kidnap-take. He tried," she stopped short and closed her eyes, balling her hands into fists. She slammed them on the table. "He tried to fucking rape her! And I did nothing! I couldn't do anything and for a minute there, she couldn't either. I was just…frozen. I couldn't believe what was happening. Couldn't believe I was letting it happen or that I brought this on her."
"My God! Have one of you called the police?"
She shook her head and had calmed down considerably now that that was off her chest. "Of course not. Too much red tape for both of us. She was able to fight him off somehow. I don't know where she found the strength to do that, when I couldn't."
"She's stronger than you think, Selene."
Selene shook her head to the contrary. "She broke down right after. Cried herself to sleep on the floor in a robe. Went to pieces this morning. Begged me to take over for her. Never thought I'd hear her say that."
"What happened to her is traumatizing."
"Yeah, I know. And it's my fault, really. But what the hell was she thinking going down there to meet with him? What the hell guy invites a woman over to talk at eleven at night? She should have known better!"
"Maybe she did. Maybe she just didn't care if it could've saved her marriage."
"Maybe," she agreed. "I didn't protect her, Doc. That's what I was made for. That's my only purpose. To deal with what she can't. To take over before people try to break her. I failed and she's broken…so what am I here for?"
"We all make mistakes and fall short from time to time. You're here for her now, that's what matters. And if you let me help you, I can help her."
Selene nodded and leaned back in her chair, running a hand over her damp hair. "I said I would. But I don't want to talk about that today. I'm going to tell our story my way." She pushed back the chair and stood up. She gestured to the beautiful scenery all around them, finally finding it in her to smile a little.
She turned and began to walk away, not wanting to give the doctor a chance to protest. "It's a beautiful day, Doc," she called over her shoulder, pointing upwards to the brightly shining sun. "Go enjoy it. Steph and I will catch you later."