CHAPTER 10
The very next day, the news report was that Elena Lincoln had her hearing and she plead not guilty, even though it was an open and shut case. They had some evidence of some kind that had her DNA on it that was still viable from thirty years ago proving it was her but she refused to confess and it was going to trial on September 29th in about four weeks.
Another week went by, she never heard back from Moss Adams, LLC and that was fine with her. He was too dull anyway. She had put her resume out to ten more places in Seattle. Her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number.
She answered, "Hello?"
A woman said, "Ana, this is Grace Grey." Ana's eye bugged out.
Ana said, "Hello, Mrs Grey."
Grace sighed and said, "I know this is sticking my nose into where it doesn't belong but, Christian is not doing very well. In fact he is in self destruct mode. I don't know what has happened with you both but he's a mess. He's drinking and won't wash himself and he's losing weight. I've never seen him like this. I ask him if he's ok and if I can help him. He starts to cry and says he ruined everything good in his life. He has never broken down and cried before in front of me since he was a little boy. He said you walked out the door and he was a fool to not stop it from happening. All I can imagine is what Taylor told me is that you left him and he didn't say a word to you for weeks. Taylor said all he did was a text message to you, because you refused the job interview at his company he set up. I know that it's too much to ask but could you throw him a bone? I'm afraid for him. He won't even go to his doctor appointments and sits in his bedroom curled in a ball not eating." God, Ana felt bad that he was suffering so terribly. Ana sighed. She wanted to cry too and tears were welling in her eyes. She had a pain in her chest.
Ana said, "I'll try." She knew she caved but what could she do? She didn't want harm to come to him even from himself.
Grace said, "Thank you, Ana. You're such a good person."
Ana said, "We'll both see if I can get him to take care of himself."
Grace said, "I know. Just try for his sake."
Ana said, "Ok I have to pack up and move back to my condo, again."
Grace said, "Thank you. Take care, Ana."
Ana said, "You too, Mrs Grey." They hung up. Ana sat there and thought, 'What damn mess. Well if I get an interview at least I'll be in town. I might as well get packing."
It took Ana a couple days to get packed up and put all her clothes in zipper bags laying across the backseat on top of a row of boxes inside the car. She put her cooler in the trunk with most of her belongings and her cart for hauling it inside the condo in the front seat. She locked up and switched on the security measures. Off she went back to Seattle.
When she arrived she hauled all her stuff in three trips up to her condo. She unpacked her cooler into the refrigerator and freezer. She unpacked her other belongings too and hung up all her clothes. She made a roasted red pepper tomato basil soup with homemade buttered biscuits and shredded parmesan cheese to put in the soup to take to Escala for him to eat. She packed a small bag with a couple changes of clothes and a nightgown to leave in her car just in case. She packed up her soup, cheese and biscuits. Took her purse and her computer to leave in the car with the bag in the trunk.
She locked up and went to Escala about four o'clock. She parked. In visitor parking and wondered if the elevator codes were the same. She went up and punched in the code and it still worked. She stepped off the elevator and looked around. She went to the kitchen and put her bag in the refrigerator. She checked his study. She went to Christian's bedroom and opened the door peeking in. It was dark like a tomb. It smelled of sweat and body odor.
She closed the door and found the laundry room. She found the blue California king sheets, several towels and a fresh blanket. She took it with her to his room. She shut the door and turned on the bathroom light, putting the towels and washcloths in a stack on the bathroom sink by the basin. She went into the bedroom and picked up all the empty and partial bottles and took them out of the room and put them in the kitchen sink. She went to the bedroom and closed the door. She switched on a light and saw a very unclean scruffy Christian Grey laying curled up on the bed. She started stripping the bed and replacing pillow cases first after rolling back the sheets towards him. She stacked the pillows in a chair on top of one another. She went into the bathroom and started the shower she took off her outer shirt and her blue jeans. She had a tshirt and a pair of shorts on with her underwear. She took off her underwear and bra and put her shorts and tshirt back on and left in the large clip holding up her hair. She grabbed his cast covers and sat them on the foot of the bed.
She proceeded to wake him up. She shook him and he moaned. She shook him again and he said, "Leave me alone."
She said, "No, I'm not going to leave you alone. Christian Grey get your butt out of this bed or I'm going to spank your ass!" He rolled over and saw Ana. He sat up and groaned.
He said, "Anastasia?"
She said, "Yes, in the flesh. I want you to get undressed and follow me with your crutch to the bathroom and take a shower."
He looked up at her and asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you hated me."
She said, "I don't hate you. I'm mad at you, but I never hated you. Get up! She grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head and down his arm over his cast. She put the cover over his cast on his arm. She pulled his pants down over his hips and he went from side to side as she pulled them off. She knelt down and put on his cast cover on his leg. She got his crutch and helped him up to the shower. He sat in the chair and she washed him everywhere. She soaped up a washcloth and started bathing him from head to toe. He kept reaching out and touching her. She thoroughly washed his body twice. She scrubbed his hair twice and he leaned his head into her abdomen. She conditioned his hair and rinsed him all over. She shut the water off and she washed his face and shaved him with his razor and shaving cream. He looked at her so sad. She put a face lotion on to soothe his face after she washed his face again. She got towels and laid one on the floor in front of the shower and dried his hair with the other. She turned it around and laid it over his shoulders. She told him to sit there for a few minutes. She dried off her clothes best she could. She changed into her dry clothes. She dumped his clothes and the soiled linen and blanket outside the door in a pile. She went into the bedroom and put on the fitted sheet and made up the bed with the other sheet and blanket on it. She went back into the bathroom and dried the rest of Christian. She escorted him to the bedroom and combed out his hair and got him a clean tshirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. He got in bed and still hadn't said a word.
She started stroking his face and eyes as he closed his eyes for her. She said, "Christian, I made you homemade roasted red pepper tomato with basil soup and homemade buttered biscuits. Are you hungry?" He opened his eyes and looked sad at her. A tear slipped from his eye.
He sadly said, "I missed you. Why did you come back and cook for me?
She inhaled, exhaled and said, "Your mother called me and said you weren't feeling well and I have a big problem. I fell in love with you before you hurt me by not stopping me from leaving. It hurt so bad that I was afraid to be near you or the pain would return. I can't stay away if you're in pain and I can't shirk my duty to not take care of you, because you're doing a lousy job at it without me. So how I see it is that you need me to watch over you."
He started to cry, nodding his head and his face started to crumple. She scooted forward and held him with her fingers in his hair soothing him. He buried his face into her neck as he held onto her with his good arm. He sniffled and said, "I love you too." She kissed his cheek and rocked him. She held him close.
She said, "Christian, I couldn't leave you to hurt this much. I'm here now. It will be alright. Shhh…. Shush, baby." He held her tighter.
Once he calmed down, she brought a tray of food for both of them and a glass of ice water for each of them because he was dehydrated.
After they ate, Christian had her lay down with him. He laid with his head on her chest and arm out to the side. She rubbed his head and they both took a nap. A couple hours went by and Ana opened her eyes when she saw Taylor closing the bedroom door. She closed her eyes again.
—--
In the other room, Taylor told Gail, "He's gonna be ok. She's here and got him cleaned up and changed all the linen in there. It smells better. She's holding him as he is sleeping now."
Gail smiled and said, "She must have put all those empty bottles in the sink, piled the dirty linen and clothes by the door and the bag of soup and biscuits in the fridge. She sure takes good care of him as long as she's around."
He said, "I don't think she will go again, I hope. It devastated him when she said she didn't want anything to do with him again in that text. I don't think he could take it if she ever did. He's in love with her. I heard him ranting about it to himself."
Gail said, "I have a feeling she feels the same. I just hope they tell each other."
Taylor said, "They will, if they haven't already. I'll go call his mother and tell her our plan worked." Taylor left to make a call. Gail went to do laundry after the bottles were put in recycling.
—--
Ana got out from under Christian and went to the bathroom. While she was in there, he began crying out in pain. She hurried and saw he was having a nightmare of being burned. She laid down and started massaging his scalp and speaking softly, "Christian, it's ok. I'm here. Relax, honey. It's ok." He started calming down. She held him and kissed his lips. He woke up, put his hand behind her neck and kissed her back. He muttered, "Am I still dreaming?"
She said, "No, but I think I am." He smiled in the dark and kissed her some more. She caressed his face.
He said, "I am so sorry, Anastasia."
She said, "I know you are. I'm sorry too for not telling you myself, but I was just trying to protect you from her and the rest of the children and adults. I don't want to ever have anything withheld from you ever again."
He said, "I'll tell you how I feel about things with you too. I don't want us to have secrets anymore, ok?" She nodded and he kissed her again. He said, "I want to make love to you so badly."
She said, "We will. You need to get stronger right this minute. You're dehydrated and food starved from pickling yourself in alcohol. I need you to eat, drink and take it easy for now. I'm right here with you, Christian. I'm not going anywhere." She kissed him. He laid his head on her collarbone. She rubbed his head until he fell back to sleep.
—--
Christian woke up the next morning still being held by Ana in bed. His casted arm was over her on the bed and his head was resting on her heart. He lifted his head looking at the clock. It was 8am. He had slept for seven hours straight in her arms. He was thirsty and needed a drink of water really bad. He rolled off of her and grappled for his crutch. He went to the bathroom and grabbed the cup there and turned the water on. He started drinking three cups in a row and brushed his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror and the circles were prevalent under his eyes. He had beat the hell out of himself for three weeks. Christian was happy that she came back to him. He loved and needed her. While she was gone his mother and Taylor were trying to get him to go to Flynn and the doctor appointments. He refused because all he wanted was Anastasia. He would try now being she was there with him again. He didn't deserve her, but wouldn't fuck this up.
Ana came in behind him in the bathroom and put her arms around him rubbing his chest from behind. She kissed his shoulder. He grabbed one of her hands and kissed her palm.
Ana said, "You are thirsty huh?"
He said, "Yes, my mouth was dry and I didn't have to pee."
She said, "Well I do. You go back to the bedroom and I'll bring you breakfast in bed, my love." He smiled at her. After all the intimacy that one night they shared and she couldn't pee in front of him? Women. He grabbed his crutch and turned to her and kissed her. He hobbled back to the bed and sat there.
When she came out she fluffed his pillow and propped him up comfortably and covered him with the sheet. She kissed him and went out with the tray from last night of dirty dishes. Gail was in the kitchen.
Ana said, "Hi Gail. I was just returning the dirty dishes from last night and wondered if I could help you fix breakfast? He needs to eat and drink a lot today to get his fluids in. He woke up and had a dry mouth and didn't even pee. So, let's give him a good breakfast, ok?"
Gail smiled at her and said, "Of course Ana. I'm glad you're back."
Ana smiled back at her and patted her shoulder. She said, "I am too." They made them both a hearty omelet with sausage, cheese and vegetables with buttered toast and fresh strawberries. Ana ran in a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee before they got started. He was on his laptop. She brought another set of juice and coffee for both of them on each of their trays. Gail helped her bring them in the bedroom.
Ana sat his tray on his lap and he said, "Wow, this looks good." She sat on the bed and enjoyed her breakfast. Christian ate everything and drank everything. He was feeling better afterwards.
After a couple days passed, Ana decided to go get more clothes from her condo. She told Christian that she would be right back after she packed a bag to bring over. She went down the elevator and was walking across the parking garage. She felt the hair stand up on her neck. When she went to get in her car, a woman was standing about twenty yards away from her, just staring at her with a hard look on her face. She had long stringy hair and was kind of rough looking. She looked like a homeless person.
Ana looked at her and asked, "What are you doing in here? Are you ok? Can I get you some help?" The hair on the back of her neck started tingling. She was still in the door of the car and had her purse in her hand and subtly took out her small gun and clicked off the safety. She was slowly moving behind her car door acting like she was going to close it. She was next to another car. She slowly opened the door in front of her.
The woman said, "You'll never be enough for him. You'll never be what he needs. Master has special needs and you are not able to fulfill them. He needs me to protect him from you. I love him and only I can give him release like he craves. Mistress says you're evil and you're going to harm him. She says you're going to steal his money. I will not let that happen. You are nothing. You are expendable." She raised a gun and aimed at Ana. A shot rang out.
