I love my reviewers. Deeply. You are all the reasons why I keep writing. This is the longest story I've continued on here and I hope it will go all the way to the end. Maybe a sequel? Talk about thinking ahead! But anyhow, in this chapter, there is obviously a glitch in Jonathan and Eva's relationship that wasn't there before. Also, something changes in Jonathan as well…

Chapter Six: Numb

Jonathan could immediately tell that something was wrong with Eva. He did not blame her; her life had just been threatened and she had a nine millimeter pistol to the back of her head. Of course, he could understand that. What he could not understand was why Eva was suddenly going out of her way to ignore him. For the first time he had known her, she was keeping something from him. All he wanted was to comfort and console her, after all, he was almost done with his training to become a psychiatrist; it was in his nature to want to know what was bothering his fiancée and help her. But at the moment, she was not opening, as she had not been for three days now. Sure, she would hold his hand and say "I love you" but the usual sparkle in her eyes was gone. Just by being around her, Jonathan could sense the difference. Lovemaking was not the same, for Eva's passion and fire were not there.

When he held her hand or kissed her lips, Jonathan could feel the fear trembling through her body. For the hundredth time, he tried to reassure himself that it was only a side affect of what had occurred in the park, but this was too much. So in his head, Jonathan formulated a plan.

In the morning, when the two awoke and were lying in bed, he would carefully lean into the subject. 'Sweet and simple,' Jonathan thought to himself, but once he thought it, it didn't seem like anything was going to go back to being sweet and simple. All the young man could do was wait until morning crept along…

--

His nerves were running haywire.

Jonathan had never felt nervous about talking to his fiancée about anything and he expected this day to be no different. But, he was nervous. He had awoken around three thirty in the morning and had been lying in bed ever since. At around seven, the first rays of sunshine began to creep into the bedroom. He turned his head to Eva, assuming she was asleep. When he looked over at her, he was surprised to see her eyes, wide open, staring back at him. Had been awake the whole time as well?

Eva pursed her lips together and flipped herself onto her back, her eyes burning holes into the ceiling.

She began to speak, Jonathan assumed to him and commented, "You've been awake since three thirty this morning, Jonathan."

Jonathan gave a look, not really to anyone in particular, just a look that said, "Damn."

He replied, "How long have you been up, then?" By the rustling sound the sheets had made, Jonathan figured she had shrugged and it was clarified when Eva replied, "Since two."

Jonathan was going to start the somewhat long speech he had put together in his mind for quite some time now. As if Eva knew what he was going to do, she snatched the words out of his mouth and spoke them for herself.

"I know you've been wanting to talk to me since," she paused, recalling the painful incident in the park, "… since what happened." Eva slowly sat up in the bed her and Jonathan shared and, holding the sheet to her chest, she tugged on Jonathan's hand, urging him to sit up with her. She explained, "I owe you an explanation or two. I have a story to tell."

So Jonathan obeyed. When he was sitting next to her, Jonathan looked at her face. Her usually brilliant eyes were clouded over with memories, of memories he had not yet discovered. So Jonathan waited. Eva's petite hand grabbed Jonathan's and she took a deep breath.

She sighed and said, so quietly, "Everyone has demons they must face…"

"I lived in England until I was eighteen, you know that. I told you I left England for the States to study," she bit her lip, "That was only the half truth. There was something else, something more powerful than that that made me leave there."

Jonathan's heart raced. What was she hiding? The thought that Jonathan had been so good at knowing if Eva was hiding stuff from him fled from his mind immediately. He braced himself.

An emotional Eva continued, "The summer before I was due to leave, I was leaving an opera in London. I was with my brother, Jamison and his daughter, my niece Angelia. We took a back alley out, only to avoid traffic. Angelia was only eighteen months old at the time. I was holding her back, my arms laced with Jamison's. All of the sudden, this guy… he jumped out nowhere. He had a gun, a gu—he wanted our money, so Jamison just gave him the wallet, no big deal. And then…" Eva began to bawl.

Jonathan immediately secured his arms around her and held her. Her story was reminding him about something that had occurred a long time ago, when he was only a boy, maybe nine or ten…

Eva continued, her breath unsteady and wavering against Jonathan's bare chest, "He had the gun at little Angelia's head… Jamison attacked him, screaming "Don't touch my child, my sister, my family…" Then the gun… it went off and Jamison…" Eva sobbed, weeping for her late brother, "He was lying there, just… Goddamn it…"

Jonathan kissed his future wife's head, wishing he could steal her pain away, She quietly continued, "He turned the gun back to Angelia and I. I wouldn't let anyone or anything hurt her. The bastard had just taken her father away; she wouldn't lose an aunt, either. So, I ran forward, saw the gun pointed at Angelia, turned backward and felt something sear through my shoulder," the crying had stopped, "He shot me in the shoulder."

Jonathan's eyes widened. He cautiously moved his eyes over to Eva's bare back and brushed his slender fingers over her shoulder blade. For the first time, Jonathan noticed a pale pink broken circular wound on her back. Rage filled him.

"But," Eva needed to finish, "I kept running until I contacted him. I was running with so much force that I knocked him over. I turned back around, kicked him in the balls, did the same with the gun, which was still in his hand. It flew across the alley. With Angelia, I ran out of the alley, grabbed the gun as I did and went screaming and hollering through the streets of London, trying to find anyone who would help me. It didn't take long… they took him away and brought my Jamison to the hospital…," At this, Eva covered her face with her hands, weeping.

Jonathan didn't have to hear her words to know what she was going to say. Jamison Daniels was dead upon arrival. Jonathan had never had a sibling, but he could only imagine what it was like to lose one so close.

"I told my mum and dad that I wasn't staying in England on any condition. So I left a month later. And I've been here for the past five years almost." Eva wrapped her arms around Jonathan and they both left themselves fall back onto the bed. With tears running down her cheeks, she proclaimed, "I can't bare to lose you like I lose my brother, Jonathan. That's what I was so afraid of that night. I love you too damn much."

Jonathan's eyes screamed love and compassion, "And no love can match what I feel for you, Eva. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you that night."

"Nor do I."

The two lay together for ten minutes. Finally, peaceful sleep overtook them and they slept late into the later afternoon.

--

Jonathan awoke late into the afternoon. He had slept a good part of his day away, but at least the secret that was weighing Eva down came out. Eva had always reminded Jonathan to look on the bright side of things when he'd get stressed about having "wasted" an entire day. He thought about what Eva had told him. He came to the conclusion that he was not the only person in the world who had lost someone dear to their heart. And to be right there, to see your loved one be killed…

Jonathan closed his eyes at the thought of it. He turned to glance at his sleeping future wife. Her face was calm and peaceful, somewhere behind the barriers of logic. She was up in the stars, sleeping with angels and she would awake soon enough to be with him again. Jonathan smiled at her affectionately.

But then, his mind traveled to something he had thought about before…

While Jonathan was still attending elementary school, he recalled something that had been in the news constantly for a year, perhaps more. The owner of Wayne Enterprises, Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha, had been shot, murdered on their way home from an opera. Their young son, Bruce, heir to the entire family fortune, had been there to witness it all. Much like Evangeline and her niece, Angelia had… Jonathan got a sudden chill to his bones. The scenario oddly resembled Jamison Daniels' death. Strange thoughts began to weave themselves into the psychiatry student's mind. Could the two murders have been related? Jonathan immediately shook his head.

"No!" he muttered to himself. He then thought, 'It's too far fetched; the years are so far apart. Eva's family devastation occurred five years ago, while the Wayne massacre happened fifteen years ago. Eva's tragedy occurred an ocean's distance away and the Wayne tragedy, here at home. And Bruce Wayne had mysteriously vanished from the face of Gotham about…' Jonathan's body froze. 'Five years ago.'

Jonathan ventured over to his cabinet under his sink. There rested an unopened bottle of Jack Daniel's. Slowly, he took out the bottle, opened it and smelled the liquor, his nostrils flaring in disgust. But, for the short relief it might be able to bring, Jonathan took a long swig of the burning liquid, not even bothering to plug his nose. After drinking, Jonathan put the alcohol back in its place and took a seat in his La-Z Boy recliner. His thoughts really went nowhere, except for the story Eva had recited a few hours prior, the Wayne family murders and the growing crime rate in Gotham City.

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I don't really know about this chapter. But I felt I had to get some background on Eva and what has happened to her and why she decided to leave England. Because I know if I ever lived in England, I wouldn't live it for the world. I'm sorry for the delay, but I've been surprisingly busy lately. Thank you reviewers! You are the sole reason why this story is even alive. Metaphorically, of course.

Much love.