Damon's POV
Two bruised ribs, a broken arm, a concussion, and a myriad of bruises and cuts that enveloped her body were now the result of Elena's ordeal. Her left eye was a dark pool of blackness from where someone had punched her, causing it to swell around her eye socket. I helped carry Elena to the bathroom where Diana cleaned her up in the bath tub. I didn't stay to watch.
When the woman was finished, she called for me to pluck my wife from the pink water so that she could dry her off and dress her in a pair of soft, cotton shorts and a T-shirt that Diana had provided. She then took the time to redress the unconscious girl's wounds. I brought Elena back to the bedroom, but not before Diana stripped the bed of its dingy sheets. I looked down at Elena's face and she seemed at peace. I lightly kissed her cheek, pulling her tighter against me.
With a pair of clean sheets spread out on the mattress, I set the girl down on them. Diana reattached the tube of her hand IV before gently pulling the sheets over her damaged frame. I took the time to go out to the truck to grab the bag I had brought. Diana led me to a room down the hall from Elena where I could stay. I took a shower, changed into some clean clothes, and collapsed on the bed. The sun was just beginning to rise from beyond the mountains and I was barely holding my eyelids open.
I closed my lids and fell into a deep, undisturbed sleep.
I woke up sometime later, confused and lost. Then it all came flooding back and I remembered everything. I looked out the window and the sun was nearing sunset. I had slept away the entire day. I scrambled to get up. How could I have left Elena alone this whole time? Maybe Rebekah had been right...I was a selfish man.
I walked down the hall and I saw Diana standing in front of the linen closet. She looked up and smiled at me.
"She woke up a couple hours ago," She said softly.
My heart dropped. I had been too busy sleeping to be there and I felt horrible.
"How is she?" I yearned.
"She is very confused and in a lot of pain. I told her that a man brought her here after last night. I tried to keep it to a minimum because you should be the one to tell her." The woman looked down at her hands.
"Thank you, Diana. Thank you for everything," I whispered before opening the door to Elena's room.
I saw her with a heating pad on her abdomen, her face cringed in pain. She looked up at my entrance and her eyes grew wide. I stepped closer and she began to tremble violently. A sob escaped her lips and tears plummeted from her sore eyes.
"Get out," She barked, "Get out right now, you monster."
"Elena, listen to me," I began but she was crying too hysterically to understand my words.
"Diana, please help me," She called in desperation.
I shook my head at the blonde woman before gently shutting the door behind me. I needed Elena to know, to understand. She winced as I again took another step toward her. She was too injured to move herself away and I suddenly felt empathetic.
"I left that compound for you, okay? I am the one who found you out there and I am the one that brought you here," I told her.
"You're a monster," She hissed, "You called him. It was you."
"I didn't call him. Please just let me explain. Give me five minutes and then after that you can scream and call me names and I'll leave you alone," I said calmly, feeling the frustration bubbling up inside.
"Fine," She spat.
"When I married you, the Prophet had cameras installed in your bedroom. He does it for every new bride, so that he can make sure they are submissive, to make sure they do not fight back," I began, my voice becoming shaky.
Her eyes widened at my admission and she let out a horrid wail.
"I-I did what he asked me, but you kept fighting me. He threatened everything. He threatened to give you a new husband, to beat you out in the woods, and if all else failed, kill you," I choked, turning my eyes away so I didn't have to watch her panic grow, "They've killed girls before for insubordination. They threaten the Prophet's power and ultimately the entire compound."
"No, no, no," She cried, clutching her stomach.
"I was trying to save you, Elena. I needed you to submit and when you finally did last night, I promised you two days. I wasn't lying. The cameras were going to be removed in two days. I-I'm so sorry," I begged.
"You're lying," She sobbed wildly.
"I swear to you. What we did in the shower was real. You deserved to know, to experience what love between a man and a woman should be. I will never forgive myself for what I did to you, but please just know that I am sorry. I am so, so sorry." My voice broke.
"Please just leave," She sniffled, her bottom lip quivering.
"Okay," I nodded, taking three strides back to the door.
She was angry, still untrusting and I understood her completely. She needed time and lots of it. I would honor that and so I walked back to my room, dropped to my knees and screamed into a pillow until any drop of anger still inside me was released.
Elena's POV
Every ounce of me ached at his words. I sobbed and although it was excruciatingly painful to move my lungs so much, I did not care. His words had burned me worse than the pain. I wanted so badly to force myself to forgive him, but I could not. No matter what I did, all I could think about were the nights where he had hurt me, the nights where I begged for mercy, and the nights I had cried myself to sleep. His confession could do nothing to take it all away.
I was hurt by him. It was impossible to move past that. I did not want to see his face or hear his voice. All I wanted to do was cry in the silence of that room. I wanted to feel as my ribs screamed at me in agony. I wanted to feel the deep throbs up and down my arms. I wanted to feel the torture because it was the only thing that felt familiar in that place. I cried. I cried until I felt numb inside, until only the physical pain remained.
I just laid there for hours, staring at a painting of a man and woman kissing on a bench. I memorized the paint strokes until my eyes begged for me to stop. The depiction only made my cry harder. I would never know that love, never know romance. I could barely move my body, but I reached over to grab the painkillers, even knowing that their potency would do nothing to make me feel any better about my life.
There was a light knock on the door and moments later, Diana and Elliott stepped inside. She smiled at me reassuringly and I forced my lips upward so that they formed a grin.
"Hello Elena," She said softly, "Do you need to go to the bathroom. It's been awhile."
I nodded. I had barely noticed the painful bulge below my navel. The pain had melted in with every other ache of my body. Elliott had helped me to the bathroom once before, hours earlier when I had first woken up. He stepped toward the bed to scoop me up into his arms. I did not protest, but cried out at the pain.
"I'm sorry," He mumbled and I gasped for air.
The pain was horrible. My ribs were pulsating, sending shocks up and down my body. Diana walked ahead of us, her face showing how afraid my sobs made her.
"How are you?" He asked kindly, turning toward the bathroom.
"I'm okay. Thank you," I whispered, clenching my teeth at the misery.
He nodded his head before carrying me into the bathroom and plopping me onto the toilet with ease. The shift of my body felt no better than before. I cried out in torment once again. Diana stroked my back softly before I watched Elliott leave the room, closing the door behind him.
"Are you sure you don't just want me to catheterize you so that you don't have to leave the bed? I know it's invasive, but you're torturing yourself, dear," She explained.
"I-I'm fine," I stammered with tears in my eyes.
She helped my pull down my shorts and I could feel my cheeks burn pink. Diana of course noticed, turning her back toward me while I peed. I wasn't used to any of it. This culture, this way of life. It was so different. I was scared of it. I was most afraid of burning in Hell like the I had always been taught. This outside world was a direct ticket to the flames of Hell.
Damon's POV
I waited days for her. I sat on the sofa in the living room and allowed the television to absorb my mind. It was an incredible invention. I nearly dropped the remote when Elliott showed me how it worked. I had to admit that it was the perfect distraction. I didn't have to even think. I just let my mind drift. It passed time and that's all I could ask for.
Elena needed time and I would give it to her. It just hurt to be suffering alone. I began to regret my decision to leave the compound. As much as I despised what the Prophet had done to Elena, it was still my home. My family was there, my house, and my entire life. I left it all behind and for what? I should have dropped her off at the nearest hospital and returned to where I belonged. The stress was getting to my sanity. I hadn't even opened the Bible once since I left. I was too ashamed. I felt that I had betrayed my Creator, that he hated me for my choice.
Another week passed and it had felt painstakingly slow. I was depressed. My life once had meaning and now...nothing. I was conflicted with an array of emotions ranging from anger to guilt. Even more than all of it, I felt fear. I was afraid of this new way of life, the one that would earn me a place in Hell some day. I feared entering this culture, when all I had known was so different. Where would I get a job? Where would I go? What would become of Elena? It was easier to want to go back to the compound, where I had a purpose, a job, a home. Now...I had nothing.
I walked to the kitchen, forcing each leg to propel itself forward. I didn't even have motivation for that. I saw Elliott sitting at the kitchen table on his laptop, yet another invention I was still struggling to understand. He smiled at my entrance and invited me to sit down with him. I nodded with a forced smile, scraping the wooden chair across the tile flooring awkwardly.
"Hey Damon," He said eagerly.
"Hi," I responded with a flat execution, pushing a hand through my hair.
It was silent for a few minutes before I finally conjured up enough bravery to ask.
"Should I go back?" I spoke louder than I had anticipated.
His eyes moved to meet mine and he looked surprised.
"If that would make you happier than being as miserable as you are here, then I would say 'yes'. It wasn't easy when I left. I struggled, but I don't regret my choice. Still, that place is our home. It's the only life we knew and I would understand your decision," Elliott explained.
I sighed. "I feel conflicted. My life was good. I had everything, but Elena showed me every fault in those things, the evils of that compound. It's as if it was all an illusion. You would not believe the things they threatened to do to her, to our family. I-I just don't know if any of it bothers me enough to leave. I left for her because I couldn't let her die. Now, what is there? I-I could still apologize to Mosiah, maybe be allowed back." My throat began to seal up at the discussion.
I wanted to go back, but how could I? After all the things those men had made me do.
"What about Elena?" Elliott wondered.
"I don't know. I don't want her to go back. That world isn't meant for her and I can see it. She has suffered too much. I respect her choice, but me...I just don't know," I said in a whisper, almost embarrassed to say the words.
"We'll take of her for you. Diana is going to contact a therapist for her that deals in Elena's form of trauma. I will get her back on her feet so that she can begin a new life," The man said softly.
"Thank you, I-" I began to say before Diana was in the doorway with a huge smile.
Our eyes darted to her presence, curious about her message.
"Elena's asking for you," She hummed, her blue eyes looking directly at me.