Chapter 24 : Bruises

Author's Note!

Sorry for the late update. Also, I got deferred from Brown... So excuse this downcast installment. Also, best to play the following songs (at the end of this chapter) while reading the chapter. I felt it was pretty... Apt :)

She hits me again. And again. I closed my eyes and braced the pain. Again. No. I could not go down like this. I had to fight, or at least try. Shooting up from the abyss, I opened my eyes into another. The sweat trickled down my forehead as I felt around, wondering where Elena had taken me this time. Where was Christian?

A low groan escaped beside me and I jerked in my place, aware now that I was in a bed. I tensed for action, balling my fists together in preparation to beat the bitch up.

"Ana?" Kate's soft voice resounded after the groan stopped. My breathing hitched. "Sweetie? Are you awake?"

I heard her stumble and the dim bedside table light came on, making me squint into her worried face. Kate's eyes were soggy with sleep as she rubbed them to get a better look at me, "Ana, how are you feeling?"

"Where's Christian?" I whimpered, the events of yesterday finally resurfacing.

"Sweetie, you need some rest." Kate advised. "You brought them all back, they're all safe thanks to you honey."

All. "Christian? Ethan?"

Kate nodded, a weak smile spreading across her face. "Yes, they're both safe. Ethan wanted me to tell you thank you, he's upstairs. Christian made sure he's well taken care of."

And then, that was the only thing I could focus on. Every cell in my body just ached for that one being, like a gravitational pull hauling me to him. "Where's Christian?"

Kate sighed, "He's in the office... Last I checked. He didn't want to see anyone. Maybe he's busy?" But there was an etch of worry in her voice. Something was wrong.

My brain disconnected from my body and I rose from the bed, and stumbled towards the door.

"Ana." Kate called, trying to stop me.

But I just had to see Christian. I needed to know that he was okay. He had come to save me, I felt him and I knew he was there. But there was still a possibility that I had been dreaming. Christian had been abducted and locked away, out of my reach. It was too good to be true if he had really come to save me. I had to see him with my own two eyes to believe he was alright.

The brightness shocked and then stunned me, my eyes burned for a moment as I waited for them to adjust. It must be in the late afternoon, as the sun was high in the sky. How long had I been asleep?

"Ana?" Gail's voice wharfed in from the kitchen as I pass her.

"Ch-ristian?" I breathed, hearing the panic in my voice.

It seemed that she was washing down a full plate of chicken breast. None of it had been touched. Was Christian sick? Was he even here?

"Mr Grey is in the office." Taylor stepped out from some unseen corner and stuffed his hands into his pocket. "I'm glad to see you again, Ana. Are you feeling better?"

I stared at Taylor, as if his words did not make sense. They did not. I needed to see Christian. There was no time to chit chat. I started for the office.

"Ana," Taylor's call was a warning. "He's not in a good place."

Not in a good place? I turned the door knob and stepped into the office. It was dark, with only a shred of light coming in through the thick curtains. The room stank of alcohol, heavy whiskey and brandy was in the air.

"I SAID NOBODY IS TO ENTER! FU** OFF." Christian growled, booming so loud that I stepped back in shock. My heart stilled with relief, he was alive.

Come on, Ana. My inner goddess coached. Close the gap.

I am his wife. I tell myself. I have the twins. Our twins. We were going to get through this. Stepping in, I closed the door behind me and heard it click.

"Please, leave me alone." Christian groaned in pain, thinking he was alone.

"Christian?"

There was a pause. "Ana?" Something clattered as he tried to stand, rising up from

The darkness.

"Christian." The tears came steadily, out of no where.

"Ana." I see him standing in the line of the light, his shirt wrinkled and his hair tousled. He looked all cried out.

"I'm okay." I told him, taking a step forward.

"No no, Ana." Christian stumbled backward. My heart shattered. He was avoiding me? "Don't."

"You don't want me?" I whispered, the tears flowing. The fear wrecked me and I began to heave. Why?

"I'm no good for you, Ana." Christian dragged a hand through his hair. "Please. You should go."

"No good? I should go?" I repeated his words, unable to inject anymore agony than the saturation in his tone. He was in pain too. "You want me to go?"

"I don't want you to go, Ana." Christian cowered.

"What?" I begged, confused.

"I need you to go." Christian dragged out, as if the words pained him to say.

No. Come on, Ana. My inner goddess demanded. Bridge the gap!

Collecting whatever was left of my bravery, I found it in me to begin walking towards my husband. Christian tried to put distance between us, but my determination eventually brought us together face to face. We stood in the room, staring at each other. I memorized his face once again, letting my eyes worship every inch of his face. I had thought that he was gone. And here he was.

There was something in his eyes, a tortured emotion... Twisted... Contorted... As if he could not bare to look at me. It was like staring at the sun, a beautiful vision that burned. Lifting my hand, I cradled his face with it and he leaned into it. His face was wet with tears. "Ana." He choked out.

"Hold me, Christian." I encouraged him, noticing that his arms were slack at his side.

"Ana." He shook his head.

So I stepped forward and pressed us together, slipping my hands into his back pockets and pulled him in. The feel of his chest against my cheek was heaven, and Christian's barrier came down as he wrapped his arms around me and tugged me close. "Ana." He muttered, kissing the top of my head. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no, Christian. No. Don't blame yourself." I nuzzled his chest, it sent a shiver through him.

"I talked to Davis." Christian said, explaining his guilt just like that.

"It's not your fault."

"I hurt you, Ana. It was me." Guilt wrecked his voice as he caressed the top of my head. "I hate myself for it."

"It was Elena." I corrected. "It was Davis."

"It was me!" He screeched, frustrated. He jerked us apart quickly and twisted me so I was facing the mirror in his office. Christian pulled the curtains open and I squinted at the light once more. "Look." He growled, furious at himself as he grabbed my robe and opened it. I was bare beneath. "Thank God Dr Greene cleared the children, they're safe. I would have had my own blood on my hands!"

I saw it. The lashes had licked across my entire body, leaving angry greenish blue markings in their wake. It looked worse than it felt, but I knew what Christian was seeing. This was his nightmare come alive. I had been marked. "It was not you."

"Please." He gave me a sour look, "Don't defend me. I spoke to Elena."

I was momentarily distracted, "You spoke to her?" The last we had spoken, she had wanted Christian.

Christian nodded, "Before I sued her clean and chucked them both into jail, where they will stay until I say so." His eyes turned stormy. "I belong in there too, but the cops wouldn't buy it."

"You're my knight in shining armor." I watch him through the mirror and notice the fleet of embarrassment across his face. "You came for me."

"I couldn't protect you."

"You did. I thought of you, you give me hope." I leaned up on my tip toes and plant a small peck on his cheek.

He softened slightly. "I'm so glad you're okay."

" Me too. I thought I lost you."

"Me too." He sighed, coaxing my chin up so he could look at me. Cherish me.

Then something did not make sense. "You were gone... Who saved you?"

"Claire." He said.

"She saved you?" Wasn't she taken too?

"Claire meant to save you." Christian continued, and I heard myself stop breathing.

"What?"

"She was luring you to the office to save you. Claire knew Davis and Elena wanted to grab you from the house because you weren't coming out, so she tried to make you leave the house first." Christian checked that I was still alive, his hand gently stroking the nape of my neck to soothe me.

"How did she...?"

"Ana," Christian sighed. "They took her husband as leverage and made her work for them. But then she felt guilty, and decided to switch teams. It was what her husband would have wanted. " That made sense. "She sort of... Drugged me when I came in."

"Drugged?!" I demanded, seeing a new side to my assistant. I could barely imagine soft and gentle Claire pulling a stunt like that.

"To be more lucid, she dropped a dissolvable in my drink and then drove me out of town."

"How did she carry you?" I was still in shock.

Christian smiled, "She had help from the security guy, who believed I was passed out drunk and needed to leave by the back to avoid unwanted media attention. Taylor traced me and Luke traced you... They split ways to cover ground.

Before I could say anything, Christian added, "They're mad at you."

I sighed, recalling my ditching act. "Who comprises they're?"

"Let's see." Christian smirked, "There's Taylor and Luke, that's a given... The entire security team... Kate..."

"Okay, so pretty much the whole world."

"That is correct." He nuzzled my ear and I cannot help but smile at him. We made it through this in one piece. The horrified look on Christian's face returned, "Are you really alright?"

I nodded at him.

"I watched the video." His eyes glanced away in utter embarrassment. "I hate her, Ana. That bitch put her fingers all over what is mine."

"She used to hit you like that?"

"That's all you can say?" He looked appalled. "You were the one hurt here, you should scold me and tell me to leave you the fu** alone."

"Did it hurt?" I ignored his childish comments.

"It didn't feel that way... But when I watched the video... I realized..." His voice trailed. "How abusive it is... I shouldn't like it."

"But you do." I finished for him.

"Fu** no, not after that." Christian clutched me to his chest, burying my face into the small space between his neck and shoulder. He smelled good. "No more BDSM for life."

"Yes to sex right?" I tried to turn the mood around. It worked.

The playful smile returned to his divine face and Christian nodded at me, "Yes to all things sex." To further prove his point, he nuzzled my neck gently. "Yes to all things you."

"I love you." I purred, placing my hands on the sides of his face.

"Ethan's asking for you." He suddenly crooned, and it effectively shut down my libido. The guilt flooded through me once more. "I feel like I owe him the world right now, but he keeps insisting otherwise."

"That's Ethan." I said, knowing that Ethan would rather hand his wallet to a robber than to hunt him down and sue him. He would say they were desperate enough to steal, and it was an indication that they needed the money badly. It was Ethan.

Christian's grey eyes studied me through the mirror as I contemplated talking to Ethan. "You should go, he's upstairs with Mia."

"Mia." Guess they worked it out after all.

Christian sighed, "The two ladies in my life trippin' over one man, it makes me worry I'd fall for him too."

I smiled at him, and he grinned back. "I'll keep you straight, Mr Grey."

"Not now, Mrs Grey." Christian shook his head like I was a child asking for candy in ungodly hours.

Two can play at that game. "You're right, Mr Grey... Right now, go to your room young man."

He looked at me in mock shock, "What did I do?"

"What's this I'm hearing about refusing lunch and by the smell of it, you haven't taken a shower." I ran my fingers across his stubbly chin, "And not shaved!"

I strutted to the door and pulled it open, Gail and Taylor were standing at the kitchen watching. "March to it, mister!" I pointed at Christian and jerked my finger towards the bedroom.

Playing along, he stuffed his hands into his jeans and dropped his head. "Yes mommy." Christian dragged his feet out of the office and into the smiles of the staff.

"Christian Trevylan-Grey, I will spot check you in twenty minutes and everything is to be done," I reprimanded his back view, "or so help me you are grounded!"

He spun on his feet with an adorable pout, "No playing god in my tower?" I shook my head. "No mergers and acquisitions?" I shook my head again, and his pout intensified. "Not even taking my wife out on the jet to Aspen again?"

"We can discuss that last one." I teased, and then shooed him. Hearing the door click shut, I turned to Gail. "Could you please whip up Mac and cheese for my man? I think he'd like bratwurst sausages to go with that too, Gail."

"Yes, Ana." She smiled, giving Taylor a I-told-you-so look. "Thank you for being here."

I blushed and looked away, "Thank you to the both of you." Quickly, I turned my eyes to Taylor. He was leaning casually against the bar, the first relaxed stance I had seen him have in a long while. "I'm sorry for running away, Taylor."

Taylor sighed and pursed his lips, "Can't say we didn't expect it, but thanks for leaving a note at least." I nodded at him. "I'm not the one that's pissed at you, you know."

"Luke?" I mouthed.

Taylor nodded, dismissively. "He was really really upset when he found your note. Never seen a man so torn, I think you scarred him for life. He said he was determined to find you so he could rip you apart himself."

"How angry is he?" I cowered, knowing Luke's sensitivity about betrayal.

"F-uri-ous." Luke sang, and I spun on my feet to face him. He was standing behind me with his eyebrows etched into downward lines, his arms folded in annoyance.

Shit. My inner goddess spat.

In that moment, all I could do was sprint for him and wrap my arms tightly around his torso. "Thank you for coming for me, Luke."

Luke unfolded his arms and folded them around me instead, "You crazy chick, I'd come save you even if you stabbed me with a knife and left me to bleed."

"That would make you the crazy one." I muttered. "Thank you."

"I'm not going to ask you to never do it again, because that's like asking a fish not to swim. But. The next time you do it, I'll murder the asshole who lured you and then kick your ass."

"Got it."

Luke pulled away and I caught sight of Mia descending the steps. "Ana!" She beamed, and jogged down the stairs to wrap her arms around me. Luke staggered backward by the force.

"Thank you for finding him." Mia kissed my cheek. "He's pretty ruffled, but he's safe, and I owe that to you."

"They tried to move him after Elena got her hands on you." Luke explained. "Your tracker kept him under radar."

"You saved his life." Mia breathed.

"I put his life in danger." I pointed out.

Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes at me, "Let's just move past this whole thing. Everybody is back safely."

"Alright." I said, defeated.

"Have you seen Christian?" Something seeped into her voice, pain of a sort. "He's not doing so good... He didn't want to see anyone and I don't think he's eaten since we got back."

Christian Grey! "He's fine. I sent him off to freshen up."

Mia's jaw dropped and she gawked at me. "Thank God he married you, honestly."

I laughed, "Thank God he did, I wouldn't imagine marrying anyone else."

"This is the last time you put my nephews in any danger alright?" Mia reprimanded, her palm coming to caress my belly through my robe. "Oh my. I can feel the bump already!" She squealed in excitement.

"One day you'll have your own with Ethan." I told her, and instantly the color rushed into her cheeks.

Mia cleared her throat, "Speaking of whom, you should go talk to him. You're best friends after all."

"Thanks, Mia." I hold her hands in mine before stepping away and climbing up the staircase to bridge a gap that had been left broken for too long.

Please review :)

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