This chapter has a scene of domestic violence and a few curse words. Please read at your discretion.

Chapter 6 – Don't Let the Darkness Win

The next two weeks flew by for both Tony and Angela. Tony stayed busy with things around the house and with things regarding his studies for teaching. Angela stayed busy with items from the agency that Mona continued to bring to her.

Angela's doctor's appointment was later in the day, and she really hoped the doctor would remove her stitches from her neck. The itching was becoming unbearable. She knew the itching meant her body was healing but she was impatient and wanted the stitches removed.

As the doctor's appointment came, Tony and Angela walked into the exam room and waited for the doctor to arrive. Angela, who was slightly nervous, had been somewhat quiet on the drive to her appointment. Tony let her be. He didn't want to press her.

A knock was heard on the exam door shortly after they arrived and the doctor came in, greeting Angela and Tony.

"Good afternoon! How are we doing today, Angela?"

The doctor placed his file folder and clipboard on the small desk by the sink and pulled the roll chair out from under the sink. The doctor sat down on the chair and made his way over to Angela, grabbing his file folder, clipboard, and pen as he began making notes in her medical folder.

"I'm fine."

The doctor noticed Angela was rather quiet today and assumed it was due to nerves.

The doctor stood, sitting the folder and clipboard beside of Angela, as he began the examination. Once he was done examining her, he sat back down on the roll chair and wrote down some things in her medical folder.

"Okay, everything is healing properly, and I don't see any problems or anything to alert me that you aren't healing fine. Now, I believe those stiches can come out today. How's that sound to you?"

Angela, still unexpectedly quiet, smiled faintly.

"Alright, let's get started."

The doctor went to the sink and opened some of the drawers, pulling out a metal tray and placing items on it. He then washed his hands and put a pair of blue gloves on as he made his way over to Angela. The doctor pulled down the light and began to remove the bandage that had been on her neck, making sure not to pull too hard to cause her any pain.

Tony was right there beside her holding Angela's hand through the whole thing.

Once the doctor began to remove the stitches, Angela closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing instead of the pain. Since the stitches were removed from her neck, the pain was more intense than it was when she had her stitches removed from her forehead. The stitches were also deeper due to how deep the laceration was on her neck.

Tony felt her grip his hand tighter and reached out and rubbed her shoulder.

"Finished."

The doctor applied a local anesthetic to where the stitches had been removed and positioned a few adhesive strips over the laceration to allow it to continue to heal and strengthen.

"Now, let's check your ankle and see how that's healing."

The doctor had Angela hold out her ankle and twist it, bend it and move it in all different directions and made some notes in his folder.

"I believe we can do away with the ankle splint. I will say that if you walk around without it and feel like you need it, it won't hurt you to wear it. Now, if you have any pain or swelling that won't go down, please call us and I can re-examine you."

Angela nodded and thanked the doctor.

"Alright, I want to see you back in a month from today and we will see how you are doing then. Sound good? Do you have any questions for me before I leave?"

"Uh, Tony, why don't you go pull the car around and I'll meet you out front? I just want to talk to the doctor for a few minutes."

Tony nodded, leaving Angela and the doctor to talk. He didn't want to pry and knew it was something personal.

As the door shut behind Tony, the doctor looked at Angela and waited for her to speak.

"Doctor, I'm not sure if you've heard or not but Tony and I will be getting married in two weeks."

"Well, that's wonderful, Angela. I'm incredibly happy for you two! I know you'll make a wonderful couple."

"Yes, thank you. Uh… I wanted to talk to you about…"

The doctor held his hand up and stopped Angela mid-sentence, giving her a tender smile.

"I know what you're going to say. Angela, I see no problem with what you are asking. You're a young, healthy adult that is healing from a very intense traumatic experience. Of course you're afraid. Anyone in your situation would be. It's perfectly normal. But don't push yourself until you're ready. You don't want to cause any problems between you two, especially with what you've been through. Are you still seeing your therapist?"

Angela nodded yes.

"Good. I believe you should discuss this with them and see if they can offer you any advice on ways to cope with this."

Angela nodded in agreement.

"Now, were there any other questions or anything you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, that was all. Thank you, doctor."

"You're very welcome, Angela. My advice? Just talk to Tony. He'll understand and give you time. Again, don't try to push yourself until you know you're ready, okay?"

The doctor smiled at Angela as he opened the door and held it open for her. Angela went to the desk to check out and made her next appointment as she thought about what the doctor had said. She made her way to the parking lot and met Tony at the car.

"You ready?" Tony said as he saw her coming up to the car.

"Ready." Angela gave Tony a quick smile and took her seat in the passenger seat as they drove home in silence.

When they arrived home, Tony opened the front door for Angela and asked if she was hungry.

"Actually, Tony, if you don't care, I'm going to go upstairs and take a nap."

"No problem. I'll get caught up on the laundry and read some more of my planning book for school. You go take your nap. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thanks, Tony."

With that, Angela walked up the stairs and to her bedroom as she changed into comfortable clothes and laid down. Sleep took her almost instantly.

Angela woke up and noticed it was already dark outside. She slowly sat up, stretching, and rubbing her eyes. She checked the clock on the end table and saw the time – 7:12 PM. She hadn't meant to sleep this long but realized her body must've been tired and needed to catch up on sleep.

As she stood and grabbed her robe, she made her way downstairs to talk to Tony. She knew she needed to talk to him regarding her appointment and she knew he was probably concerned with her.

As she made her way downstairs and took the last step at the bottom of the landing, her eyes caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye – Christopher's briefcase. It was sitting on the small wooden hall tree by the front door.

Confused, Angela slowly walked towards it, running her hand along the handle, feeling the smooth leather. Why had she never noticed it sitting here before? Had Tony found it and set it there?

With her back turned towards the kitchen, she didn't even have time to think about the briefcase as she heard a noise in the kitchen. Turning towards the kitchen, she figured it was Tony getting dinner ready for them.

"Tony?"

Angela called out his name as she made her way to the kitchen. As she pushed herself through the swinging door that led from the living room to the kitchen, she stopped in her tracks when she came into the kitchen.

It wasn't Tony standing in her kitchen – It was Christopher.

Angela, frantic to get out of the kitchen, turned around before he could see her, but it didn't work. She wasn't quick enough. Before she could even take a step towards the swinging door, he snatched her wrist and pulled her towards him. She could smell the alcohol on his breath.

As she tried to break his grip, he was too strong. He took hold of her other wrist, holding them both forcefully as he leaned in to kiss her. Before he could kiss her, she turned her head from his and he kissed her ear instead of her lips. As she gradually turned around, his face was right in front of hers and he looked demented… The same crazed look when he assaulted her.

Again, she tried to flee from his hold, but he was too powerful.

Grinning wickedly, Christopher eyed her like a piece of meat and slowly spoke.

"There's no escaping this time."

He pushed her with such force that her body slammed against the counter behind her. The pain was so forceful that she wanted to fall to the floor, but his hold stayed around her wrists. He began pushing her out of the kitchen and into the living room.

As she struggled to break free, he kept shoving until they were near the couch. Before she realized it, he forced her down on the couch, slamming his body on top of hers and knocking the breath out of her for a few moments.

As she struggled under his power, he leaned in and began kissing her neck and lips as she wrestled to escape. As he kissed her, she could taste the alcohol on his breath. She felt nauseated from the taste.

Before she could stop him, he began removing his clothes and hers and began the assault on her. As tears fell from her eyes, she fought and fought until her strength was gone. She was exhausted from fighting Christopher. He was too strong, too powerful, too forceful. Her mind shut off and she gave up.

As Christopher continued having his way with her, Angela shut her eyes tightly and tried to think of something else, anything else. Her mind thought of Tony… Tony, her saving grace, her protector, her shielder… Tony, whom she loved with every fiber of her being…

Angela wasn't sure where it came from, but she gathered up so much strength and was able to force Christopher off her and run. She began running down a dark hole that continued going and going and going. It never ended. As she looked back, Christopher was right on her heels running after her.

She finally came to a door and opened it, turning around and locking it before Christopher could come in behind her. As she backed away from the door, she recognized it instantly. It was her bedroom door.

Christopher began pounding on the door and yelling at her.

"Angela! Let me in!"

She glanced around and saw she was back in her bedroom. It was the same night she was assaulted. She backed herself away from the door and took a hiding position beside of the bed… the same hiding position she took when he broke the door down that same night.

"No, no no. This can't be happening again!" Angela whispered to herself in the darkness of her bedroom.

Seconds later, the door broke down and Christopher came barreling into their bedroom.

Angela knew exactly what was going to happen and knew she needed to flee.

"Where are you, tramp? I know you're in here! You can't hide from me!"

Christopher spotted her hiding beside of the bed.

"Ah, there you are! Get out here now and face me!"

He began tugging her with her hair as she tried to scoot back from his grasp. He pulled her out into the middle of their bedroom and began striking her with his hand across her face. The hits stung her face as she sobbed, unable to tell herself to get up and run. She could feel a warm liquid running down the side of her face – blood.

Angela, seeing her chance, pushed Christopher off her and stood to run. Again, like before, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down to the floor. Angela began swinging at him and tried to get him off her. He fell backwards against the end table. Angela stood again, unable to walk due to her sprained ankle and she crawled towards their open bedroom door to escape. Christopher pulled her back towards him.

"Look, bitch, you aren't going to sleep around with other guys while you're with me. I'll teach you a lesson…"

Christopher pulled Angela in front of him, breathing heavily, the smell of alcohol on his breath and his pupils dilated. Angela bent her fingers down and shoved her palm up into Christopher's nose, breaking it. Blood splattered everywhere. She stood to run, doing her best with her sprained ankle.

Christopher looked evil, crazed…demented.

"If you're taking me down, I'm taking you down with me... But we'll have some fun before we go."

Angela, knowing what was coming next, began kicking Christopher, swinging her legs and kicking him in the crotch, causing him to double over. He never stopped though. He kept coming.

He pulled her onto her feet and punched her stomach, pushing her and laughing as she fell backwards over the ottoman, landing on her back and knocking the breath out of her body. She struggled to breathe as he, like a madman, pounced on her and began his attack on her.

Angela screamed, hoping someone would hear her and rescue her. She continued striking out, doing her best to push him away. But this time, it was different… this time, no one heard her scream, and she realized, she had no way of escape. Her pistol… Where was it? She didn't see it.

Angela reached for the bedside lamp with all her strength. Unfortunately, Christopher grabbed it from her hand, breaking it across the end table, shattering it. Glass went everywhere. Grabbing a large broken jagged piece of glass, Christopher pushed the glass up to her neck, slicing the jagged glass across her skin, blood pouring out.

Angela, realizing she had no pistol, frantically scanned the floor, looking for her chance to finally be free of Christopher. It wasn't there. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing.

As Christopher continued his relentless assault, Angela's energy was wearing thin. She couldn't hold out much longer. The pain was too intense. She wanted it to end. Eventually, Angela's fight was gone, and her body fell limp against the wall.

Downstairs, Tony was sitting on the couch folding laundry when he heard Angela screaming. Concerned, he sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom and flung open her bedroom door. He saw her in her bed, fighting with the comforter, kicking, arms swinging, crying… Clearly having a very bad nightmare.

Tony crawled into bed, reaching out to stop Angela from kicking and hitting him but he couldn't seem to wake her up.

"Angela! Angela, wake up!"

She continued flailing about, clearly trying to get away from someone and Tony knew exactly who.

He continued to gently shake her, not wanting to scare her. After trying to wake her up for a few minutes, Tony was finally successful, and she began to finally calm down little by little.

Angela's eyes opened, her pupils fully enlarged, as she fearfully looked around her bedroom, searching for someone.

Tony reached out to calm her, but she pushed back, clearly uncomfortable and not wanting to be touched. She immediately threw her arms up, demonstrating to him she didn't want him.

"Don't touch me! Please…Just… Just leave me alone!"

Angela tried her hardest to escape from Tony, clearly believing he was someone else. Her mind was tricking her, and she couldn't tell what was real and what was her dream.

Tony backed up and removed himself from the bed, telling Angela he was going to leave her alone. He made his way out of her bedroom and lightly closed the door behind him. As he turned to head downstairs to give her time to cope, he heard the distinct sound of Angela's heartbreaking sobs.

Tony had been downstairs for around two hours and decided to go back up to Angela's bedroom to see how she was doing. As he made his way upstairs, he stopped at her bedroom door and knocked cautiously. He didn't hear her say anything, so he slowly opened the door, noticing she was asleep again. This time, she was sleeping peacefully. He decided to let her sleep and would check on her in a few hours.

After another hour and a half, Tony decided to go upstairs and check on Angela again. He knew it was getting closer to dinner time and knew she was probably hungry, if she was awake. He walked back upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door. This time, he heard her voice.

"Uh, come… come in."

Tony gradually opened the door and saw her sitting up in bed. She had been crying and tried to hide her face from Tony. He slowly walked around the bedroom to her side of the bed and sat down beside her. He reached out to push her bangs out of her face, but she faintly withdrew from his touch. Tony didn't push. His hand hesitated for a few seconds, and he put it back in his lap.

"You okay?"

Angela remained quiet and didn't say anything.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Looking into Tony's eyes, Angela was on the verge of tears again.

"Tony, I…"

As she spoke, her voice was raw and uneven, clearly agitated from her screams and crying.

"I can't do this anymore…"

"Do what?"

"Fight."

"Fight?"

"I can't…I can't fight anymore, Tony."

"Angela, we aren't fighting."

"No, Tony. Not us. Him."

Angela took a brutal, jagged breath in as she tried to remain calm.

"Christopher."

"He's gone, Angela. He isn't coming back."

"No, no… He comes back. He comes back in my dreams, my thoughts… Tony, every time I close my eyes, he's there!"

"Hey, hey… It's okay. You're safe."

Tony reached out to take hold of her hand to ease her mind, but she pulled back, inadvertently making a fist with her hand before calming herself down.

"No… I'm not safe. I'm never safe from him. I can't escape him…"

"You can't let him take over you, Angela. Don't allow him that opportunity. He isn't worth it."

"It's easy for you to say… You don't understand what I went through. No one does."

"No, you're right. I don't understand. But what I do understand is how I felt when I found you unconscious that night… How I thought you were killed and not coming back to me… Like, I'd been cheated out of a life with you… I know that feeling very well."

Angela remained quiet.

Tony tried again to get her to open up about her nightmare.

"Again, do you want to talk about it? Cause I'm here to listen if you do."

Angela fought inwardly with herself to open up to Tony. She wanted to tell him everything, every little detail… But how would he handle it?

"I just… I don't want you to hate me, Tony."

"Angela, I'll never hate you. Just take your time, okay?"

Angela sat up straighter as she kept her line of sight on her shaking hands in her lap. She couldn't look Tony in the eye as she spoke.

"Okay, well… my dream started out normal. I woke up here in bed thinking I had woken from my nap and made my way downstairs. Once I got downstairs, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye… Christopher's briefcase. It was sitting on the hall tree. Then there was a noise in the kitchen, and I assumed it was you, so I walked in the kitchen and… he was there."

Angela's hands continued shaking as she continued talking to Tony.

"He saw me and immediately grabbed me. I couldn't escape him… He was… He was too strong. He slammed me into the counter behind me… I couldn't escape… I couldn't run… I couldn't do anything… He eventually pushed me in the living room and down on the couch, his body slammed against me.. I couldn't breathe… He…"

Tears were falling from Angela's eyes as she wiped them away.

"Hey, just take your time…"

Angela nodded before she continued. She took in a deep, ragged breath.

"He… He… I couldn't catch my breath. He held me down and…"

Angela, through the tears, caught Tony's eyes and stared into them. It was understood between them what had happened in her nightmare.

"Hey, you don't have to continue… If it's too –"

"No, you need to know."

Angela took another deep breath before continuing.

"Uh, finally I was able to escape and began running down this dark hole that was never ending. I eventually came to a door and ran inside and locked him. It was my bedroom door. I was back where I was that night I was assaulted. Everything was the same… Christopher broke the door down, found me… He did everything he did that night. Only one thing was different."

"What's that?"

"I didn't have my pistol to kill him. He… He kept coming. There was no escape. I searched and searched for that pistol and couldn't find it. Eventually, I got really tired and lost my fight and he… he killed me."

Angela burst into sobs and collapsed into Tony's arms, pulling herself as close as she could to Tony. She tried with all her might to get closer to him but couldn't get close enough. She was sitting in his lap and had her arms tightly wrapped around him, weeping into his chest.

"Hey, shhh… You're safe, Angela. It's okay… Just cry it out. I'm here… You're safe…"

Tony rubbed her back and held her while Angela was unwilling to let go anytime soon. They sat like that for almost an hour before she finally calmed down and pulled herself away from Tony's chest.

"I'm sorry, Tony…"

"Hey…"

Tony held her chin and titled her eyes to gaze into his eyes. He gave her a supportive smile.

"Don't apologize. There's nothing to apologize for."

She gave him a tender smile and wrapped her arms around him, pulling herself back to his chest, listening intently to his heartbeat.

With her head nestled into his chest, Angela spoke just below a whisper.

"I love you, Tony."

Tony, still rubbing her back and reassuring her, placed a tender kiss on her head as he answered her.

"I love you too, Angela."