Broken

by Robin Nadler

  “Come here,” she said and reached for him.

  He hesitated and she put her hand down. “It’s okay if it’s too much. I’ll be fine if you want to stay on the couch,” she smiled, her tears betraying her.

  “I don’t want to stay on the couch,” he said and walked to the bed. He got in and gently pulled her close to him, helping her to straddle his waist and linking his fingers with hers as he leaned in to kiss her neck. She tilted his chin up to hers and hungrily kissed him, the tenderness evident, but the passion building. He ran his hands over her buttocks and pressed her against him as she moved her arms around his neck.

  He moaned as she moved off of him and began to kiss his neck, moving down to his chest and then back up to his mouth. She stretched out on the bed and looked at him.

  “Lay here with me and hold me, please,” she murmured.

  He looked at her and brushed her tears away as he lay with her, their bodies touching, her head against his chest. He felt her shiver and he pulled the covers over them as she ran her hands over his torso, moving to his abdomen and pulling him to kiss her again.

  “Lila, I,” he began and she smiled, kissing him again.

  “What?” he asked her, lost in her kiss.

  “Just happy,” she said sleepily.

  He kissed her forehead and held her to him when the new phone rang, startling them.

  “Hello?” David sat up and Lila watched him.

  He looked at her and hung up. “There was no one there.”

  She felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. “That’s weird,” she said and they both heard a crash.

  “Don’t move,” he said and jumped up, pulling his pants on and heading out to check on things.

  She went to go with him, but before she could move, she was overpowered.

  Chapter Thirty-Four:

  David opened his eyes and struggled to figure out what happened. He looked around and realized he was outside and his hands were tied, his shirt still off. Lila. He had been inside with Lila and then there was a noise. He went to check it out and then everything went dark. He got to his feet and shook his head, trying to focus on where he was. He saw the house in front of him and ran to the door, working his hands free and realizing they weren’t tied very tight.

  Someone wanted him to get free.

  It didn’t matter; he rushed back into the house, raced to the bedroom and froze.

  “Took you long enough,” Paul said to him. “I was getting tired of playing.”

  David looked at Lila who was on the bed. She had a gag in her mouth and her hands were tied to the headboard. Her eyes were closed and her head was hanging to the side. He didn’t know what Paul had done to her.

  “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch,” David lunged at him and Paul hit him with something, like a taser of some sort and David fell to the floor, momentarily paralyzed. He did nothing as Paul grabbed him and somehow sat him in a chair. Breathing heavily from the exertion, he tied David to the chair.

  Lila moved a little and David felt a wave of relief that she was alive. She moaned and opened her eyes, panic setting in as she tried to move, but couldn’t. Paul smiled at her and she began to cry. “Welcome to the party,” he sneered.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? Let her go,” David yelled, normal feeling returning to his body.

  “You can shut up. I wanted you here to watch, and see what a real man can do. Lila wanted to have a baby, and I’m going to give her that. I’m going to do what you can’t and you’re going to watch it happen.”

  Lila’s eyes grew wide with fear at the realization of what he had planned and she struggled to free herself. Paul grabbed something and held it over her face and she passed out again.

  “Oh God, what the hell is wrong with you? You can’t do this you sick freak,” David cried, panic coursing through his veins.

  “Sure I can,” Paul said and looked at Lila. He pulled his shirt off and David looked around for something, anything to help him. Paul ran his hand over her stomach and cupped her breasts.

  “Okay, I get it, you win. You’re a man and I’m not. What do you want from me? I’ll take it all back and get June out of jail. I’ll give you money or drugs, whatever you want,” he was desperate.

  “It’s too late for that. Sure, I started working with Lila because of June, but once I got to know her, I realized that she was it for me. She played hard to get and I understood that, but I knew better; I knew that she just needed to relax, and I would help her with that.”

  “By poisoning her?” David figured keeping him talking was best.

  “It shouldn’t have made her so sick. Her damn disease fucked everything up,” he said angrily. “I didn’t know about that at first.”

  “You sick fuck, you almost killed her,” David saw her begin to come around again.

  “Almost doesn’t count,” he turned and looked at her, pulling the gag out of her mouth. “Are you ready?”

  She looked at him and shifted her focus to David. “Are you okay?”

  He held her gaze and nodded. “We’re going to get out of this, don’t worry.”

  Paul laughed. “Shut up. You two make me sick.” He pulled the rest of his clothes off and Lila thought she might throw up. She saw David struggle and almost get his feet loose. She had to stall.

  “How long have you been treating that?” She said, her mind spinning.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your obvious Peyronie's disease. You have had treatment, haven’t you? I’m sure someone as educated as you are wouldn’t have let that go untreated,” Lila said, praying David would get free.

  “You’re full of shit,” Paul said and moved closer to her.

  “You really don’t know?” Lila tried to look anywhere but his body.

  “You’re just trying to get free,” Paul said and moved to her body.

  “Don’t touch me,” she screamed.

  David jerked his hands free and lunged at Paul. He had nothing to grab because the man was naked, but he shoved him to the floor and began punching him. Paul fought back and Lila tried to free herself.

  “David, my purse, on the floor to your right,” she said when he had Paul pinned to the ground. “Pepper spray,” she said.

  He jumped off of Paul and ran to her purse, grabbing the pepper spray and turning to spray it when Paul grabbed him and the spray flew out of his hands. They fought again and Lila ripped the skin from her wrist as she pulled it free. She quickly untied the other hand and scrambled to David who was being choked by Paul.

  She didn’t think, she just did what she knew would work. She grabbed his testicles and squeezed as hard as she could.

  “Fuck,” he screamed and she didn’t let go. She squeezed with all her might until he passed out and fell to the ground.

  David was coughing and he scrambled up to call for help before he ran back in to tie Paul’s hands.

  Lila was wrapping a sheet around her wrist and sitting on the floor when he walked back in. She looked at Paul and then David and she turned to run out of the room. She vomited into the garbage and collapsed on the floor, her whole body shaking.

  “Lila,” David ran to her as the sirens came closer. He went to her and gathered her in his arms and held her as the cops came in and went to Paul.

  “Do you need an ambulance?” One of the officers asked.

  “Yes,” David said.

  “No, I’m okay. I just need to bandage my wrist. I don’t want to go David, please just take me home,” she said softly.

  “Okay,” he said and held her tightly. “Whatever you want.”

  They both looked up as Susan rushed in and saw the scene in front of her. “David? Are you okay?” She asked in a high pitch voice.

  Lila walked with the paramedic to have her wrist wrapped while David talked to Susan. He found his shirt and pulled it on before walking closer to Lila. He told Susan what happened and they all looked up as Paul was led out, having regained consciousness.

/>   “Why is he naked? What the hell were you going to do to my family?” Susan cried and walked over to him, slapping him across the face. The police moved her away.

  “Susan, go home. We’re okay now and we will be at Lila’s house,” David said.

  She hugged him and nodded, looking at Lila and feeling her heart break. “I’ll check in on you tomorrow.” She left and the medic finished bandaging Lila’s wrist.

  David gave his statement and Lila sat with an officer, giving hers as well. It seemed like forever, but they were finally released to go home and Lila went into the bedroom to put some clothes on. She hadn’t said much at all and David wanted to get her out of this place and just take care of her.

  He drove them to her place and helped her inside, following her in and watching her as she walked into the family room, looking in on Adam and Eve.

  “Lila, can we talk for a minute?” He asked her softly.

  She turned and looked at him. “I’m going to take a shower.”

  He stood and walked to her. “I don’t want you to be alone.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and held him. “Will you help me in the shower?”

  He felt his heart race as he held her to him. “Of course.”

  They both stood there, holding each other, their hearts and minds, racing.

  Chapter Thirty-Five:

  David walked Lila to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He faced her and she looked at him, her face wet with tears, her arms hugging her body.

  “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

  She nodded and looked at her wrist. “I need to wrap my wrist in some plastic.”

  He smiled and picked up the materials. “Way ahead of you,” he gently wrapped her wrist and then kissed her hand.

  She exhaled and looked up into his eyes. “I think I’ll be fine alone. You don’t have to stay with me.”

  “Would you prefer to be alone?” he wasn’t sure what was running through her mind.

  She cursed her tears, which continued to fall. “No, but I realize what you’ve been through and this isn’t just about me, but about you and I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don’t want to do. I just want you to be okay.”

  “I want to be with you. I’m not feeling pressured and I think we need to be help each other tonight. Will you stop worrying about this and simply let me help you?” He tilted her face up to look at him. “Can you do that?”

  “I’ll try,” she said softly.

  “I’ll take that for now,” he grinned and she finally smiled. He watched her pull her pants off and she went to pull her top off, but her shoulders were sore from her arms being tied so high. He helped her take it off and then he pulled his shirt off as well.

  She stopped again and put her face in her hands and sobbed. He held her and she wrapped her arms around him, her bare chest against his. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

  “I didn’t know what he did to you. When I woke up and was tied to the bed and you weren’t there, I was so scared. I don’t think I realized how much you mean to me.”

  He smiled and stood back. “Is that a good thing?”

  She wiped her eyes. “It’s a wonderful thing, but it’s scary.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she suddenly felt uncomfortable. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and shook his head. “Don’t do that. Don’t run from me.”

  She shrugged. “This is just very new for me, David. I don’t know that I like to need anyone.”

  “And you feel like you need me?”

  “I do. Is that wrong?”

  “No. I need you just as much as you need me,” he stepped back and looked at her. “Will you let me help you clean up?”

  Nodding, she stepped back and looked into his eyes. He felt his insecurities come to the surface and he removed his pants, but left his boxers on. He stepped into the shower and she didn’t address the fact he left his shorts on. She left hers on as well, and stepped in, and he pulled her into his arms again and just held her as the water fell over their bodies, washing away the feel of being in that room, the fear and the filth falling away.

  Lila closed her eyes, and the more she felt his arms around her, the safer she began to feel. It had been so long since a man held her and even longer since she felt worthy of being touched. He was simply amazing in every way and she was overcome by the realization.

  She backed away and he took her shampoo, squeezing some onto his hand and lathering her long dark hair, rinsing it off before taking the washcloth and her soap and gently cleaning her body. He felt his heart twist at the bruising on her arms and shoulders and he stopped at her waist, where she took the cloth and rinsed it out.

  She took the soap and put it on the cloth before she washed his body, stopping on the side of his torso where she saw the marks the taser had made. He took her hand in his and shook his head. “Don’t go there, I’m fine.”

  She nodded and finished washing him. They stood there, together, under the water for a while longer, until she sighed. “I think I need to sit down.”

  He turned the water off and grabbed her towel, wrapping her up and then grabbing another one for him. He helped her walk to her bed and she sat down while he went back into the bathroom to clean up. He closed the door and sat on the closed toilet seat, the emotions of the moment coming over him. He had never had an experience like that before. He had also never been that intimate with a woman since the incident and the way she looked at him, none of it mattered. She needed him and he felt such a connection to her, the rest didn’t matter. He wasn’t a victim to her; he was her safe place. He just wished he could have been as free with her as she was with him.

  He pulled on his sweat pants and ran a towel through his hair, drying it as best he could and walking out to the bedroom. He didn’t see her and panicked for a minute before he ran to the family room and saw her sitting in the dark.

  “Lila? Are you okay?” He turned a light on and saw she was again crying.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine,” he smiled as he sat down. “Did you want me to fix your wrist?”

  “I took the plastic off and it’s dry, so I think it’s fine.”

  “Okay. You should go to bed.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to go in there. I don’t want to sit on a bed or go near a bed. All I see is his hands grabbing me and tying me up. I don’t want to go near a bed. I just don’t want to,” she hugged her knees to her chest.

  “Not a problem. How about we just lie here together? We can watch Adam and Eve and just rest,” he said, desperate to make her feel safe.

  “Do you want to go home? You don’t have to stay here,” she said quietly.

  “You’re not getting rid of me, so stop trying,” he flashed her his dimple. “I’m right where I want to be, okay?”

  “Sorry, it’s just hard to believe, I guess.”

  “What’s hard to believe?” He smoothed her wet hair.

  “That you want to be here, after everything I put you through.”

  “Lila, if I recall, all of this was because of me. Paul was crazy because of me, not you. He went after you because of me. I wish you could understand that.”

  She was quiet and looked at him before she crawled closer to him, cuddling into his side and feeling a tiny bit better. They sat in silence for a while and then she got up and walked to the window, looking out.

  “What’s wrong?” He walked to her and looked out.

  “I want to go for a walk. I need some air,” she turned to walk to the door and he processed what she said and flew after her.

  “Lila, stop, you can’t go outside, it’s after midnight.”

  She shook her hands out and then crossed her arms. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

  “You’re not, but if you go outside, I will.”

  She looked at him and ran her hand through her hair. “I’
m sorry; I’m being ridiculous.”

  “You’re not being ridiculous, you’re trying to make sense of something terrible. I think a good night sleep will help immensely.”

  “I can’t sleep.”

  “Want a beer?”