collateral damage 🔞 - COMPLETE

•eighty-six•

~~~~~Haerin

"Jeongguk said you've been having nightmares again... Do you remember them?"

A flood of images crash through my mind, but I shake my head, denying I know what the dreams are about. The thought of voicing them out frightens me, so I would rather not. I gulp some air, feeling like I can't ever get enough, and stare at my Doctor.

"Haerin... I know you're lying. Let's talk about the dreams... They only have power over you if you let them."

Forcing the images into my mind of the dream I had last night, I feel a warm trickle on my cheek. I open my mouth and tell her about the violence of what happened. The way a hot gush of blood had flowed between my legs, and the agony I felt as I miscarried...

It starts with my mother... She's screaming at me for being a disappointment, and weak... I try to defend myself... Defend my love... But she's crazy because the family business might suffer. I'm begging... Pleading... She laughs like a maniac when I tell her I'm pregnant...

I scream as she throws me off the stairs... Then he's there, and I feel relieved... But he glares at me... My heart hurts as my mother laughs...

A pain like nothing I've ever felt before, hits when his boot meets my abdomen. My screams don't stop him, but I try...

"Jeongguk!!! Please!!! Don't!!! It's your baby!!"

He laughs like my mother, and continues to allow his Timberland boots to attack my pregnant womb.

"You're a whore!! A lying!! Filthy!! WHORE!!!!"

A gush of warmth paints my thighs, and I submit to the pain. The beating continues, but I become numb after he's killed the life growing within me...

Panting as I try to regulate my breathing, my whole body is shaking as tears flood my vision. It takes everything in me not to scream out loud. How could he do that? Is that what he really thinks?

"Haerin... Look at me please."

My head moves back and forth violently, but my eyes are glued shut. I can't look, or I'll find out it's true... My baby is gone, and I'm alone...

"Haerin... You need to look at me."

Her voice is authoritative, so I crack my swollen lids to see her. Her face looks concerned. I hold the eye contact, and try to calm my breathing with no success.

"Haerin-ah... It was only a dream..."

"I'm a whore... I don't deserve him..."

"That's not true! Haerin!"

Her voice is getting further away... The office we're sitting in becomes a blur... Help!!

"Haerin... Listen to my voice... Jeongguk loves you... Your dream was not real... Open your eyes..."

~~~~~Jeongguk

I've been pacing in the waiting room for the last 30 minutes. Ever since I heard Haerin's yelling I've been on edge. I know she's talking about her nightmares, and I wish that someone would tell me that they're about. I hate that I can't help, and maybe I'm part of the problem. It's been 2 days since she woke up screaming, and begging not to be hurt.