Angel (Damiano David & Victoria De Angelis)

Chapter 2

They stayed by the pool pretty much all day long and she actually managed to get Damiano to take his hoodie off and let his skin get some sunlight. He still seemed reluctant to show the others his scars even though they knew about them. They were very respectful though, not commenting on them, even though Victoria could see that Thomas still had a lot of questions about the whole rape and mental health thing. Dinner was a catastrophe because once again he refused to eat. She managed to get some bites into him but it wasn't much and almost immediately after, he ran to the bathroom because he had to throw up. Of course, they all followed him. She figured it was because he was suffering from so much psychological stress, it had a huge effect on his body. He was trembling pretty badly when she kneeled down next to him, gently rubbing his back: "It's okay, honey...don't be ashamed. Let it all out.", she soothed and gestured to Ethan to get her a cup of water. "Thomas, wet towels.", she mouthed while brushing through Damiano's hair as he was throwing up again, vomiting everything he had eaten even though that wasn't a lot. Ethan handed her a cup of water which he handed to Damiano as soon as he was done. He seemed exhausted, almost collapsing against her chest. She grabbed the wet towels from Thomas and began to wipe his face to cool him down...she suspected he was getting a fever. Thomas sat down in front of them: "What's going on, Vic?" She looked up at Ethan, feeling kinda helpless: "I don't know. I think he has a fever. Either his wounds are infected or it's because of the stress." Ethan came to sit down as well: "Is there anything we can do to help?" She nodded, once again just guessing what the right thing to do was: "I'm gonna take a shower with him to cool him down a bit and clean him up. Can you please bring a first aid kit, some wet towels, a bucket and a cup of tea up to our room...I'd really appreciate that." Immediately, both of them got up: "Got it...you can rely on us."

It was hard to get him into the shower because she wasn't as strong as she needed to be but somehow she managed. He just let her...he seemed to be too exhausted to protest...even when she took his underwear off. It wasn't like she desperately wanted to do that - partly because she knew what he had been through - but she had to because she sure as hell knew that he wouldn't be able to wash or dress himself. She shampooed his now wet brown hair before grabbing the shower gel: "I'm gonna have to touch you...you know, down there as well...are you gonna be okay with that?", she felt so awkward about that, even though they were dating and she definitely liked his appearance, she didn't even dare to look at his private parts, so how on earth was she supposed to touch him there? He nodded weakly: "Just get it over with...", he sounded so embarrassed, therefore she knew, she couldn't show how uncomfortable it was for herself because that would only make it worse for him. Very gently, she began to soap his body, being extra careful around his scars. It seemed like every single muscle in his body was tense...as if he was in pain or something. "Damiano? What's going on?", she asked to distract him while she reluctantly began to wash his genital area. Her hands were shaking a bit when she was touching his penis but she just hoped he wouldn't notice. "I don't know...my stomach hurts like hell...I feel sick...everything just feels like shit.", he explained, though she could feel how he was struggling with the way she was touching him. She finished that up as fast as possible and both of them were probably equally as relieved when it was over.

When they were back in their room, she made him sit down between her legs because she figured that way it was easier to support him as much as possible. "I'm gonna clean your arms a bit but I'm not gonna bandage them...I think it's really necessary to expose those wounds to air...", she explained and carefully applied some cream to his arms. Some of them were pretty swollen but she was quite sure the fever and stomach pain were symptoms of stress. She could feel how he was cramping and she could hear how his breathing got sharper whenever another cramp came rolling in. She was holding his hand, comfortingly kissing his wrist and knuckles when she realized that he was crying again. She also made him drink some tea but once again, he immediately threw up afterwards...luckily, they had the bucket, so they could stay in bed. "How badly does it hurt, baby?", she asked worriedly when another heavy cramp made him groan in pain. "A lot...can you make it stop?", he sobbed desperately, squeezing her hand a little tighter. "I don't think so, Angel...but I can try to make it a little more bearable.", she tried to stay positive but she also didn't want to lie and tell him that she could make it go away. "Please...please, just do something.", he begged. It broke her heart to see him in pain, so she slowly began to rub his tummy in calming circle motions, applying almost no pressure at all to not hurt him even more. "Try to take some deep breaths, okay? It's not gonna make it stop but it will ease the pain.", she just figured that could help because that's what always helped when she was on her period. Suddenly he started tensing up again, as if something had happened. "It's everywhere, Vic...it feels like she's doing it again...I don't know what's going on. I know she's not here but I can feel the things she's been doing to me...her hands...her hands are everywhere...make her go away...please...", he was clearly going into some kind of panic attack or PTSD thing. She had no idea...maybe it was even just because of the fever but she needed to do something fast.

She made him turn around so he could look at her. His eyes were wandering around in panic, he was shaking and crying and breathing heavily and she absolutely had no idea what to do. "It's not real Damiano...she's not here, and she won't ever come near you again. It's only you and me right now...here...I am real...you can touch me.", she didn't have a single clue what she was doing or if that would be able to help at all. She carefully grabbed his hands. He winced, panicking even more but she didn't let go. She slowly brought him into a hug, making him wrap his arms around her. "I'm real, Angel...I'm here and she isn't. See, you can touch me and I am the only one who can touch you. It's all gonna be okay.", she soothed, now caressing his back. He was shaking so much, now crying way heavier than before: "It felt so real...I knew she wasn't there but it felt so fucking real. I could...could feel h-how...she...she put th-ings inside of...inside of me...it felt so real, I swear...I'm sorry..." She instinctively held him closer...was this a hint that he wanted to tell her something? "Angel...do you want to talk about something she did to you?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey ;)

So, here's chapter two and even though I'm still keeping it kinda soft, I think you can already see that this book is gonna be way heavier and darker than the last one.

Here is one last warning: Starting from the next chapter, there will be detailed description of both abuse and rape, so please proceed with caution.

Do you think Victoria is still doing a good job, even though she doesn't know what to do? Do you like Chapters with just Vic comforting Damiano? Or do you like it better when Ethan and Thomas are more involved as well? Let me know in the comments :)

Also, I know that he should probably see a doctor and take medication with depression and trauma like that but it doesn't fit into my story and I don't like writing about clinical stuff like that, so I hope you can forgive me.

Thanks for reading.

- Thalia