After Her Love

14. Tons of evidence

Aleksi's PoV

Iiris stopped shaking the moment we got into her hotel room. Her eyes were vitrified and the whole situation made me so unsure about what I should do or say. I felt helpless, nervous and angry, all those at the same time. The way the man attacked Iiris was unforgivable even though he was drunk and had no control over his actions.

"Do you want anything, water or something?" I asked after double checking that the door was locked. Iiris looked around the room and pointed at the water bottle that was next to the TV. I took it and removed the cap before giving it to her. Having no idea what was going on in her mind right now was hard. She clearly did not know that man at the bar, but what he did was probably something she has experienced many times before and she was afraid that he would hit her. She has been so strong hiding all that but... You never know what triggers you and when. I felt so useless and I didn't even know how to make her feel any better or whether she wanted me to leave or stay.

"You want me to leave or-"

"Stay..." She cut me off and stood up, making her way to the bathroom door where she stopped.

"I'll be right back..." And she went in. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around her room. There was an empty wine bottle, which she had probably drunk before we met here. It almost felt like she was on a runaway trip but the amount of stuff that was laying around told me a little different story. There were things enough for the weekend trip only and she was probably returning home after being here. If her boyfriend was abusive then how did she manage to come here all by herself? I could only speculate and make my own versions in my head, but my vibrating phone interrupted me from creating any of those.

Robyn: How is she doing?

Aleksi: Not sure.. I'm gonna stay with her as long as she wants me to be here.. I can't leave her like that now..

Robyn: Understandable. Let us know if you guys need anything.

Aleksi: I will

I scrolled through my social media and put the phone aside once I had checked them. Right when I had done that, I heard the bathroom door opening again. I lifted my head up and saw Iiris, wearing nothing but her bra and underwear. She looked down on the floor and wrapped her arms around her body. At first I had no idea why, or why she wasn't wearing anything else than those tiny pieces of fabric that were covering only the critical places but her body language got hesitating and very insecure. That's when I noticed what was going on and I started to feel sick. There were bruises all over her body, all in different sizes. Some of them were already fading but the one on her cheek seemed to be fresh.

"Iiris..." Slowly, I stood up and took a few steps towards her. Her body was shaking and she probably wanted to just run away but she stood there still, like she had froze on the spot . I have never in my life seen a woman who has been beaten up this bad.

"I..." She quietly started and looked up at me, tears falling down from her eyes.

"I.. I need you to... Hold me... Aleksi.." She whispered and I did not waste a second. I wrapped my arms around her as gently as I could because the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her more than she was already hurting. She felt so fragile and she kept on crying against my chest. My shirt got wet from her tears but that was the smallest thing I should worry about now. Her wellbeing and safety were the priorities.

"I'm right here... " Carefully, I moved my left hand behind her head and caressed her hair. Why should anyone be so violent? What kind of a person do you have to be in order to hurt another one this way? Those questions were dancing in my mind but I could not figure out an answer. How should I even know it, I had never hurt another person willingly. Right now I just wanted to hug her tight and make her feel safe but I was afraid of hurting her because I did not know how sore the bruises still were. They could be healing but the skin was still probably tender and those burn marks on her tights looked very painful too. I don't even want to know how hard you have to hit in order to leave those kinds of marks on another person.