Encounters With Abigail

Epilogue Part One

                    Two Months Later -Abigail

   I wake to ragged breathing at my ear, Alex's arms clench around my waist smushing my organs together. Stiffly I roll myself so that I'm facing him, tears already run down his face, a heart-breaking whimper leaves his lips. Shit this is a bad one.

   "Alex darling, it's just a dream wake up" I squeeze his shoulders tight, but it does nothing to get through to him as his breathing becomes completely erratic. 

   I know what comes next and even although I have only heard Alex scream a couple of times during his nightmares, it's a sound I am never be prepared for.

   Squeezing his shoulders so hard it definitely will have left marks I firmly say "Alex, you need to wake up this is just a dream. You are safe. It's just a dream please wake up." His eyes snap open, the purest form of terror swimming in them and I drop my body onto his chest like a weighted blanket to let him work his way out of the nightmare.

  They are always worse the night after therapy, it's something we have both been struggling with so Alex goes on Monday, and I go on Thursday in hope that we can get a few normal nights of sleep in between. 

    Naturally it's not always possible, Alex has been sleeping much better these past few weeks, than he has since we started sharing beds. 

  When I became painfully aware of his incredible level of insomnia I was honestly in awe of how he functioned at all, so the occasional disrupted night is a vast improvement over the days awake he used to do.

   I've always thought his eyes looked familiar and thinking back on the first night he turned up on my doorstep, soaked to the bone and shaking like a leaf, I finally realised what that familiarity was.

   Alex had been cracked clean open at some point and was still drowning in that misery. Just like I had gone to him when I needed to feel safe, he also came to me.

   That was the night I decided to help him no matter what, in a way I hoped that it would somehow help me along the way.

  Gazing at the wall where Anna's gift resides I can't help but smile. When Victor destroyed Alex's flat, Anna spent an excruciating volume of time digging through the shards of vinyl.

   At the time I had thought she was mad since it wasn't like they could be fixed but when Anna and Thomas turned up last week with a repaired record player and a huge frame, Alex was speechless. 

  Anna being the ultimate angel had collected the broken parts of his favourite records placing them into a giant heart which had both Alex and I crying like babies. 

  After everything Victor put me through I was more than slightly out of my depth when all of Alex's family were so unbelievably kind. 

  We have family dinner every Wednesday which mum and dad have also began getting invited to. Which of course they except every time, ecstatic to have extra time with me at long last. 

   Our little black kitty Patrick plods up the bed curling up next to Alex's head, he does this whenever either of us wake up thrashing, it's like he knows we need his fluffy presence without us even vocalising it.

   Those first few weeks after Victor abducted me were hideous, things most people would deem stupid -a loud noise down the street, chap at the door or even the house naturally creaking- would set off full blown panic attacks.

   Alex could barely let me out of his sight without unraveling. As a result, our house now has more surveillance and alarms than the crown jewels.

Patrick found us on the second week we were back from the hospital. I was hanging out some washing during the first dry day for about three weeks, when something brushed my ankles.

  When I looked down to see little disheveled Patrick winding around my feet. The second those big yellow eyes looked up to me and I knew we were fucked, he let out an agitated meow and slinked off toward Alex who was watching the whole thing bemused from the doorway.

  I had never thought about getting a cat but when Alex sat down allowing Patrick to jump into his lap it was blatantly obvious that we had just been adopted by one.

   We did try to find his owners, but he isn't chipped, and our posters didn't yield any results, which I know we were both happy about since we were instantly attached to our furry friend.

   Now whenever one of us is at work the other just sends adorable cat pictures all day. We became crazy cat people with just one meow. He has outfits for the cold, hundreds of toys, and cat flaps cut into the doors of his favourite rooms so he can roam about as he pleases. We are beyond whipped by this adorable little fluff ball, and I have never been happier about it.

   Alex's breathing finally seems to be calming down, so I give his bicep a tight squeeze, he in return gives me three on mine. His therapist suggested it as a grounding method after nightmares and it really does help him, so we have continued the routine ever since.

   His lips land in my hair and he says a soft "thank you, Abigail." The way he says my name always makes me feel all fuzzy inside. I raise my head so our lips can meet "and thank you too" he reaches back giving Patrick a scratch between the ears causing him to purr in response.

  Looking into Alex's beautiful deep mahogany eyes - that have significantly lighter dark circles than when we first met- they now have a brightness that still shines even though tears and dim light of our room.

   We have healed damaged parts of our souls together and faced things that no couple should ever have to deal with, but we have done it together and now nothing can break us apart. 

   There is no doubt in my mind that this is it for me, I won't ever love anyone more than Alex Thomson, no one will ever compare to him and that is entirely fine with me.

  I will forever be grateful for the guy who jumped my fence and the love he has filled my life with.