Broken Bonds

Chapter 4: The Scent of Disaster

Swaying. The slow motion lulling me into numbness. No more thoughts. No more words. Just scents.

It's him. I know this scent. At first I thought I was dreaming, maybe I still am. I must be. Why would he help me otherwise? In reality, if he saw the mess I am he would run farther.

I'm on a bed now. I hear voices. "What happened." I know it's Nox. He's talking to Cole.

"Wrenley saw her, she says she's been bruised for weeks. She found that man yelling at her and tried to link for help. She didn't want to risk the babies by interfering." Cole's voice is clear.

I feel that scent closing around me as a needle is injected into my arm.

"So she's been doing this to herself for week? She's been letting that man beat her and bruise her. She has blood all over her! Why didn't we notice!?" Nox is blaming himself.

"What did you do to her!" My favorite scents voice is speaking now. He's furious. I don't know why.

"I haven't touched her since you left brother! It was a mistake. We didn't mean for it to happen.  I was so messed up I thought she was Lil and I didn't even realize she thought I was you until the next morning! You didn't give her time to explain! You didn't give me time to explain!" What's there to explain? I slept with him. I gave him my precious gift.

I'm starting to fade out a little.

"I don't believe it for a second. She's never mixed us up, ever. She knows us like the back of her hand." That woodsy scent is arguing his pain.

"You don't understand she..." Nox doesn't get to finish a sentence.

"I don't care about that now. It's over, done with and so are we. Where's the damn liquor around here?"

He's right. We are done. I'm not sure why he's back. He should have left me beside the willow.

His scent has left the room but it lingers around me like a cloud and I inhale it like my body depends on it.

I let the blackness take over as they discuss my injuries.

---

I wake to a hand, that scent. Why is it caressing me? Why is it pushing back my hair?

I don't open my eyes. I let myself enjoy this even if I don't deserve it.

"What have you done to yourself Trix?" He's whispering, sliding his fingers through my hair.

My ribs smart as I try to change positions. No point in pretending anymore.

I can feel the tape around my side, holding my bones in place so they can heal. The hand is gone, but the scent remains.

"Why are you here?" I barely recognize my voice. The machine beeps as my heart rate picks up.

He doesn't answer and I can't look into his eyes. I don't deserve to. "Why did you come back?"

"Wren... she was looking for me. I thought she needed my help. I came to check on her... but I found you instead."

Oh. He was worried about Wrenley. She was in his thoughts. I wasn't.

I stop my thoughts. Why would he think of me? I hurt him.

I just nod my head. I don't want his scent anymore. I've craved it for these long years, but it's making me sick now. I don't want him in here. I voice this. I let him know that I want to be alone.

He won't leave and I find myself thinking of the way Reed wouldn't just leave. He wouldn't go away. He wanted to stay. He wanted to take my gift away for the second time.

"What happened to him?" I find myself asking.

I feel anger radiating towards me as I close my eyes. "You mean your rapist? Or was he your boyfriend? I couldn't tell which to assume. Or maybe he was just a wham bam thank you man?" His words dig deep and cut me inside. My blankets fall. He sees the tattoo on my chest. The one he gave me. He's sees how it's marred now and looks away.

I don't really care about his well being. I just want to know he won't be able to do that to me again, to defile me in that way.

"What happened?" I ask again.

I don't have to find another abuser with Huxley here. It's enough to see the pain in his eyes now, to see what I've made him become. "Dead."

I sigh inwardly and don't ask another question after that. Hux leaves.

I disengage my heart monitoring system and try to stand. It's painful, but I make it to the other side of the room. I'm halfway up the stairs, panting and wheezing when Hux is back.

"What do you think you're doing! Are you a crazy psycho? You must be!" He Is yelling and muttering as he hauls me non too gently back to the clinic bed.

"Let me go! I want to go to my own bed." Idk t mention that I was trying to get away from his scent. It's funny how the scent I've so craved these last few years is now the scent I want to be away from.

"Well tough shit Trix." I don't say anything as he hooks the monsters back up. I don't say anythjng when I notice the bottle now by his side and I don't mention that I really want a cigarette at this moment.

"What are you my guard dog?"

"Exactly." He says and I can tell this wasn't his idea. He pulls the bottle up for a swig and I yank it from his hand before pouring it down my throat as well. It burns, but it's better than the cigarette I wanted.

I don't give it back. I just continue to drink until I'm plastered. He watches on with an angry look on his face.

"What? I can't be a drunk too?" It's slurred.

He doesn't say anything and his back turns as I drink away my pain. I drink so much that the scent of disaster slowly start to fade and I'm numb. When I wake the next morning, he's gone and so is the empty liquor bottle.