Black & Blue |C. Cullen|

EIGHT

I sat in the living room of my home looking through papers for my clients at my veterinary clinic. I had one dog that was puzzling me, I couldn't find anything wrong with him, but it was obvious that there was something going on. Aaron was watching a baseball game on the television while caressing a bottle of gin, he had a slobbish look on his face.

I sighed and placed the papers back into my chart and then set the chart on the table and pulled out my laptop. I researched as much as I could of the dog's symptoms, I attempted to uncover rare diseases or occurrences. I yawned as I scrolled through each medical article, I had been running off of little sleep the entire day. Aaron's hand moved across the couch and to my thigh.

"Not right now," I replied while continuing to work.

"What do you mean 'not right now'?" He started to get angry.

"If you're going to get angry, you need to find somewhere else to go," I answered.

Instead of communicating, like a normal person would, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me towards him; the first time he ever inflicted physical harm.

"What the hell?" I tried to get away.

"When I want it, I want it now. Not later, now," he pulled me up and started pulling me towards the stairs.

"Aaron, stop," I struggled.

"Stop fighting me," his hand came across my face.

"Aaron, stop!"

"Jessamine," Carlisle's voice took place of Aaron's and his hands found their way to mine.

I sat up in bed and clutched my chest, breathing heavily from the fear of the dream. I ran my hands through my hair and broke down into a fit of sobs. Carlisle held me as I cried, he lightly played with my hair while I attempted to get my breathing back under control.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It was-," I gasped, "the first-," I took another short breath, "time he-," another gasp, "I can't," I cried harder.

"It's all right, you don't have to say it," he soothed as he held me.

"I'm sorry," I apologised and took deep breaths.

"You don't have to apologise," he was patient with me.

"I was screaming again, wasn't I?"

"It's all right," he soothed.

"Oh my god," I groaned.

"What is it?"

"I've got to be so annoying with all of these nightmares."

"You're not, Jessamine, it's all right."

"I don't know what else to do, I can't get sleep because every time I close my eyes I start to have these god awful nightmares," I explained.

"Here," he slid into bed and allowed me to lay with him. "You slept soundly when you fell asleep while we were talking."

He went to place his hand on my face, I flinched and blocked my face with my arms. After a few seconds, I realised what I was doing, "I'm so sorry, I know you're not going to hurt me."

"It's all right, Jessamine," he placed his hand on my face and ran his thumb across my cheek.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"4:27," he answered.

"There's no point in trying to go back to sleep, I have to be at work in an hour and a half," I sighed. Then my eyes lit up, "I get to go back to work," I sat up with a smile on my face. "I get to go work with animals and help them recover," I stood up and stretched.

"Are you excited?" He questioned.

"I'm beyond excited, I love animals," I walked over to my bag and pulled out a pair of jeans, a nice blouse, and walked into the bathroom to change. I cleaned myself up and brushed my teeth while scrolling through my phone to find music to listen to. I took a brush and ran it through my hair before I walked out and leafed through my files to figure out which ones I would need to bring to work.

I pulled out my tablet and sat next to Carlisle, leaning against him for support. I opened up my photo album of all of my favourite patients and started to explain each one to him. "This one is Abby, she's a pure black lab and she's so beautiful. She's loving and well-behaved, she's one of my favourite patients. She has a form of cancer that keeps bringing her back in, poor thing," I flipped through the pictures of Abby and found one of me and her together, I had the truest smile on my face.

I turned the tablet off and curled up against Carlisle, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion. "Tired?" He asked with a soft smile.

"Very, I'm thinking I'm going to have to have my coat on the whole day or my patients' owners will be concerned," I thought out loud.

"The bruises are getting much lighter, it shouldn't be long before they're gone," he held me close.

My alarm rang and signalled that it was time for me to start heading to work. I turned the alarm off and turned to Carlisle. I kissed his cheek and stepped into my shoes. "Are you working today?"

"I am, but I'm taking tomorrow off. There's supposed to be a thunderstorm so we're going to be playing baseball, you should join us," he smiled at me as I grabbed my folders, bag, and white coat.

"That sounds lovely, I'll make sure to note my absence on the calendar in the office." I kissed his cheek once more, "Ciao, darling."

"Have a good day at work, love," he said after walking me to my car.

"You too," I smiled and started my car.

I drove ten minutes into town through light rain and thick trees. I reached my clinic and parked my car around the back. Once I got out of the car, I walked up to the clinic and unlocked the door. I turned the lights on for the first time and took in what I had made my new life to be.