Tainted Innocence [GxG]

Chapter 8

We sit in an oddly comfortable silence. While I'm trying to calm down and stop crying, Rowan seems to be thinking deeply about something. Her eyebrows are furrowed, causing wrinkles to appear on her forehead. Wanting her to not look so confused, I slowly brought my hands to her face, poking at her eyebrows.

She looks at me with a strange look, before asking patiently, "What are you doing?"

I smile at her softly, pulling my hands away when I was satisfied there were no more creases. "You looked confused so I helped."

Rowan returns my smile with one of her own, her straight white teeth blinding me for a second. She grabbed my hands that had dropped down from her face and looked at me with a questioning gaze before nodding slightly to herself, seemingly happy with whatever she was thinking.

My mood drops again when someone knocks on the door. Not knowing what to do, Rowan gives me a look over and nods her head once again, before saying in her hard voice, "Come in."

This Rowan seemed completely different to the one I was seeing just moments ago. She looked more intimidating and powerful, but her eyes held a softness everytime she looked at me.

A female doctor walks in and I immediately tense, not knowing what to expect. The one doctor I had seen always gave me shots, so I was ready for anything from this unknown woman.

The woman puts on latex gloves and asks politely, "How are you feeling?"

Shrugging, not wanting to talk right now with all the memories flashing through my mind, I put my head down. My head feels fuzzy, my hands hurt, and I'm a little tired, but other than that I feel okay.

However it wasn't my physical health that was the issue.

Rowan puts her hand comfortingly over mine, trying to get me to look her in the eyes. Once I do, she breathes a sigh of relief seeing that I'm okay. "This nice doctor is going to give you a little check up, but I will stay right here the whole time if you want." Taking a deep breath, she starts again, "She is going to ask you some questions that we would really appreciate you to answer."

I nod numbly, barely taking in what she is saying. My head is pounding with thoughts and flashes of the recent terror I experienced.

Rowan sends me a small smile that comforts me, making me forget about the memories for just a second, until they start up again with full force when she pulls her hand away to let the doctor check on me.

The pain in my head increases tremendously the second I am left without her touch. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping for the replay of my parents' death to stop.

When it doesn't stop, I try to stop it myself. I ball my hands into fists and hit my head hard with them, trying anything to make it stop. "Please... make it stop! Please!" I plead as I continue to bang on my head as hard as possible. I barely register the pain of the action, just focusing on the disturbing images in front of me.

In the midst of my pleas, Rowan decided to stop me from hurting myself further. Gracefully, she maneuvers me until she has both my hands trapped behind my back, me sitting on her lap, breathing heavily. I sob into her shoulder, filled with relief that the painful memories paused as soon as she touched me.

I soon quiet down, looking around as I get my bearings again. I'm in a room with two strangers and I can't seem to get a grip on reality.

My face turns as hands gently guide me to face her. She whispers in a soothing voice, "I'm right here. I'm not leaving." Those are the exact words I needed to hear, needing to be reassured that I'm not alone.

I make a rash decision that I may regret later, but I move my body so I'm fully facing Rowan and wrap my arms around her tightly. I hold on tight because I can not lose her. I cannot let another person leave me.

Pulling away hesitantly, I come face to face with the gray eyes that seem to be following me everywhere. She smiles at me slightly, as if she's afraid of scaring me.

Smiling right back, I relax in her hold thinking that maybe I've met another friend.