Page 82 of Damaged

As painful as it was to know he didn’t want to be anywhere near me, I couldn’t release him. Not in the state he was in.

“Silver—” I began to say as calmly as I could.

“Let me go, Dalton! Fucking let me go!” he bellowed. He was completely out of control. Even though I had a hold of his arms, it didn’t keep him from physically lashing out at me. He clawed at my face, hit me with his fists, and kicked out his legs in the hopes of hurting me. I didn’t try to stop him from taking all his rage out on me, but it was a struggle to keep him from escaping my hold. Even Sadie had left the bed because Silver had inadvertently hit her in the process of trying to get to me.

Every time Ivan had raped him, every time the fucker had degraded him, every hurt Ivan had ever inflicted upon him; it all came pouring out of Silver like water gushing from a broken pipe.

“Let me go!” Silver screamed at the top of his lungs.

“No!” I yelled. I shook him hard. Hard enough to rattle his teeth. When his eyes finally met mine, I said, “You let all that fucking shit out, Andrew! I don’t care what you do to me, I’m not letting you go! Do you hear me? I’m never letting you go!”

Silver was shaking like crazy, but the use of his real name had ended his violent attack. Like when we’d been at the koi pond, he began throwing up, though there was nothing in his system to expel. He heaved with every retch that his body forced upon him. Bile was all that came out and even that stopped eventually. When his body’s painful assault on itself came to an end, Silver fell against me and sobbed.

“I’ve got you,” I whispered into his ear. I kept saying the words until his body stopped shaking and relaxed against mine. It wasn’t until he fell completely silent that I heard the floorboards of the boat creak. I looked over my shoulder. Silver’s parents were standing in the doorway, clinging to each other and softly crying. Aggie was sitting on the floor, her arms slung around Sadie’s neck as she too grieved. I couldn’t see the rest of his family, but I had no doubt that at least one or two of his brothers was standing on the deck or stairs behind Silver’s parents. The fact that they’d heard Silver’s screams didn’t surprise me, nor did their presence. They’d kept their distance upon our arrival, but what parent could stand by and listen to their child suffering?

Silver’s weight became heavier as his eyelids began to flicker. We were both a mess from the encounter. Our clothes were torn, Silver’s sick covered us both, and we were both breathing heavily.

I glanced at Silver’s parents and saw that they were still crying, but they’d also calmed down. The need in their eyes, especially Silver’s mother’s, broke my heart. They wanted to console their child but couldn’t. I was a stranger to them, so to have to see their son rely on me for comfort had to be tearing them apart. Silver’s father gave me a short nod as he put his arm around his wife and urged her in the direction of the steps that led up to the main deck.

“Mom?” Silver whispered. The word was barely audible because Silver’s cheek was resting against my chest and his mouth was turned just a bit so it was pressed against my shirt.

Silver’s mom stopped in her tracks and spun around. The sobs she’d managed to stifle began all over again, but she stayed where she was. “Andrew,” she choked out.

Several long beats went by and then Silver was trying to sit up. I helped steady him and held my breath as he climbed off the bed. I was with him all the way to make sure he didn’t fall. I didn’t release him until he’d cleared the small step at the base of the bed.

“Mom,” Silver repeated and then he began putting one foot in front of the other. His balance was iffy at best but fortunately his mother took care of that. She hurried toward him but thankfully didn’t grab him in a bear hug. Instead, she stood in front of him. Tears streaked down her face as she tentatively reached her hand out like she was going to touch his face, but she pulled it back before making contact. I admired her restraint. She knew that what she needed wasn’t the same as what her son did.

“Mom?” Silver let out with a choked sob and then he walked into her embrace. I watched as mother and son wrapped their arms around each other and clung tight as they both cried. It was painful to watch but also liberating.

“Thank you, God,” his mother said softly as she looked up at the ceiling. “My sweet boy,” she cried as she dropped her head and held Silver’s face against her chest. He was about the same height as her, but it didn’t matter. Silver was still the little boy she’d lost.

“Dad,” Silver called despite his face being pressed against his mother’s body.

Silver’s father was there in an instant, his long arms surrounding both his son and his wife. “Andrew,” he cried.

I could see that there were several men standing on the stairs but one by one they climbed up them instead of down. I was glad for that because I knew Silver wasn’t ready to face each member of his family.

While I was focused on the men disappearing, I missed the moment where Silver’s mother released her son so father and son could cling to each other. The last thing I was expecting was for her to be walking toward me. She was dressed in only a nightgown and her feet were bare and dirty. Her husband was in a similar state. It was proof that neither parent had taken the time to even put shoes on when they’d heard their son’s screams.

I stiffened as Silver’s mother reached me. I expected her to stop in front of me, but she just kept coming and then her arms were around me. “Thank you,” she said with a brutal sob. “Thank you.”

The hug felt foreign to me, so I wasn’t sure what to do, but as Silver’s mother clung to me much like she had her son and kept repeating her thanks, I found myself wrapping my arms around her.

Tight.

I dropped my head to her shoulder as she continued to cry and thank me. Moments later, Silver’s father’s arms were enfolding me. “Thank you, son,” he said, his voice uneven and shaky. “Thank you.”

For the life of me, I couldn’t speak as I returned the man’s hug.

Silver was back in his mother’s arms, but Aggie had joined in on the embrace. I felt a bright, warm light go through me as I watched Silver’s father return to his family and join in on the group hug. Sadie brushed up against my side and licked my fingers. I should have felt like a stranger watching from the outside, but oddly enough, I didn’t. It wasn’t until Silver’s eyes sought mine out as he continued to hold on to his family that the light grew brighter and my whole body felt like it was going to float up right into the sky.

Silver… no, Andrew, had finally come home.

And maybe, just maybe, I had too.

Chapter 28

SILVER

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