Page 34 of Captive Heart

And the tighter they wound, the worse they constricted her, and the more distressed she became. Given her history of being forcibly restrained, he decided it was in Melody’s best interests to wake her up.

As he stood back at a distance so that his presence wouldn't spook her when she came to, Micah started to call her name, keeping his voice low and calm, speaking softly as he attempted to soothe her with his tone.

At first, she was too agitated to respond, but gradually, she calmed enough that her thrashing ceased, and her harsh, sobbing breaths subsided. He thought he might have done enough to ease her angst without her waking and was preparing to leave the room when she spoke.

"I'm awake," she revealed on a heaving, tortured breath. "Please, could you help untangle me from these sheets. The tightness is making me want to panic."

Her voice quivered erratically, and Micah knew she was grasping desperately at the ragged edges of control in an effort not to break down entirely.

"Of course. I'm coming closer on your right," Micah warned so he didn't scare her.

"I can s-see you."

When he moved closer, Micah could see just how badly she trembled with the remnants of her fear.

"I'm going to turn on the lamp, then help you sit up first," he told her in the same soothing voice as he prepared to lift her bodily into position.

"Now, we'll work on getting your arms out," he instructed, knowing that as soon as they were free, she would start to feel better.

He pushed the knotted jumble of sheets down her shoulders as gently as he could, murmuring reassuring nonsense words in an attempt to prevent her from trying to fight her way out and opening up some of her wounds in the process.

As he suspected, he felt her physically relax as soon as her arms were no longer pinned within the confines of the bedding. Still, he made his movements slow and cautious. She was jumpy enough as it was.

As soon as she had wiggled out of the entanglement, Micah passed her the glass of water that sat on the dresser and encouraged her to take a drink to soothe the hoarseness of her throat, but her hands still shook so badly that he had to help her hold it, to prevent the water from spilling all over the bed.

Micah straightened up the bedding, ignoring the fact that she was naked.

"Do you mind if I take a quick look to check your dressings are still intact?" he asked her.

Melody shook her head and sat quietly while he inspected for any recent damage. He smoothed down the sticky edges of a couple of the dressing pads which had been rubbed loose. They'd hold until morning.

There were a couple of smears of blood where she'd opened some of the lash wounds that hadn't been covered, and he held a convenient tissue to them to stop the small dribbles that oozed out. Overall though, there was nothing that wouldn't wait until the following day.

Finally encouraging her to settle back down, Micah pulled the sheets up around her and tucked them so they wouldn't wrap around her again.

As he rose to leave, she surprised him by grasping his forearm in an unexpectedly strong grip, the lingering, residual quakes still trembling through her fingers.

"Don't go!" she begged with a hint of panic in her voice. "Please…" she trailed off as if remembering it wasn't her place to make demands then collapsed back onto the bed and looked away.

"I'm sorry," she murmured instead, repressing whatever it was she'd been about to ask. "You must be tired. I'm sorry I disturbed your sleep."

"Melody, are you okay?" Micah asked. He rubbed his hand over his face. Jeez! How trite did he sound? He knew she wasn't okay; she'd just woken, panicked and terrified.

"I just…" she started. Melody took a shuddering breath and kept her eyes averted. "I'm fine," she said, but the words didn't match the catch in her voice.

Micah sat down on the bed for the first time since he'd entered the room. He'd been trying to maintain a professional distance, but that wasn't so easy when Melody was breaking apart right in front of him. She'd been so strong and stalwart in everything she'd dealt with so far, taking it all in her stride, with a matter-of-fact attitude which had astounded him, despite her obvious physical fragility.

It was clear raking everything up this afternoon had unsettled her mind, but it had been a necessary evil. Melody needed to air those vile experiences and let them go so she could heal mentally.

And the authorities needed the information so they could investigate her situation and try to offer some kind of legal conclusion for the criminal injustices she had suffered.

Melody needed to be able to find closure, so she could move forward with her life without the fear of always having to look over her shoulder for the rest of her days. Without having to be constantly scared that her captor might find her once again.

"I'm right here," Micah promised her. "I'll look out for you and make sure you're safe."

She looked at him then, piercing him with those violet eyes, luminous with her tears. So beautiful and yet so tragic.

"Will you please stay with me?" she whispered, the tiny thread of forlorn hope in her voice effectively killing the automatic denial that was on the tip of his tongue.

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