Return To Me, My Love

Frank continues to hold me for hours, his body joining mine on the hospital bed and I cling to him like my life depends on it until I feel my eyes grow heavy and I fall asleep against his chest, his hands rubbing soothing circles up and down my back. When I wake up again Frank is gone from beside me but I can hear soft voices and when I open my eyes I see him and Mikey sitting across the room from me on the couch under the window, deep in conversation but I can't make out the words and I notice Frank has changed, his clothes fresh and clean and his hair still damp looking and all I want in the world right now is to take a shower. I lay in silence and continue to just watch Frank and Mikey until Frank glances up and notices I'm awake, a small smile playing at his lips as he stands and walks towards me and Mikey stays where he is, allowing us to have a moment as Frank reaches me and leans in to gently cup my face in his hands, his lips coming to press gently to the end of my nose making my heart speed up. "How are you feeling my love?" Frank asks and I shrug slightly before reaching up and touching his damp hair. "A shower would be nice" I comment, Frank smiling a little wider at me as he nods before he leans in and pecks the end of my nose again, his thumb stroking my cheek before he lets go of me and turns to leave the room, Mikey coming over to sit beside the bed while he's gone.

Frank returns a few minutes later with a nurse and Mikey stands and moves back a little to let her near me, both of them watching as she pokes and prods me a little while asking some routine questions about how I'm feeling and I offer brief basic answers, her head nodding along to show she's listening and when she's done with her assessment she says "So you'd like to take a shower?" I nod, my whole body feeling disgusting and she smiles and reaches out to disconnect my IV, covering my hand before she tells me that it should be fine and she will come back in half an hour to check on me, telling me to call for a nurse if I need any help at all. Once she's gone Frank and Mikey both come back over, standing either side of the bed and they help ease me up to sit, my ribs protesting slightly but the need to shower pushing me on and I manage to sit up and turn my body to the side, swinging my legs off the bed and after a few seconds of rest Frank and Mikey help me slide off to stand, both of their arms wrapped around me until I find my balance and they ease off, letting me go but staying close and ready to catch me if I fall but I manage to take a few steps without falling so I tell them I'm fine.

Frank follows me across the room and into the small bathroom carrying my bag of things that he has brought me from the bus and after we go inside he pulls the door closed behind us, reaching out and starting the shower for me and when he's satisfied with the temperature he turns back to me but I make no move to undress myself, Frank frowning as he steps back towards me and asks "Do you need some help?" His hands reaching out for me and I step back and shake my head, my eyes taking in his busted, swollen knuckles that I didn't notice before and my hands come up infront of me and he stops, dropping his hands again as he looks upset and I swallow hard before asking "Can you....can I be alone?" Frank stares at me for a long second before nodding slightly, sadness in his eyes as he says "Sure, whatever you need. I'll be right outside okay, just call out if you need anything." I nod, not knowing what to say now and after another long second Frank leaves the room, pulling the door closed behind him and once I'm alone I start to strip myself off.

The hot water of the shower stings and the pressure presses against all my scrapes and bruises making them throb but it also feels amazing and I stand under it and let it wash over my whole body, taking my tears with it as I cry to myself and after a few minutes I reach out and grab the clean, soft wash cloth Frank left for me along with the soap and I start to scrub at myself, flashes of what Ian did to me passing through my mind and I scrub hard at all the places I swear I can still feel him, reopening some scrapes but I ignore the pain and the blood as I keep going, needing him off me and as I reach back between my ass cheeks I cry out at the pain as I scrub and scrub, my vision blurry from the tears as the door opens and Frank comes back in, having heard me but he stops where he is when he sees the blood pouring from various places on my body, his eyes widening as they make their way down my body and I follow his gaze and see red running down my legs and pooling around my feet. "Don't...." I start, trying to tell him to not look at me but Frank cuts me off by crossing the room and grabbing my wrist, pulling my hand away from my ass as he sobs out "Stop, baby you're hurting yourself," tears spilling from his eyes and I start to sob even harder as I choke out "I need him off me, I can't....he's still...." unable to finish a thought and Frank toes his shoes off before stepping into the cubicle with me, his clothes getting soaked as he pulls my body against his, letting me bury my face in his neck as my sobs turn to screams and we collapse to the shower floor together, Frank holding me tight as I fall apart and I feel myself start to hyperventilate, the room feeling like it's spinning and the last thing I register is the bathroom door opening and Mikey stepping into the room before I pass out again.

Notes