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Chapter 36

❖Gabriel❖

"It's getting late." I say, looking down at my angel who is cuddled up against me.
We are still at the warehouse, laying on the couch together. After we tolled each other that we love each other, none of us felt like moving.
"Has a doctor looked at you yet?" I ask her, softly playing with her hair.
"No, I refused to go to one until I had seen you. Eliot bagged me to go, but I still refused and said no. I needed to know if you were okay first."

A smile finds its way to my lips. My girl has gone through so much, and still she is worried about my health instead of her own.
"Is there anything hurting you right now?" I ask her.
"At the moment I just have some cuts and bruises, I think. So, don't worry. I've been through worse for a long time."
I frown, not liking the sound of that. I know she's been through years of abuse by her father, but it still hurts to think about that.
Anna looks up at me, and notices my frown. She brings her hand to my forehead and softly rubs her pointer finger in between my eyebrows. "You shouldn't frown so hard," she says, "you'll get wrinkles."
I feel my frown disappear and a smile takes over. "I love you."
"I love you too." She answers with a soft blush on her cheeks.

"How about this, we go home, you take a bath, relax a little, and then we'll go to sleep. In the morning I'll have a doctor ready to check on you, so I know for sure that you'll be okay."
She nods with a small and we stand up.
"Then let's go home." Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her close to my side.
She looks up at me with a raised eyebrow, but wraps her arm around me as well.
Together we walk out of the warehouse and make our way home.

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Ones we're home, I walk Anna to our room and get into the bathroom and turn on the water.
"I'm already running some hot water for your bath. Go sit in it for a while and try to relax a little. I'll go downstairs and make you my famous hot cocoa"
"With marshmallows?" she asks softly.
'Definitely."
I give her a loving kiss before leaving her to make the cocoa. Even though I know she loves it, I did kind of use it as an excuse to give her some alone time.

"How is she?" River asks ones I enter the kitchen.
"Handling. She hasn't shown or talked much after I got back to the warehouse."
"Understandable. She must have gone through a lot when she was there. It takes a while for her mind to understand it all. Just give her some time."
I nod, focussing on not burning the cocoa.
"How are yóú handling it Gabe?" 
"How do you think I'm handling it? I'm already planning on how those bastards will go to their graves. They will burn in hell for what they've done to my angel."
"Just don't forget to include us in your plan. We care about Anna too."

I finish making the hot cocoa and walk back to my bedroom where I left Anna.
"Angel? Are you still in the bathroom? I got the hot cocoa ready. You better get out quick before the marshmallows melt completely."
Anna doesn't answer and I get slightly worried. "Anna?" I say as I knock on the door. "Angel, are you okay?"
I push the door open and see her standing in front of the mirror, naked. Every guy would get excited to see his girl naked, but not the way Anna looks. Her complete body is covered in bruises. It's as if everything has a different colour.
Some bruises look older than others, some small, others big. But every single one of them makes me want to kill those assholes even more.

"I look so ugly." She says to herself, clearly not having noticed me yet. 
"You're not ugly." She jumps, afraid of the sudden sound of my voice and looks at me with scared eyes.
I hold up my hands, showing that I mean no harm. "It's just me angel." I step closer to her, standing behind her so that we are being reflected in the mirror.
"These bruises will fate angel. And the scars that remain will show everyone how incredibly strong you are."
Her eyes connect with mine through the mirror, but it doesn't seem like she is really there. There is a dullness in her eyes, as if her thoughts have brought her to a different world.
"Why don't you put on your pyjama angel? Then we can go lay in bed."
She doesn't react, so I take her hand in mine and walk her into our bedroom.
I slowly help her get dressed, making sure not to hurt her in any way, while muttering sweet nothings to her, trying to calm her mind.