A Duet of the Soul

Chapter 52: The Light After the Storm

*Justin's POV*

The pain in my stomach was nothing compared to the pain in my heart, though it was a far lighter pain than it had been just a couple of hours ago. I thought I had lost her forever, thought I would never see her again. Although she came back to me tonight and told me she loved me, I knew that she wouldn't stay. She had been through so much, too much for any one person, and there was no way I could ask her to stay with me. Right now, she wasn't thinking straight; she was caught up in the moment, and once her emotions calmed down and returned to normal, she would leave the first chance she got.

The smell of my minty shampoo wafted from her hair as she snuggled tighter against my chest. I was surprised that she chose to use my shampoo instead of her own, but I guess she must've still been shaken up when she showered earlier tonight and just didn't pay attention to what she had grabbed.

It hurt to hold her like this against me, but it would hurt far worse to let her go tomorrow without taking advantage of every moment I had with her up to that point. I was exhausted and my eyes burned with the desire to sleep after such a hard day, but there was no way I would give up these final precious moments with her. I'd cherish tonight for the rest of my life, knowing that she returned to me to be mine just for one last night. The hours ticked by until I lost the fight to stay awake watching her sleep in my arms.

When I opened my eyes next, faint light appeared on the horizon signaling the sun was about to rise. Maria's fingertips were lightly tracing my chest as if she were seeing it for the first time. I slowly turned my head towards her and met her light grey eyes. Reaching out to her, I gently brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, my fingers trailing softly down the side of her face before I dropped my hand to hers, keeping her hand pressed against my heart.

I don't know how long we gazed into each other's eyes, but I knew the time had come for me to let her go. My eyes were already puffy from the day before, and they began burning once again as I fought back the tears that wanted to spill out. Letting her go was what was best for her, but it was going to kill me.

"How's your stomach?" she asked.

"Sore. How're you feeling?

Maria lightly laughed as if I'd told her a corny joke. "I feel like I was thrown about in a car, got into a knife fight, and ended up crawling through boot camp."

A few cuts and bruises were still visible around her face and arms, but for the most part she seemed to be in decent shape. Other than the deep bruise around her neck. It made me sick to look at it, imagining his hands around her neck. "I'm sorry you're so sore."

"I think you're probably a bit more sore than I am. Do you need anything? Pain meds or...?"

I slowly shook my head. "No, thanks though. I'll have one of my brothers help me change the bandage after they wake up."

Maria pushed herself up to a sitting position before leaving the bed. I watched as she limped towards the bathroom and returned with the clean supplies.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Did you hit your head too? Obviously, I'm going to take care of your wound for you."

My eyes widened as she sat on the bed next to me and pulled back the blanket revealing my bandaged stomach. "You really don't have to. I don't want you doing anything that's going to put you in more pain."

I tried to sit up, but she pushed me back down onto my back. "Just relax, Justin. It won't take that long to clean and change your bandage."

I winced as she pulled the bandage off, cleaned the wound, and dressed it again. Fortunately, there were no signs of infection and it hadn't gotten worse after all the movement yesterday. If I could keep up a good cleaning regimen and proper bandaging, there shouldn't be any further issues. We maintained a comfortable silence while she worked. Afterwards, she deposited the dirty bandage in the bathroom garbage can and washed her hands. She limped back into the room and slid into bed next to me.