When The Lights Go Down

Arms

"Miss Smith?" A quiet, high-pitched voice speaks as the door creaks open, clearly being careful not to wake her if she's asleep.

She's been up for a little while though. FP had a meeting (that she was pretty positive was about her) and had promised to return shortly after a kiss to her forehead. He had been reluctant to go, not wanting to leave her side if he could help it, and while the gesture was sweet, she was honestly grateful for the time alone.

It's not that she wanted him to leave her alone, per say, it was just that she was frankly humiliated by the events transpired, and no matter how much FP told her it wasn't her fault she couldn't shake the feeling that she had risked everyone's safety simply with her presence in his life. So yeah, she was happy to have some time alone, she wanted to wallow on her own and let her guilt overtake her without being constantly coddled.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" The nurse coos as she steps into the room, discovering that Alice is very much awake.

"Good," She replies, and it's not entirely a lie. "A little sore but better than I have been."

"Well that's good to hear," She smiles, lifting up her chart. "Your vitals look good too, that's a very good sign. Since you are feeling a bit better, think you want to try a proper shower today?"

"Please!" Alice enthusiastically answers. "I feel like I'm covered in filth."

The nurse chuckles. "Is your partner here? We can wait for him and he can help you out in there? It might be good to have someone to lean on if you get too sore or tired."

"Uh, he won't be back for another hour or so." She chews on her bottom lip. "Honestly? I'd kind of like to do this without him."

"Of course, of course. Some patients just prefer to have someone they know accompany them, it's a comfortability thing." The nurse carefully helps her out of bed, steadying her when she wobbles slightly, having been in bed for the majority of her time. "I can also help out if you would like?" She offers, her professionalism melding with genuine kindness and concern.

"No that's alright, I should be fine, those pain meds have been working wonders." Alice jokes lightly.

"Well if you need anything, if you have any issues, there's a button you can press on the wall so I'll know to come check on you." Alice's watches as the woman starts the shower, turning the water up to a temperature that's not too hot but still enough to produce steam and Alice aches to stand under the heavy flow of water. "There's a fresh gown here whenever you're ready to get out and some clean towels on the shelf." She nods towards the wall at the stack of fluffy white towels and gently urges Alice to turn around so she can unbutton her current hospital gown so she can simply slide it off without having to strain her sore body.

"Thank you..."

"Tanya!" The woman chirps, filling in the blank.

Alice smiles. "Thank you, Tanya."

She waits until the woman has left the small bathroom to shrug off her gown, bracing herself for the sight before her. It's worse than she thought it would be: bruises in the shape of fingertips around her neck, on her collarbone and shoulder and most noticeably are the black and blue bruises that cover her ribs in horrid splotches.

Her eyes mist and she sniffles, turning away from the mirror and carefully stepping into the shower. The water feels like heaven; the pressure low enough so not to agitate her battered skin. Lolling her head back under the stream she closes her eyes and lets herself cry — violent sobs that wrack her small frame as she finally succumbs to the fear and pain she's felt since that night. She's always prided herself on being strong and not showing weakness, but after so long of feeling like she had escaped the terrors of her life it was far too overwhelming feeling like she had gone back to square one.

She's not sure how long she stays under the stream, but she soon hears a gentle knock on the door and expects to find Nurse Tanya coming to check on her. "I'm alright," She croaks, and reaches for the small shampoo bottle, figuring she should at least clean herself up a little rather than stand numbly under the water.

"Al, it's me." FP's voice calls from the other side of the door.

She pauses, wants to tell him she'll be out in a minute but the first attempt of raising her arm to her hair makes her whimper in pain and she frowns. "It's unlocked." She sighs, setting the bottle back where it was.

"Hey, I won't bother you, I just wanted to let you know I'm back so you didn't get scared when you got out." He informs her, his voice soft.

"You're back early,"

"Yeah, tried to wrap things up as quickly as we could. June was wondering if she could come see you later? She's worried about you."

"I'd love that," Alice smiles. "And lucky for her I won't smell horrendous when she comes."

"Nah you didn't smell too bad," FP laughs. "Well, I'll go wait for you out here, let you have your privacy. Yell if you need me."

"Wait!" She cries, a little more desperately than she meant to. "Could you... I can't lift my arm much because of my ribs, will you help me?"

"Yeah, of course I can." He responds, voice gentle. "Do you want me to come in there with you or do you want me to help from out here?"

"Come in with me," She decides, though the thought does feel incredibly intimate.

He takes a moment to strip down and then he's stepping into the shower behind her. "Okay, what do you want me to help you with?" Before she can get out a single word she's bursting into tears and turning to collapse into his arms. "Hey, hey," He coos, stroking her hair as he holds her tight, and there's no words needed between them. "It's okay, I've got you, you're alright. I'm here, you're safe."

A/N
Apologies for how long this update took to come, I still want to finish this story for you all but have been extremely unmotivated and life has been so busy as of late. I got a random surge of inspiration and finally got in the mindset to write this update which I hope you all enjoy. I'm not sure when the next update will come but I do want to finish this story out for you all and I'm so appreciative of the love and support you've shown me all these years, it means more than you know. <3