Chapter 36: Break Down
Three days later...
It had been a rough few days.
On Poveglia Island, after I had managed to convince Aaron that I would be fine alone with Zak, Aaron went off to find Billy and Jay at the bell tower on the island.
I knew Aaron would be gone for a while, so I had grabbed a blanket from one of the duffel bags, and then had gotten up and slowly walked down to Zak.
I knew he was hurting emotionally, and I wanted to try to comfort him, despite our lack of interaction outside of work.
~*~*~*~*~
I reached Zak, who was sitting near the water's edge.
I knew the brief lapping of the water against the rocks and the small dock was probably comforting to him, considering all the fountains he had in his backyard.
I hesitated, just a mere step or two behind him.
"I brought you a blanket..." I said softly, my voice still rough and raspy sounding.
I saw Zak's hands, which were hanging down over his crossed legs and just barely touching the grass, clench into fists.
Not out of anger, but out of pain.
"I'm fine...thank you..." Zak said quietly.
I frowned.
I could hear the pain in his voice.
I wrapped the blanket around my own back and shoulders, holding onto the ends of it with my hands, and knelt down behind Zak and gently put one of my hands on one of his shoulders.
I felt him flinch, but I gently tightened my grip on his shirt, so he couldn't shake my hand away.
"Talk to me..." I said softly, trying to ignore the sound of my voice as much as possible.
"The fear on Aaron's face...the fear on your face....your voice..." I heard Zak's voice crack, after which he cleared his throat. "There's nothing to say..." Zak finished.
I frowned.
"It wasn't your fault...Aaron and I both knew you were possessed. And we're fine now-" I started, but Zak suddenly turned, enough so that he could look at me.
"Fine? You're not fine! Your voice is screwed up! What if I did permanent damage?!" Zak asked, looking and sounding pained.
"I'll go to the hospital when we get back to the main land, but I'm sure it's just temporary," I said, trying to reassure him.
The truth was, I had no idea.
"I could of killed you..." Zak said, his voice and face so full of agony, that I could almost feel his pain.
Without thinking, I reached up with one hand and gently rested it against the side of his face.
"But you didn't..." I said softly.
I saw his expression soften, although I sensed it was against his better judgement.
"Did you mean what you said...? That you care about me...and that you need me..?" Zak asked.
I had never seen him so vulnerable.
It made my heart ache.
Without realizing it, I had started to gently stroke his jawline with my thumb.
"Yes.." I said quietly.
I watched him as he reached up and gently put his hand over mine, gently taking my hand in his, acting as if my hand were made of glass.
He looked at our hands and I noticed his chest start moving more quickly, as his breathing started to become faster.
Then I heard the one sound I'd never thought I'd hear from Zak.
He let out a quiet sob.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...it wouldn't stop, it just wouldn't stop-" He started to ramble in a panicked voice, as he bowed his head and rested his forehead against the back of my hand.
I felt tears in my own eyes and I moved on my knees so I was in front of him a bit more, and then wrapped my free arm around him in a tight hug.
"Shh, it's okay Zak. I know it wasn't you," I said quietly.
I heard him let out another quiet sob before he wrapped his free arm around me, his hand clutching the blanket and my shirt under it as if his life depended on it. He lifted his head from my hand, which he still held onto tightly, and buried his face in the crook of my neck, and cried.
I was momentarily stunned, but didn't let it show outwardly.
I held his hand as tightly as he was holding mine, and reached up with my other hand and gently stroked the hair on the back of his head, and gently leaned my head against his.
"It's okay, I got you..." I whispered.
~*~*~*~*~
By the time Aaron had come back with Billy and Jay, Zak had stopped crying and had calmed down quiet a bit, but I could tell he was exhausted.
I had convinced him to lie down, and he did, but he stunned me by lying down on his side on the grass, and rested his head on my lap.
I didn't comment on his actions, I honestly hadn't minded.
When I noticed that he was drifting off, I pulled some of the blanket that was around me, more to one side, so I could cover the majority of his upper body with the blanket, and then gently stroked his hair, not only for his comfort, but for my own.
When Aaron, Billy and Jay showed up, they were surprised, but thankfully didn't say anything.
They also hadn't said anything when the sound of the boats' motor had woken Zak a short time later.
~*~*~*~*~
Once we had arrived back on the mainland, since I had told Zak I would, I let Jay and Ashley take me to a local hospital.
Thankfully, we had found a doctor who spoke English as well as Italian.
With the help of Jay and Ashley, and because I had no bruising yet, we had concocted a story that we were out for an early morning boat ride on one of the canals. I had been wearing a decorative scarf at the time, and at one point, a gust of wind had come up and caused my scarf to blow out to one side, just as another boat was passing us. My scarf had gotten caught on one of the passing boats' decorative end posts, and it had started to strangle me.
Whether the doctor thought the story strange or not, she seemed to believe us.
She had checked me all over, and ran a few tests. Routine blood work, X-rays, and an ultrasound.
She said that my vocal chords and trachea were swollen, and that I'd most likely bruise in the next couple of days, but as my breathing was normal, she was fine to let me go.
She did, however, have some concerns that our flight home the next day might cause some more discomfort. With the changing of altitude, and because some people often develop a sore throat or illness from flying, she was concerned I might end up with more damage than I had. But I was eager to get home, to get Zak home - because he still wasn't emotionally at his best - so I assured the doctor I'd take some preventive cold and flu medication and wear a medical mask on the flight home, which I did.
~*~*~*~*~
Now, the third day after the possession, I still hadn't seen or talked with Zak since he had let himself break down in front of me.
I was hoping that, despite the awful events that had caused all of this to happen, that maybe Zak would be willing to at least be friends again, but I guess the incident had just pushed him further away.
Although, thinking about it, it was probably better I hadn't seen or heard from Zak, because my throat was still sore, and my voice was still pretty hoarse and raspy.
All the talking and emotional stress after the event probably hadn't helped my injuries. And the worst of it all, were the bruises I now had.
The bruises were formed just like imprints of Zak's hands on my neck.
~*~*~*~*~
I was home alone, sitting on the couch in the living room, catching up on some of my television shows I had set our DVR to record while I was away.
Cheryl had left early in the morning for work – she worked as an interior designer at a local design company.
She had offered to take time off work to stay home with me, but I insisted that I was fine, and that I would take it easy.
I was now curled up on the couch, wearing a set of pink pyjama pants and a white tank top that had "Soft Kitty", the song and "character" from the popular comedy television show, "The Big Bang Theory", printed on them.
I had a pink scarf nearby on a table, on the off chance someone came to the house.
I winced slightly as I took a sip of my water via a straw, and then I hit "play" on the remote to start up an episode of "The Vampire Diaries", which was one of my favourite television shows.
I was only about five minutes into the episode when I heard the doorbell ring.
"Crap," I mumbled, turning off the recording and the television, grabbing my scarf as I got up.
I walked to a nearby mirror and loosely wrapped the scarf around my neck a few times, and fixed my hair to hang down over it.
The scarf hid my bruises, and to anyone who didn't know any better, it just appeared as if I was wearing the scarf as a fashion accessory.
I quickly walked over to the door, not wanting to miss whoever was there, and peaked out the window next to the door.
It was Zak!
What is he doing here? I thought.