The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,100
sobs shook his wife. He pulled her into his arms and tried his best to calm her. If he’d known she’d react like this, he wouldn’t have suggested trying to get a live feed for her brother.
“Don’t cry, Becca. It cuts me. Please don’t.”
“I’m just so happy,” she wailed. “That meant more to me than anything else you could have done.” She stuck a hand out, and he had no idea what to do with it, but his brother did. Conner wrapped his around hers and leaned in close.
“We all love you too, sestra. Welcome to the family.”
Becca cried harder.
“Hormones,” Kade whispered in his ear. “Get used to it, brat. She’s going to be bursting into tears at the drop of a hat for the next few months.”
Angel kicked her husband. Hard.
“So, hormones, huh? I’ll show you hormones. No wedding night sex for you.”
“What?” Kade looked up alarmed. “We need to discuss this…”
Dimitri laughed and picked Becca up, leaving his brother bickering with his wife. He’d be alarmed too if Becca said that to him.
She snuggled into him as he turned to everyone.
“Thanks for coming, but I have plans for my wife that don’t include the rest of you. I love you all, but we’re out.”
He heard the well wishes and the congratulations as he walked out of the church and got into another limousine waiting. They were going to a different hotel tonight because he wanted his wife to himself, and his family would burst in on them.
“Becca?”
“Yes?”
“Are you happy?”
“More than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m not scared anymore. I…” She took a deep breath and looked up at him through wet lashes. “You love me. That’s all I ever needed, D. Thank you for giving me back everything I lost. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, babe. Just remember that when I tie you to the bed and have my way with my naughty little wife tonight.”
She giggled and snuggled closer to him. “Promises, promises.”
He pulled her closer and settled down to wait, content and happy.
The original manwhore had finally found his perfection—his best friend, his lover, his wife.
He was happy.
Author’s Note
Mental health is something that’s not talked about enough.
When people hear that phrase, a lot of the times they think of conditions like bipolar or schizophrenia or a multitude of other severe conditions. Anxiety rarely gets lumped into that phrase, but it’s as much a mental health condition as the others and far more common among the masses.
Most of us, at one time or another, have dealt with anxiety. We’ve gotten anxious and nervous about a situation. We may have broken out in a cold sweat or had a few sleepless nights.
But there’s a darker side to anxiety. A side that can be so severe in its symptoms, it becomes debilitating. Symptoms can manifest in trouble breathing or a fear so deep it freezes a person in their tracks. In this book, Becca has a fear of crowds. Her symptoms manifest in shaking, cold sweats, her lungs freeze up, and it’s hard to breathe, which in turn causes her to black out. You may think that’s a little hard to swallow. No one reacts like that. I can tell you they do. Two of my nieces have anxiety, and one of them reacts just like this. It’s very real.
We need to educate ourselves on anxiety instead of judging others who suffer from it. I’m a firm believer in facing your fears and trying to get over them instead of just medicating a person and forgetting about them. It’s a sound treatment, but it’s not an option for everyone. And we need to understand that.
When my nieces developed this, I read anything and everything I could. I talked to friends who were therapists. I educated myself, and I urge all of you to do the same instead of laughing, judging, or just being apathetic.
My heart goes out to all who are suffering from anxiety. I understand, and I’m with you. I’ll keep you all in my prayers.
God bless you all.
~ Apryl Baker
Acknowledgements
My goodness, 2020 has been a year, and it’s barely May. The world changed so much in just a matter of months. Social distancing, having to wear face masks, isolation, statewide shelter-in-place orders…yeah, I think when we look back on the last few years, we’ll say 2018, 2019, 2021. We just won’t discuss 2020.
With the pandemic came the cancellation of all our book signings. And I want to say to every event coordinator,