The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,55
please.” He kissed the top of her head. “It cuts me deep.”
She only cried harder. He did the only thing he could—he held her tight and rocked her until she cried herself to sleep. And still he held her when her breathing evened out. She looked so lost. He swore then and there, she’d never look like that again, but he needed help.
He stood and laid her gently on the bed, using the soft throw she’d brought with her to cover her. He needed to make some calls. He turned out all but the bathroom light and let himself out quietly. He needed to find food, call his brother, and then come back and sign everything. If he didn’t, she’d only stress more, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Chapter Thirteen
Dimitri called Olive Garden and got takeout. He had no idea if she even liked the place, but he figured it was better than fast food. He wanted to call his mother, but it was too late. She’d be up soon, but he needed help now.
He called Nikoli instead.
“Hey, man.” Nikoli yawned around his greeting.
“It’s not that late, motherfucker.”
“Someone’s grouchy.” Nikoli murmured something, and he assumed it was Lily the boy was talking to. She was precisely the reason he’d called his baby brother. Lily had issues along the same lines of Becca’s.
“Yeah, well, it’s been a long fucking day.”
“Everything okay, brat?”
“Fuck, no, it’s not.” He let out a sigh. “You got a few?”
“Sure, man. Just let me tell Lily Bells I’ll be up in a while.”
Dimitri smiled at the nickname Nikoli had given Lily. She’d hated it in the beginning. He’d gotten the entire story out of Nik while he’d been in Boston. It was a story worth writing, one he planned to write. His brother and future sister-in-law just didn’t know it yet. Kade and Angelique were another sordid tale he’d decided to write about. Angel was forcing his brother to jump through hoops at the moment, but honestly, the ass deserved it. Who forgot they were married?
He snorted at the thought. Kade had some serious wooing to do, not to mention Angel was upset about the whole adultery aspect of their marriage. Granted, she hadn’t known she was still married, but Kade had. Being Catholic, she needed absolution and had dragged Kade off to counseling at the church. Something his brother was not happy about, but their mother and grandmother agreed with Angel. This was something that needed to be settled with the blessing of the Church.
“So, what’s up?”
Nikoli’s question caused him to jump. “Dammit, don’t sneak up on me.”
“Uh, how can I sneak up on you when I’m on the phone?”
“Sorry, just a fuck-all day.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Were you home when Dad came back that last time all messed up?”
“No, but Mason was. Why?”
He explained to his brother about Becca’s anxiety and how he wanted to help her but was doing more damage than good.
“Nah, man, you’re aren’t doing more damage,” Nikoli assured him. “First, even her therapist said she needed to get out and face her fears since it wasn’t being handled by medication alone. You pushed her, yeah, but you were there to catch her. Just keep doing that. Second, stop freaking out. When you freak, it’s only going to make her worse. You have to be slow and patient. I told you about Lily and her fear of being touched. She had severe anxiety due to that.”
“How did you guys get past it?”
“We didn’t, not really. She’s getting better, though, with my and her therapist’s help. For Lily, she’d been afraid for so long, it was all she knew. She needed structure, rules. She needed to trust me, and that’s what I did. I spent months showing her she could trust me, giving her rules and pushing her just enough to make her face her fears. Once she did, she started to understand not everyone she loved and touched would die. You have to be patient. Lily still has issues being touched by people she doesn’t know, and it can set off a freak-out moment, as I call her panic attacks. Just last week, we were at the mall and some guy grabbed her hand to get her attention. She had a meltdown right then and there. Didn’t lose my patience, just got her home and helped her to calm down. This shit doesn’t go away overnight. If you go in thinking that, then whatever you got going on with Sunshine, it’ll fail.”
“Sunshine?”
“You