Even though Dana had had similar thoughts downstairs, she didn’t think now was an appropriate time to broach this topic. “Al, you need to eat or those meds are going to upset your stomach. I tried to think of what would be easy to eat, and not be heavy on your stomach. I thought back and remembered when I was a kid and wasn’t feeling well this is what my mother would bring me to eat, and for some reason it always tasted great, and made me feel better.” Alice for her part had never really experienced Lenora’s maternal side, found this side of Dana both endearing and incredibly sweet. “This is great, thanks Dane.”

After sitting with Alice while she ate, then watching part of a rerun of an old comedy show Dana noticed that Alice had fallen asleep. She decided this would be a good time for her to take a shower and get herself ready for bed.

She could honestly say she had never looked more forward to a shower then she was at that moment. She wanted to wash this whole day off her body. She had given herself a quick sponge bath after Tina had brought her a change of clothes at the hospital. But this was the first shower she had taken since yesterday morning. As the water was flowing down her body she almost felt like she could feel the heaviness of the day washing off her. She thought back to washing Alice’s blood of herself at the hospital, and she wondered if part of what she was washing off was still some of her blood. She knew her thinking was wrong, but she truly did wish she was washing the blood of those ***** off herself instead of Alice’s blood. Though she knew she needed to get a grip on her feelings for Alice’s sake, she still couldn’t help but feel deep rage over the incident.

After finishing her shower Dana changed into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, knowing chances were good she would be up and down all night checking on Alice. She knew she needed to get a handle on her fear of leaving Alice’s side. She knew in her head that Alice was OK, but her heart wouldn’t let herself be away from Alice for more then a little bit. It was like she felt if she left Alice for any length of time; she might not be there when she came back. Of course Dana knew she was being unreasonable, but she couldn’t help it, that how it felt for her.

As she was combing out her hair she could hear Alice once again thrashing in her sleep, Dana ran into Alice’s room trying to wake her before she caused more pain to her ribs. She could not believe how much resistance Alice was giving her as she was trying to wake her up. It was like she thought Dana was attacking her and she was fighting with what little strength she had. Once Dana was finely able to wake Alice up, the total look of fear in Alice’s eyes was both shocking and telling. It let Dana know how absolutely terrified Alice was because of her nightmares, and she knew at that point the previous night had deeply and maybe forever changed the two of them.

TBC

Thanks guys for all the feedback, and yes I will continue with this story. I know this chapter was pretty intense, but I felt I need to go a little deeper in depth about the physical and emotion wounds, before I can start working on the healing part. Thank for coming along on this hard ride. Deb