Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Sidney woke early the next morning and watched Lauren sleep for a while. When she finally woke up, he ran his hand gently over her face. “How bad does it look today?” Lauren asked, pointing to her face.

“You look beautiful.” Sidney replied, leaning in to kiss her lips.

“You’re a bad liar. But I love you for it.” She replied, linking her fingers in his as their hands rested on her cheek.

“You hungry, babe? Let me go get you something to eat.” Sidney said, standing up.

“Nothing too big…I’m not up to eating that much yet.” Lauren replied, pulling herself into a sitting position.

“Okay, I’ll be back shortly. Just call if you need anything….anything, I mean it.” He said, picking up his cell phone and taking it with him as he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Nathalie was in the kitchen when he walked in. “Morning, Sidney. How did you guys sleep?”

“Well, I think Lauren actually got some sleep. I slept off and on, but I kept waking up to check on her. I just wish there was something I could do…a way to take all this pain away from her.”

“Sidney, you are doing something. You’re here for her – that’s what she needs right now. She just needs you to love her, and if you ask me, you’re pretty good at that.” Nathalie said with a smile.

“Thanks Nat. I just feel so helpless right now.”

“Well, here, make yourself useful then. Take her some breakfast.” Nathalie said with a wink, handing him a tray with some bagels, fruit, and coffee on it.

“Thanks Nathalie.” He said with a smile.

When Sidney got back up to the bedroom, Lauren wasn’t in bed anymore. He set the tray down on the nightstand and walked over to the closed bathroom door. On the other side, he could hear Lauren crying. “Baby? Are you okay? Can I come in?” Sidney pleaded from the other side of the door.

Lauren opened the door and Sidney walked in, pulling her into his arms and running his fingers through her hair. “Baby, what is it?” he asked, concern heavy in his voice.

“I just came in here to take a shower, and then I realized that I can’t lift my arms enough to get my shirt off by myself because of my stitches, and then I realized I wouldn’t be able to take a shower either.” She said through sobs.

“Darlin’, it’s okay. It’s just going to take some time for your stitches to heal. You’ll be better in no time. And I’ll help you get a shower, if that’s okay with you.” He said, leaning back to look into her eyes.

“Are you sure? Because I guess I can call the home-care nurse the hospital referred me to down here.”

“No, baby, let me take care of you. How many times have you taken care of me? Now it’s my turn.” Sidney said.

“Sidney, do you think I’m ever going to be okay again?” Lauren asked, tears falling down her cheeks.

“Of course you are. You’re perfect, just the way you are. We’re going to get through this – together. I love you…you just need to always remember that.” Sidney said, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

“I love you too, Sidney. When I was in that hotel room, when he was, when he was raping me, all I could think of was you. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. All I wanted to do was tell you I loved you, even if it was just one more time.”

Sidney did everything he could to hold back the sob that was forming in his throat. “Baby, don’t even worry about that now. You’re here, and I’m here, and we’re going to be together forever. And we get to say ‘I love you’ as often as we want, even though I could never tell you that enough.” He said, kissing her forehead. “Now how about we get you a shower? That always makes you feel a little better.” He said, gently pulling her shirt over her head. He wrapped her abdomen and arm in a water-resistant wrap so the soap and water wouldn’t get through to her stitches. She slipped out of her sweatpants and Sidney turned the water on and ran his hand under the water until the temperature was adjusted. He held his hand out for Lauren and helped her step into the shower. Sidney quickly shed his clothes and stepped in the shower, closing the curtain behind him.

It was a little weird for a moment. Normally, when they were in the shower together, they were laughing and flirting and making love. Now the mood was somber and they were both struggling to hold back tears.

Sidney kissed her forehead and supported her neck as he let the water run over her hair. He put some of her shampoo in his hand and gently massaged her scalp, being extra sensitive around all the bruises on her head.

He held her neck again as he rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, shielding her eyes with his other hand. He combed some conditioner through her hair with his fingers and rinsed that out.

Sidney took some her body wash and put it on a soft washcloth. Slowly and delicately, he ran the washcloth over her body, being careful around her many bruises and the cuts and scrapes she had. After she rinsed off again, Sidney shut the water off and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her, bundling her up. He grabbed another towel and wrapped it around his waist, then stepped out of the shower and held out his arms to help her out. She gave him a meek smile as she stepped over the shower wall and hugged her body against his. He put his arms around her and held her for a moment, neither of them saying anything.

Finally, she pulled her head back from his chest to look into his hazel eyes. “Thank you, Sidney.” She whispered.

He kissed her forehead gently. “I would do anything in the world for you. Anything.” He repeated. He took her hand and led her back out into the bedroom and instructed her to sit down on the bed. He pulled out some clean clothes for her and then grabbed some clean bandages from the bathroom. He knelt in front of her and helped her pull on a pair of underwear and her favorite pair of his sweatpants, and then he looked up at her with questioning eyes. “Are you okay? I mean, I can get Leanna or call the nurse or something if you don’t want me to see it.” He said, nodding towards the bandage around her abdomen.

She shook her head and smiled. “It’s okay. I mean, I don’t want you to see it. It looks bad. It’s really ugly, Sid. And it hurts – a lot.” He winced at her admission of being in pain. “But I’ll be okay. Just be careful.”

“I will.” He promised. “I wish I could take this pain from you. I would take it all and more if it meant you wouldn’t be hurting anymore.” Sidney said honestly. He proceeded to delicately remove her bandages and forced himself not to react outwardly when he saw the wound. It was deeper than he had imagined, and the wound was almost five inches long was located between two of her lower ribs. The doctor had done well with the stitches, but Sidney knew enough about stitches to know there would be a pretty nasty scar.

He very gently wiped a cool compress over her stitches and put on some of the antibiotic ointment the hospital had given her. Sidney tried his best to be careful, and Lauren tried her best not to flinch, even though the area was incredibly sore. Finally, he laid clean gauze over the wound and taped it carefully. When he was finished dressing the wound, he leaned in and kissed her stomach before helping her pull a sports bra over her head and he slipped one of his t-shirts over her head.

He sat down on the bed next to her and linked her fingers with his. She leaned her head against his shoulder and they sat in silence for a few minutes. Lauren and Sidney had always been comfortable with silence, and many times they couldn’t figure out why other people always felt the need to fill the silence, even when they didn’t have anything important to say. They were both grateful for moments like this, when they could just be together. They didn’t have to say anything – each knew what the other was thinking.

They were pulled from their thoughts by the ringing of Lauren’s cell phone. She sighed when she saw her dad’s cell phone number on the caller ID. “I’m afraid to talk to them. They’re going to be freaked out.” She said. Leanna had left them messages explaining what happened, but no one had actually been able to get a hold of them yet.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” Sidney offered.

Lauren smiled at his kindness. “My sweet Sidney. Thanks, but I’ll have to talk to them sooner or later.” Sidney looked a little relieved – Lauren knew he didn’t really want them to freak out on him, but he would have dealt with it if she wanted him to.

“Hello?” Lauren asked, gripping Sidney’s hand tighter. Sidney could hear Lauren’s mother crying into the phone, and he gently kissed her temple and rubbed her back with his other hand.

“Mom, calm down. I can’t understand you.” Lauren said, sounding very tired. Her mother continued to shriek and Sidney could hear her dad get on the line.

“Daddy?” Lauren said quietly, tears springing to her eyes. Sidney could hear him talking. “Daddy, I’m alive. I’m going to be okay. They’re taking good care of me. I love you. When will you be home?”

After another few minutes, Lauren said goodbye and leaned back against Sidney’s chest. “They’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. Mom’s a wreck. I don’t even want to think about how much she’s going to fuss over me. Promise me you’ll hide me away if she gets too crazy.”

Sidney smiled. “I’ll try. It’s just because she loves you, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. But you know me. I don’t like people to fuss.”

“I know. But just try to be patient with us. We all just want to help you. We just want to make things right, but we can’t.”

“Sidney, all I need right now is for you to hold me and love me. You can do that.”

Sidney smiled again. “Yes, I can.” He said, wrapping his arms around her as he nestled her head against his shoulder.

There was a quiet knock at the door. “Come in.” Lauren called. A moment later, Taylor entered the room.

“Hey Tay.” Lauren said quietly, but cheerfully.

“Hey.” Taylor said, standing hesitantly in the doorway.

“Sidney, can you go get me some Gatorade?” Lauren asked. He gave her a questioning glance, but then nodded his head in understanding when he looked into her eyes.

He gently ruffled Taylor’s hair before heading downstairs.

“Taylor, come on over.” Lauren said, patting the bed next to her. Taylor crawled onto the bed next to her and Lauren gently put her arm around her.

“Lauren, why did this happen?” Taylor finally asked. Lauren’s heart broke at the desperation and uncertainty in Taylor’s voice.

“I don’t know, Taylor. Things like this don’t make sense. I wish I could make sense of it for you.”

“What happens if they don’t catch him?” Taylor whispered.

“They will. The police are looking for him right now.” Lauren said, as if trying to convince herself as well. “In the meantime, you don’t need to worry. We have a lot of people that loves us and they are going to do everything they can to keep us safe.”

“I love you, Lauren.” Taylor said, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

“I love you, too, Taylor.”

“I love you both, too.” Sidney said, coming back in the room with Trina behind him.

“Hey, do you guys want to come hang out downstairs for a little while?” Trina asked. Lauren smiled and started to get up.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Sidney, don’t you have practice today?” Lauren asked.

“It’s optional, and I told Coach I wouldn’t be in.” Sidney explained.

Lauren looked at him with a little bit of shock – Sidney never missed practice, even if it was optional. “Are you sure? I’ll be okay for a little while.”

Sidney smiled as he took her hand. “I’m sure. I need to be here today.”

They headed down into the Lemieux’s living room where the kids were all hanging out. Stephanie and Austin quickly got up off the couch when Lauren walked in so she could sit down and Sidney could sit next to her. Nathalie offered them a blanket and the kids popped a movie into the DVD player. About an hour into the movie, Lauren rested her head on Sidney’s shoulder and pretty soon, she fell asleep.