The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)
The Reprieve (Part 7.3)

-Danielle's POV-

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“What the hell, Danielle? Were you trying to bite my lip off?”

He didn’t wait for my answer, making his way to the mirror. I stayed put, trying to figure out what had happened.

“Danni, are you okay?”

He reentered the room with a handful of folded tissue paper over his lip.

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“I might need a couple stitches,” he said as he went back into the bathroom.

I followed him, “I’m sorry Nathan. Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”

He looked at my reflection in the mirror; his eyes seemed to soften.

“If anyone needs to apologize, it’s me. I put too much pressure on you. This is only your first semi-normal day. Besides, I wanted to do this right.”

I was still stuck in my thoughts when he came and grabbed my hand.

I looked into his eyes, “Do what right?”

“I promised myself when you started to feel better, we would go out on a date, just you and me. How about we go out tomorrow? I’ll take the day off, and we’ll get a room. What do you think?” He paused, “Wow, sorry, my mouth feels as if it’s on fire right now.”

I winced at the mention of his lip. Right about then, I was willing to say yes to anything he wanted.

“That sounds like fun; hopefully, the night doesn’t end in bloodshed.”

Nathan chuckled, finding my joke funnier than I did.

“Honey, trust me when I say we’ll be fine. I think this mini-getaway is all you need,” he consoled.

He seemed so sure. It made me want to believe him. I was starting to feel better when I remembered the promise I had given to my friend.

“Sign me up, but I better call Porsha before we go. If she saw me out on a date, there would be a blood bath.”

Nathan appeared confused but laughed anyway. “What does Porsha have to do with us going out?”

“Oh, I thought you knew she had come over today.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, she was just checking on me. I told her I had mono, and I would call her when I felt better. So the last thing I need is for her to see me out somewhere having a good time before I called.”

I knew Nathan never took to Porsha, and it probably didn’t help that she could be pushy to get her way. But he always showed his support for our friendship, well, for the most part.

“I told her you weren’t feeling well on more than one occasion,” he said, monotoned. “I guess she needed to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. I think it’s a good idea that you call her beforehand. You should also call John. He called a couple of times to check on you.”

My guilt doubled when Nathan brought up my father. I felt Nathan’s eyes studying my reactions, so I did my best to stifle my remorse.

“I’ll give him a call tomorrow.”

Nathan still had the tissue firmly pressed against his lip.

“Let me see how bad it is. Maybe it doesn’t need anything but a good cleansing.”

I walked to him, reaching up to remove the tissue when he walked away from the sink into the closet. I stood there trying to fight off the feelings of rejection.

“I’ll get it checked out at the hospital tonight.”

I felt even worse than I already did. Was Nathan running from me? I wouldn’t blame him. I would run from me too.

“I thought you were home for the night.”

I waited for an answer as I listened to him rummaging through his clothes.

“No, I came home to see how you and the kids were doing. I’m doing a few hours for Dr. Collins. I didn’t want to, but he’s been great about taking over some of my rounds for the past five weeks.”

He came out of the walk-in, tying his tie around a fresh dress shirt. It was the first time I was able to see his bottom lip since our encounter. I noticed it was obviously swollen, but that was about it. I kept my distance, knowing I couldn’t handle another perceived rejection. Nathan came towards me with his arms open wide. I almost ran into his embrace, slightly embarrassed about how needy I felt.

My skin tingled as his index finger softly stroked my face before placing it under my chin. Raising my head before he slowly bent down and planted a kiss squarely on my lips.

I knew it must have hurt to kiss me, and for that, I felt a twinge of guilt, but the act also made me feel special. The warmth within me began to build again when I decided to stop before the dark presence ruined another moment.

“You’d better get going. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can come back home.”

I smiled up at the love of my life, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. Reluctantly, he released me, making his way to the door.

He turned around, standing in the door’s frame, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I wasn’t sure of almost anything, and nothing made any sense. The one thing I was sure of was that my kids and husband still loved me as much as I loved them, and that was the only thing that really mattered.

“Yeah, I’m peachy.”

We gave each other another smile before he left the room.

I stood in the spot Nathan had left me in. I thought of everything and nothing at all as the empty room felt as if it would bury me, never to be found again. The mere idea stirred the invading presence.

What was I missing? I couldn’t shake the feeling that the dark presence had something to tell me. Tonight with Nathan was the closest I had come to understanding it, but I also tried to bite his lip off.

This was useless!

My anger spiked, causing the voices’ unintelligible rant to come back to the forefront, which only made me madder.

I briskly took the few steps separating me from the bedroom door, slamming it shut. I didn’t know what I thought would happen, but my actions didn’t change the voices’ persistent droning. That didn’t matter anymore. Before, I would collapse into a frightened ball of nerves, but now I chose to fight. I needed to find a way to keep my life the way I wanted it to be.

I went to my window, daring the darkness to show itself, but I saw nothing. If the redhead was there, she wasn’t showing herself. What was I planning to do if she was? Jump down on her, tear her limb from limb? She only existed in my head, right? Another wave of determination washed over me.

Maybe that was the answer. I closed my eyes, concentrating on my rage. At first, my defiance seemed to intensify the voices to an unbearable state. I felt as if my brain would implode, but I refused to back down. My dark friend squirmed under my constant attack as the voices’ usual frantic pace became sluggish and low. I continued my mental assault when it all just stopped. The voices and the dark presence were gone! I didn’t know what it all meant, but I was happy to be doing something that worked.

I opened my eyes without fear to find nothing new had materialized. The joy that coursed through me threatened to put me into a fit of laughter. Leaving my appointed battleground, I roamed my room. I was alone, completely alone. There wasn’t any presence, vocal or otherwise, only me. I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh, cry, or throw up.

More than a few minutes went by, and nothing had changed. My mind went back to the calls I had promised to make.

Earlier today I was only trying to protect Porsha, but maybe that time was over. I could barely believe it myself.

I went towards the phone, feeling the muscles in my legs flex and relax. My physical alterations hadn’t reverted yet. What did that mean? I shook the thought out of my head, refusing to linger on anything that would cause me doubt. My only task was to talk to Porsha.

I had barely picked up the phone when I felt my legs about to give out. That didn’t just happen. I was fine, everything was fine.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a moving shadow. Reflexively, I turned towards it. I scanned the area to find nothing. The anxiety I had just rid myself of came flooding back.

“Don’t make your own problems. You’re better now,” I whispered to myself.

Before I could stop my hand from trembling, my breath was taken as an invisible energy bashed me into the wall. I tried to move, but the force had me firmly in its grasp. The crushing pressure refused to let me catch my breath. If this kept up, I could lose consciousness. My bed was the last thing I saw before everything slowly faded to black, and the voice’s haunted ramblings began again.

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