This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Proof of Life”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

Full Length Of The River

©2008 by: Darrin

Chapter Six

Terry woke to the sound of hushed voices and the smell of bacon.  It reminded him of home when he’d smell brekkie being made by his mum and the conversations she and dad would have before he left for work at the crack of dawn.  That had somehow always made him feel safe as a child.  He laid still, listening to these two voices, feeling that same secure feeling.

“D-Dino! T’s gonna need his b-brekkie!”

“Trust me, he needs his sleep more and I’m hungry.”

“Y-you’re very n-naughty,” this with a little giggle.

“Well… Yeah!  Life’s too short to be good, honey.”

Terry snorted at that.  “You could be immortal, you’d still be a bastard.”

“Oh, look who decided to join the conversation.  How’d you sleep, hermano?”

Terry stretched as he sat up and yanked his tray away from Dino.  “Good, mate, ta.”  He surveyed the service before him.  “Did you leave me anything, you bludger?!”

“Oh, you’re fine, there’s oatmeal in that round thingy there.”

Terry rolled his eyes at Dino and then grinned at the giggling girl in the bed.  “You think that’s funny, huh?”

“Y-you can have some of m-mine, T,” she said shyly, holding out her plate with the eggs, bacon and toast.

Terry took a slice of bacon and toast, scooping some of the scrambled eggs on top of the toast.  “Reckon that’ll do, luv,” he said with a wink.  He was studiously ignoring the return of her stutter but it was disheartening after the progress she’d made before the nightmare.  He did acknowledge it was far less severe than it had been, but any step back for her cut Terry to the quick.  He just wanted her to get well and get back to her life.

Well, did he really want that though?  He remembered falling asleep with the thought of how he missed holding her.  Maybe what he really wanted was for her to get well so he could hold her.

Fuck...could you let that go, what the fuck is wrong with you, mate?  Jesus!

He shook his head to clear it and downed his orange juice to cover the look on his face.  Dino raised his eyebrow at him anyway.  Terry shook his head, his brows furrowed in a clear indication for Dino to not pursue the subject.  Dino just looked at him and then shrugged, an entire conversation held in gestures and silence, Stephanie none the wiser that she was being “discussed”.

Terry saw Stephanie had once again placed her bear as if he was having her meal with her and realized he must have slept through a number of activities this morning.  “So when did you get here, Dino?  Thought you’d sleep all day after your California adventure.”

Dino chuckled and waggled his eyebrows.  “Well, lemme tell ya, the aerobics instructor,” this delivered with ribald pride, “I discovered last night had an early class, so I decided to pop by here instead of going back to the hotel.  She just lives around the corner.  They let me up, so I waited for Princess Stephanie to wake up so you could sleep.”

Terry grinned his thanks and noticed the blush creep across Stephanie’s cheeks as she reached for her bear, breakfast finished.  “Well, I reckon we should get ready for the day, has a nurse stopped by to say when Steph can get a wash?”

“Oh yeah, she said Bass left orders that she can get freshened up between bandage changes this morning, but we’ve been a little doubtful on that, huh, Princess?”

Steph just ducked her head, looking, as Dino had said, doubtful.  Terry knew what was bothering her and had no idea how to solve that.  And then it occurred to him that when he took her to his home, he’d be it as far as her bathing was concerned.  He wasn’t altogether sanguine about washing her himself.  He hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

“Whaddaya reckon, luv?  Want a nice proper soak?  Bet they have some nice whirlpool for you to sit in.  Nurse would be with you, so no worries, right?”

Stephanie shook her head and said softly, “Does it have to be a nurse?  I don’t know them.”

“You know Gretchen, luv.  Bet it’s her today, that’d be okay, yeah?”  Stephanie nodded slowly, not saying yes, exactly, Terry could tell, but at least conceding the point that Gretchen had been okay with her.  “Okie dokie, then.  Let’s get that sorted after I get dressed myself.”  He looked to Dino to make sure he was sticking around.

“Yeah, go get cleaned up, I’ll protect Her Royal Stephness while you’re still off-duty.”

Terry chuckled and Stephanie let out a surprised giggle.  He left Dino to explain exactly what a “Royal Stephness” was.  The giggles he heard through the door to the lav made him smile.  Dino was falling for Stephanie as much as he was.  Though maybe not to the degree you are, mate, he thought to himself.  He sighed as he first brushed his teeth then scraped a hand over his chin and neck, opting on not shaving today.  These feelings developing for Stephanie were going to become the big elephant in the room and he simply didn’t know what to do about it.  He knew himself well enough that ignoring it would only make it go away once the object of his affection had moved on.  But that wasn’t going to be the case with Stephanie.  She wasn’t someone’s wife who would be leaving him once he’d completed his mission, like in Tecala.

She was the mission.

And he didn’t want to deny himself, anyway.  Why should he?  Other than the obvious reason, there wasn’t anything else that said he could not have this woman.  She was completely enamoured of him, albeit as protector, but couldn’t that change as she became better?  Yeah, for the worse.  You’re no prize to live with, mate.  Terry smiled wryly at himself in the mirror, remembering the first time the little brunette stew had seen his flat.

“Good grief, Thorne, do you need some therapy to combat this OCD you got goin’ on?”  And then proceeded to scatter her clothes and underwear all over the place, making him laugh and do her right there on the sofa.

He’d had to admit she was right, he did like a place for everything and everything in its place.  Dino had taken the piss with him continuously about it too.  But Forsythe had said get her into a routine so his penchant for organization might just be the perfect thing.  Yeah, him and Stephanie, living quietly together.  Now that would be a fitting result.

Terry drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly and nodded to himself in the mirror.  He wondered about getting Steph a bike so she could join him on his morning runs, one part of his routine he was missing.  He thought about the two of them working their way through Central Park and grinned.  Definitely the result he was looking for, everything else would just need to fall into place as best it could.

Dino caught his grin as Terry exited the bathroom and let out a snort.  He gave Dino a, “No, I didn’t,” ‘brow and Dino gave him a, “Suuuure ya didn’t,” waggle of the eyebrows and Terry laughed, shaking his head.  It was always all about one thing for Dino, but Terry still held out the hope that there’d someday be a sheila who would make him forget about all the rest.

“Okie dokie, I’m all set.  You got anything on the agenda, you goblin?” Terry asked Dino.

“Other than kickin’ back in the hotel with room service and the lovely Lenore from Aerobics Land once she gets done with her shift, nothin’ really.”

“Right, then I get Princess Stephanie for the whole day to myself, no brekkie stealing leprechaun to guard against.”  That made Steph laugh and Terry was enjoying seeing that happen more and more.

“Bastard.  I’ll be back for your dinner, that’s for sure.  Gotta make sure you’re not bored to tears, right, Princess?”

Steph had been ping-ponging back and forth between them with soft giggles as they fell into their banter.  When Dino addressed her, her eyes opened wide and she shook her head.  “T’s n-not boring!” she declared.

Dino grinned at her and shot a look to Terry.  “Well, everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but just in case, I brought you a couple of presents in case you find yourself with time on your hands.”  Dino picked up a bag Terry had noticed behind his chair and inside were two festively wrapped boxes.  “Now, no cheating and opening them before they’re needed, okay?”  Steph shook her head solemnly and Dino grinned again, chucking her under her chin and getting up.  “Terry, call if you need anything and Steph, stay sweet, honey.”

“No worries, Dino.  Talk to you later,” Terry said and Steph gave him a smile and a little wave as he took off.

Terry had noticed Steph wasn’t hooked to the monitor, presumably in anticipation of her bath later, so wheeling the IV into the bathroom behind her, Stephanie was able to brush her teeth while Terry changed into a pair of jeans and a polo shirt from the stash Dino had been supplying him.  When she came out she climbed back onto the bed, examining the boxes Dino had left her.  Terry was about to ask her if she wanted to open them when just then Gretchen entered the room and smiled to Stephanie.

“Did you want to go for your bath now, Ms Jasper?  Dr Sebastian said you could have a lovely warm bath between dressing changes so I’ve got a tub ready and there’s a nurse who’ll take care of your bandages before and after.”

Steph nodded reservedly, turning to Terry with a look that wondered if she really had to.  Terry went to her and bent close, holding her hand.  “Luv, the doc thinks it’s best or he’d not have ordered it, right?  And you know Gretchen.  It’s just not, you know, proper if I’m in there.”

“B-B-But you’ve s-seen…” Steph began, then trailed off, unable to complete what she wanted to say.

“I know, luv,” he turned to Gretchen.  “Is there any way I can be present?  It’d make it easier on Stephanie if I can be.”

“Oh, I’m sure that would be all right.  It’s a private area.”

Steph smiled and Terry breathed a sigh of relief.  He got Stephanie’s toiletries from the bathroom and Gretchen helped Stephanie get out of bed and then the three of them walked down the hall to the room, Gretchen guiding Stephanie’s IV for her.

Terry found a corner he could be out of the way in and sat down on the bench there.  Steph’s eyes followed him closely and he could see even from where he sat that her breathing was a little ragged.  He smiled at her, hoping she’d calm soon.

The tub was sunken into the floor to allow patients who had difficulty to simply walk into the water, like a miniature pool.  Gretchen helped Stephanie get her pj’s and underwear off and then helped her walk into the water she’d run already.  The nurse came in just then and Terry was happy to see it was Estella.  If she was surprised at Terry’s presence, she made no note of it, simply knelt down next to Stephanie and began by removing her IV needle then gently pulling the bandages and dressings from her breasts and back until she was ready to settle into the tub.

Stephanie seemed to be getting agitated, though Terry could not understand why.  He decided to not intervene, hoping a little “letting go” on his part would get her past whatever was bothering her.  He’d thought it was just being naked and vulnerable without him there, but here he sat and still, her eyes darted about the room, getting that hunted quality he’d seen in them when she’d huddled in the corner of the galley.

Gretchen sat on the floor next to where Stephanie finally chose to sit down and handed her a flannel and soap, telling her not to wash her wounds, but everywhere else was fine.  Estella left once Steph was safely seated and so the bath began.  And yet Terry’s heart began hammering in his chest and a thin ribbon of dread coiled around his gut.  He forced himself to stay seated, he had to just be feeling Stephanie’s fear, there couldn’t be anything wrong here, could there?

Gretchen’s voice cut through the air with its concerned tone.  “Ms Jasper?!  Are you all right?  Mr Thorne - ”   

Terry was on his feet and at Stephanie’s side in seconds.  Stephanie was shaking violently, then suddenly screamed and bolted from the water, scrambling for a corner of the room, gathering herself up into as small a shape as she could, her face turned against the wall, still screaming, “No!  No, please!  NO!”

Terry followed her immediately and tried to take her into his arms, she struggled against him and won, Terry trying to not touch the once again open welts on her back.  He pushed himself a little way from her and tried getting her to hear him, hoping his voice would bring her back from wherever she was.  Because it sure as fuck wasn’t here.

“Stephanie!  No one’s hurting you, luv.  It’s me, it’s Terry, come back to me, Steph, it’s okay, it’s not real, whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real!”

Her screams lowered to whimpers and then at last she seemed to hear him.  Breathing heavily, she looked to Terry and he finally saw her eyes clear and really see him.  Still crying, she wrapped her arms around her knees and began rocking, which just about tore Terry’s heart in two.  There was silence for some time, interrupted only by Steph’s whimpers.

Terry waited as the silence spun out.  He put a hand out behind him and said softly, “Towel?” and felt one being pushed against his hand.  In a recall of the first time he gave Stephanie something, he slowly pushed it towards her.  She didn’t respond at all.  Trying to keep his movements as non-threatening as possible, he gently draped the towel around her shoulders and was happy to see her hands unclench from in front of her knees and the towel pulled around her.  He sat down in front of her again, waiting once more.  Her eyes were beginning to clear so when he felt Stephanie would be able to hear him, he said softly, “Steph, what happened?  What did you remember?”

Stephanie’s eyes were open, but she wasn’t seeing anything in front of her.  After several false starts, unable to find her voice, she took several deep breaths and tried again.  Her stutter was back in full force, worse than on the plane.  “The p-p-pool, I w-w-was in the p-p-pool and they g-g-grabbed me, I was a-a-alone and th-th-they dragged me t-t-to the d-deep end and n-n-no one heard m-m-me scream and they- they- they…” she couldn’t finished, just let out a wretched wail and wept, burying her head behind her knees.

Terry reached out his hand and touched hers gently.  She jumped and looked up at him, that terrified look in her eyes once more, the look he’d never wanted to see again.  What the FUCK did they do to her? he thought wildly, desperately wanting to wrap his hands around just one of their necks and squeeze the life out of the cunt slowly while slicing his balls off his body with a dull knife.

Instead he gently whispered to her, “Shh, Babygirl, you’re okay now.  Never gonna happen again, I promise you.  Never.”

Stephanie quieted slowly, a very long time passed before she looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks and terror-filled eyes.  “N-N-Never a-a-again?” she whispered to him, so soft he could barely hear her.

“Never, Stephanie.  I will never let anyone hurt you again.”  And I’ll make sure those fucks die if it’s the last thing I do, he promised himself.

She searched his eyes for long minutes and the terror slowly receded until it only haunted her gaze.  She nodded once and he put his hand out again.  She stared at it as if she didn’t know what it was then took in a deep shaky breath and slowly extended her own trembling hand to him which he took gratefully in his and held on tight.  Without breaking the hold of her eyes with his, he said a little louder, “Gretchen?”

“Yes, Mr Thorne,” came the timid reply.

“Good girl, you’re still here.  Go get Estella and we’ll get Steph taken care of here and get her back to her room.”

“Okay,” the girl replied and he heard her leave.

“Steph, Estella’s gonna re-bandage you and we’re gonna go back to the room.  I’ve got you and I won’t let go, okay?”

Steph nodded once and held onto his hand even more tightly, her breathing increasing and tears retracing their way down her cheeks.

“Shh, Babygirl.  It’s gonna be okay.”  Terry stroked her cheek with his free hand and smiled at her.  He heard Estella and Gretchen return then and Estella crouched down next to Stephanie.

“Stephanie?  I’m going to redress your back, okay?”

Stephanie just looked at Terry and Terry nodded to Estella.  “Yeah, it’s okay, go ahead.”

It only took Estella a few minutes to dry her off and replace new bandages over the welts on Steph’s back and then it was time to redress the burns on her breasts.  This brought back the fear into Stephanie’s eyes but she allowed the nurse to do her job, looking away from Terry but squeezing his hand until her knuckles were white.  Terry heard her whimpering softly until Estella was done and then Gretchen handed Terry Stephanie’s robe she’d brought from the room.

“Okay, Steph, let’s get you into this robe and then we can go back to the room.”  Terry helped her up onto her feet slowly, got her covered and then lifted her into his arms, as she wrapped herself around him.  Terry decided then and there that no matter what lay before them, it was the greatest sensation of all time, having her a part of him.

There weren’t very many people in the hallways back to Stephanie’s room, but she buried her face against Terry’s neck any time she saw someone all the same.  Finally they made it back and Terry sat on Steph’s bed, letting Estella get her hooked back up to the monitors and once Gretchen had rejoined them with Stephanie’s IV, hooking her back up to that as well.  Terry was pleased to see Steph flinch only the tiniest bit as the needle was replaced.

Gretchen laid Stephanie’s belongings on the table and Terry laid back, kicking off his runners and getting comfortable.  He didn’t imagine Stephanie would want to move until lunch.  Estella smiled and closed the door as she and Gretchen left.

Stephanie was crying silently against Terry’s neck, her hands bunched around his shoulders.  He stroked her hair back away from her face and rubbed the tears from the cheek exposed to him.  “That’s it, luv.  You cry all you want.  It’s okay.”

Terry’s cell chirped about an hour later, but Terry let it go to voice mail, knowing Dino would then call the nurses’ station if it was him.  Steph had fallen asleep and hadn’t moved at all except for a few times, whimpering a little until Terry shh’d her and wrapped his arms tighter around her.  Then she would settle back into sleep, making Terry smile and kiss the top of her head, tucked under his chin now.  He was amazed she was sleeping without a sedative, happy she was, but unhappy that the level of her terror had wiped her out so much.

He thought about what she’d remembered and putting two and two together, figured she’d gone for a midnight swim in the cruise ship’s pool.  It’s the only way she could have screamed and the men who grabbed her not get caught.  Definitely an inside job, knowing exactly when they could grab someone off the pool deck and not be heard.  He surmised also that they may have even assaulted her right there… Maybe taking advantage of the situation before handing her over to the splinter group.  To kidnap, rape and then hand her over for more took a set of cold balls that Terry couldn’t even begin to fathom.  How could anyone see this sweet sheila and want to hurt her like that?

Terry’s heart was hammering in his chest again, this time with anger and he breathed deep to calm himself.  He wouldn’t do Stephanie any good being blind with rage.  He forced his thoughts to more pleasant things, like taking her home and setting her up in his flat, taking care of her.  His breathing went even and he felt himself dozing a little, pleasurable thoughts intruding into his dreams.  Taking Stephanie into his bed, holding her close and kissing her gently until she opened up to him, letting him show her how a man should behave.

He just knew her skin would be soft and her kisses sweet.  He imagined different scenarios that would let him kiss her and then hold her and finally sink into her gently, giving her climax after climax until she’d beg him to come too and then he’d build up to his own release and he’d thrust inside her until he wouldn’t know where he ended and she began.

He sighed in his sleep so heavily that he woke himself up, realizing he had a raging hard on.  Fuck.  Running cricket stats through his head, he managed to calm down without Stephanie noticing, still asleep in his arms.  His phone chirped again and this time a few minutes later, the door was cracked open and Estella stuck her head inside.

“Mr Thorne, Mr McAlister called to see if you need anything.”

“Is he still on the line?”

“Yes, I didn’t want to frighten Stephanie with a telephone ring.”

“Goodo, ta.  If you wouldn’t mind asking Dino to swing by this afternoon when he gets a chance, that’ll be good enough.”  Terry reckoned Dino being there might brighten Stephanie’s afternoon, he was good at making her laugh.

“I’ll do that.  Lunch will be here in a little while if you want to wake her up.  She needs to eat.” Estella answered.

“Yes, ma’am,” Terry replied with a wink and Estella smiled, leaving the door open this time when she left.

Terry saw by the clock that he and Steph had taken a good long nap, over two hours, which surprised him.  He gently rubbed her cheek and kissed the top of her head every now and then until her eyes fluttered open.

“There’s my sweet sheila.  How are you feelin’, luv?”

Stephanie looked around, clearly disoriented, then finally turned to Terry.  “Sc-sc-sc-scared,” she whispered softly.

“Oh, Babygirl, don’t be.”  Terry held her close and felt her arms wrap around his neck and knew she was crying again from how her body trembled against his.  “It’s gonna get better, luv.  It’s just bad right now, but it’s never gonna be like that again, Stephanie.  You believe me, don’t you?”  Stephanie didn’t respond for the longest time and Terry was almost afraid she didn’t believe him, then at last he felt the little nod.  “There’s my good sheila.  You have to keep telling yourself that, right?  You have to just remember, I’m gonna protect you from it all.  And so’s Dino.  Right?”

Again, the long wait and finally a small nod.  Terry sighed.  It was going to take a long time to get her there now she’d started remembering.

Lunch arrived a little while later.  Terry got the bed into a sitting position, turning Steph so she was sitting next to him on the bed.  He kept his arm around her, leaving her to explore their lunches.  Despite Terry’s urging, she only ate a very little, still looking immeasurably pale and small next to him.

Dino blew into the room like a breath of fresh air.  “There she is, Her Royal Stephness, Princess Stephanie!”  Terry breathed a sigh of relief, Stephanie looked up at Dino shyly, a ghost of a smile passing over face.  “Aw, is that all I get?  Well, then I have to steal your jello.”  Snagging the cup off Steph’s tray, Dino sat in the chair and proceeded to obliterate Steph’s cherry jello.

Terry was chuckling and sneaking looks to Steph who was sitting staring wide-eyed at Dino.  Well, she doesn’t look as scared anymore, he thought.  Dino gave him a wink that spoke volumes of how much Terry owed him.  Terry laughed, not caring.

“Okay, what else ya got, missy?  I’m still hungry.”  Dino pawed around Steph’s tray and snagged her apple but when he grabbed her bagel too, Steph’s hand stopped his.  “Oh-ho, not the bagel, huh?  Like those do you?”

Steph nodded and pulled a bit of it off, tucking it into her mouth and the tension seemed to ooze out of the room like an unwanted guest who’s finally figured out it’s time to leave.

Lunch passed quickly then, between the three of them they managed to clear both trays.  Then Dino grabbed the presents he’d brought earlier and gave them to Steph to open.  He’d gotten her a double-deck card set that could play everything from cribbage to poker and a backgammon set that could double for Yahtzee.

“Bloody brilliant,” Terry said quietly.

“At last, my genius is recognized.”

“I didn’t say that, mate.” Terry groused, good-naturedly.

“I believe you did though, au contraire.  ‘Bloody brilliant,’ that’s Australian for ‘fucking genius’.”

“You’re still a bastard.”

“Well… yeah!” Dino laughed, Terry joined him and they both turned to Steph when a soft little giggle came from under Terry’s arm.  Terry’s look of gratitude was met with a no-snark grin from Dino.  “We’re a team, pal o’ mine,” Dino said quietly.

“Too right,” Terry agreed.

Dino laid out the cards for a game of gin.  Terry looked at his charge and felt his heart pounding again, this time with joy.

Stephanie was smiling again.

Chapter Seven