"Isabelle? Isabelle? It's me, Ian. Can you hear me?" Ian kept up a stream of constant reassurances, and slowly Isabelle's cries and sobs quieted and her shivering decreased. He couldn't tell if she could hear him, but he kept speaking to her. After long moments, her arms lowered from her head and her frightened blue eyes met his.
"Isabelle, do you know who I am?" he asked her. He was lying on the floor next to her now.
She nodded.
"You had a bad dream. It was just a dream Isabelle, you are safe now."
Ever so slowly, she dragged herself into sitting position, cringing as far away from him as possible, her back against the small night table next to the bed.
He sat upright and she jumped, trying to get even further away from him even though there was nowhere else to go.
"Can I get you anything Isabelle? Maybe something to drink?" He asked.
She nodded again and Ian slowly picked himself up off the floor and went to the kitchen.
Isabelle watched him go. Her heart was slowing from its frantic pace and she tried to reorient herself. She was safe she told herself over and over as she shakily pulled herself up to a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Every part of her ached and she shivered as the sweat dried on her skin.
Ian reentered the room carrying a glass of juice. She was shaking so badly that she used both hands to take the glass and swallowed the juice in small sips.
"Are you okay?" Ian asked softly.
Isabelle wouldn't meet his eyes and shook her head infinitesimally. She took a few more sips of her juice and set the glass on the nightstand. She slid back into bed and curled up, wrapping her arms around herself.
Ian sat in the armchair not far from the bed. He was totally at a loss as to how to help her. Isabelle was wide-awake, curled up in fetal position under the covers and staring off into space. Eventually she slept and Ian felt himself slip into a light doze
@@@@
Ian awoke to an aching neck. He straightened himself in the chair and suppressed a groan at the twinges in his back. Hearing whimpers he looked over at Isabelle and was unsurprised to see her thrashing in the grips of a bad dream. He had been awakened at least three times that night to screams. He sighed, he was tired, and he was seriously thinking of taking Isabelle to the nearest hospital whether or not she was ready to travel. The only problem with that, were the very awkward questions that might be asked; that and the fact that he felt guilty at the thought of leaving her with strangers. Cullen had done this to her, and as much as he felt completely out of his depth, he felt forced to take responsibility.
Her whimpering ceased and she quieted.
Rising quietly he stripped and treated himself to a long hot shower, trying to soak out the tension in his shoulders.
@@@@
Isabelle woke two mornings later to the sight of Ian stretched out on the other side of the bed, on top of the covers, sound asleep. He must have waited until she was asleep to come into the bed, as she had no recollection of it. She studied him in the early dawn light. Relaxed in sleep and breathing softly he was very attractive, she admitted to herself. He had been the epitome of patience and caring with her and her comfort level had increased slowly but surely over the last few days. This was despite that indefinable aura around him that said he was the same kind of creature that his brother had been.
Her mind drifted to the men she had met in college during the last few years. They couldn't compare to Ian in any way. Ian exuded masculinity, strength of a kind she had never seen before, combined with absolute gentleness. She had met men that knew they were attractive and used it like a newfound art form to pick-up women. But, she had never met a man that seemed so confident in himself, and so comfortable with himself at the same time.
She felt her eyes growing heavy. She listened to Ian's deep, even breathing. Slipping back into the curious place in between waking and sleeping, she let the remembered feel of being held, close and safe to Ian's chest, wash over her. It had been so long since she had been held, cared about. She let the feeling envelope her and slipped into a sleep with no nightmares.
