Full of Grace: Chapter 15
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by: Tina and Danielle
Rated: R (adult stuff, ya know?)
copyright: 1999
This part written by : Danielle
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I spent the night sitting up thinking about why I found it so difficult to stand up to her. She was like that nursery rhyme, "When she was good she was very very good and when she was bad...." Only instead of a little girl with a little curl right in the middle of her forehead, it was more like horns on either side of her head.

Morning took forever to come, I couldn't sleep because when ever I lay down, the springs from the metal frame of the bed would poke into my ribs. I cursed myself for even leaving the hospital. I could be warm and sedated right now if I hadn't been so stubborn as to sneak out of the hospital.

I heard the clang of the cell door opening and looked up to see an officer looking down at me, apology written all over his face, "Mr. Richardson?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

He shuffled his feet back and forth, "We owe you an apology, Sir."

I raised the other eyebrow, "I told you it was my house."

The officer nodded, "Officer Roberts also sends his apologies for forcing you to the ground like that, with your broken rib and all."

That surprised me. How in the hell did he know about that.

He crossed over to me and grabbed my arm, helping me up, "Your friend is waiting for you to bring you home."

I followed him to the main area, wondering who in the hell had come to get me out and straighten around this whole mess.

Nick looked down at me, his fingers still combing through my hair, "I still don't completely understand why you didn't walk away in the beginning. She's bad news Kev."

I rolled on my back, looking up at Nick, "I don't honestly know, but I do know what kept me there. At first it was the good times, when she was sweet and loving and so perfect that she could make me forget everything, but then when those good times got less and less, it was fear Nick. Even now I'm afraid of what she's going to do when she realizes that I'm gone. We can't hide here forever."

He sighed, "I know. Give me time, I'll figure something out."

I yawned, "The witness protection program is looking appealing."

He pushed my shoulders up until I was sitting and got up off the couch, pulling me up carefully, watching me grimace from he pain in my body. When I was all the way up, he smiled, "Let's get you to bed. We have an early day tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Why? What are we doing?"

He grinned, "We're going to seriously reduce the fish population of that lake out there. You and me."

I couldn't help but let the thought of it lift my spirits. Slowly, very slowly a smile spread over my face. It wasn't a big one, but it was a smile nonetheless.

Nick put a hand under my chin and looked at it in wonder, "Wow, it's been too long since I've seen that smile. It's not as big as I would like, but we can work on it."

The smile got a little bigger and he pulled me into his arms, hugging me, "Better."

I closed my eyes and sank against him. It seemed any more that the only place I felt safe was with him. I hugged him fiercely, whispering in his ear, "Thank God for you."

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