The Arranged Bride

Nick's POV

On feeling a lot of movement beside me, I blinked open my eyes. It has been three days since Sophia was discharged from the hospital. Since then I have become a light sleeper. I was trying to be alert in case she needed something in the middle of the night.

I looked at Sophia to see her squirming, her eyebrows furrowed. Leaning on my elbow, I roamed my eyes over her body to find the cause of discomfort. Her face was scrunched up in what seemed like pain. "Sophia, does anything hurt?" I asked only to get no response. Her squirming increased every passing second which was making me anxious. I couldn't wait for the pain to become unbearable and as I was about to get up to call the doctor, I heard her mumble something.

"No - please no.." My eyebrows creased in confusion. Was she asking to not call the doctor? But I didn't say it aloud. Then how-

My thoughts were cut off when she spoke again.

"No... it hurts. Stop... please stop." Hurts !? What hurts - My eyes widened in realization. She was having a nightmare. Shit!

I quickly moved closer to her and patted her cheeks to wake her up.

"

Sophia, baby." I called.

Sophia, wake up." She slapped away my hands and continued thrashing.

"Please don't." Her forehead was covered with sweat beads. I was honestly feeling helpless. I had never dealt with nightmares and seeing Sophia, the one I love, in such a condition was tearing my heart apart.

Sophia, you're dreaming. Wake up." I held her shoulders in place to restrict her movements. I desperately wanted to wake her up, to relieve her from the pain.

"No-"

Sophia, wake up. Look at me. Wake up." I raised my voice and shook her. She opened her eyes. Grasping, she sat up and immediately winced, what I suppose, was because of the pain in the ribs. She frantically looked around the room.

Sophia." I softly called placing my hand on her shoulder. Her head immediately snapped towards me and the very next moment she was hugging me like her life depended on it.

To prevent more damage to her ribs from that bending, I carefully pulled her to my lap. Bringing my hand around her waist I brought her trembling body close to mine.

Shh baby, you're fine. Don't cry. "I rubbed her back in circular motions to calm her down.

"N-ick....h-he was..... h-hitting..." She was choking on her sobs, keeping her face pressed in my chest.

"No baby, no one is going to hurt you again. I am here with you. Stop crying, you're safe.". Her heart-wrenching sobs were too unbearable for me but they seemed to never cease.

She was having nightmares of being abused. Listening to her howls, I wondered how agonizing her days were, in that hell hole.

Christina. My jaws clenched at the thought of that woman. All because of that bloody woman. Because of that psychopath, my wife was passing through this trauma.

Even though Sophia had said a thousand times that none of this was my fault, I couldn't help but feel guilty somewhere. That vanishing guilt was now resurfacing. I tried pushing it away but the sinking feeling in my heart was back.

I kept whispering comforting words in her ears while stroking her hair with another hand. After what seemed like an hour, her sobs died down but she kept holding onto me. I didn't move, considering this was the least I could do for her. Once her breaths evened, I gently placed her on the bed and kissed her forehead. Keeping a hand lighly around her waist, I lay down beside her.

'Sleep tight baby." I whispered before closing my eyes.

Sophia's POV

When I woke up, Nick wasn't beside me on his side. I strectched a bit and sat up carefully, not to hurt my ribs more than they do.

As I got up, last night's memory came flashing back.

I had a nightmare. I saw that I was in that dark room sprawled out on the floor. Blood was running down my nose while Christina kept kicking and hitting me. She was laughing maniacally at my excruciating sobs. Still not satisfied with her work, she had her men beat me up who kept me punching and kicking mercilessly. The more I begged, the more severe the beating was.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt a pair of warm hands cupping my cheeks. Looking up, my grey eyes met with Nick's warm brown ones. I realised that I was crying when his thumbs wiped away the tears.

"What happened? Why are you crying?" He looked at me with concern in his face. He was searching for signs of pain in my face.

"I don't know. I don't know why I am crying but....but everytime I remember my days there, I feel scared. What if- if she does something like this again? I'm behaving like a baby. I can't even control my emotions. This feeling..it's so...I feel so weak." I clenched my eyes shut. I hated feeling so... so weak, so vulnerable. Nick clasped my hands in his.

11

Open your eyes." I kept them close to avoid showing any more of my impuissant self to him. Although he had seen me in my most defenceless state, there was this hesitation in the back of my mind. "Sophia, look at me." Taking a deep breath, I looked at him. His piercing gaze was fixed intently on me yet nothing was discomforting about it.

"You're not weak and you're definitely not behaving like a baby. That was indeed a dreaded experience you had there and all this has been overwhelming which is not helping your emotions. It's okay to cry, to let out but that doesn't make you weak. So don't you dare call yourself weak. You're one strong woman, Sophia." The amount of sincerity in his voice had my heart melted into a puddle. The love I had for this man was increasing every day.

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. Almost immediately, he kissed back but it wasn't a deep, passionate kiss. It was a soft, gentle kiss through which I was holding up my vulnerable self to him and he was promising comfort, assurance and support, promising to protect the vulnerable me. Pulling apart, he tucked my hair behind my ears and stared deep into my eyes.

"We will get through this. Together." He was whispering but there was a strong determination in his voice to which I found myself nodding. "Together."