A Heart Healed

Chapter 10

Naomi

“Naomi, what’s wrong? Please tell me what happened.”

She quickly wiped her eyes dry with the sleeve of her coat with a sniff before she could finally look at him. He stood over her, obscuring the light above them which she was kind of grateful for, but she couldn’t say the words. Her voice just seemed to be caught by the lump in her throat caused by the conversations she had overheard throughout the course of the day.

How could people say things like that about her? All she had gotten was a promotion. It was supposed to be a day to celebrate and yet… Everything was just so sour because of people’s jealousy that someone from her background had gotten the chance to do this.

As if nothing she had worked for over the entirety of her internship and residence here mattered less than who she slept with on not, even a daily basis. It hurt more that people thought that she would sell herself to someone off just for a job like that.

“Naomi?” Marc’s voice called to her, pulling her back from her own intrusive thoughts before she felt a hand on her face. He was concerned about her. Could she actually tell him about what happened? It would likely cause him to go off at the hospital staff again, but they deserved it, didn’t they? This wasn’t the first day they had said these kinds of things; maybe the first that she had heard the full extent of it, but this didn’t just start today.

She was sure of it and even though she had been offered an out, she couldn’t think about leaving. Olivia. What would she say? She had even kept the news about the transfer quiet from her own best friend, not because of anything other than her own insecurities on whether she would get the job in the first place. It was for this reason why she hadn’t mentioned anything to Julian either. Even the thought of leaving him and Nate here make her heart clench in her chest as if there was a hand inside ready to rip it out.

The hand that would finally do it would be dealing with the man in front of her. She would have to leave. It was enough they only got to see one another so sparingly, if she left, would they be able to survive? Traveling would take so much time away from what little they already had, and Naomi couldn’t do that. Not to him or herself.

“Naomi, please. Look at me. You’re having a panic attack. You need to breathe.”

Her eyes focused on Marc’s frantic expression, staring into those grey eyes she always thought shined silver in the dark. She felt the warmth of his hands on her face. Did she always feel this cold? Naomi flexed her fingers. They felt like ice. Was this a panic attack?

She blinked before her senses slowly came back to her and noticed that Marc wasn’t the only one focused on her. There were other people staring at her from around the waiting room, all of them wondering what was going on with the doctor with tears on her face. They probably thought she had lost a patient or something like that.

You know, their version of valid reasons.

“Marc,” she breathed out slowly. “Get me out of here. I need to get out of here.” He just nodded, taking her hands and gently pulling her to her feet. She hid her face against him as he wrapped an arm around her trembling form as he led her out of the hospital, steering away any potential obstacles away with a menacing glare.

“Naomi!” She heard from behind them someone’s footsteps echoing through the halls after them. It was only when they got outside into the cool air that she saw it was Olivia, looking every bit as frantic as Marc did. “I heard what happened,” Olivia said once she caught up to them, trying to catch her breath. “Darnell told me what those bi*ches were saying. Don’t worry, I’ll take of everything here.” She looked up at Marc. “Take her home and calm her down. I’ll come by later.” She was about to turn back inside when she stopped herself. “Oh, right, this’ll be the first time we’ve actually met. I’m Olivia, Naomi’s best friend.”

“Marc,” was all he could say.

“We’ll have a proper conversation later. Get her out of here first.”

**********

Marc

Marc sat down next to Naomi on her sofa with a cup of tea in his hands as she laid against the arm of it, wrapped in the quilt she asked for that was buried in a box at the back of her closet. Unlike the normal brown and white tones that she had decorated the rest of the apartment with, the one she had him unearth was a light shade of blue that reminded him of a baby blanket.

“Naomi, here’s something for you,” Marc said, lifting a piece of the wool she had started to use as a protective hood from the light. Everything else was shut and/or off so there shouldn’t be anything to bother her. Other than the two of them, only her cat Iris was slinking about, and the feline just stopped in to stare at him with curiosity before disappearing somewhere. She seemed to be sleeping.

Well, it was better than earlier. He was completely lost on what to do when he got her back home. He’d never had to deal with someone having a panic attack other than himself, so the experience was something he never experienced before. Even his family members were the type to isolate themselves whenever something bothered them.

All he could do was carry her inside and set her down on the sofa before proceeding to fetch what she asked for. What should he do now then? He couldn’t just leave her alone. Not like this.

She probably wasn’t going to tell him what the problem was anytime soon either. Marc looked down at the mug of tea he had made for her before he let out a sigh. What was going on? If she had been like this the whole week, why didn’t she at least give him a sign that something was going on? Did she not trust him?

“Why couldn’t you just talk to me?” He sighed out loud as he put the mug on the coffee table quickly before leaning back against the back of the couch. It was probably a better idea to join her in some sleep. By the time she woke up, the two of them could talk over what happened in detail and what they could do about it. He didn’t want this to happen again.

He was just closing his eyes when he felt a shift on the couch as the awakening form of the girl next to him rolled over onto her back with a groan.

“Marc?” Naomi asked with a yawn, opening her eyes and slowly rearranging herself upwards as she rubbed the short amount of sleep she had gotten for her eyes. Her voice sounded grainy as if she had been yelling earlier or was it from the crying? He wasn’t sure, but neither option was something he really wanted to consider.

“I’m right here,” he said with a faint smile. “Are you feeling any better?”

She nodded, her eyes drooping slightly as she tried unsuccessfully to fight off another yawn. “I’m sorry. This was the last situation I wanted to put you through.” He shook his head, moving closer to her to touch a hand on her shoulder as if to test her reaction. When she didn’t do anything, he gently pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, her voice cracking a little on the end as she buried her face against his shoulder.