Resolution (Heart of Stone) (23 page)

He sucked in
his lips and gave me a concerned expression but then nodded and stood up. “You
heard her guys” he declared and they all trotted off towards the garage,
pulling the cars onto the drive and clearing out any other equipment that had
been stored there and following my instructions for the setup of Mason’s home
for the next several weeks.

Courtney had
been regarding me silently for the last thirty minutes and I eventually sighed
and looked at her. “Please don’t say it Courtney. I love him and I’d do
anything for him, even go through cold turkey with him.”

She
swallowed harshly but then nodded and took my hand. “You want me to take the
peanuts for a few weeks?” she asked and it was this simple gesture that brought
the tears freefalling.

She crouched
in front of me and I leant into her, crying into the top of her head. “I love
you, babe” she whispered, “And I’m so proud of you.”

I palmed her
face and kissed her forehead. “And I’m the luckiest person in the world for
having you for my best friend” I told her as her own tears slipped free.

“You can do
this, babe” she declared resolutely and I nodded but I knew without a doubt it
was going to be the toughest few months of my life.

I picked up
my phone, took a deep breath and rang Sam.

“Ava God
damn it” he shouted again, banging on the garage door frantically and I groaned
and rolled my head around my neck. It had been 12 hours since Mason woke and he
was starting to withdraw now.

 I hadn’t
been in to see him yet but I could see through the monitor the boys had
connected in the utility that he was now getting irate and he was rubbing the
muscles in his arms and legs, wincing in pain.

His legs
were jerking involuntary and he was sneezing uncontrollably. The expressions on
his face revealed that his mind was going crazy and he hadn’t stopped banging
and shouting for attention for the last twelve hours.

“Are you
sure about this Ava?” Elijah asked, his face contorted with worry but I smiled
and nodded.

“Whatever
happens do
not
open the door until I give you my signal. Whether he’s
angry or hurts me, until I know I can’t handle him then I’ll let you know” I
said as I watched Mason retreat to the other side of the room and I knew I had
to open the door before he returned to it.

I nodded and
Elijah unlocked the door, then I stepped inside quickly while he locked it
behind me.

Mason spun
round and was on me within five long strides, his hands gripping the tops of my
arms harshly as he pinned me against the wall. “What the fuck are you doing,
Ava?” he hissed at me.

“Let me go,
Mason” I said calmly but he curled his lip at me.

“You think
this is going to help,, Ava?” he asked nastily “You think I need cold turkey.
I’m not addicted to fucking coke” he shouted in my face, his spit and hot
breath hitting me in the face.

“No, but you
are addicted to heroin” I exposed and he froze, “Yeah I found your stash,
Mason.”

The emotions
flying over his face went from horror to guilt to anger and then realisation
dawned on his beautiful face. “What have you done with it?” he asked slowly,
the lump in his throat bobbing hastily as he winced in pain and rubbed his foot
over the back of his legs.

I could tell
he wanted to let me go and rub the rest of his muscles but I was worth more
than the pain to him at the moment.

His nose
exploded in a rapid fire of sneezes, one after another in quick succession but
he didn’t bother to turn his face and I closed my eyes against the onslaught.

“Why don’t
we get you in the shower, Mason?  It’ll help the aches” I offered blandly.

He screwed
up his face in disbelief. “Jesus Ava, I’m not your little project” he spat.

“I have
water in my pocket. You want some?” I asked, figuring the way forward was not
to bite to his insults.

His grip
intensified and I had to hold back the grimace at the pain, not wanting to show
weakness “Ava, just let me out of here, baby. Honestly, I’m not addicted. You
don’t need to do this.” He flinched and I could see the pain he was in
reflected in his many different expressions.

He was starting
to tremble and I noticed his nose was streaming. “Mason let’s get some water
down you then take a shower” I persisted.

“I DON’T
NEED A FUCKING NURSE. I NEED TO FUCKING SCORE!!!” he yelled at me and I blinked
against the closeness of his face.

He pushed me
back against the wall but dropped his hold on me and bent down immediately
rubbing his arms in pain. “Fuck!” he hissed under his breath.

“Baby, a
shower will help” I suggested and he spun round again backing me back up
against the wall but not touching me.

“Don’t
fucking
Baby
me you bitch” he spat and I swallowed the insult back,
knowing it was going to get worse than this. I expected lots of abuse, cruelty,
swearing and violence to come very soon.

I pushed off
the wall and slipped from under his huge frame, took the water from my pocket
and placed it on the floor beside me before I walked over to the shower room, switching
it on and turning it to warm.

Stripping
naked I stepped in, holding myself against the tiles and prepared for the wait
knowing he wouldn’t want to yield. I held myself under the spray and tried to
calm my frayed nerves, closing my eyes and dragging up some much needed
courage.

This was
going to be a gruelling next few days.

I had first
cancelled my lunch with Gary and his parents then I had phoned Nate and told
him what was happening and he had given me the week off, saying Liv would cover
for me and he offered to take some shifts with Mason when it got too much.

Everybody
had been great and we had worked out a rota for the next two weeks, each person
doing different jobs and chores, from simple things like shopping for me to
spending some time with Mason during different difficult periods of his
withdrawal but I wanted to spend the first five days with him, knowing they
would be the worst. I chose to do this for him.

My infinite unconditional
love for him would be what got me through this and I was determined to do it
for him, as painful as I knew it would be for both of us.

I held my
breath as I saw him enter the bathroom and he stood watching me, his eyes
narrow and black before he stepped into the shower fully clothed. I gazed at
him, not letting my eyes leave his, not wanting to show any signs of weakness.

He pushed me
up against the cold tiles and I still didn’t leave his eyes. “You want fucking?
Is that what this is about? Huh?” he sneered and I didn’t reply, not actually
sure what he wanted.

He unzipped
his jeans and grabbed my hand, placing it over his hard cock. “Is this what you
want Ava, my cock in your fucking pussy?” I still held his eyes, knowing where
this was heading and I braced myself for the onslaught, willing to do whatever
it took to take the pressure off for him.

“Answer me
damn it” he yelled as he pushed into me, his heavy length now slipped between my
thighs. “You want it? You always want it don’t you” he laughed and I took a
calm breath as he gripped my thigh, lifted my leg and speared me in a single
thrust.

He groaned
loudly and I knew Elijah would be watching us through the monitor but I also
knew I needed to let this happen. “Is that better?” he hissed as his hand
gripped my hair and pulled my head backwards so he could latch on to my neck
and I cringed at the pain, hoping he wouldn’t rip the stitches out.

He pulled
out and slammed back in “You”
slam
“Want”
slam
“It”
slam
“Hard”
slam
“Ava?”
slam.

His grip in
my hair became harsher but I closed my eyes and breathed through it as his
thrusting sped up and he suddenly cried out in release as he buried his face
gently in the crook of my neck, panting hard.

He remained
in that position for a while, silent and still, his breaths heavy and laboured.
“It hurts, baby” he whispered and I placed my hands gently in his hair.

“I know
baby, but you can do this” I encouraged.

He shook his
head, still buried against me. “I can’t. It’s too fucking painful. Just let me
have one more hit then I can do this” he begged.

Ignoring his
request I grabbed his t-shirt, lifting it over his head and then pulled his
jeans down, tapping his ankle for him to release his foot. I threw them out of
the shower, sat on the tiled floor and opened my arms to him.

He frowned
at me for a while but I remained sat with open arms. He groaned in pain, his
body rocking against the agony and then he dropped into my arms. “God damn it
Ava, help me” he groaned and I rubbed my hands up and down his arms as I held
him tight.

“The pain
will stop soon baby, I promise” I whispered into his hair as he started
writhing in my lap.

A string of
sneezes exploded from him as he rocked against me and we eventually got a
rhythm he could concentrate on, swaying backwards and forwards together to try
and manage the pain as he moaned and groaned for the next four hours, at one
point screaming in agony as we remained under the warm steady stream of the
shower and I cried with him when he couldn’t take the suffering, knowing I
would be covered in bruises tomorrow where he had gripped me as another spasm
overtook him.

“Shush baby”
I whispered repeatedly.

“Fuck Ava”
he cried out as another onslaught approached.

“I’ve got
you” I told him as I started rubbing his legs thoroughly and harshly helping
him overcome the next seizure of torture.

“JESUS!” he
screamed out and I grabbed him pulling him further into me.

“Breathe
baby, breathe through it” I encouraged and I winced as he gripped one of my
thighs to ride the pain.

I grit my
teeth, wondering if he was going to crush my bones and breathed with him to
survive the next episode. He cried out and writhed wildly in my arms as Greg
approached the shower room. “You need me?” he asked and I shook my head at him.

Mason clung
on to me tighter and yelled at Greg, “NO! Get the fuck out.”

Greg took a
deep breath but nodded and passed me a bottle of water and I smiled gratefully
at him thinking it was a good job I wasn’t embarrassed by my nudity, Greg
having seen me naked and trussed up before. “Just signal if you change your
mind” he told me as he stroked my hair and then left.

We
eventually got through the next six hours of torture, still clung to each other
in the warm torrent of the shower until Mason eventually fell asleep in
exhaustion.

Greg came
back in with a sandwich for me and one wrapped up for Mason when he woke and
helped me lift him over to the mattress where I slipped in behind him and
pulled the blankets over us, needing to grab a much need couple of hours sleep,
hoping we were now over the worst part… how wrong I was!!

I woke a
little while later and the first thing I noticed was that Mason wasn’t anywhere
in sight.

I bolted upright;
scanning the garage frenziedly for him as I pulled on my joggers and t-shirt
Greg had brought in for me earlier.

“Mason?” I
shouted and I heard a small groan from inside the bathroom.

I timidly
approached, nervously wondering how I was going to find him. I gulped back a
groan as I saw him.

He was sat
on the toilet, head in the bucket, naked and sweating profusely as he heaved
violently from both bodily exits. “Oh baby” I breathed as I slid in.

He looked up
at me in horror and shook his head. “Get the fuck out!” he demanded harshly but
I found a facecloth and drenching it in cold water I squatted in front of him
and wiped his face tenderly.

“Ava,
please” he begged “I don’t want you in here with me.” He looked at me over the
bucket and I knew it was his pride and shame that wanted me out not because he
hated me at that moment.

Running my fingers
through his hair gently I bent down to kiss him and went and sat just outside
the door and this is how we remained for the next eight hours; me talking to
him, telling him stories from my childhood, escapades Katie and I found
ourselves in regularly and sharing happy memories of my parents.

 My eyebrows
rose as I heard the toilet flush again. “Okay” he whispered and I clambered off
the floor and switched on the shower, helping him in and onto the floor to sit
under the gentle flow of the refreshing warmth.

He held his
hand out to me and I stripped and joined him on the floor as he curled up and
rested his head in my lap as I gently shampooed his hair and washed his poor
exhausted body.

“I love you
so much, baby” I whispered into his hair, “And when this is all over, you’re
going to marry me and make damn sure you make me happy” I informed him.

His face
tilted back and his eyes met mine. “You still want to marry me after listening
to that onslaught of bodily explosions?” he said seriously and I smiled.

“Baby, I’m
sure there’ll be worse than that in a lifetime of marriage, how many times have
I thrown up with you holding my hair back and looking after me? Tons! I want to
set a date the first day you get out of this damn garage clean and better.”

He looked at
me with a small frown on his face. “You mean that, Ava?” he asked with the
first twinkle in his eyes I had seen for a long time.

I nodded
firmly, “God Yes, it’s about time we did this” I told him, smiling tenderly at
him.

He smiled
and cupped my face and shivered. “You want the temperature warming up?” He
shook his head and groaned as he skidded off the shower floor and made another
dash for the toilet.

I pulled my
knees up, hugging them tightly as I listened to his next round of gruelling
torment. “You want me to leave?” I asked and he mumbled a yes.

I stood,
wrapped a towel around him and then took myself, a towel and clothes into the
open garage.