Tough Love

Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

Chapter One Hundred Fifteen

Eli's P.O.V.

I let out a deep sigh as Dani jogs out of the living room. There's no point calling her and she'll only panic even more if I run after her. She needs to take a breath before I go looking for her. I know today has been hard for her but I thought she was doing great. We managed to almost get through the whole day before she had a panic attack.

Arrow voices what everyone else is probably thinking, "What. Was. That?"

Ash answers, "Panic attack. Was that my fault?"

I don't want to make Ash feel bad by confirming that, so I shrug, "I think today has been stressful for her. I should go talk to her..."

Ash shakes his head, "Let me go smooth things over. I'm pretty sure I caused that so I need to apologize."

That probably won't go very well, but I can't really say that in front of everyone. Instead, I say, "I'll go with you. I want to make sure she's ok."

We see Dani sitting in the garden. She's staring at the ground but I know she's crying because I see her wipe her eyes. I hate to see her like this. I hate that she gets so upset and embarrassed by her attacks. I hate that she thinks we're going to judge her for freaking out. Our family and friends may not know the full extent of her history, but they do know bad things happened to her. They all know about her memory now, so they should understand she can't just forget things. No one is going to judge her for randomly remembering something and getting scared. I wish Dani would be able to see and understand that.

Before Ash steps away from me, I grab his elbow and say, "Tread carefully, man. She might not be ok with you going after her."

"I'll get you if I need to. Don't worry."

I shrug, "I can't help it."

He smiles sadly at me, "I get that. I'll be careful."

I nod and watch him walk into the garden. He approaches Dani cautiously, calling her before he actually makes it to her. I stay where I am, so I can watch and hear how things are going. I know I should probably give Ash some privacy to talk to Dani, but I want to know she's ok with this and the only way to be sure is to see for myself.

Ash's P.O.V.

I carefully walk toward Dani and say, "Hey darlin'. Do you mind if I sit?"

She jumps at the sound of my voice, but doesn't answer. Instead, she apologizes. "I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to do that. I am so sorry."

I try to make my voice small and soft, "Hey, hey. You don't need to apologize. If anyone should be saying sorry, it's me. I should never have said anything about your memory and I certainly shouldn't have let Arrow push you into that..."