Enzo (Jinx Tattoos 1)

His eyes popped open, but she wasn’t sure he was

seeing her. He stared at a point in the distance she couldn’t see.

“Enzo?”

His head jerked to the side, and he stared through her.

“Enzo, it’s okay, you’re here with me.”

He stumbled from the bed, backing away like a feral child afraid of humans.

Her heart wrenched. Is this what he goes through alone? Unsure what to do, she remained still.

Enzo glanced to the left and right, locked in a nightmare that only he could see. He moved to the corner where he crouched down and wrapped his arms around his knees.

Her stomach twisted. “Enz?”

He buried his head in his arms, refusing to respond.

She licked her dry lips. Do I let him play this out? She’d heard of flashbacks but never witnessed one first hand.

His body shook, and broken sobs left his throat.

Tears gathered in her eyes and spilled over. Soon, she was sobbing with him.

After what felt like an eternity, he seemed to become lucid. “Aibhlinn?”

“Enzo?” she asked cautiously.

“Yes.”

“What am I doing over here?”

“You had some sort of flashback I think.”

The color drained from his face. He got to his feet, swaying slightly as he rushed to her bathroom.

The sound of retching ripped at her heart. He was a proud man. If she went to him on her own terms, he would push her away. So, she waited on the bed, anxious to see how he would respond. She’d never seen him so vulnerable before. Suddenly, his reluctance to get involved made more sense. It would be impossible to have a woman stay overnight when you might have a flashback or nightmare. Did I cause this? As the minutes crept by, her discomfort and concern grew. She’d never listened when Enzo tried to block her out, why would she now? Slipping from the bed, she grabbed his T-shirt from the floor, pulled it on, and carefully walked to the bathroom. “Enz?” she called, tapping the door lightly.

“Oh, God, please go away,” he snapped.

“Never going to happen, babe. We both know I’m even more stubborn than you when I need to be. What happened?”

“Flashback. They happen sometimes. I can’t even tell you what I was remembering, and that’s probably a good thing.”

She winced. “Can I do anything?”

“Only if you can forget this happened. I haven’t had one in a long, long time, Aibhlinn.”

Until now. The words hung in the air between them. She bowed her head. How could she ask him to keep doing this? “What do you want me to do?”

“Give me a minute, let me take a shower, get dressed, and see if I can shake this, okay?”

She nodded her head, backing away from him. “I’m going to work on breakfast.”

Her head spun as she walked out to the kitchen. He was worse off than she’d ever imagined. The joy she’d felt drained away and became replaced with dread. They were a ticking time bomb, ’til he resolved the problems of his past that continued to haunt him.

When he walked out, she glanced up from the plate of hash browns she was setting onto plates.