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Well, not before that anyway. Since ... since I've been scared almost all the time.” She let her blurred gaze rest on his concerned face. “Until today."
    He patted her wadded-up hands. “Is there more?"
    Abby nodded then described the shock, using vague, emotionless language. It helped keep her distanced emotionally, as if the horrors had happened to someone else rather than herself. How every moment she'd wished it was just a bad dream and she would soon wake up to discover she was home in her nice, soft bed in Seattle.
    Of course, the brutal reality of the situation slammed into her like a freight car each time she woke.
    Her pain pulsed like a solid entity around them. Eric was tempted to stop her. Larry had warned against upsetting her, after all, but wouldn't it be better for her to purge the memories from her system? So he waited. And he listened to the painful account while her tears flowed down her face, wetting the white hospital gown.
    She told of Seyed Hossein, the man to whom she was a gift, and the night he came to her. She told not only of the repeated rapes—that made his blood boil through his veins—but she also related the beatings. Then the mixed relief to discover she was pregnant. It was to be a reprieve from his touch. But the fear was always there as she remained a prisoner in one richly furnished room. “A doctor came to see me often, but I saw no one else except a small boy who brought my meals. If he spoke to me, he was beaten. I was afraid for him, so after a while I discouraged communication."
    "I'll never forget the night I escaped. Seyed came to my room and said he was taking me out. I scarcely allowed myself to hope for any chance to be free from him. I found it hard to stay calm, but somehow I did. I remember putting on the abayah and veil I was given, making sure I did everything right."
    Closing her eyes, she took in several long breaths, then recounted the details of the ensuing trip to the marina, where they boarded a boat.
    "At the time I wondered where we were. It was so dark outside, I couldn't recognize anything. There was another man with Seyed, a stranger to me. He was the one that drove us to the sailboat."
    Eric smoothed back her hair. “Did you see the name of the boat?"
    She knit her eyebrows together, trying with some effort to search her memory. After a moment, she shook her head, slowly and deliberately. “I saw it on the bow, but it was dark and ... oh, I'm sorry, I just can't remember. It happened fast and Seyed took me below as soon as I stepped onboard. He sat me on a narrow bunk and told me to stay there, that I was not to come up unless he came for me.” Abby looked up at Eric as he offered her a tender smile of support.
    "That's okay. Go on."
    "I tried to make out what they were saying, to maybe hear where they were taking me, but I don't speak Arabic. Well, I picked up a few simple words, like food and bathroom.” She threw him a red-faced grin. “I couldn't understand what they were saying. They sounded so angry. I think they were arguing about something. It went quiet for a few seconds and then I heard the small engine on the sailboat start up, and we began to move."
    Abby reached behind herself with both hands, and massaged her fingers into a spot at the base of her spine. Eric reached over, and rubbed the taut muscles. “How does that feel?” he whispered, then adjusted the pillows higher to help relieve some of the pressure on her back.
    The tension drained from her body, visible in an overall relaxation. “Oh, that feels so much better."
    She offered him a shy smile of thanks, right before a painful shadow cast more darkness upon her. She continued to recount the details of her ordeal. “I don't know how long I was down there. I must have fallen asleep. But I remember him shaking me awake, telling me to come up on deck. I followed him up, having to hold his hand so I wouldn't stumble in the darkness. There were only a handful of stars in the sky