Chapter 56: Nightmare

Denise remained silent as they arrived at Mike's islands. She started to get frustrated, thinking about Mike since he wasn't here after all this time, but she pushed those thoughts away.

"Oh, Denise, I missed you so much; we were so worried for you, but it really strike Mike tough; I've never seen him like this. He was so worried about you," Samantha said as they entered the mansion.

Samantha then glanced at her before pulling her away putting her aside "Denise, what about the baby? Is it still there?" she inquired, concerned.

Denise simply shook her head casually. She didn't mean to be harsh at her; she just wanted to be happy, even she was scared and frustrated, but she couldn't. She can't set aside her baby's condition.

Claire tortured her by beating it all out of her. She sighed and walked to the corridor, pushing the thought of what Claire did to her. She was on her way to the guest bedroom, not theirs when she heard the water nozzle.

Denise was about to leave when she heard it come to a halt and the door open.

She was more surprised than disappointed to see another blonde girl come out to the bathroom. She made a disgusted face as she examined Denise from head to toe.

"F*ck, you look like sh*t. I guess it's a good thing Mike hasn't returned yet because I doubt he doesn't like to see you like this," the blonde girl said. Denise walked out of the room, flipping her off.

She knew she needed to see a doctor as soon as possible. Something didn't feel right inside her especially the baby on her stomach since she hadn't eaten in days and was feeling dizzy.

She then came across Ronnie, who began walking towards her with a disoriented expression on his face.

She had no idea why until she noticed her world was rotating and then she fell hard.

She was thankful that Ronnie was able to grab her before she collapse to the ground, Ronnie was saying something but all she heard was her heart rate, slowing and slowing until her eyes couldn't stay open any longer.

~

Denise opened her eye to find herself in a completely dark place. "Where am I? Did I die?" she wondered as she looked around, but there was nothing. Then, out of nowhere, a red door appeared.

She started walking over to it, left wondering what forced her to do so, and reached out to touch the doorknob and stepped inside as she felt something heavy to her heart.

"OK, what the hell is going on?" She walked again, her eyes widened when she saw herself, weeping and holding herself as she sobbed.

Denise wrapped her arms around herself and watched herself breakdown against her. "She tortured me!" she cried out again and again.

She then turned around to see Mike and the blonde girl she had just met earlier on what appeared to be a date.

They were hooking up and smiling at each other. He kissed her lips before moving his attention to her stomach, which made her confused.

"She's pregnant? What about me? H-how did he do this to me?" she wondered, stunned.

Denise's clone began to move away from her. "Mike put you through hell, and what did he do!? runoff into the arms of another woman?"

She returned her absurd stare. "What-what are you saying?" she was perplexed.

"Where was he? Huh? Where was he while you were being beaten and tortured because you loved him? Claire kidnapped you because of him!"

She had a valid point. Claire admitted it was all because of that man.

"Don't listen to her, Denise! Don't you dare! You know I love you with all my heart!" exclaimed a deeper voice.

Denise turned to face Mike. He was running towards her, and her feet unthinkingly began to move towards him as well, but they never met. They couldn't as if something was impeding them.

"Please, sweetie, I've never given up on you; please, let me explain. Denise, I love you."

She wished she could respond. She tried, but she couldn't get anything out of her mouth.

When she turned around, she saw her clone dragging herself away from him.

"No... no, I don't want to leave him, I love him!" she says.

Denise screamed and reached for him. She felt his hand wrap around her arm, and before she knew it, her reflection and Mike were in a tug of war, with Denise as the string.

"Listen to me, Denise; if you stay with him, he'll break your heart, and Claire will going to kill you this time," her clone said, pulling Denise even harder.

"No, don't you dare listen to a word she says, I love you, I will die without you, please Denise, don't do this to me," he pleaded.

Denise was at a loss for words and couldn't think of anything. As they ripped her in half, all she could feel was excruciating pain.

She sat up, perspire soaking her body and her head pounding, and let out a scream.

All she wanted was for the pain to stop. "Stop!! please I don't want to hear it anymore!! just stop please..."

Denise then felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her. Her teary eyes opened to meet the intimidating pair of eyes she'd grown to love. She felt pain at that point. She was in so much pain that she just wanted to die.

As she looked at him, tears welled up in her eyes. Mike drew her close to him, whispering something to her that she couldn't hear.

Denise eventually stopped crying and just held onto him. She didn't think she could ever leave him again. She loves Mike that much.

"Sweetie, are you all right? You had a nightmare; do you want to talk to me about... what you went through?" Mike inquired, concerned. She opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was nowhere to be found. Instead, she shook her head vigorously, tears welling up in her eyes.

He had a strange expression on his face as he looked down at her. "Did that slut do something terrible to you?" Mike asked, as she nodded her head and looked away, embarrassed. "F*ck that b*tch, I'm going to kill her," he raged. Mike wanted to know everything that had happened. He sighed and threw her on top of him, straddling him. With his hands, he rubbed her back from head to her arms.

"I don't mind if you don't want to talk to me about it, Denise," Mike said as Denise looked into his eyes before quickly looking away, shaking her head, and covering her face in his chest.

"Do you want to see a psychologist?" Mike asked as he sighed and drew her closer. She nodded and looked down at her hands. It was then that she noticed they were bandaged. When she examined herself more closely, she discovered that most of her body was covered in gauze or bandages.

"Ronnie found you, carried you here, and by the time I arrived, the doctors told me you'd gone into a coma. It's been four weeks since you fell unconscious. I was so scared that I lost you, Denise, the both of you," he said as he stroked her stomach. "I tried to find you, I swear and by the time we figured out where Claire took you, you were always relocated," Mike explained, his voice breaking slightly.

Mike was dressed in only his suit pants and a dress shirt with the first few buttons undone, revealing his sculpted, inked chest and sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

While he touched circles on her thighs, she began tracing some of his tats. They sat in silence, simply enjoying each other's company.

Denise abruptly looked up, causing her head to collide with Mike's jaw.

"I love you," he rubbed his cheek. She moved his hands away from his face and stroked his chin with her own. He looked down at her after she tried to tap the side of his face.

"Are you sure our baby is safe? I— " Her throat closed up, and she couldn't finish her sentence.

"Yes, sweetie, the babies are safe. We had a twin, sweetie, and I'm so thankful that the three of you are safe. You protected them," he told her, cupping her stomach, and she felt relief wash over her.

"You've saved their lives; whatever they did to you in that place, you've protected the stomach from getting hurt as badly as the other parts of your body, even though they're malnourished at that moment, but they're fine," Mike explained as he leaned his brow against hers.

"I'm so relieved that my family is safe," he added.

"Me too," she replied as he leaned in and kissed her, but that only reminded her of seeing the blonde girl in their guest room and feeling jealous and scared, wondering if it was Mike's woman.

Denise pushed him off, which surprised him because of her reaction. Shen stood up, but pain shot through her arm and legs, causing her to fall.

Mike was quick to offer help, but he appeared conflicted. She noticed her legs were both cast and her arms at that point.

"Who is that blonde girl in our guest room?" she could tell when he realized.

"Well, if you'll let me explain when you were taken, I asked every ally to help me, and Andrea's husband had some connections, so I called in a favor. Although I'm still not sure why Andrea kept insisting on staying with us, according to Samantha Andrea and her husband quarrel, and maybe that's why she wants to stay with us for the time being."

She felt like an idiot once more. He snatched her into his arms and cradled her.

He wrapped the blanket around both of them and told Denise to sleep.

Denise finally fell asleep in the arms of her most loved after hours of watching him sleep and memorizing every detail she could.