I could see the worry in Lucas's eyes as he was watching us when his father pulled that hideous thing from the black box. I mean how are other people finding it even funny.

A fucking flogger.

The voice of laughter rose and claps were vibrating in the surroundings. Just for a minute, I turn my head to see my beautiful girlfriend.

Gosh, I am never gonna get tired of calling her that.

The best part was her reaction when she came to know I remember the day we kissed, of course, I would remember that lovely day.

I turn to see the seat next to mine empty. Where did she go and she didn't even tell me?

Lucas stood up from the table and came to me with a sweaty and panicked face.

"We have to find Sav now," he said and walked passed me.

Seriously I didn't get what he was trying to say to me but I felt like there is something that he was hiding from me.

"What is happening Lucas," I asked and Lucas just looked at me deciding whether to speak or not.

"It's not my place to tell you, but the only thing you need to know is we have to find Sav fast." I didn't further ask about it.

The hotel was in the middle of a jungle and there were lakes around, it was safe from animals but it's been quite a long time and we still couldn't find Savanah.

I was starting to get a little worried.

Lucas went back to his wedding because everyone was looking for him. Honestly, I don't know but today I felt a lot of things off in this family.

I noticed how her mother was not even meeting lovingly with her, her father who is a dick as usual and all her cousins not even coming to talk with her.

As I reached near a lake I heard someone crying and heavily breathing behind a tree. I went around the tree only to see Savanah.

She was on all her fours gasping for air, her tears were running down her face making her mascara smudge. She was trembling.

I took Savanah in my lap making her keep her head on my chest. "shhh, I am here now, stop breathing so fast you will pass out."

She kept murmuring inaudible sorry, "Leo my hands are not stopping." She said referring to her trembling hands.

Fuck she is having a panic attack.

"Count with me." She nodded.

"1......2.......3.......4............8.....

.....9....10 " we both counted to get her breathing was normal but she was still crying sobbing in my chest.

"What happened to you, why did you run away from there," I asked and Savanah just snuggle a little closer to me and gripped my coat a little tighter.

I know at this time she won't answer my question well she is not in a condition to be troubled again so I just removed my coat, wrapped it up on her and picked her up bridal style to take her to our room.

Reaching the room I directly took Savanah to the washroom to get her cleaned off all the mud on herself and the dress.

I made her sit on the toilet set and took a wet towel to wipe the mud off her arms, face and feet.

I left a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie for her in the washroom to wear as I made my way out of the room.

Someone knocked on the door, I went to open the door, it was Lucas he asked me about how Savanah is doing. I told him to send her mom so that she could comfort her more than me.

But he said that his mom can't come as she is busy with the arrangements with his dad. I mean what kind of mother would not come to help her daughter.

It's been 15 minutes and the washroom is still silent I knocked on it a couple of times but no response came.

I went inside the washroom to check on Savanah, she was still sitting the way I made her sit earlier tears were silently rolling out of her bloodshot eyes.

"Savanah you need to change, love," I said while sitting at her feet. And she just completely put all her weight on me.

I unzipped Savanah's dress from the back and pulled her straps down but kept my hand on her chest so the material doesn't fall.

I made sure to make eye contact with them and not to look here and there around her. I slipped the hoodie on her head and then took her feet one by one inside the sweatpants.

After all the dress up I took Savanah to the bed and huge her closely to my chest. I have never seen this look on her face, not even in the William scene but today she looked scared to death and I still don't know why is she feeling like this.

"Shh baby stop crying I am here for you." I soothed her while kissing her forehead. "Do you need anything for it," I said while referring to her panic attacks?

"I-i fo-forget my meds at home." She sniffled. Fuck she has a history of panic attacks. I still don't know what triggers this today, but I will do whatever in my power to protect her.

"Flogger" Savanah purred.

"What love?"

"That flogger that d-dad gif-gifted." She said and I just had to put two and two together to realise that Savanah was physically abused as a child.

That's the only reason, why she has a scar on her thigh and a scar on her back covered in tattoos that I noticed today.

The way his father pushed her to talk to me, fuck I should have broken his teeth at that particular moment.

I wanted to know why this happened to her, but this was not the right time to ask her about all this. I just tightly hugged her keeping my chin on her head.

The silence was killing me, I just wanted to go back there and beat the crap out of him at this very instance because of what happened to Savanah. But she needs me more at this time.

"He is not my dad." A small voice vibrated through my chest.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to okay!" Although I was dying to know what was happening, still I didn't want to force her.

"Let me." She said still not meeting her eyes with me.

"My mom was raped by a man from the opposition side when she won a case for a client, he sent someone for that."

"My dad was against keeping the baby but after I was born my mom decided she wanted me and I will always be grateful for her decision."

"From a very young age my dad never liked me, he used to first push me, then slap or punched me but as I was around 14 he started using belts, floggers and hunters sometimes."

"When I was 14 and Lucas was 18 my dad was a very drunk one day, and Lucas had got his first-semester exam result in which he failed 2 subjects."

"My dad called me with my 9th-grade report card I got A+ in every subject except in Spanish I got an A-."

"My dad went inside the storeroom and bought the flogger and told Lucas that the next time he will fail, he will get punished like this."

"He hit my back with the flogger so hard that the blood started to come out, luckily it was only the first hit and my mother's father my grandpa came and rescued me."

At this time my face was burning with anger, my fist was clenched and my eyes were moist. Jesus who could treat a 14-year-old girl like this. These types of people shouldn't deserve to live. They are monsters.

"What about your mother she never stopped him. Or was she also beaten by him," I asked to hope she has some sort of support in her childhood?

"No, my mom never stepped in between me and dad, but she helped me after that to soothe me, dad never hit her but he just verbally abuse her, I am grateful for her if she wanted she would have thrown me out but she didn't."

"I owe my life to her, I can ever take a bullet for her," Savanah said with so much adoration in her eyes for her mother and I am sad that her mother doesn't reciprocate in the same way for her.

"The scar on my thigh is also from the same flogger, if not used properly it can rip out your skin." She said nonchalantly like it didn't matter.

"I even went to therapy in college more like Jul made me go for it and it helped. The panic attack came after a long time I got such a vigorous one, and I am so sorry I made you worried."

I pulled Savanah from my chest and made her sit on my lap. She still didn't look at my face, with her face in my neck.

"Look at me, baby," I said in a low voice not to scare her anymore.

She looked at me with bloodshot eyes and hair sticking all over her face. I cleaned to get the hair out of her face with my hands.

"I am so sorry that terrible things happened to you in childhood when you were supposed to feel safe, and loved. And I am proud of you so much, you got put off it, you are the most kind-hearted person I have ever met, you are so compassionate, so compassionate that when Maya misbehaved with you and you called her bad words after getting drunk you stop drinking after that." I meant every word of it she is.

"People get so badly stuck in their childhood traumas that they became the ones who caused them the trauma."

"But you, you have risen above from that, and I am so lucky to have you in my arms as my best friend and finally my girlfriend." The last line finally made her giggle. I now realised how much I missed her smile for the last 2 hrs.

"You don't think I am weak and pathetic." She asked, how dare she think those words for herself.

"You are the strongest person I know," I said while making her lie on the bed gently.

I moved a little closer to her face to kiss her, and she reciprocated I could taste a little saltiness of the tears in them.

"Sleep love."

"Please don't be gone when I wake up." With those words, Savanah slipped into a deep slumber leaving me wide awake.

After some time I quietly moved out of the bed to call Jul to ask her about Savanah's medicine so I can order them for her just to be safe.

We still have one full day left to leave for Seattle and I don't want her to repeat the scene without proper medicines.

"Jul, what did Savanah take her medicine for her panic attacks," I asked her and the line went dead for a second.

"No..no it can't happen if she hurt did that bastard hurt her again," Jul asked with concern in her voice. She knows about it.

"No, she just saw the flogger," I told and assured her that she was stable now.

"Only 2 tablets of Xanax when she has the panic attack this vigorous." She strictly told me and I called the reception desk to get the medicine for her.

After I received her medicines I made my way toward my beautiful angel, I engulfed her in my arms and she snuggle close to me unconsciously she kissed my chest.

I am never gonna get you hurt anymore, you are never going on a have this panic attack ever again in your life. I will make sure that you never get a single teardrop into your eyes.

M