Abigail In Trouble Ch. 17: Recovery

RECOVERY

Abigail was taken to Cliff's place which he shared with his brothers. She was given a long hot bath while Cliff cleared his room and changed the sheets. He'd placed her overnight bag in his room and when she was ready to come out of the bath, he'd given her a couple of large towels and his own huge stripy dressing gown to use, slipped through the ajar bathroom door to maintain her privacy.

She quietly emerged a while later saying she felt better but whacked and he told her she could sleep in his bed: he would be using the "guest bed". Abigail was too tired to question this, and just managed to gulp down a glass of milk and wolf down a sandwich hastily made by Cliff, before retiring for the night.

She fished out her nightclothes from her bag and slipped them on in private before collapsing into his bed. Cliff came in shortly afterwards to tuck her in like a small child, giving her a tender kiss on her forehead, to which she was too exhausted to respond, before switching off the lights and leaving her alone to sleep.

He kept checking on her regularly, but in between these checks he took himself to the garage and inspected the "box" more carefully. He figured out how it all worked and even that the car battery someone has placed inside, was not the original power source. Cliff realised how completely and utterly helpless anyone installed properly in the box would be.

He was amazed at all the straps and belts, foam padding and locks, and the way the lid also had foam mouldings on the underside to press down onto the occupant. He was incredulous that Abigail had allowed herself to be strapped up tightly and shut up in the box, even if she thought it was only for a short time. Maybe she had been coerced or somehow forced into the box.

As he pondered what must have gone through her mind, all trapped in the dark, completely helpless, he felt a massive twinge of disappointed that it was not himself who had found her, instead of the gang.

Cliff wondered if Abigail would ever want to see the box again, let alone want to try it out herself another time. Cliff would of course make sure she would be completely safe, personally, 100% of the time. But he doubted she would want to have another go after her trauma today.

Later that evening, as it was getting dark, Cliff's brothers Stuart and Michael reappeared. First was Stuart having thanked all his work mates and disbanded the various volunteers.

"Cliff! Where are you?" he called out as soon as he was through the door carrying a several pizza boxes and other fast-food bags.

Cliff had just gone in to check that Abigail was OK, and, finding her sleeping soundly, was closing his bedroom door softly so as not to wake her.

"SSSShhhh Stu! Pipe down. Abigail's sleeping" he whispered loudly as he approached his brother, embracing him in a manly hug. "Listen thanks for all your help today in finding and freeing Abigail. We couldn't have done it without your crews and the muscle they brought."

"Hey, no problem Cliffy! If your girl's in trouble, of course we'll help. What are brothers for?" Stuart gave him a playful punch in the arm. Cliff didn't notice. "How is she doing? Is she gonna be OK?" he asked with concern.

Cliff glanced back to towards his room. "Yeah, she's doing OK so far. I think she's just exhausted and needs to sleep it off. But I'm worried that she's undergone a traumatic ordeal and she might wake up panicked or something. I want to be there when she wakes, in case she needs me." Cliff explained.

"Well she's a bit of a knockout, Bro! A real looker. I don't blame you for wanting to be 'by her bedside' when she wakes up" said Stuart, with a mischievous grin on his face. This time it was Cliff who punched Stuart in the arm playfully. Stuart reeled from the blow, but tried to hide it.

"That's the last thing that she'll need right now you idiot!" retorted Cliff. "She just needs to recover in her own time. And feel safe. She's alright staying here for a while isn't she?" Cliff was hoping Stuart wouldn't want to evict her in the morning.

"Yeah, no worries on that score Cliff. She can stay as long as she needs. I was only kidding" replied Stuart, rubbing his arm as he moved off to put the pizzas on the table.

"I know you were" said Cliff, moving to help his older brother with the food and drinks. The apartment layout was spacious and had an open kind of plan where the kitchen, dining and lounge areas were all one large open space, with the furniture dividing the room into sections.

A little later, as Stuart and Cliff were snacking on pizza, Michael came in, having taken a lot of the paperwork evidence gathered from the garage across to his own legal office downtown for safekeeping.

Cliff heard the key in the door and caught him as he came through it.

"Hey Michael, thanks for all your help today with Abigail" Cliff embraced his eldest brother, who returned the greeting with a good slap on Cliff's back.

"Well, hey 'little' brother. If you've got a damsel in distress in need of rescuing, then I wouldn't be much of a brother if I didn't help out" Michael reminded him. He had stressed the word 'little' as he and Stuart often did to tease Cliff, for while Cliff was the youngest of the three, he was definitely NOT the smallest in terms of build and height.

"That's what I told him earlier!" called Stuart from the kitchen table through a mouthful of pizza.

"Shhhhh!!!! Guys! Abigail's trying to sleep!" reminded Cliff.

"Sorry" apologised Michael a little sheepishly. "By the way Cliff, even though she was in a bit of a state when we found her, we could all tell how gorgeous she is. You've found a real cracker of a girlfriend in her, for sure!"

"Thanks" said Cliff, as the two moved to sit at the table where Stuart was still guzzling pizza and washing it down with a beer. "But I'm not sure she's actually my girlfriend. Yet. We've only been out on a couple of, er, well, that is to say, er 'dates'? Tonight was only going to be the third, but it all went horribly wrong. She might not want to see me after this."

"Don't be daft!" assured Michael. "You're her 'knight in shining armour' come to rescue her. She won't be able to resist you now. I saw how she melted into your arms when you whisked her away."

"Yeah true" added Stuart. "And she'd obviously entrusted you to 'take care of her' when you were supposed to open the box yourself, hadn't she?" Stuart wiggled his eyebrow suggestively.

Cliff went red at the implication Stuart was making. "But it all went wrong." He repeated, then addressed Michael. "I was just saying to Stu that I expect she'll need a bit of time to just hang out and recover. And sleep. Somewhere safe. Like here? Is she OK staying here for a while, Mike? Stu's OK with it."

"Of course" agreed Michael. "You need to give her time and space. And spoil her rotten. Treat her like a princess. She looks like one; She's beautiful, Cliff. What a catch!"

Cliff went bright red yet again, but had to agree with his brothers. He didn't think he knew of anyone who was as pretty and gorgeous and, well to be fair, as downright BUSTY, as Abigail. He was also glad that they were now in the same place and could finally spend some time with each other for a change without Emma trying to manipulate things.

Even though his predominant concern was for Abigail, Cliff did wonder how Emma must be feeling right now. He resolved to send Emma some text messages to reassure her that Abigail was safe and well and sleeping soundly, and not to worry about her. Well, he'd text her after all the pizza was gone.

Later that night, after Stuart and Michael had gone off to their rooms, Cliff made his last check up on Abigail. He found her sleeping deeply, her head almost covered by his duvet, but her lustrous hair spread above her on the pillow. Cliff carefully cleared the covers from her face and stroked her hair lovingly, before kissing her on the top of her head and letting her sleep. She stirred slightly, making little murmuring noises, but didn't wake.

He'd grabbed a couple of spare pillows and covers previously, and now made his bed on the couch in the lounge. It wasn't ideal since it was too short for him, but the three-bedroom apartment didn't have a spare room, so he made the best of it. Abigail didn't need to know after all.

REAPPEARANCE

It was a bright morning. Michael and Stuart had already eaten breakfast and left for work. Cliff was just clearing up his own bowl of cereal when a towelling-clad bundle capped off by a messy mop of brunette locks shuffled awkwardly down the passage in oversized slippers and into the living area.

Cliff smiled at Abigail who looked rather comical, swamped by his oversized dressing gown. She brushed her hair aside and smiled at him, sheepishly, the bright light dazzling her a little.

"Good morning sleepy" said Cliff, putting down his stuff and coming over to give her a hug. She tilted her head up, threw her arms around his broad shoulders and clutched onto him tightly. They embraced tightly, Abigail trying to snuggle herself into the firm body of her man, her rescuer, her sanctuary. Cliff bent down and wound his arms around her and just held her close, loving the feel of her soft body against him, even through the thick towelling.

"This feels nice" she whispered, still holding him as tight as she could. She felt safe just here.

After a really long time of just holding each other, her arms finally ran out of strength and Cliff felt her grip relax somewhat. He held her at arm's length in front of him and looked down at her to study her face.

"How are you feeling, Babe?" he asked, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. She just nodded and smiled at him. "Hungry?" he ventured. This was greeted by a more vigorous nod and a bigger smile. "Well, you just sit yourself here at the table, and I'll see what I can get for you".

Abigail sat at the table all morning in the dressing gown while Cliff buzzed around her, getting her coffee, juice, a full cooked breakfast, toast, cereal, anything he could think of. And Abigail guzzled it all up. Cliff was really glad that she hadn't lost her appetite.

During this time they talked and talked about all sorts of things except what had happened or what might have happened the previous day. Abigail didn't want to raise it and Cliff was desperate to keep her mind off it all. But this was the first time they had really had a chance just to chat together at all. And the more they talked, the more they got to like each other.

For the rest of the day, Abigail and Cliff just chilled around the apartment. Cliff explained that he wasn't going to college or training for the last day of the week and just wanted to spend time chilling with her, and to make sure she was OK. Abigail had a shower and got dressed into a casual sweatshirt and joggers, and they just slobbed around, listening to music, watching rubbish on the TV and just chatting as friends. Cliff was very attentive and always fetched her drinks and snacks as she needed.

She felt that he was taking good care of her. She didn't seem too upset or affected by yesterday's events, although from time to time she would let out a little sigh, snuggle up to Cliff wherever he was and just ask him to hold her. Cliff would always drop what he was doing and simply hold her tenderly, sometimes for a long time, until she relaxed and released her own grip on him. Nothing was said at the time, and Cliff suspected that she was just wanting to feel safe and secure.

Abigail had another shower later on, in order to "get herself more presentable for company", knowing that Cliff's brothers were due back eventually. She hadn't really met his brothers yet and wanted to give a good first impression. She apparently had a lot to thank them for. Cliff told her not to bother, but she gave him a knowing smile and went off to shower and change anyway. Cliff waited for her in the lounge area.

When she finally emerged from Cliff's room, he caught his breath, she looked so beautiful. She had brushed her hair into full wavy curls that fell around her shoulders. She was wearing a long, dark green dress that flowed from her shoulders down to her ankles, where it was edged in black lace. It showed off her busty figure nicely while remaining very elegant. She wasn't wearing any make-up, but her natural beauty shone through.

Abigail giggled as she caught the look in Cliff's eyes, taking in her whole being.

"You like?" she asked him, with a big smile on her face and a glint in her eyes, giving him an over-dramatic twirl, which sent the dress twisting in a spiral around her, clinging onto her curvy body and emphasising her hourglass shape.

Cliff could hardly speak. "Wonderful" was all he could manage.

Abigail strutted over to him swinging her hips as she came, and pressed her shorter body against him. She put her arms around his neck, making a deliberate point of pressing her ample breasts up into his chest. She leaned up to his ear and whispered "I wore this just for you", giving a little wiggle to press her soft body firmly against his.

Cliff desperately wanted to grab her bottom in his large hands and squash her to himself to kiss her deeply, but he needed her to make all the moves, for the time being at least. So he restrained himself and let her lead as far as she wanted to go, just placing his hands gently around her narrow waist. She leant back and looked up into his eyes, seeing nothing but love, maybe with a bit of lust mixed in.

She was just about to stretch up to kiss him when a key turned noisily in the lock. Abigail gave a little squeak and immediately stepped away from Cliff, the spell broken, as they watched the door open. She was embarrassed at nearly being caught.

Cliff's two older brothers Michael and Stuart entered together and Cliff formally introduced them to their new guest. Abigail was pleased to meet them both and thanked them for their help from the day before. They had both brought her a little present to say 'welcome'. Stuart, who always thought with his stomach, had bought her a very fancy box of chocolates which she immediately opened and delved into before offering them round.

Michael had bought her a little teenage Disney princess fake diamond tiara. His reasoning was that she looked like a princess and so she needed a tiara. Abigail blushed. Whilst it was a little silly and childish, they all saw the joke and Abigail giggled as she let Michael fit the tiara in her hair tucking it in like a hairband. Whilst it was clearly fake, it did give her a bit of a sparkle and so she left it in for the rest of the evening.

Michael declared that the four of them were going to eat out, it being Friday and they needed to celebrate the "rescue". Abigail wasn't sure that she was ready to go out in public yet, what with so many people having seen her in a somewhat compromised situation yesterday. Cliff could see her discomfort and backed her up. In the end, Michael dialled in for food from a decent Italian restaurant that did gourmet takeaway meals.

The four of them spent the evening sat around the dining table, eating, drinking and catching up on their respective stories from the day before. Abigail listened in awe as she heard about all they had done to mobilise half the town to look for her and finally liberate her. The three men didn't press Abigail on her side of the story, figuring that it was still too raw for her and she'd talk about it when and if she was ready. But she was definitely interested in their side of events, and sat there listening, enthralled.

Michael updated them on progress with the charging and prosecution of the four gang-members, not expecting them to be released on bail, and confident that they would all be convicted of a number of charges, mainly to do with stealing cars. He didn't press Abigail about any potential charges of rape or abduction. He would talk to Cliff about that later.

Abigail snuggled into Cliff's side, clinging on to his arm as they ate and chatted. He later put a protective arm around her and made sure she had what food and drink she wanted. Cliff and Stuart drank beer, while Michael and Abigail shared a bottle of wine. To be fair, Michael drank most of it.

Cliff's two older brothers took a liking to Abigail immediately. They treated her as they would a little sister, kindly and with warmth, but also with a bit of teasing, most of which was really directed towards Cliff. They insisted she kept on the tiara even though she looked dressed up enough to go out on the town. And they fed her wine to relax her until she giggled just a little too much.

When she drank alcohol, Abigail always went a bit giggly before then going quiet. She was content just to lean on Cliff's arm whilst the three brothers compared notes. They were trying to compare on who'd managed to mobilise the most people yesterday. The competition was between Cliff with his football team-mates and friends, and Stuart with his construction crew colleagues, but it was all light-hearted. Cliff kept looking down at Abigail to check if the talk about yesterday was upsetting her, but she seemed OK.

When it started to get late, Abigail slumped lower and lower into Cliff, starting to look drowsy, until he called it a day for her.

"Got to get the little lady some sleep" he told his brothers. She didn't complain as he gently picked her up in her beautiful dress, and carried her into his room for her to sleep. He laid her on the bed on her back, her head resting on the pillows. and asked if she needed help getting ready for bed. She shook her head.

"I'll just slip off this dress and crash right now" murmured the sleepy princess. "You gonna tuck me in?" she asked, not moving.

"Gladly, if you want me to" replied Cliff.

Since she didn't look likely to undress herself, he slipped off her shoes, one by one, admiring her feet in the sheer black hose she wore. Then he removed the tiara as she lay there with her eyes closed. He next regarded her dress. The dark green material clung to her body and the lovely swell of her bosom seemed to be begging for attention. "Now is not the time, Cliff my boy" he scolded himself quietly. He couldn't see any clasps or zips at the front, so decided he had to roll her over to get at the back of the dress.

First, though, he drew back the covers on the other side of the bed, before apologising to Abigail and telling her he needed to move her. She gasped softly as he rolled her over onto her front. The zip down the back of the dress parted it nicely and then Cliff worked the dress over her shoulders and down her arms. He brushed the smooth skin of her back past her bra-straps, and stroked the upward curve of her buttocks as he worked the dress over her hips.

She was wearing a matching black lace ensemble under her dress consisting of a bra, high-cut panties, suspenders, a garter belt and stockings. Cliff breathed in her beauty as she lay there, largely oblivious to his gaze. He felt disappointment that she had dressed up and that he couldn't properly 'enjoy' her lingerie. Maybe another time.

With a sigh, he managed to free the dress from her legs by lifting one at a time. He hung the dress up on the outside of his cupboard, the dark green glinted in the dim light. He opened the window behind the blinds a little to give her some air before looking back at the gorgeous teen in his bed.

Abigail snuggled into the pillows on her front and it looked like she was not going to move for the duration, so Cliff covered her lingerie-clad body with the covers, kissed the back of her head goodnight and went to the door. With one last look towards the sleeping beauty tucked up in his own bed, he sighed again, switched off the light and closed the door carefully.

His brothers were surprised to see him join them back at the table. Cliff caught their eyes and unspoken question.