Briana squatted down and reached out her hand to touch Rocco, who had taken refuge behind Sean's legs. When her hand reached the fluffy gray-white creature, he immediately approached Sean and lay down near Briana's feet. She looked up at Sean with a smile, feeling pleased that Rocco was comfortable with her touch. Sean smiled back for the first time. A small smile was painted on his lips.
"He's a good dog," Briana said, covering the nervousness of Sean's smile.
Sean was silent as he watched Briana pamper Rocco. Briana couldn't stop rubbing Rocco's thick fur.
"How old is he?" asked Briana.
Sean was silent and never answered her question. When Briana looked up to look at him, he said, "I think it's time for you to learn of the accident that has befallen you."
Briana's body suddenly froze. She was more or less hesitant and afraid to hear Sean's story about the accident that had happened to him. However, Briana had to be strong; she had to be ready to hear Sean tell her everything. Because maybe Sean's explanation of the accident could slowly recover some of her lost memories.
"Are you okay?" Sean sat at Briana's side, and he seemed to regret what he had said. "Damn, you're not ready to hear it?"
Briana's body was still stiff. After she heard Sean's story about the accident that happened to her. Briana felt scared and trembling; she still couldn't remember anything. However, somehow her body reacted as if she remembered it. Sean said that at that time he was driving through the forest in his truck looking for wood. He brought along Rocco, his husky dog. As the truck went further into the forest, Rocco suddenly jumped out of the truck and ran away. Sean chased after him and was surprised to see what Rocco found—Briana's car, which had been badly destroyed, and started smoking. Long story short, Sean pulled Briana out of her car before it exploded. Sean takes Briana home and calls Anna, his friend who works as a doctor at the hospital in town, to treat the external injuries that don't look too bad.
Briana didn't know what to say. She was still shaking and scared. Sean stopped telling the story because he knew Briana couldn't hear any more. He carefully lifted Briana's fragile body into his arms and carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
"Rest, I was wrong; I shouldn't have..."
Briana shook her head. "No, Mr. Brosnan, I need to know," she said, interrupting Sean.
"But you..." His sentence stopped there. He looked into Briana's eyes, then without hesitation, he gently rubbed her cheek and said, "Go to sleep; forget everything. I don't want to see you wake up with puffy eyes."
The attention made Briana's fear and anxiety lessen. It was the stroke of his thumb on her cheek that made Briana feel comfortable. Sean Brosnan's protection was so great that without thinking much, Briana took his hand and began to rest her head on his pounding chest. Briana fell asleep easily in his arms.
The black clouds reappeared in Briana's dreams, so dense that they began to envelop her. Briana ran and ran without knowing where she was going. Her eyes stung, and she wanted nothing more than to wake up.
Briana's chest became tight as the black clouds began to choke her neck. Her eyes opened wide and she looked in all directions, looking for a light that could be the direction of where she was going, but unfortunately she found a blazing fire that was coming at her very fast. Briana screamed as loud as she could until the fire reached her and burned her whole body.
"Aahh!" Briana woke up and screamed. Sean, who was sleeping at the foot of the bed, came and immediately embraced her.
"What happened?!" he asked frantically.
He held Briana's body tightly, smoothing her messy hair. Then he cupped her tiny face with both of his large palms.
"Those clouds are coming again," Briana said, looking around the room.
"Calm down. There's nothing here." Sean tried to calm her down.
"There's a fire. A fire that's burning me!" she said with stuttering and fear. Sean placed his thumb on Briana's trembling lips to silence her.
"Relax; it's just a dream; I'm here. You're safe with me," he said.
Briana closed her eyes. She knew it was just a dream, but it all felt so real as if she had almost been killed. Briana's heart was still beating very fast, and her ragged breathing was just as bad. Sean pulled Briana's body to rest against his chest, and there she breathed softly, trying to calm him down.
"You're safe with me, pearl!"
Pearl?
***
Briana sat on the porch with Rocco's head resting on her lap. The big dog had been asleep since Briana had brushed his clean fur. Sean must have taken very good care of him for Rocco to be this healthy. While sighing softly, Briana's eyes looked at the forest, the tall and shady trees with swaying leaves more or less made her feel calmer.
Previously, Briana thought that hearing Sean's explanation would make some of her lost memories slowly recover. However, it turned out that she was wrong; there was not the slightest sign of the missing ten years; instead, the fire and the black clouds occupied her mind every night.
Briana sighed; she was too much trouble for Sean. He came over several times just to see her.
Is his work in the city being neglected because of me?
Briana closed her eyelids, feeling the wind blow calmly and gently against her skin. It was cool, even if only for a moment. Now Briana understood why Sean chose to stay in the forest on weekends. This place was the perfect place to escape from trouble and forget everything.
However, what was the problem that made him run so far away?
Briana didn't care. Thinking about a cold man like Sean was a disservice and a waste of time. He was getting more and more rude to Briana, to the point where she thought that Sean was unhappy with her being here.
Briana was sure it must have been Anna who forced her to keep him here. Keeping her longer and Sean feeling the hassle of having to go back and forth between the city and the forest.
The beautiful woman named Anna that Briana had just been thinking about suddenly appeared driving her minivan. From behind the translucent windshield, Sarah flashed me a sweet smile. She parked the car in the driveway and approached Briana and asked, "Where's Sean?"
"He went to the woods," Briana replied. Actually, when he was in the log house, Sean was more often in the woods or the woodshed behind the house. Seeing Briana was secondary.
Anna nodded in understanding, then took a seat right by her side. "Since when did Rocco come back to this house?" she asked.
"A few days ago Sean's brother Mark dropped him off," Briana replied.
"Oh?" Anna's eyebrows suddenly shot up. "So you've met Mark?"
Briana nodded.
"You're here to see Sean?" Briana asked with an almost strangled throat. Of course Anna had come to meet Sean.
Anna smiled sweetly and tapped Briana lightly on the shoulder. "I wanted to see you."
"Oh..."
"Why are you surprised?" asked Anna. "I have something to ask you."
Briana pointed at herself.