The Pull of Destiny (75 page)

“Let go of me,”
I hissed, anger churning up my blood. For the first time in a long time, I
allowed myself to get visibly enraged at Nate. He just laughed at me, throwing
me against the wall and slamming the door shut.

“Or what?” he
asked, a taunting smile on his face.

It was all too
much for me.
What part of ‘I need to get to Luke’ don’t you understand?
With an infuriated yowl, I rushed at a stunned Nate, who held his arms up in
apparent defense. But I wasn’t going for his face. I kneed him in the groin,
noting his grunt of pain with a twinge of satisfaction as he bent over, both
hands cupped over his crotch. Reaching for the door knob, I opened the door
again and took off running down the hallway, my heart in my mouth.
Oh, Lord,
what have I just done?
The hallway had never seemed so long in my life and
I tried not to look back as I ran.
Please let Nate be in so much pain that
he-.

“Oof!”

All the wind
was knocked out of me as Nate tackled me out of nowhere. I did a fancy little
twist in the air and ended up landing on my back, my bones jarred. My eyes wide
with fear, I stared up at Nate, who was panting, his face a grimace of pain.

“You little
bitch!” he spat, grasping a handful of my hoodie and hauling me back up to my
feet. “What the hell? You kneed me in the groin!”

He shook me
till my teeth rattled, shook me until I was dizzy and all I wanted was for him
to stop. And all the while he was yelling at me, screaming obscenities with his
eyes red with anger.

Then Nate let
go of my hoodie and slapped me across the face, the force so hard it made me
stumble a few steps back. I stared up at him, shivers running down my spine at
the look in his eyes. He looked like a mad man. I stumbled, trying to run, but
my foot caught on the threadbare carpet and down I went.

Nate threw
himself on me as I tried to scramble to my feet, catching me by the neck and
slamming me down again. My face hit the floor, a searing pain shooting through
my cheek as Nate continued cussing me out. I squirmed, trying to get him off of
me, but he held me down, pressing my face into the musty smelling carpet. Dust
particles went up my nose, making me sneeze.

“Nate, please,”
I blubbered, twisting in an attempt to shake him loose.

“I try telling
you in plain English, you don’t want to listen. So I guess I’m just going to
have to show you,” Nate told me, his emotionless, flat voice scaring me. I’d
never heard him sound like that before and I went cold.

He rose over
me, hitting any part of me he could reach with his fists. I raised my arms to
my face, trying to block the attack, but he just pushed my arms aside and kept
hitting me. Heavy blows landed on my face and I cried out, tasting blood.

There was a
creak as a door in the hallway opened. Nate stopped hitting me, turning his
sneering face towards the nosy neighbor who dared to intervene.

“What’s going
on out here?” Mandy Childs stuck her head out of her door. Her eyes bulged with
horror as she took in the scene in front of her. “Nate! What are you doing?”

Eyes pleading,
I turned my face to her, feeling sticky liquid ooze down my face. “Please
help,” I wailed.

Nate stood up
and stepped towards her, his bloodied fists clenched. “What does it look like
I’m doing? This is a family affair, Miss Childs. You got five seconds to get
your nosy ass back into your apartment or I’m just gonna have to deal with you
as well.”

With a high
pitched scream, Mandy Childs ran back into her apartment, locking and bolting
the door shut behind her.

Nate snorted.
“Scared her off,” he muttered to himself, kicking me in the side with his steel
toed boot. “Nobody’s gonna save you, slut. Not your little boyfriend, not
anybody.”

He reached down
and cuffed me in the face, rocking my head and making me see stars.

I rolled my
body up into a little ball as he continued hitting and kicking me, waiting for
him to get tired, waiting for the pain to stop. I wanted to die.
Find your
happy place.

I didn’t hear
the stairs creaking as somebody came up onto our floor, but the strong,
commanding voice I heard next was enough to jolt me out of the foggy state of
mind I had been lulled into as Nate continued to rain blows on me.

“Nathan Grant,
what are you doing?” an outraged voice exclaimed.

Groggily, I stared
up as a tall figure passed right by me and pinned Nate to the wall
effortlessly.

Pastor Weeks.

“Pastor, I-
you- she- what did I do?” Nate babbled, looking down at his skinned knuckles
then at me, his eyes suddenly widened and horrified. Was it all an act or had
he just been taken over by so much rage that he hadn’t been himself?
I don’t
know.
And I didn’t care, either. All I wanted was to get as far away from
Nate as possible.

Ignoring him,
Pastor Weeks knelt down beside me, slowly raising me up to a sitting position.
My tears stung my cheeks, but I couldn’t stop crying. I started shaking as the
delayed shock hit me and Pastor Weeks wrapped his jacket around my shoulders,
taking care not to touch me with too much force.

“Celsi, my 
dear child,” he said softly, bringing out a spotless handkerchief and dabbing
at my split lip.

I shook my
head.
No time for that.
“I need to get to Mount Sinai hospital,” I
blubbered, wincing with pain. My words sounded slurred. I hated myself for
letting Nate do this to me.
You’re weak, Celsi.

Hospital.
Luke.
Oh, God.

I tried to get
to my feet, but Pastor Weeks put a hand on my shoulder. “Wait a second. Get
your breath back.” He looked up at Nate, who had a very bewildered look on his
face. “Son, I’ve seen many things in my life, but never have I seen an act of
such uncalled for violence. Do you want to explain yourself?”

“I-,” Nate
started, sounding defiant. His eyes met Pastor Weeks’ calm ones and he bowed
his head, ashamed. “I don’t know what happened. It just came over me. I just
wanted to- to hurt her.”

Disgusted,
Pastor Weeks turned to me again. “I’ll take you to the hospital, but you need
to press charges, Celsiana. He can’t get away with doing this to you again.
Next time-.” He paused, cleared his throat and resumed. “Next time, you might
not be as lucky.”

Did he think I
didn’t know that? If Pastor Weeks hadn’t come along when he had, I might have
been seriously injured. I’m talking broken bones, concussions- I was lucky.

“I know that.
And I will press charges, Pastor, I promise. But I have to get to Mount Sinai.
My friend- he’s in the ICU. Please, Pastor.”

The tears
flowed freely and I couldn’t stop them. This was the most miserable day ever.
Kevin, Luke and now this. I laid my head in the crook of my arm, sobbing in despair.

Patting my arm,
Pastor Weeks stood up. “Okay, child. I’ll take you to the hospital. Come.”

His voice
sounded weary, like he knew this was a bad idea but he was powerless to stop
me. He practically lifted me to my feet. I surreptitiously leaned against him
on wobbly legs, knowing that if I so much as stumbled, the offer to take me to
the hospital would be voided.
It’s all for Luke, it’s all for Luke.
A
vision of his face swam in front of my eyes, his shaggy mop of dark hair and
gorgeous green eyes grinning at me. Suddenly I was seized by a sudden notion
that things were getting worse for Luke. I had to get to him asap.

“Please,
Pastor,” I pleaded, forcing the words out of my swelling lip. “I don’t think we
have much time.”

Pastor Weeks
glanced at me, then shot a subdued Nate a quelling look. “Nathan, I want you to
go back into your apartment. If you flee the scene it will only make matters
worse. I want to help you, but I can only help you if you do as I say.”

I’ve never seen
Nate so docile and obedient. He looked at me, his face drawn and scared.
“Celsi,” he rasped, stretching an arm out in my direction. I jerked back,
terrified despite the fact that I knew he couldn’t hurt me with Pastor Weeks
here. Nate dropped his arm, looking abashed. “I’m so sorry, Celsi. So, so
sorry.”

His apology
didn’t move me. I was all devoid of emotion for him. The only thing that kept
me going was the thought of Luke. I needed to see him.

Pastor Weeks
made me wait till Nate slowly trudged back into the apartment and closed the
door before hustling me downstairs. I thought we were going to go straight out
of the building but he made a detour to the first floor, where he knocked on a
door on the landing. Still shaking, I drew his jacket closer around my
shoulders, staring at the floor. The door opened and I recognized Officer
Rodriguez, our very own jolly policeman. He was wearing a white vest and his
police issue pants. I guessed that he’d just come off duty.

“Pastor Weeks!
What a nice surprise,” he boomed cheerfully. “What can I do for- oh, my God.”

Pastor Weeks
had taken a step back and Officer Rodriguez caught full view of my face. I
guessed I was pretty messed up. Thank goodness we don’t have mirrors here.

“I don’t have
much time to explain, Marcos. I need you to do me a favor. Nathan Grant is
upstairs in their apartment. Please put him under arrest immediately. I’ll call
Kelly and tell her what’s going on,” Pastor Weeks said succinctly.

Officer
Rodriguez nodded, still gaping at me. “Nate did this to you?” he asked me, every
trace of good humor gone from his voice.

I nodded,
brushing away a tear. My hand came away bloody and I swallowed back bile.

“I’ll go up and
get the bastard- pardon my language, Pastor,” Officer Rodriguez said,
unclipping his taser from his belt and joining us in the hall.

“Thank you,
Marcos,” Pastor Weeks said as I looked at the two men with gratitude filling my
heart. Officer Rodriguez apparently saw the emotion on my face, because he
enfolded me in a bear hug.

“You’ll be
alright, Celsi. You’re a strong girl. You’ll be just fine.”

I hoped he was
right, because right now, I didn’t feel strong at all. I felt frail, unsteady
and worthless.

***

The drive to
the hospital was undertaken in almost complete silence. All Pastor Weeks asked
me was how often Nate hit me. When I told him the honest truth, he sighed,
sounding exasperated, but not with me. With himself. “I knew something was
going on, but I just blinded myself to the facts.”

The
receptionist on duty stared at us as we walked in. I was pretty sure she was
about to say ‘emergency room is that-a-way’ but luckily Hope was standing in
the lobby, her face as white as a sheet. I pointed Pastor Weeks in her
direction, suddenly ashamed of what hope would say when she saw me.
Your ‘I
fell down the stairs’ lie won’t work this time.

“Mrs. Astor?”
Pastor Weeks said, coming up to her.

Hope appeared
shaken out of a daydream as she turned to him. “Yes?” she asked, her voice
sounding distracted.

“Apparently my
charge desperately needs to visit your son. Since it was so important to her
that she had to go through a beating to get here, I must ask you to get her
medical attention as soon as possible.”

Pastor Weeks
sounded irritated and I knew why. He was concerned about me and wanted to get
me checked out by a doctor. But Luke was more important than the pain that was
flaring through my body.

Hope’s eyes
widened in shock and horror as she stared at me. “Celsi? Wha- what happened?”
she asked, aghast.

I wiped my
eyes. “I’m okay,” I lied. “How is he?”

“Do you mind if
I talk to you in private for a second, ma’am?” Pastor Weeks asked Hope
politely, drawing her aside. Hope went willingly, but her eyes were still on me
throughout their hurried conversation. I only caught several words- ‘doctor,
cousin, police, aunt’ as I stood in the middle of the floor, feeling
self-conscious as people walking through the lobby gazed at the poor broken
girl who was bleeding on the floor.

Their little
talk over, Pastor Weeks and Hope came back to me. Hope draped an arm around my
shoulder, drawing me closer to her.

“I’ll call your
aunt Kelly and tell her what happened. If you need me for anything, just call
me. I’ve given Mrs. Astor my phone number.”

I nodded,
reaching my arms out to hug the man who had saved my life.

“Thank you,
Pastor. I’m so grateful,” I whispered against his chest, tears leaking onto his
shirt.

Hope took me up
to the ICU in the elevator, still hugging me close.

“He’s been
induced into a coma,” she said in response to my questioning look. “His blood
pressure was too high so they’re monitoring it. Dr. Khan says he might be able
to operate very soon. Don’t worry. It’s gonna be okay. Luke’s strong. He is.”