Together Forever (7 page)

“Shane,” I choke.

He lays his hand on my face. “No, love. Don’t try to talk. Stay still.” He sits next to me, putting his arm around me. I turn my face up to his and shake my head, looking at him pleadingly.

“Jesse.” I sputter. He nods, pulling out his phone, he calls Jesse. As he talks quietly, I can hear sirens. By the time Shane has explained everything to Jesse, the ambulance has arrived.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! They won’t let me in to be with Allie and Jesse isn’t here yet. What the fuck? Who was that bastard? I’m gonna kill him for touching my woman! I swear! I’m fucking sick of pacing the waiting room. No one has told me anything. She looked so scared. Her throat was really red, and I could tell it was hurting her to talk.

I slam my hand against the wall. Fuck!

I hear footsteps behind me and turn around quickly. “Jesse!” It only takes me two strides to reach him. We put our hands on each other’s arms. “Fuck, mate! They won’t tell me anything! They won’t let me get to her! I’m about to lose it here. Said I have to be a relative.” I say excitedly.

He pats my arm. “Ok, man. Calm down. Let me go find out what the hell is going on. Don’t you worry, I’ll come right back, ok?” He says nodding his head.

I watch him leave the room, and I go back to pacing. Shit, if they don’t tell me something soon, I’m gonna blow.

About 20 minutes later, when I think I’m gonna storm the hospital to look for her, Jesse walks back into the room. I get up and start walking towards the door, but he stops me with a hand on my chest. “Shane. They’re gonna let you go in to see her but you’ve got to be calm or they will kick you right out. I mean it. I explained to them that you’re her boyfriend so they’re gonna let you in.” I nod and take a deep breath. “You calm now?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.

Taking one more deep breath, I let out a big exhale. “Yes. I’m calm. They just better not get in my way.” I say seriously.

“I get ya, mate. But you need to be calm for Allie. She needs you to be strong.” I nod sharply and we head to my love. I need to get my fucking act together. She needs me.

Once we get to her ER room a nurse just finished taking her pulse and was laying her arm back down. She smiles at us and whispers to Allie. When she passes us to leave, she smiles and winks at me. What the fuck was that all about?

I walk as fast as I can over to her side, grabbing her hand in mine. “Love? Are you ok? What did they say? Do you have to stay the night or can I take you home?” I’m talking so fast that I can hardly understand myself.

She gives me a sad smile and rubs my hand with her thumb. “They said I can go home tonight but not to talk a lot,” she whispers. I smile back and stroke her hair back with my other hand.

“Shane, while the nurse helps Allie get ready to leave, why don’t we step out in the hall,” Jesse says tilting his head towards the door. I look at my love. She looks so small, fragile and scared, but she smiles and nods at me.

“No, I’m staying. I’m not leaving her,” I say matter of factly. I feel her hand rest on my arm and her grip lighter.

“Go ahead, darling. I won’t be but just a minute. I promise,” she whispers. I sigh heavily. Damn, I don’t want to leave her. Fuck!

Jesse walks over and takes me by my arm, starting to pull me towards the door. I halt, making him stop, and lean over to kiss my love. When I pull back I see the tears in her eyes starting to form which is not helping me leave this fucking room, at all. She pats my arm and nods. So I reluctantly leave, letting Jesse push me out of the room and into the hallway.

Once we are out of the room, I turn abruptly and twist my arm away. “What the fuck, Jesse? Tell me one good reason why I should have left her. One. Fucking. Good. Reason.” I cross my arms and stand there tapping my foot, waiting.

He looks up and down the hallway, then back to me. Crossing his arms, he leans against the wall and clears his throat, he looks pissed. “It’s Paul.” My brows go up. “Yep, she confirmed it. The police questioned her, once the doctor was done examining her. It’s fucking Paul. I don’t know how he found her or why, but you can bet I will find out.”

I run my fingers through my hair and giving Jesse a serious look. “He’s dead. But, not before he wishes he was dead. Where is he, do they know? Are they even fucking looking for him?” I growl.

He stands up straight and looks me in the eyes. “They have an APB out on him and have sent cars out on the street looking. I gave them the number to the police station in L.A. to pull her files. It has a copy of the restraining order and the pictures—” He stops short.

“What fucking pictures, Jesse? If someone doesn’t tell me what the fuck happened, I’ll find out my own way,” I said, cracking my knuckles.

The door opens to Allie’s room and the nurse comes out. “Allie is ready to go. She is signed out.” She smiles. “Here are some instructions for any pain and some medicine she can take to help her sleep, if she needs it.” I take the paper and pills she hands me and the nurse smiles again and walks away.

I go to my girl. I take her to the car, so we can go home. She’s so quiet, even though I know they told her not to talk much. She won’t look at me either, and keeps staring out of her window. I need her to tell me what fucking happened. I need her to know I will be there for her no matter what.

Once we get home, she walks straight to our room. I give her some time alone. I grab my laptop, and I sit on the couch to check messages. When she doesn’t come back out, I shut down the computer and go to her. I enter our room. The lights are out, and I find her curled up in a ball in bed, crying softly.

I remove my clothes, slide in behind her and wrap my arm around her. “It’s ok, love. I’m here. No one is ever going to hurt you again, over my dead body.” She cries harder. Ok, maybe I’m not the best at comforting. I haven’t had a lot of practice. I kiss her head and tighten my arm to hold her closer. She finally moves into me, like she can’t get close enough. We lay there for a long time, her crying turning into sniffles. She rolls her body around until she is facing me, her arm sliding under mine and holding my back. There is just enough moonlight coming in through the blinds to see her face. Her eyes red and puffy, she looks so scared.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. But, you know, whenever you’re ready to talk to me you can. I hope you know that.” She gives me a little smile.

“I know. I’m just—” She hesitates. She looks down at my chest. “I just can’t believe he found me,” she says softly.

My hand automatically lifts her chin, and I look deeply in her eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you, love. I’m just sorry I wasn’t there in time. It won’t happen again.” I kiss her forehead, smoothing back her hair. She nestles into me and sighs. My hand instinctively goes to her back, and I begin rubbing it trying to give her some comfort.

She finally falls asleep, her head against my chest. I straighten us out a little, so she is more comfortable. I don’t think I can sleep though. Just the thought of what he did to her tonight, my head swimming with what he could have done to her in the past. My body too hyped up with adrenaline to sleep. I ended up laying there most of the night holding my girl close.

I must have dozed off because early the next morning I wake up to my arm being lightly stroked. My hand, of course, is covering her breast. I can’t help it, my hand loves it there. I kiss her neck. “Morning, love. Did you sleep ok? Any pain? Need anything?” She shakes her head and moving my arm out of the way, she rolls over to face me.

She smiles. “Actually, I feel much better,” her voice sounding much clearer. I look at her throat, still pretty red and a little light purple. Motherfucker!

“I— I want to tell you. Everything. I really want to. I need to. I’m ready,” she says with her chin up, determined.

“Ok, love. If you’re sure.” She nods. “I will be quiet but know that I will be burning inside. You have no idea what it does to me to know that someone hurt you, but I will do my best to stay calm. For you.” I kiss her nose.

She takes a big gulp and begins. “He used to work for my dad. He was an orthopedic doctor, not a surgeon, though, like my dad. He helped out when dad needed it but he wanted in dad’s practice, a partner. Dad didn’t want a partner, he thought Paul was too young and over anxious.” She sighs again and looks up at me. “He asked me out and dad hated it. We went out for a couple of months. He started acting too aggressive towards me, too possessive. He started setting rules. I couldn’t go out with my girlfriends, and I had to make time for him when he wanted to be together, things like that. Paxton, my best friend growing up, got so pissed. She was ready to punch his face in.” She stops, closing her eyes.

I bring her to my chest and lay my chin on her head. “Take your time, love. We have all the time in the world.” My hand rubs her back as we lay there in silence. She shakes her head and brings her hand up to wipe her eyes.

She looks back up to me and blinks rapidly. “He threatened me, a few times at first, then more and more as I started to talk about us breaking up. It got to where every time I turned around, he was there. I’d see him when grocery shopping, when I was out with Paxton at the mall, no matter where I went, he was there. I finally broke down and told dad what was going on and of course, he kicked him out of the office, threatening he’d call the police if he ever came near me again.”

She swallows, her little body shuddering. Shaking her head as if to clear her mind, she continues. “He stayed away for a few months, his calls stop and I never saw him again. Paxton and I were finally able to go out and not look over our shoulders and my life got back to normal, until—” She starts breathing heavy and my hand stills on her back.

She swallows again and closes her eyes. “I was leaving work late one evening and when I got to my car in the parking garage he was leaning against it. I stopped dead in my tracks, looking around to see if anyone was near but the garage was empty. I turned and started to run back to the office but he caught up to me really fast and yanked my arm back and pulled my hair. He— he— he hit me in the face, making my nose bleed and yanked me to his car that was hidden behind a big pole.”

My fists clenched. Fuck I want him! I want to fuck him up before I kill his ass. Damn, I need to stop this. I need to be here for my girl. She starts coughing some, so I get up quickly and run into the bathroom and get her a glass of water. She drinks it quickly and sets the half empty glass on her night stand. Sitting back against the headboard, she crosses her legs and pulls my arm around her. She leans into me, and I gear up for what’s about to come.

“He throws me in the back seat and follows me, shutting us in. I heard the locks click and knew I was in trouble.” She looks at me, her body shaking now, tears streaming. “Shane, he beat me so bad.”

As she cries, I grab her and hold her tight. Her crying became uncontrollable, so I reached over to get the pills the nurse gave me to help her sleep, thinking they will help calm her. It took a long time to get her to take one, but she finally managed to swallow it. I lay us down and pull the covers over her, tucking her in close to me. She cried for a long time until her breathing started to even out. Once I knew she was asleep, I crept out of the bed, grabbed my jeans and went into the bathroom. I didn’t want to go too far in case she awoke.

I got my phone from the pocket of my jeans and sent a text.

Any word from the police on that fucker?

It didn’t take long for Jesse to reply with:
Not yet. Sis ok?

I took a deep breath. They better find him soon, before I do.

She told me most of what happened b-4. She took a pill and is asleep. Keep me updated

I put my phone down on the counter, my hands flat on either side of it. I look down and try to keep my head from conjuring up all the shit I want to do to that fucker. I need to hit something, badly.

I pick up the phone and call Lana. “Shane, she ok? How are you holding up?” She asks. I tell her what happened at the hospital. I don’t know if she knows about Paul or Allie’s past, so I don’t say anything more. At the end of the call, I ask her to come over and stay with my girl, so I can go hit the gym for a little while. She didn’t hesitate and said she’d be over in 5.

I go into the bedroom to put on some gym clothes and check on my girl. I find her sleeping soundly. Thank God.

I am dreaming of a phone ringing. It won’t stop. Why isn’t Shane answering the phone? I slowly open my eyes, the light shining into the room tells me I’ve been sleeping for a long time. I look over at my phone on the night stand that has stopped ringing now. I stretch my arms up over my head and yawn. Looking at my phone again, I see it lighting up. Oh! I pick it up quickly, and looking at the number, I answer excitedly.

“Paxton!!!! Oh, my God, Paxton! I’ve missed you!” I yell into the phone. Paxton is your typical rich bitch. To most people she is snooty and stuck up but to her friends, she is the sweetest person you will ever know. All the guys fall over themselves to get her attention. Yes, she is that much of a knockout. Long blonde hair, stunning blue eyes with long eyelashes women would kill to have, pouty lips and a body to die for. I’ve always been jealous of her.

Lana slides into the room from running so fast. She mouth’s ‘Sorry’ to me. Giving her a confused look, I smile and mouth back, “It’s ok” and blow her an air kiss. What is she doing here? That’s weird.

“Baby girl!” She squeals into my ear. “Your dad told my dad what happened. Are you ok? Where is that slime ball piece of shit?”

Oh, my God! That brought me back to reality quickly! The night’s events start clouding my head in a rush.

I am holding the phone away from my ear, she is screaming so loudly. Finally, she takes a breath. “Pax, slow down. I’m fine, well, now. The police are out looking for him. Wait! How did dad know?” Shit! Dad knows? He’ll be on a plane and here before I know it.

I hear her popping her gum in the phone. You’d think someone with perfect teeth would stay away from all that sugar. “Jesse called him last night. Don’t worry he’s not coming there. Jesse talked him into staying here, for now. But he is really worried, ya know?”