You Belong To Me (24 page)

“Yes Miss Martins, we were able to speak to Mr. Conway, he is however still in a lot of pain. His family allowed us to question him for a short period before a private ambulance came and took him from the hospital. He also made us well
aware of the fact that had it not been for you, he would probably have bled to death.” Danielle did not try to hide the sadness in her eyes when the detectives told her about Mitch and what he’d said. “He did inquire about you first though,” Mike interrupted. “He was very worried about you Danielle,” he said with sincerity. Danielle could not muster up a reply; she was too busy trying to hold back her tears.

“Danielle, his mother is quite tenacious, but I'm sure once Mitch is feeling better, things will wo
rk out.” The other detectives gave Mike a like hell they will look, but sensed that he was only trying to soothe her worried mind. That made it quite obvious to Danielle that they had all met Gail and that they all seemed to share Mike’s opinion of her. I’ve really lost him, she thought to herself as she tried to listen and respond to the detective’s questions.

Although they had concluded that Ethan’s death had been the direct result of the

kidnapping of Danielle and the brutal assault of Mitch, it didn’t make her feel any better.

Oh she was glad that Ethan was finally gone forever, but nothing changed the fact that Gail had taken Mitch out of the hospital already and was refusing to let her see him. Once she said goodbye to the detectives, Danielle intend
ed to get some more rest, but that was not going to happen as a soft knock on the door interrupted her.

Danielle immediately recognized her; it was Mitch’s sister Katelyn. “Come in Katelyn,” Danielle said, quite shocked.

“I'm sorry to bother you Danielle,” she said, not at all surprised to find that Danielle recognized her. “I feel like I know you already, Mitch has told me so much about you; he loves you so very much. That’s why I had to come back here and apologize for the things my mother said to you.”

Danielle began to speak, but Katelyn held up her hand to silence her. “Please Danielle, I know what you’re going to say and your right, Mitch is a grown man and I have no doubt that you love him. But trust me when I tell you that my mother will not lose a
nother son.”

“Katelyn, I know about your brother Gabriel and the awful way that he died, but that’s not going to happen to Mitch. It’s over; this whole ordeal with Ethan is over. Neither Mitch or myself are in danger anymore, I wish I could explain that to
your mother.”

“That doesn’t matter to her Danielle,” Katelyn had made her way over to Danielle’s bed and gingerly sat at the edge. “You see Danielle; ever since Gabe died my mother has been very over protective of both myself and Mitch. And yes, even thou
gh we are both grown, she can’t let go of the fact that we each have our own lives.

The only thing she’s never stood in the way of was love, even when I met my husband Tommy, she stepped aside and encouraged me to date him and she did the same for Mitch w
hen he met you, but the moment she got the call from the hospital and they told her that he had been stabbed and was in critical condition, it was all she could do not to have a break down. It was then that she vowed to take him away from you and she’s doing just that Danielle.

Taking him back to Vermont is just the beginning. She’s already made calls to her friends down at the police department where we live. They are working out the details of a restraining order as we speak. She’s setting it all in moti
on and once she starts, it’s going to be very hard for her to stop.”

Danielle interjected. “But surely Mitch will…”

“Danielle, you’re not getting it, don’t you think that Mitch has already been asking about you? Wondering where you are? My mother has already managed to appease him for now by telling him that you’ve asked for some time alone so that you can heal. Don’t you see? She’ll stop at nothing to make sure that Mitch never sees you again.” Katelyn’s eyes had begun to tear up as she spoke of her mother and what she was capable of.

“Katelyn, there has to be something that I can do, please, tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it,” Danielle began to sob.

“Danielle, once Mitch is released from the private hospital that mother has him in, she’s already made arrangements to have him recover at our family home. She won’t allow him to return home until he’s one hundred percent. And even then she’ll object. So all you can do for now Danielle is wait it out, once Mitch goes home, back to his place, maybe just maybe you’ll be able to get back to that place where you both were. I just hope that it’s not too late.”

Danielle felt as if she was being victimized all over again. She didn’t know what to do, she needed Mitch and she needed him now. “Katelyn I love hi
m so much I cannot breathe without him,” she replied.

“If you truly love him that much Danielle, you’ll not interfere with his mother.”

“What are you saying Katelyn? That I should just give up?”

“No, I'm not saying that at all
Danielle. What I'm saying is this, let Mitch recover so that he can get back home and then, only then should you try to reconnect with him. That’s the only chance you’ll have Danielle because if you try to see him or contact him in any way now, you are going to find yourself in jail for violating a restraining order and you don’t need that right now.

Please Danielle, you’ve been through a horrific ordeal and you need to recuperate, do that. Recuperate and when the time is right it will present itself, but
for now I implore you, stay away from him, if you love Mitch, stay away.”

“Katelyn forgive me for asking but what does Mitch’s dad have to say about all of this?”

Danielle was curious as to why Mitch’s father had not tried to reason with his wife, surely there had to be someone who was the voice of reason in the family.

Katelyn couldn’t help but snicker. “Danielle, my dad has been the strong but silent one as long as I can remember. He’s just happy that Mitch is alive and will recover, my dad will do anyth
ing for his family even if it means stepping back and letting my mother take the reins. What I'm trying to say is that my father loves my mother very much, and whatever makes her happy he will go along with and taking care of her son and protecting him from harm makes her happy. Even if my dad doesn’t agree, he will never get in the way of her happiness. So with that being said, if you were counting on him to be the voice of reason don’t, because it will never happen.

Danielle is there anything that I can
do right now that will make things a little better?” Katelyn asked with hope in her eyes.

“Actually there is,” said Danielle.
  “You can get a hold of a pen and paper and help me write Mitch a letter, will you do that for me Katelyn? Please?” Danielle begged.

“Of course I will Danielle.”

“Good and will you see to it that no one but Mitch gets it and reads it? I wouldn’t want your mother to find out that I asked you to smuggle in a letter to him, I imagine that all hell would break loose,” Danielle mumbled sarcastically. “Although I hope that I'm exaggerating Katelyn.”

“Humph, no you wouldn’t be Danielle,” Katelyn sucked her teeth, “You’d be absolutely right.”

By the time Katelyn reached her parents’ home, her mother had already begun making up one of the downstairs guest rooms for Mitch. He was to be released from the hospital the following day, and she didn’t want him to have him battle the stairs each and every time.  When her mother stepped out of the room, Katelyn glanced around looking for a suitable place to hide the letter that she had written for Danielle.

Since she and her husband would be returning to Pennsylvania in the morning she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hand deliver the letter and that was a problem. While she stood in the room thinking
of hiding places, her mother called out to her. In all her nervousness in keeping a secret from her mother, Katelyn absentmindedly put the letter on the window sill next to the bed before she left the room. It wouldn’t be until the drive home the next day that she would remember where she left it.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you guys Shay, it’s just until I can get on my feet,”

Danielle exclaimed. Although she was glad to be out of the hospital, she missed Mitch and even though K
atelyn had promised to give him the letter she wrote to him, not being able to see him face to face was not helping her heal any faster. It was pure agony to know that she was unable to find out how well he was recovering or what he was feeling. She was sure that he would insist on seeing her, but she was not surprised to find that Mitch’s mother had kept her word. The moment she was released from the hospital and arrived back in Vermont, she was served with the restraining order. Gail had even gone so far as to take Samson with her and she also made sure the order stipulated that Danielle remove all of her belongings from the house as soon as possible. Three days after being released from the hospital, Danielle’s world had been turned completely upside down.

“Mitch’s parents seem to have a lot of clout Danielle,” Jason said. “I did some digging and it turns out that they’ve got friends in high places. That’s why they were able to take out a restraining order against you without Mitch’s consent. It seems that
his family is good friends with the district attorney.”

“Well that explains a lot,” said Shayla as she helped her friend settle in. “Listen Danielle, I know you’re hurting right now both emotionally and physically but maybe… and don’t get mad at me for sa
ying this, but maybe for right now you should just concentrate on getting better. I mean Mitch’s family is taking care of him now, so you need to let your family take care of you. You get your rest, recuperate and when your body is feeling better, then you can tackle this whole Mitch situation. Okay? Please? For me?” Shayla pleaded with her friend.

Danielle was tired; she didn’t want to think about Mitch or his mother anymore, she just didn’t have the strength. It was wearing on her hard and heavy and she k
new that if she let it, it would eat her up inside. And she needed to take some time for herself, she needed time to heal. “You are absolutely right Shay. I will take some time for me, I need to. This whole mess has got my head spinning and I just need to take some time and breathe. So yes, I will let my family take care of me.” It was the first time in a long time that Danielle smiled and when she did, it felt good.

“Good,” cheered Shayla.
  “Because Vic and Joe are dying to see you and they’ll be here any minute. So as corny as this may sound Danielle, I'm still gonna say it. Let’s turn that frown upside down my friend and let your family who loves you very much by the way, take care of you.”  Danielle managed to laugh but when the pain in her ribs shot through her, she winced. “I'm sorry Danielle are you alright?” Shayla asked. She didn’t mean to cause her anymore pain.

Danielle gave her another smile. “I'm fine Shay, and trust me when I tell you that I'm laughing on the inside,” she teased.

“Mom I'm fine really. I wish you would stop fussing over me,” Mitch said as his mother guided him towards his room. “And I don’t know why you insisted on bringing me here, it would have been fine for me to recover at my own place ma. I'm not a child anymore so please stop treating me like one.” Mitch was tired, still in pain and upset, he was upset because not only had he not seen Danielle since the night of the kidnapping but he hadn’t heard from her either. All he was able to get out of Jason and Shayla was that she had a broken arm a couple of fractured ribs and was going to spend her recovery with them.  “How come she hasn’t come to see me?” Mitch questioned them when they visited him at the hospital.

“Mitch, the doctor says she’s still unable to get out of bed, I'm
sorry but for now you’ll have to hear any news about Danielle from us,” Shayla managed to lie. She didn’t want to tell him that his own mother had forbid Danielle to see him. Shayla thought that both of her friends had been through enough; there was no reason to cause any further damage. “They both need time to heal Shay,” her fiancé told her. “You did the right thing telling Mitch that Danielle is still bed ridden, the last thing either of them needs right now is more drama, they’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”

Gail began fluffing the pillows for her son. “Now Mitch, don’t be silly, you know that you’re going to need my help and this is a hell of a lot easier than being stuck out in the middle of nowhere at your place, so you just lay down here a
nd let your mother take care of you.”  As she helped Mitch get into bed, Gail noticed an envelope with Mitch’s name on it sitting on the window sill, not sure of what it was, she quietly snatched it up and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans. “Now you try and get some rest son, I’ll be back in a minute with something for you to eat,” she said before stepping out of the room.

Once she was safely in the kitchen, Gail took out the envelope and opened it. She smiled wickedly when she saw who it was from
. But what she wasn’t sure of was how it ended up on the window sill; better yet, how the hell did it get into the house? Never mind about that, she told herself as she read the note. Thank god Mitch hasn’t seen this.  Gail Conway grabbed a pen and paper out of a kitchen draw, sat down at the table and began to write a letter of her own. By the time she was finished, a triumphant smile appeared across her face. Oh Mitch will get your letter alright Danielle, and he won’t like what you have to say but in the end, he’ll see that it’s for his own good. You’re not going to endanger my son’s life anymore Danielle Martins, I’ll make sure of that. She thought to herself as she ended the letter by signing Danielle’s name.

As Mitch lie in bed he let his thoughts wand
er to Danielle, he wondered how she was

feeling and where she was. Although his mom had told him that Danielle asked for some time to herself to heal, he thought it odd that she made no attempts to see him. Ever since the incident with Ethan, things betwe
en us have gotten worse instead of better, he thought to himself. The police had told him that after Ethan stabbed him, Danielle became involved in a violent struggle with him that ultimately led to his death. I can’t imagine what she must have went through, thought Mitch. What if that’s it? What if the reason Danielle hasn’t come to see me is because I wasn’t able to protect her like I had promised. That’s got to be it, he told himself. Danielle probably sees me as some weak coward who couldn’t even rescue her, no wonder she made up the excuse of needing time to herself. She’s fallen out of love with me and I can’t blame her.

“I brought you some lunch sweetheart,” said Gail as she carried in a tray of soup and sandwiches for
Mitch. “Oh and this is a letter from Danielle honey, she gave it to me at the hospital the other day and she made me promise not to give it to you until you were at home here with me, so here you go. Now I’ll just give you some privacy and let you read your letter, you need anything you just call out alright?”

Mitch couldn’t hide his enthusiasm at seeing the envelope on his lap. “Thanks,” he said to his mother.

“You’re welcome son.”

Gail stood by the closed door a moment and let out a satisfied sigh before
walking down the hall. The second his mother closed the door, Mitch tore open the envelope.

Dear Mitch,

I hope this letter finds you well and recovering nicely. I know that I have not been in to see you and I apologize for that, the doctors wouldn’t let me. Just in case you’re still groggy and/or in a lot of pain, I’ll cut to the chase. Mitch the events that happened days ago are my fault. If I hadn’t been so selfish I would have realized that you and I weren’t meant to be together. After all that’s happened I can see that now. Mitch I think it’s time that we go our separate ways, I have caused you enough grief to last a life time and I don’t want to do that to you anymore.

The time we spent together was amazing and I’ll always treasure that, but now I thi
nk it’s for the best if we part ways. I need to move on with my life and so do you, you cannot do that with me around. I’ve thought a lot about how selfish I’ve been and this recent experience with Ethan has caused me to think about how much I’ve hurt you. I can’t in good conscience go on hurting you Mitchell, so this is it. Please don’t try and contact me as I won’t return your calls and please know that I mean every word when I say, we are no longer together Mitch, I don’t want to be with you.

I know that
since we live in the same town that it is inevitable that we’ll run into one another more often than I’d like but I beg of you, when and if you see me, look the other way. As I will do the same. I hope that happiness finds you Mitch and again, I'm sorry that I was so selfish, forgive me Mitch and then please, for my sake and yours, move on.

Danielle.

Mitch couldn’t believe what he was reading, he had been right. But just in case, he read the letter over and over again until the words began to sink in. How could a love that he thought was so strong be torn apart by what had happened? That bastard Ethan still managed to break us apart. “You got what you wanted fucker,” Mitch cursed. “But you still didn’t get Danielle you son of a bitch, I hope you rot in hell.” Mitch crumpled up the letter and shoved it in the nightstand next to his bed; he was angry and pissed off. Danielle had just broken up with him and she did it via a letter. “She couldn’t even tell me to my fucking face.” He cursed as he hurled the lunch tray onto the ground.

Katelyn was at home sitting at the kitchen table when she decided to test her mother.
She couldn’t possibly be that heartless,
she thought to herself.
I mean she is a woman; surely she’ll have to understand that Danielle loves Mitch and only has his best interests in mind. Hell Mitch loves Danielle just as much, she’s gotta see that. Yeah right, who the hell am I kidding?
Katelyn thought to herself.
If I know mom like I think I do, hell will have to freeze over before she stays out of our lives.

Katelyn knew that she'd accidently left the letter from Danielle on the window sill and now she needed to find out whether or not Mitch had received it or if her mother had discarded it. “Only one way to find out,” she said out loud as she
dialed her mother’s number. “

Hello sweetheart, did you and Tommy get home alright?”

“Yes mom thanks, listen did you find a note on the window sill in Mitch’s room?” Katelyn asked inquisitively. 

“Yes dear I did, I was wondering where it came from,” Gail
put on her most believable concerned voice.

“Well I need you to not open it and
 give it to Mitch.

“Already done sweetheart and of course I wouldn’t open it, give me a little more credit than that my dear daughter,” Gail sighed dishonestly.

“Your right mom, I'm sorry. It’s just that I know that you were a bit harsh with Danielle yesterday and I wanted to kind of smooth things over so I went to see her and that’s when she asked me to give Mitch the letter.”

“I wasn’t a bit harsh honey, I simply told her that
she needn’t worry about seeing Mitch, he’s hurt and he needs his family to take care of him, not some girlfriend of his. Who I might add was the whole reason my son was fighting for his life just days ago. So don’t give me that nonsense about being harsh Katelyn, I know what’s best for Mitch, and Danielle is not what’s best. But yes I gave him the letter and let that be the end of that,” Gail said before saying goodbye to her daughter and hanging up the phone.

Seven weeks later

Several weeks had gone by and Danielle had heard nothing from Mitch, it was as if he’d simply dropped off the face of the earth. When she phoned Katelyn and asked whether or not she delivered the letter, Katelyn assured that she had and that she was sure Mitch would respond, but Danielle told her that he had not. “I'm sure that he will Danielle,” Katelyn tried to reassure her. “He’s feeling much better now and I know for a fact that he’s going back to his home Danielle, maybe you should try to reach him there.”

“I don’t know Katelyn, maybe this is his way of breaking things off with me, I mean if he read my letter and hasn’t responded by now then I'm afraid that all hope is lost. Nothing I can do now but try and move on. It’s been a very difficult few weeks and I
still think about him each and every day,” she cried. “I know you have Danielle, but just try and be patient a little while longer, I know that he loves you just as much as you love him. Now that Ethan is dead and gone try and get back to your life, have you found a place yet or are you still staying with your friends Shayla and Jason?”

“No, I'm no longer at their place, I invaded their space for way too long although they would never admit it,” Danielle chuckled.

“I’ve moved into the cottage at Victoria and Joe's place, it’s private enough and there’s plenty of room for me, myself and I,” she tried to joke.

“Oh Danielle I am so sorry that all of this happened, but they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I just know that everything will work out
, it really will,” she said with genuine sincerity.

“My brother loves you to no end, everything will be alright you’ll see.”

“I hope your right Katelyn, I hope your right.”