It was about halfway through lunch when the room got notably quieter. I wasn’t pay attention to much else other than Aubry because I’m an obsessed psycho. However, it was when something caught her attention and her facial expression changed drastically, that I finally looked up.
When I saw what she was looking at, my blood went cold. It was that bastard. I didn’t even need to ask. James. That fucker hurt her.
If we thought that Aubry looked bad, it was nothing compared to him. His face was almost all completely black and blue. His nose was obviously broken, his lips were busted all over, and he was limping. He was staring at her with a murderous look in his eye. I would have felt pride in her utter beatdown of him if I hadn’t wanted to kill him badly.
She finally broke the eye contact with him, only to look over at me. She blinked at me a few times, and she didn’t even give me a chance to speak.
She saw me open my mouth and then just got up from the table and left.
I practically growled when I got up to follow her.
Brandon followed suit right after me. “Be back in a few,” he called over his shoulder to my sister as we caught up to the injured girl in the hall.
“Aubry!” I called to her loudly as she made a turn to another hallway. “Aubry, stop!” I said, touching her arm softly.
She stopped abruptly and heaved a sigh when she turned to me.
“It was him,” I stated it; it wasn’t a question.
“Aiden, I—” she started but sighed. “Yes, but it’s okay, I’m fi—”
“Do not say you are fucking fine! You most certainly are not fine, and it’s not okay,” I said loudly. “What exactly happened?” I asked, trying to figure out how the hell he got ahold of her in such a short amount of time over the night.
She hesitated. For a second, I thought that she wasn’t going to answer me, but she sighed and began talking after a moment. “He was following us. When you dropped me off, when I got out of the truck, when you drove away. He was there watching me. He saw you drive down the road, and I wasn’t paying attention like I should have been. I was being an idiot.” She sighed. “He caught me off guard and attacked me. Basically, we just got into a huge brawl.” She shrugged and swallowed uncomfortably. “He didn’t expect me to know how to fight, so he was in way over his head. Eventually, I was able to hit him enough to get away from him.”
I stared at her with anger on my face.
“So yeah . . . that was pretty much it. Besides the fact that he ripped my big jacket, but other than that I’m okay. I’ll heal. I’m fine. Besides did you see him? I did a whole lot more damage to him than he did to me.”
While it was true that she obviously beat the shit out of him, it didn’t make me any less mad. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him. She shouldn’t have even been put into that situation in the first place. I should have watched and made sure she made it all the way into her house before driving away. I was an idiot.
I specifically told him to stay away from Aubry. It wasn’t over. It was far from over.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her while looking into her deep green eyes.
“I knew you’d go after him. That’s going to do nothing but get you into trouble.” I sighed at her answer, but she continued talking, “I don’t want you to do that, not for me. I’m not worth you getting into trouble. Like I said, I already took care of it. So, can we drop it, please?”
Not worth it? Did she really say that? Did she really think that? I didn’t give a damn if I got in trouble. Hell, I didn’t even care if I get thrown in jail. That bastard deserved whatever the hell I was going to do to him!
“Aiden, think about this before you do anything,” Brandon started.
“The more you defend her and tell him to stay away from her, the more James is going to try and make you mad. The more James is going to go after her. Look, I agree with you. James deserves to get his ass handed to him for even thinking about doing something to Aubry. However, the more you tell him ‘no,’ the more he’s going to want her,” Brandon said, sounding fucking rational.
“He can’t do anything to her if he’s dead,” I said childishly while crossing my arms.
Brandon gave me a stern look.
I was pissed, partially because Brandon was right and because I didn’t want to care if he was right or not. I knew I needed to listen to him though, not for me, for her. I sighed deeply. “Okay fine but tell me if he even looks at you wrong,” I said, staring at her.
She looked at me blankly for a minute.
“Aubry, promise?” I asked, softly touching the long bruise on the side of her face very gently.
“I promise.”
***
“Well . . . They’re not broken, just really swollen and bruised. You need to let them rest. I’d say at least for today and tomorrow. I’d say longer, but I know you,” Tommy said sternly. Everyone knew to listen to stern Thomas.
“You need rest and lots of it. Your ribs are becoming more bruised and swollen by the day, and you need to not hit anything with your knuckles for at least a couple of days.”
She sighed heavily but nodded in agreement.
“Why don’t you just go home for today? You need some sleep, Aub. Besides, we’re leaving early today anyways, remember? Mom is making a special dinner for Chris’s last day of visiting since he’s leaving tonight,” I said, foolishly hopeful that she’d heed my advice.
“Well, is it okay if I just hang around for a little bit? I’m supposed to meet my dad at five for dinner at that little diner anyways. I’ll just leave when y’all do.”
“Oh, well then yeah . . . that’s fine,” I stammered.
I was a little disappointed that she had plans. I was going to invite her over for dinner, especially since I was taking Chris to the bus station so late that night. My mom was going to let me stay home from school the next day, and me, being the psycho that I am, didn’t want to go so long without seeing her. I was turning into a clingy weirdo!
I cleared my throat awkwardly and then left the room. I went and trained by myself that day. Since it was the new year, it was officially time for me to start training seriously once again. My off-season was almost over.
It was four-thirty by the time we got everyone out. My mom wanted us home by five, so we were making excellent time. I was proud of us. Usually at least one of our dumbasses made us all late. My mother was going to be impressed!
Truly it was Aubry that helped us, though. She was effective at telling people to leave. She gave them no room to complain about it, too. With all of us, we didn’t want to upset out patrons so we tried to be nice about it which usually blew up in our faces. Aubry, on the other hand, wasn’t rude per se; just firm.
Aubry walked out of the locker room in light grey sweatpants, her big winter jacket with a tear in the right arm, a black beanie, and her regular backpack.
“Y’all ready?” she asked nicely.
We all nodded and followed her out. As soon as she stepped out, she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Oh look! It’s snowing!” Brandon said gleefully.
Aubry’s face went pale as she looked up to the sky. “Yeah . . . snowing.”
“You don’t like the snow?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “It’s very beautiful.” She sighed and then forced that fake smile of hers out. “Alright . . . Bye guys.”
“Come on, lover boy,” Tommy said and dragged me to my truck. I sighed but followed him reluctantly. I really wanted to know what that was all about. I would just have to archive it in the mysteries of Aubry.
I pulled away from the gym, and just as we were passing her, she was making it to the diner. She smiled widely and gave us a wave. I turned the corner and then she was out of sight.
I already missed her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Make Yourself at Home
My eyes were feeling heavy, and I kept yawning. The clock read 11:50 PM. I suppose that the late nights with no sleep were sta
rting to catch up on me. I slowly parked my truck in the bus station parking lot.
“Chris, why did you have to get a bus ride this late? Fifteen-past midnight? Really Christopher? Unnecessary!” I groaned loudly and yawned once again.
Of course, Chris just laughed loudly at me. “Oh stop complaining, Aiden! You should be thanking me! I got you out of going to school tomorrow, so shut up! Though, I do know that you need your beauty sleep. You don’t come by your looks so naturally like me, and P.S. the later bus was a hundred bucks cheaper.” He continued to laugh at me.
I rolled my eyes and sighed at his words. Before, I would have been really happy to stay home from prison, I mean school. I would be able to sleep late, stay in my pajamas, and nap all day long. However, none of that really came to mind any longer. All I could think about was not seeing Aubry all day long.
My growing infatuation was quite ridiculous. It was getting out of control in all honesty. It was clear that I needed to work on it. Maybe the day away from her would be a good thing. Give me time to clear out my head.
“Okay, well . . . I guess I’ll see you later then, buddy,” Chris said awkwardly while turning around to get his bags.
“Don’t be silly! I’ll at least walk you to the door. I don’t want you to slip on the ice and break a hip or something like the little old man that you are,” I said, laughing as he rolled his eyes.
“Who are you calling old, punk? I’m way better than you.” He laughed heartily. “Where’d you think you got your good looks from? Obviously, it’s your sexy uncle that all of the ladies want,” he said jovially while getting out of the truck, making me shake my head laughing.
The temperature was well below freezing, and we were getting one of the few bits of snowfall that we’d see that year. The snow was coating the ground in a white blanket. Aubry had been right earlier that day, the snow really was such a beautiful thing.
Chris and I made our way up to the door of the pretty abandoned bus station. Hardly anyone was there besides the employees and us, maybe just another patron or two. There was also a noticeable person laying curled up under their jacket in a heap on one of the concrete benches that were scattered sporadically around the walkway.
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why the person wasn’t inside. They would freeze out on one of the cold benches. There wasn’t even hardly any wind block in the walkway. Not only was it below freezing, but the falling snow was quickly turning into an actual storm. Meaning that the wind was beginning to whip and was even starting to blow some of the snow in under the awning.
I made out the sign that was taped on the door in large bold letters: NO HOMELESS ALLOWED.
We were quickly approaching nearer to the person, and I felt so compelled to help them. How was the person going to survive? Why couldn’t they just let them in?! There was hardly anyone even in the station!
“Aw, that poor person . . .” my uncle said with pity. “I don’t know how they are withstanding this freezing weather,” Chris said as we walked by. “Especially with a torn jacket.”
Wait, a torn jacket?
I don’t know what compelled me to turn back around to look—probably the fact that I was going crazy and making my whole life about Aubry. I turned back around to look at the small, presumably homeless person. I sucked in a sharp breath when I realized that the jacket looked just like Aubry’s, right down to the recent tear.
“Aid, come on . . . leave them alone.” Chris was chastising.
A heavy sinking feeling began in my chest.
I already had a bad feeling, but this made it ten times worse. It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t!
I had to satiate my fears. I couldn’t just walk away. What if, what if, what if . . . it was her?
I walked up to the bench that the person was laying on despite my uncle’s loud protests. I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to look. Something in my brain wasn’t letting me stop.
I had to make sure that it wasn’t her.
Please don’t let it be her.
I held my breath as I gently pulled the coat from their face.
My whole word stopped in that moment.
It was her!
She was shivering violently, her skin was pale and icy, she was slightly damp, and her eyes were pretty much closed. I felt tears of panic come to my eyes.
I felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when I could feel the pumping underneath my fingers. She was alive! Thank God!
“Aiden!” Chris’s voice finally registered in my mind. “Aiden!” His voice was closer and louder than before. “Aid—” His voice stopped short when he caught sight of her face.
“Aubry, wake up! Wake up! Wake up, please!” I said, shaking her slightly.
She was unresponsive.
“Fuck!” Chris exclaimed loudly. “Get her to your mom! Your house is much closer than the hospital, and your mom will know what to do.”
I took a few deep breaths and nodded at his rational reasoning.
“I’ll call her and tell her what to expect! I think she’s in the early stages of hypothermia,” Chris said, putting his hand on her cheek and then pulling it away. He looked around frantically. “Go on now, help your girl.”
I wrapped my own jacket around her and picked her up as gently as I could.
“Try not to shake her around too much. You’ll never know what else is wrong with her. Quickly now, Aiden, go.”
I did as I was told and got her home in record timing.
My mom was waiting by the door for us. Aubry was still shaking and whimpering in my arms. Her eyes had fluttered every now and then, but were never focused on anything around her.
She had to be okay.
“Put her on the couch,” my mom said in a no nonsense tone. She was rushing around the living room hastily as she got everything ready. “Now leave. Get out. I’ll tell you when you can come back.”
“Mom, no I—” I started, but she cut me off before I could get anymore out.
“Aiden, I do not have time to argue with you. Leave. Go make some hot chocolate for her when she wakes up.”
Her voice was one that I knew not to argue with, so I simply nodded and did as she said.
***
Aubry
The last thing I could remember was the cold, the freezing and bitter cold. I could remember my violent shivers as I laid on the concrete bench after one of the workers kicked me out of the bus station.
The cold was freezing me, then there was nothing.
It wasn’t the nothing like after you get too drunk and pass out. No, this nothing was literally nothing. I couldn’t remember a single thing.
Was I dead? No, it wasn’t the sweet release of death. I was still in too much pain to be dead. My whole body was killing me.
Although, I was no longer freezing.
What was going on? What happened?
After much deliberation, I finally pried my eyes open slowly. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to see the predicament that I had gotten myself into. I was not usually very lucky, so there was no telling what mess I created for myself.
That being said, I was no longer painfully cold, so that was good.
When my eyes finally focused, I realized that I was in a house. Not just any house but Aiden’s house. I recognized it immediately. At that point, I was sorely confused. How the hell did I end up at Aiden’s?
I took a much-needed deep breath and ignored the pain that resonated within me through my ribs. Aiden’s scent surrounded me making me smile slightly. I just wished that it were the way that I woke up all the time, life could possibly be bearable then. He was the reason that I believed life could be worth living. Him and his family made me remember that people could be good, despite the tragedies.
I tried to sit up, but I immediately groaned and couldn’t move at all. I was still all over.
“Aubry? Are you awake?!”
I softly hummed in response.
“Yes! Finally! Thank you, God!” Aiden br
eathed out in relief standing up and kneeling down next to the couch. He gazed into my eyes and stroked my cheek very softly. His blue eyes bore into mine, not letting me look away, they were completely captivating.
“Mom! She’s awake!” he yelled down the hallway.
I finally looked away from his eyes and looked down at my body. The warmth from the plethora of blankets that I had on me was so extremely nice compared to the hellish night that I had. I quickly realized that the sweatshirt I was dressed in was certainly not mine and the way too loose pants that were also on me were definitely not mine either.
I felt panic rush through me as I realized that someone had to have changed me.
“Well good morning Aubry! Well, actually, I should say good afternoon!” Dana joked as she walked to me with a warm smile.
Was it really already afternoon? But I was still so tired.
She turned to Aiden as she took the stethoscope from around her neck. “Aiden, now that she is awake, can you please go to your room and at least try to get some sleep?”
“Seriously mom?! No! She just woke up, please let me—”
Dana cut him off quickly, giving him a stern look. “And she will be here when you wake up. You look exhausted. This medical exam is going to take a little bit, and you definitely can’t be in here during it. So son, go lay down and try to take a nap.”
Aiden looked at me, and I tried to give him an encouraging smile to do what his mom said. Truthfully, I didn’t want to let him out of my sight. When he leaves is when the bad things happen to me. However, I also didn’t exactly want him to be there for my medical exam.
He sighed and nodded, knowing that his mom wasn’t going to budge. “Okay, I suppose I’ll try.” He began to walk out of the living room but stopped at the door.
“Aubry, I am so glad that you are okay. You really scared me last night.” He then sighed.
I watched him disappear from my line of sight. I was confused as to how Aiden had even gotten involved in my night.
Fighting For Life Page 31