by Nikki Rome
“Thank you,” Christy responded, and the nurse walked away.
With a sad smile she looked up at Mac, turned the handle of the door and walked inside. She heard the machines before she saw him. The nurses had pulled a curtain half closed around his bed, but the sound of the monitors set her nerves on edge as soon as she entered the room. The sounds were reminiscent of what she heard for days while she lay in a hospital bed recovering. Flashes of the horrific memories of her past were flooding her. Reminding herself that she was safe, she took a step forward around the curtain.
His eyes were closed, and he looked peaceful. He held his bandaged arm close to his body, and he seemed to have a monitor on his finger. He was hooked up to oxygen and looked a bit pale. The tears came to her eyes faster than she could wipe them away. Guilt and anger overwhelmed her at being the cause of his pain. Her past was still haunting her all this time later, but now it endangered the man she loved. She had planned to just look in on him, see for herself he was okay and leave. But the desire to touch him pulled her forward.
She approached the bed and as she neared, his eyes opened. He looked confused at first but recovered fast, clearing his throat as he tried to sit up straighter. Grunting with pain, he pushed himself upright with his good arm and reached for her hand.
“Come here, sweetie,” he said to her in a quiet voice.
She stepped forward and got just close enough for him to grab her hand. The second his skin touched hers, the tears began again. Uncontrollable sadness came over her as the pain tore through her chest.
He pulled her to him, forcing her closer. “Hey now, come here. I promise you; this looks way worse than it is,” he said in a soothing voice.
She just nodded her head, unable to trust her own voice. He dropped her hand and reached up for her cheek. As his hand caressed her, she leaned into him, loving his touch and the reassurance he would be okay.
“Here, come sit with me,” he said as he eased to the side so there was room on the bed for her to sit.
Wiping her face, she sat carefully next to him; he reached his arm around her and pulled it to his chest. “Sweetie, I’m fine. My biggest concern is for you and your safety. Are you here alone?”
She cleared her throat, “No. Mike sent Mac up with me. He’s outside the door, everyone else is downstairs.”
“Okay, listen to me. I will need to talk to Mike. I need to know how this happened and until I do, I don’t want you going anywhere. You will stay with me, understand?”
“Jason, I can’t stay here. They won’t let me.”
“Yes, they will. I told them you are my wife and now my healthcare proxy. I should be out of here within a couple hours. I already asked to speak with the doctor about getting released.”
“Jason, you can’t!” she exclaimed. The thought of him leaving was terrifying. What if something happened to him? This was just too much. She stood, backing away from him. “No. No, you cannot leave tonight. Tell me you won’t Jason.”
Her breathing was picking up and her eyes darted around the room. He needed to touch her, to reassure her everything would be fine. He reached up for the oxygen around his head and pulled it off. Next was the damn monitor on his finger, which immediately started beeping. He reached forward and pushed the power button to turn the blaring machine off. Grunting, he pushed himself up so he could get out of the bed and get to his woman.
“What are you doing?” she said as she snapped out of the trance she was in while staring at him. She rushed forward and put her hand on his chest, stopping him from getting up. Jason didn’t mind because it brought her closer to him. With his good arm, he reached around her and pulled her tightly to him. He was one arm down, but his strength kept her close. She pulled in a breath and stood there stiffly between his legs as he sat on the side of his bed. He held her to him until he felt her body relax. He leaned towards her ear and said, “You’re safe now. I promise I won’t ever let anything like this happen again.” She nodded at his words. “I love you, Christy, more than anything in the world. I’m so sorry I let this happen.”
It could have been minutes, but it felt like hours before she had calmed enough to pull herself from his embrace. She could see the strain in his eyes, he must have been in pain and she was making everything worse. Knowing she had to pull herself together, she stepped away from him and pulled a chair to the side of the bed.
“I’m sorry. Will you stay? Please?” she said as she sat down.
He sighed. “If it will make you feel better for me to stay, then I will.”
“Okay,” she said.
Something still felt off. Christy sat in the chair fiddling with the zipper on her purse, her leg kept bouncing and she was trying to avoid eye contact with him. He pulled his legs back up onto the bed and leaned back. He had a massive headache, but the last thing he wanted was for her to realize that. After all the progress she had been making in dealing with her past trauma, this was an enormous setback. He needed to talk to Mike, but he needed to make sure she was okay. A call to her therapist was first on his list of things to do. He had no idea where his phone was, and he was beyond tired. It would have to wait until the morning. He could see the exhaustion in her eyes. They had been through too much tonight.
“I love you Christy,” he said, reaching out until she put her hand in his, “I love you more than anything else in this world.” Then he closed his eyes and gave in to the exhaustion.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jason awoke with a start. Something didn’t feel right, and he realized what it was the second he turned to the chair beside his bed. Rather than seeing Christy sitting there, he saw a piece of paper with her ring sitting next to it. The pain in his chest had nothing to do with his injuries. The absence of her from the hospital room wasn’t by accident. She had left him. He had slept way too long. It terrified him that she was out there on her own. Jason pulled himself up into a sitting position, groaning with the pain in his head. He needed to get his clothes and get the fuck out of this place. He needed to find his girl.
Jason placed his feet on the ground, and with his good arm pushed himself into a standing position. His head was spinning because of his damn concussion, but he didn’t care. There was no way his men had left him alone, so he just needed to get to one of them and find out where she went. He reached down to place his hand on the seat she had been in to find it cold to the touch. He picked up the piece of paper, unfolded it and read what it had to say.
Jason,
I’m so sorry for all the stress I have brought into your life. It’s unfair for me to expect you to continue to put yourself, your firm and your men in danger. Your business is very important to you, and the distractions I cause can only hurt what you have built. You deserve so much more than I could ever give. My past will always follow me and I can’t risk anyone else.
I will always love you,
Christy
Crumbling the letter, he threw it across the room and picked up her ring. Tears stung his eyes and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this way. The thought that he’d lost her again was unbearable. He was drowning in feelings of failure, the same feelings from his past. Once again he’d let her down, he didn’t keep her safe. The fear in Christy’s eyes last night was so apparent. He believed in his soul that she loved him, and she needed his strength to get through this too. Her fear overwhelmed her, and she did the only thing she knew. She ran. Jason would search the ends of the earth to bring her back to him. He wouldn’t make the same mistake he made as a kid, he wouldn’t sit back and wait to see if she came back. He was going on the offensive this time. He would fight hard enough for the both of them.
Jason yanked the remaining leads from his body, disconnecting himself from the medical equipment that was keeping him hostage, and went to the bathroom, while ignoring the alarms that rang. There on a shelf he found a clear plastic bag with his belongings. His phone was dead. With some effort he pulled off his hospital gown and pulled on his dress slacks; h
is shirt and undershirt were both cut to shreds so those wouldn’t work. He slipped on his shoes and opened the door to the bathroom to find a panicked nurse staring at him.
“I have to leave,” he said while pushing past her.
“But you can’t!” she insisted.
“Then find me someone who says I can.”
He stepped around the startled nurse and walked out the door of his hospital room. Sure enough, a new guy from the firm was standing out front.
“Where is she?” he grunted more than asked.
“Who, sir?” the young kid responded as if he did not understand what Jason was talking about.
“Christy. When did she leave?”
“I don’t know, sir; I just came on about twenty minutes ago. No one has come or gone from your room since.”
“Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair, frustration reaching an all-time high. “Give me your phone… and your shirt. I need to leave.”
The newbie looked dubious but followed orders. He handed Jason his phone first, then pulled his shirt up over his head, leaving him standing there in nothing but a tank top and a bulletproof vest.
“I need your keys; I’ll send someone from the office to pick you up.” Jason barked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Should I assume the car is out front?”
“Yes sir, Mike told me to leave it by the valet and tell them it had to stay there.”
“Good. Thanks.”
Jason turned to leave, but an angry-looking doctor blocked his way. Clearly the nurse had called for help and he could tell by the look on the doctor’s face she wasn’t in the mood for his issues but he didn’t care, he wasn’t in the mood to argue with her either.
“Where do you think you are going?” she spat.
“I have to leave; something has come up.”
“You will leave when we release you, not when you decide it’s necessary. They scheduled a scan for this morning to ensure you don’t have any bleeding.”
“I said I have to leave; I will schedule a follow up with my primary doctor.” Jason tried to push past her. She was surprisingly forceful in her refusal to budge for such a small woman.
“You, sir, are not leaving this hospital without signing the appropriate forms. I will not risk my career for some jarhead who thinks he knows more about medicine then I do,” she said, pushing her finger into his chest to annunciate each word.
A nurse came running up behind her with a clipboard and paperwork. Jason looked down; they already had everything filled out, it was like they expected this. He raised his eyebrows, annoyed at the angry little doctor in front of him.
“I have encountered quite a few men like you in my past career, and it taught me to always be prepared,” she said to him with resignation. “When you sign these papers, you agree that you are leaving this hospital against medical advice. If you worsen your injuries, we are not liable.”
It was then that he noticed the medallion she wore around her neck. She was former military, and that made him feel as if she would both understand his need, but also not put up with his shit. Women in the military, especially those in medicine, weren’t people the average marine like him would want to mess with. They were as caring as they were ruthless.
“I’m sorry ma'am, didn’t mean to upset you, but I have an urgent matter to attend to.” He signed the forms while the nurse held the clipboard and then stepped around the two women and headed out the double doors that lead to the elevator.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jason was beside himself with worry. It had been seventy-two hours since Christy left the hospital and left him. There wasn’t a note or a call, nothing. She disappeared into thin air. According to Mike, the guard they posted at night had reported that Christy told him she was heading home to get some rest. He had said he would call for someone to get her, but she held up her phone in her hand saying she had just talked to Mike and he was waiting for her downstairs. He had no reason not to believe her, but that didn’t stop Jason from wanting to tear him apart. He should have been more proactive and double checked her story.
With some persuasion, the security team from the hospital allowed them to view surveillance tapes. His heart broke as he watched her walk past the guard and throw her phone into the garbage near the elevator before entering. He watched as she walked down the corridors and avoided the waiting area where Mike would have seen her. Then he saw as she approached the valet counter and a guy raised his hand to hail a cab that pulled up and drove off with her.
Jason had people everywhere trying to find her. Some of his guys were watching their building, others watching her old apartment, and one last team was digging into everything they could find on her best friend Frances. He still had people staking out Devon’s family, but nothing had popped up. His IT team was tracking her credit cards and email addresses, but his girl was smart. There wasn’t a trace of her. As each hour went by his anxiety increased. He knew why she left; she didn’t need to tell him. He saw it in her eyes at the hospital; what happened to him had scared her, and she was blaming herself. He had slept little, but when he did, he’d have nightmares of a life without her.
A call to her therapist helped him process some of what she was going through. But that wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t let her be out there by herself, not knowing where she was or if she was okay.
“Boss.” Mike’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Ya.”
“I think we might have something.”
Relief drowned out the fear for a second before he realized this may not even be a viable lead. “What is it?”
“There was an email with a resignation letter sent to her employer today. It wasn’t her regular email. It looks like an account she set up this morning and the only thing she sent from it was the letter.”
“Were you able to trace it?”
“We were, I have the address. She signed in on a computer at the local library.”
“Let’s go.” he said, pushing up from his desk and heading toward his door.
They were downstairs in the car in record time. Mike drove. As he sat in the passenger seat with his knee bouncing as fast as his heart was racing, he couldn't help but think he was close to finding her. It had been only a few days, but it felt like forever. He thought if he could just find her and convince her to come back, he would do everything in his power to ensure that he never lost her again. As they approached the library, the car had barely come to a stop before Jason had the door open and was running inside. Mike hollered for him to slow down but he couldn't wait; if she was still there, he had to get to her.
His eyes scanned the computer area. Disappointment flooded him when he didn't see her black hair popping up behind one of the monitors. He reached for the pain in his chest that hit him when he realized he had missed her. When he turned back around to exit, he saw Mike standing at the front talking to a woman at the desk. He was holding his phone out asking if she had seen Christy. Jason came up behind him to hear her say she that she had just left. He was so close. This was absolute torture. The emotional highs and lows over the last few days would kill him if they kept up.
“Did you see what direction she went in when she left? Was she driving a car or walking?” Mike asked.
“She was walking, in fact it looked like she headed towards the bus stop across the street.”
Mike pushed through the glass doors with Jason quick on his heels. They looked right and left and saw the bus stop just across the street. There was a woman standing there. Mike looked over at Jason, “Listen dude, you need to pull yourself together. If she sees you like this, it’s not going to help you get her back.”
“That's her, isn't it?” he asked quietly, afraid that he was just seeing things.
“Yeah, that's her.”
Jason took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. He started walking in the bus stop’s direction but stopped as soon as he felt Mike's hand on his shoulder.
“If
you walk up towards her and she gets frightened, she will run. Let's get in the car and I'll pull around the side. We need to be smart about this.”
Mike had an uncanny gift for reading people. He had enough experience with trauma; he seemed to understand things in a way that Jason just didn't. They turned towards the SUV, got inside and drove across the street to where she was standing. Jason wanted to jump out of the car and pull her into his arms. He wanted to do anything he could to ensure that she would come home with him, but he knew that if he wasn't careful, he could ruin everything. As Mike slowed in front of the bus stop, the cars behind him began beeping their horns. He put the blinker on, showing that he would be there for a minute. Instead of getting out of the car, he looked at Jason and said, “This is all you, man.”
He had found her. Christy watched as the door to a black SUV opened and out stepped Jason. Closing the door behind him, he took a step closer to her but kept a safe distance. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, weighing her options, but knowing she was out of luck. He looked remarkably well considering he was laying in a hospital bed the last time she saw him. The days flew by and while she planned to leave the city, she knew her time was limited. One thing she had learned about Jason since they'd been back together was that the man had a far reach. Years of owning his security company provided him with the knowledge he needed to find just about anyone, just about anywhere. She had been careful, but deep down she knew she should have left town days ago.
“Are you going somewhere?” he asked.
“How did you… how did you find me already?”
“The email you sent to your boss.”
“I knew that was a mistake.” She looked down as she responded. The defeated look that had come over her shook him.
“Why did you leave me, Christy?” She said nothing, so he took a step closer, careful not to touch her. “Can you come home so we can talk?”