I looked down and saw the fear in her eyes. “Angie?” I tilted her face up to mine.
She shook her head at me. She knew what this was about and she wasn’t ready to face it yet. She had been through so much in the last few days that I just wanted to throttle this cop for adding more shit to her plate. But I knew he was just doing his job.
“Angie, we’ll get through this together, whatever it is,” I promised, wiping away her tears.
She nodded and slowly turned her head back to the cops. They both at least had enough grace to look guilty for bringing up her father now.
“Angelina, I was trying to get in touch with you yesterday. Your father’s court date has been set for next Tuesday. Right now he is pleading not guilty, so the Prosecutor may need you to answer some questions. However, your father may see you in the court room and change his plea.”
When Angie only nodded, he walked over and put his hand over hers in a gesture of comfort. “I’m sorry I had to do this to you today. I’m glad to see that you have an amazing support system.”
She wiped the tears from her face. “They’re the best.”
“You have my number, so if you need anything, please call me,” he offered.
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
“You’re welcome,” he said, giving both of us a quick nod and walking out the door.
I could tell Angie was still shaken by everything, so I lay her down and just held her. I could feel her shoulders shaking with her silent tears. “Shh, baby. Everything will be okay, I promise.”
I continued to rub little circles on her back, trying to calm her down. We were quiet for a long time while she processed everything, but after some time I felt her breathing even out and I knew she had fallen asleep. I didn’t want to leave her, so I decided to close my eyes for a few minutes.
I felt something lightly brush my forehead. I slowly opened my eyes to see Angie staring up at me. I wondered how long I had been asleep. I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, my other one was still wrapped around Angie.
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked groggily.
She picked her cell phone up off of the table. “About two hours.”
I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Feeling better?”
She sighed, “I’m still scared to face him, but I know you won’t let me do it alone. If you’re there everything will be okay.”
I kissed her quickly on the lips. “I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”
She smiled at me and cuddled in closer. If we weren’t in the hospital, this would be perfect.
A few hours later, Emily came back with clothes and some other stuff for Angie. Since she had to stay in the hospital for the next few days, I was going to spend every moment with her. The hospital staff wouldn’t let me spend the night, so I planned on going home when visiting hours were over and coming back first thing in the morning. I’d already talked to my professors about missing class for the next few days. Surprisingly enough, most of them had heard what happened and were really understanding.
Throughout the week, Angie had tons of visitors. Her room was full of flowers and ‘Get Well’ cards. She sat and talked to everyone. But by Sunday, Angie was more than ready to get out of the hospital. She was getting cranky. She was trying to be as nice as possible to everyone—that was just Angie—but I could tell her patience was wearing thin.
“Ugh, if I don’t get to go home today, I am going to lose my fucking mind,” she groaned.
I shook my head, as I held her hand. “Have some faith. I think today’s the day.”
“It better be,” she huffed, and all I could do was laugh, which turned out to be the wrong thing to do. If looks could kill, I’d have been bleeding on the ground.
Thankfully, Dr. Peterson came in a few minutes later. “Good Morning.”
“Hi, Dr. Peterson. Please tell me I can go home to today,” Angie said, looking hopeful.
“Well first, I want to see how your sutures look and run a few blood tests. If everything looks good, I see no reason you can’t go home today,” he smiled.
Dr. Peterson went over to Angie and lifted her shirt to reveal the cut on the left side of her stomach. I still cringed when I saw it, as I thought of what might have happened. He finished examining her sutures. “Everything looks good. I’m going to have the nurse take some blood, but it shouldn’t take more than a few hours to analyze it. Sound good?”
She let out a relieved breath. “Sounds perfect.”
After Dr. Peterson left the room, I took her hand in mine. “See, all it takes is a positive attitude.”
“Yeah, this coming from the guy who has slept in his own bed every night this week,” she pouted.
I ran my thumb across her bottom lip. “My bed’s not comfortable unless you’re in it with me. Besides, you aren’t staying in your own bed for a while.”
She kissed the pad of my thumb. “True, but your bed feels like mine.”
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. How had I gotten so lucky? I leaned into kiss her as Emily walked in, followed by Josh.
“Would you two give it a rest,” she whined.
Angie pulled away. “Really Em?” She turned to Josh, “Hey Josh, how’s the head?”
“Better than it was, I haven’t had a headache today,” he said.
She smiled. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He smiled back. “I could say the same thing about you.”
Emily put her hands on her hips. “If you guys are done being all mushy, we stopped and grabbed us all some lunch—after we packed up stuff for Angie for the next few weeks.”
“You guys didn’t have to do that.”
Emily rolled her eyes, “Right, and have Mr. Overprotective here, bitch about you having to do it yourself? I don’t think so.”
She turned to direct her glare at me. Oh shit, here we go. “And you,” she said pointing at me. “Better realize that you are gonna have to put up with us coming over all the time. You’re not going to keep her from me, just so we’re clear.”
I knew better than to cross Emily—she still scared the shit out of me. I knew I wasn’t the only one when I saw the look on Josh’s face. “Emily, you can come over anytime you want, but there is no way I am letting her out of my sight.”
She shook her head, but smiled. “I know.”
“What did you guys bring for lunch? I’m starving.” Angie asked.
“Cheesesteaks, if that’s okay with you?” Emily replied.
“Oh, Em, I love you. Did you get me the chicken cheesesteak with honey mustard?” Angie almost screeched.
“Of course,” Emily pretended to be offended.
Angie rolled her eyes. “Just give me the damn sandwich.”
I had to hide my laughter otherwise Angie may have actually hurt me. It was hilarious to see her like this. Besides I knew she would calm down when she got the hell out of the hospital. I couldn’t wait for her to be out of there either. I wanted her next to me in my bed. I knew that there wouldn’t be any fooling around for a few weeks, but just having her in my arms was enough for me.
The food was enough of a distraction that she didn’t notice the time passing and was surprised when Dr. Peterson came back to her room. “Well Angie, I have good news. We can let you go today.”
“Awesome,” she practically jumped out of the bed.
“Remember, you are going home with restrictions. First, no strenuous activity—you may go to class tomorrow, but no lifting or exercising of any kind. Second, you need to come back next Tuesday to have your sutures removed. If it’s easier, you can make an appointment with my office and we can do it there.” He turned to me. “Caleb, you’re to come with her and I’ll remove yours as well. Also, I expect you to take excellent care of her. Don’t let her do anything strenuous,” he reminded me.
“I won’t,” I said, giving Angie a pointed look, knowing full well she was going to try and do more than she should. That was part of the r
eason I wanted her to stay with me. The other part was that we’d wasted enough time, and I wanted to make up for every lost minute.
He shook both mine and Angie’s hand. “I’ll get the nurse to bring the paperwork. Once everything is signed, you guys can get out of here. Caleb, tell your father he needs to visit more often.”
“I will.” I smiled, Angie’s happiness was contagious. While Josh cleaned up lunch, and Emily and Angie packed up her stuff, I called my parents to let them know we would be leaving soon.
I looked around the room. “How are we going to get all of these flowers back to the apartment?”
“Oh, I’m leaving them here. The nurses said they could deliver them to patients who didn’t have any,” she said.
I walked over and pulled her into my arms. “You’re amazing, you know that right?”
She giggled and kissed me on the cheek. A few minutes later the nurse brought in the necessary paperwork for Angie to sign. Once she finished filling out the forms and the nurse went over the restrictions to her activities again, we were on our way out the door. Angie was frustrated that they wouldn’t let her walk out, but I reminded her she only had to wait a few more minutes and then she would be free.
I pulled my car up out front—Emily and Josh were going to meet us at the apartment. I was starting to get a little nervous. I was worried about Angie’s reaction to being back where it all happened. Josh and my dad had made sure everything was cleaned up and that there were no bloodstains left. Slowly, I helped her into the car. I knew she didn’t need it, but I wanted to.
The ride back to the apartment was short, but I had a surprise waiting for her so it seemed to take forever. When we pulled into the parking lot, I threw the car in park and ran around the front to her side of the car. I opened the door, and held out my hand to her.
“You know that I can get out of the car without help, right?” she laughed.
I pulled her hand to my lips. “Absolutely, but what fun would that be. I’ll come down and grab your bags later.”
She looked confused “Okay…”
“I have something for you in the apartment, and I can’t wait for you to see.”
She smiled. “Like what?”
“Well let’s go in and find out.”
She nodded and started to head inside with Emily and Josh right behind. When she opened the door I could see everyone inside. There was a huge ‘Welcome Home’ banner, plus Mom and Mrs. Halliday had spent the day making a homemade meal for all of us.
Angie gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She turned to face me. “You did this all for me?”
When I nodded, she wrapped her arms around my waist and whispered in my ear. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Now come on, dinner should be ready,” I said putting my hand on the small of her back and leading her into the apartment.
Mom walked up and wrapped Angie in a hug. “We’re so glad you are home sweetie. Are you hungry?”
“Hungry? I’m starved! Hospital food sucks,” she said, before throwing her hand over her mouth and blushing. “Sorry, that slipped out.”
Dad laughed. “No you’d be correct, hospital food does suck.”
I just shook my head at him—always trying to get on the ladies’ good side. Angie walked over to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Halliday while I went to speak to my dad.
“Thank you for having Dr. Peterson take care of Angie,” I smiled gratefully.
He put his arm around my shoulders, “Caleb, I have never seen anyone have this effect on you. Anything I could do to help the woman my son loves, I would do.”
“I love her with all my heart,” I vowed.
“I know, and now it’s your job to take care of her,” he reminded me.
“That’s all I want to do.”
He smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Let’s go eat. Whatever your mother has been making smells amazing.”
Emily’s parents had brought over a folding table and we’d set it up in the living room. Someone had even covered it with a table cloth to make it look nicer, which it did. Mom and Mrs. Halliday had gone all out, making lasagna and stuffed chicken breasts, plus a salad and side dishes. Everything looked amazing. I sat down next to Angie and smiled.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Mr. Halliday stood up and raised his glass. “To Angie, Josh, and Caleb, we’re all glad that everyone is okay. Welcome Home,” he raised his glass in a toast.
“Welcome home,” everyone repeated. Angie blushed again, but recovered quickly.
We quickly dug into the amazing spread before us. It didn’t take long for everyone to eat their fill. Once dinner was over, Josh and I cleared the table while everyone sat and talked. After loading the dishwasher, I went back into the living room and saw Angie yawning. I could see how tired she was, but I knew she wouldn’t go to bed with everyone here, unless I made her.
I walked over to where she was sitting and bent down to whisper in her ear, “Baby, I think you should head to bed.”
She shook her head “I would feel terrible leaving everyone out here when they came for me.”
I put my hand under her elbow to help her up. “I think they’ll understand.”
She still looked unsure, so I decided to take the blame for her going to bed. “Guys, Angie’s had a long day so I’m going to help her get into bed, but I’ll be right back.”
I was afraid she was going to protest when she opened her mouth to speak. Instead she thanked everyone for coming. “Goodnight, everyone. Thank you so much for the wonderful dinner.”
She stopped and gave everyone a hug, before allowing me to lead her down the hallway. Josh had already run out to my car and grabbed Angie’s bags, which he’d put on the floor of my room. I snuck back during dinner to unpack her stuff, so she wouldn’t feel the need to do it before bed.
She looked around. “It feels weird to be here.”
“Good weird or bad weird?” I questioned.
She sunk down onto the bed. “It’s just…a week ago, I never thought I’d be here again.”
I walked up and dropped to my knees in front of her. “I know, I never thought you’d be here again either. But I’m so glad that you are,” I whispered.
She kissed my forehead. “Me too.”
I stood up and grabbed pajamas for her out of my dresser. “Get changed, it’s your bedtime.”
She didn’t move from her spot. “Did you just pull my clothes out of your dresser?”
“Yes,” I answered sheepishly.
“Why?” she demanded.
“Cause I made room for your stuff the other day and unpacked your bags earlier.” I hoped that my answer would have been enough for her, but I should have known that it wouldn’t.
“I’m only here for six weeks, I think I could have survived living out of suitcases,” she replied, a gleam of humor in her eye.
Okay, truth time. I sat down next to her on the bed. “Actually…I was hoping that you would love staying here so much during the next six weeks, that you wouldn’t want to leave.”
Her eyes opened wide. “Are you saying you want me to move in with you?”
“Well, yes and no. I’m hoping you’ll move in with me this summer, but I don’t want to push you. I know you’re supposed to stay with Emily’s parents, but the thought of you being that far away kills me. You don’t need to decide now…just think about it,” I said, kissing her on the nose.
“Come on, it’s time for bed.” I threw her pajamas at her. “Here, you get dressed and I’ll go and get you a glass of water to take your pills.”
I went to the kitchen to get Angie a drink and when I got back to the room, she was already curled up under the blankets. She sat up slightly as I handed her the pills and the water.
She looked so tired. “Take these,” I said handing her the pills. “Then you can sleep.”
She nodded as she swallowed the pills and lay back down. I bent over and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, baby. I’ll come lay with you
in a little bit. I’m going to help get everything cleaned up first.”
She closed her eyes. “Okay. Night Caleb. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I lay there, staring at the ceiling. I’d been awake for about an hour and I was trying to stay as still as possible so I wouldn’t wake Caleb. I’d tossed and turned most of the night, so I knew that he hadn’t managed to get much sleep. Plus, he had been running around taking care of me like he had during spring break—except this time he was even more overprotective. He was afraid to let me do anything. The only thing I was allowed to do on my own was shower which wasn’t very helpful. I was still very stiff and couldn’t really bend down to wash my legs and feet.
I knew he felt guilty about what happened, but it wasn’t his fault. Bryan would have shown up whether or not I’d known about the accident. I was just glad Caleb was trying to overcome his guilt. We both had enough guilt and sorrow to last us a lifetime.
The thought of having to face my father had my stomach churning. I wish he’d just pled guilty so I could’ve moved on with my life. I adjusted my leg a little bit, and felt an arm snake around my waist. I felt comforted, but I felt bad for waking him up.
“Baby, please try and get some sleep.” He sounded groggy, like he was still half asleep.
I looked up to see his eyes still closed. “How long have you been awake?”
“I’ve been up and down all night with you,” he said lightly stroking my side.
“I’m sorry I kept you awake,” I frowned.
“Don’t be. I know you’re worried about today’s hearing, but I really wish you would try and sleep. Your body needs its rest to heal.”
“I know, but I can’t get the look on his face out of my head. I don’t want to have to see him again,” I admitted.
He turned me so I was lying on my right side, facing him. He settled his gaze on mine. “You’ve been through so much in your lifetime—”
I cut him off. “So have you.”
He covered my lips with his finger and started again. “You have been through so much in your lifetime, but I promise you, Angie, you will never have to face any of it alone again. I’ll always be there,” he vowed.
Forgiven (Forgiven Series) Page 25