by Alice Tribue
“Garrett would never hurt her. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You are fucking delusional,” he spits out before he turns his attention back to me.
“We’re on our way there, Max. I’m texting you all of the addresses for the property Garrett’s father owns. Give that to the police immediately.”
“I will.”
It feels like hours that I hang around here doing nothing; endless hours that feel more like days. The number of police officers has grown exponentially; Hannah sits with Colin looking a lot like I feel, a combination of scared and angry. Emelia’s father is trying to get information from anyone who’ll speak to him while her mother looks like this is all just a minor inconvenience. As if Emelia will walk through that door any second and this will all have been a huge misunderstanding. I hate her and when I get my girl back, I’m going to make it my mission to make sure she is never near her again.
A mother doesn’t behave this way; she would not treat her child like this. She should be as terrified as the rest of us right now, maybe more terrified. I’m almost grateful for the fact I didn’t have my mother around because not having her would have been better than having a mother like Corrine Masters. Then I think of Xander, who lost Keri … Keri, who wanted to give him the world, and how sad it is for him that he didn’t get that from her. It’s true that he doesn’t have his biological mother, but it suddenly becomes all too clear that he’s had a mother all this time. He’s had Em to nurture him, to hold him when he’s sick, to cheer him on when he learned to roll over and crawl. Em, who taught him how to clap his hands and wave good-bye. He drops everything for Em when she sings a lullaby or tickles his stomach. My throat threatens to close up with the lump that forms in my throat.
He can’t lose another mother. I can’t let that happen. I can’t stand by and watch while my son and I lose the person who matters most to us. I have to get Emelia home; no matter what it takes, she needs to come home.
Emelia~
We’ve been in this room, in this dingy motel, for hours. Garrett on his cell phone as he orders his father’s jet to be in place at an airstrip that I know is at least an hour away from here. He didn’t take me far, and that was a mistake. I know after the phone call that Max knows I’m missing; he knows and he’s not going to let Garrett take me away. He should have taken me up north, to a place near the airport to wait, but Garrett is stupid and because of that, I know that someone will find me.
When Max walked away from me in the hallway earlier, I was gutted, so completely gutted that I didn’t even bother to look around my apartment before I walked in. I didn’t even bother to turn on the lights. I just locked the doors, walked through the space, and into my bedroom where he was waiting for me. I’d like to think I would have sensed him there, sensed the danger, but I was too upset about the argument with Max. I was sad he didn’t want me with him like all the nights before. I was scared that it would be the end of us.
When Garrett aimed his gun at me, he threatened to hurt Max and Xander. That’s how I knew he’d been watching me because I never once, not once, spoke Xander’s name to Garrett. Yet he knew who Max was, even though Max had also not given him a name the time they’d spoken, and he knew Xander. He’d been watching me, and I’d walked right into a trap. He knew I’d be at my parents with Max. He knew that my mom would flip out, which is probably why he hadn’t told her about my relationship with Max. He wanted us to have a blowout, he was counting on it, counting on that blowout to cause a rift between Max and me, and he was waiting for his chance.
I went with him and didn’t put up a fight. How could I? I wasn’t about to fight with him when fighting meant that he would hurt Max or worse, Xander. I would rather die than let anything happen to my baby. It doesn’t matter that I’m not his real mother; I love him too much to let anyone hurt him.
“If you haven’t called me back in an hour, I’m leaving here and I’ll find another way.”
Garrett tosses his phone on the bed where I sit in obvious frustration. Clearly, Daddy is not so gung-ho about helping his son get out of the country with the ex-girlfriend he’s kidnapped.
“Garrett, please just let me go. We’re both tired, and you’re not thinking straight. You don’t have to do this.”
“Shut up,” he yells and I cringe, shrinking into a ball and bringing my knees up to my chest. There’s no denying I’m scared of him; I’ve been scared of him for months. “Shut the fuck up. This is all your fault. I’ve been trying to talk to you for months and you’ve been shacked up with that fucking loser and his kid. I should have fucking killed them both just to teach you a lesson.”
He closes the distance between us and grabs my hair pulling it hard. Pain radiates through my skull, and I let out an agonized cry.
“You belong to me. It’s about time you learn that lesson.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“This isn’t hurting you, Emelia. Trust me, I can fucking hurt you a lot worse than this.” I can tell his control is slipping, and blinding rage is replacing it. I don’t know what he’ll do, but I have no doubt he’ll hurt me. He pulls my hair again into his fist and then gives me a shove until I fall sideways onto the bed. The fear I have for him kicks into overdrive and I scramble over the other side of the bed, thanking god that he hasn’t tried to restrain me at all. I can still try to make a run for it. I can make my way to the nearest police station until Max comes for me.
“Sit back down on that fucking bed.”
“Garrett, let’s just talk about this. It isn’t worth it.”
“You belong with me.”
“I don’t love you.”
“And what? You love him? That lowlife?”
“He’s not a lowlife, but yes, I love him. You need to let me go. You need to understand that I’ll never love you. I’ve never loved you.”
“You would really choose him over me? Over someone who could give you everything? What could he possibly give you that I can’t?”
I want to say everything. I want to explain to him that he’d never be able to give me the kind of love Max gives me. He’ll never be able to give me another Xander, but I don’t. He’d never understand it anyway. The only thing people like Garrett and my mother understand is money. Money is the only language that they speak.
His phone rings and he lets his guard down, his attention has been diverted, and as he reaches for the phone, I take my chance. I know I won’t get another one, so I turn and run toward the door. I have it halfway open when he comes behind me and shoves it closed. I scream bloody murder, hoping that some passerby might hear me, but Garrett grabs a fistful of my hair and slams my head into the door. As I slide toward the floor, pain in my head and tears in my eyes, he wraps his arms around me and drags me back into the room. He flings me onto the bed as if though I weigh nothing more than a feather. I land with a thud and a bounce, and again, I try to scramble off the bed, but he’s on me quick. His hand is at my neck, his legs straddling my torso, and I fight as hard as I can. I kick, shove, claw, and scratch, but when his fist connects with my face, I’m practically rendered useless. The sheer force of the first punch is like an explosion in my head making my vision blur.
The tears I’ve been holding back have won their battle and begin to fall. I lift my hands in a futile attempt to protect my face as he continues to hit me. A small gust of air escapes my lungs as he gets up, but it’s quickly followed by a grunt of pain when he picks me up and throws me down on the floor.
At this point, my mind checks out, and I let my brain drift to thoughts of Max, my Max, who despite being angry with me, I’m sure is riddled with worry and guilt. I think of my handsome boy, his cute baby laugh, and his silly faces. His tiny fist clutching my shirt as I rock him to sleep, and just like that, Garrett can’t hurt me anymore. He can’t hurt me because my heart and mind are home with my boys, and he can do whatever he wants with my body, but he can never take that away from me. My boys are with me. It’s the last coherent thought I have befo
re everything goes black; before I fade off to a place where nothing matters.
Max~
This is the last place I want to be right now, after what went down almost a year ago and how I lost Keri. I can’t fucking deal with hospital waiting rooms. I’ve been here over an hour waiting for news on Em. Any news. I got so irate fifteen minutes ago that I was told if I didn’t sit down and shut up, I’d be escorted out of the hospital. Hannah, Colin, and Phillip wait with me, all of them looking as scared as I am. Even her fucking mother has the decency to look contrite.
The call came in that she had been found almost an hour and a half ago. They’d tracked Garrett down by using his cell phone because the fucker was too stupid to get rid of it. In fact, he kept using it making it all that much easier for the cops to find him. We’d gotten word that they’d transferred Emelia here, and as of now, we haven’t been given any further information.
This has been the longest night of my life and being in the very hospital that Keri died in is not helping anything. My nerves are shot, and I can barely stop myself from getting up and punching a hole in the wall. Fuck this! I think as I push up to my feet with the intention of walking back over to the nurse’s station to demand answers. I’m stopped dead in my tracks when a doctor walks into the room, his eyes on me.
“For Emelia Masters?”
“Yes,” I answer immediately as her family comes to stand mostly beside and behind me.
“You are?” he asks, and I don’t think about it, just say what I have to say to get the information I need.
“Her fiancé.” Her family stays quiet; I think they know I will pummel anyone who tries to keep me from my girl. I don’t really give a fuck who I have to go through.
“I’m Dr. Mathews, and I was the attending physician on call when Emelia was brought in,” he begins. I’ve been here before, felt this feeling before, and I’m almost scared to hear what he has to say. I say a silent prayer for a good outcome, for a different outcome than the first time.
“She was beaten pretty badly. Her face and torso are bruised and swollen. She’s suffered a few fractured ribs as well as a concussion. We’ll make her as comfortable as we can, but she’s going to be in pain for a few days. She’s in the emergency room right now, but we’ll be transferring her upstairs to a room as soon as possible. We’re keeping her overnight for observation.”
“But she’ll be okay?” I ask hopefully.
“Yes. With some time, she’ll make a full recovery.” Hannah melts into Colin’s arms and begins to cry while I thank god that my girl’s all right.
“Can we see her?” I hear her father ask from behind me.
“Sure, let’s try to keep it to one or two visitors at a time.”
I’m losing my battle with patience when her mother speaks. “Well, Phillip, you and I can go first.”
The doctor looks at me and gives me a knowing smile. “Max, right?” he probes.
“Yes.”
“She’s asking to see you. You can follow me.”
I don’t stick around to hear her mother throw a tantrum or argue that I’m not even really family. Walking as fast as my legs will take me, I follow the doctor through the double doors that lead into the emergency room, and he points me in the direction of her room.
“Room seven,” he calls as he walks away, and I mutter my thanks as I rush in that direction. I practically run in the room, needing to see her, to make sure she’s okay. All of the relief I felt moments ago washes away when I actually catch sight of her. In its place, the fury returns and I want to find that motherfucker and beat the shit out of him. I push past my initial reaction and tell myself that she’s here, that these bruises will fade over time, and that Xander and I will still have her. If she still wants us, that is.
Her eyes are closed and I imagine that she must be exhausted after going through such a traumatic experience. I tread quietly into the room and take a seat next to her bed, careful not to wake her.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, resting my arms on the bed. Her eyes flutter open and I’m struck by the intensity in them when she sees me and the storm that threatens to break free as tears pool in her eyes.
“Max.” Her voice breaks, and I’m up out of my chair and sitting on the edge of the bed immediately.
“It’s okay,” I reassure her, as I stroke her hair wearily. The last thing I want to do is cause her any more pain.
“I’m so sorry, Max.”
“Why are you sorry, Em?” I ask, disbelieving. After the hell she’s been through, she actually apologizes to me. “I’m the one who messed up. I’m the one who’s sorry. You were the victim here.”
She shakes her head in disagreement. Her movements are shaky, stilted, and I want to tell her to stay still. “It was my constant lying that …”
“Don’t,” I interject. I know Emelia’s not a liar. I know that she always acts with the best intentions, so I don’t want her to carry that worry and guilt with her. “I should never have left you alone, not even for a minute, and that’s on me. I’ll have to live with that forever.”
“It’s not your fault.” She lifts up a hand to my cheek, and her touch feels like heaven because, deep down in the recesses of my mind, I was terrified that I’d never feel that again. That I’d never have her again.
“I was so scared, baby. I was so fucking scared that I’d never see you again.”
“Me too. I just kept thinking of you and Xander, and it got me through.” She takes the hand at my face away and places it on my hand instead. I take hold and give it a gentle squeeze, thinking that maybe she needs to feel my touch just as badly as I need hers. Maybe she needs to feel the connection between us, to make sure it still exists. “He was crazy. He snapped, and I wasn’t sure …”
“Don’t go there. I never should have walked away from you.”
“This was going to happen eventually. He was waiting for any opportunity to get to me. It was better this way. What if he would have gotten to me when I had Xander? Please don’t blame yourself.”
“It was my job to protect you,” I counter because it’s true. I should have been with her, and there really is no excuse for me. I acted like a dick, and she paid the price for that.
“Max,” she pleads with me. “Please let it go. I don’t want to have to relive this night forever. Garrett can never hurt me again. He’s locked up, and if I have anything to say about it, he’s going to stay that way for a long time.”
“I’ll try.” I give in because I don’t want her to have something else to worry about. As long as I know that he can’t hurt her anymore, I can handle what’s swimming around in my head. I can make it so that it never touches her because I want nothing but good things for her from now on.
“Where’s Xander?” she asks, effectively changing the subject. “Can I see him?”
“He’s home with Mrs. Park. I’ll make sure you get to see him tomorrow.” She looks disappointed, but her eyes flash with something. I can tell she’s thinking about something when she looks at me, but there’s indecision on her face. I’m about to ask her what’s wrong, but she gets there before me.
“I want him to be mine,” she blurts out, a fresh set of tears pooling in her eyes. “I mean I know he’s not really mine. I know he belongs to Keri, but she’s not here and I am. I love you and I love him and I want him to …”
“Em, you don’t have to ask me for permission to love my son. I love that you love him.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
“Maybe I do.” I try to reassure her because I do know exactly what she’s saying. I know what she wants to ask and I know why it would scare her. She’s afraid that I’ll object or that we won’t work out and she’ll lose her hold on Xander, but I know better. I know that would never happen. I’d never take anything good away from my son because, over the short course of time he’s been with me, I’ve realized there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him. That’s what separates me from my own father. “But I think you need to just
say what you want to say and not be scared of my reaction.”
Her lips tremble as she says the words. “I want to be his mother.”
I smile at her, and I swear if she weren't in so much pain, then I’d take her in my arms, kiss her, and more than likely fuck the shit out of her.
“You already are, aren’t you?”
“I feel like I am,” she whispers. She has hope in her voice, and I realize that she’s worried about this in the past.
“You feel it because you are. He’ll always have Keri. I’ll do my best to make sure he knows about her. But stories about her and a faded picture are not going to give him what he needs right now. That’s what you give him, and he can have you both.”
“What if something happens and we break up? Where will that leave me? You could easily walk away from me and take him away from me. Or if God forbid something happens to you? I have no claim to him.”
Jesus, she’s really freaking out about this, and I can’t say that I blame her. I know better than anyone that life can be a bitch. That shit can and does happen.
“First of all, we’re not breaking up.” She wants to interrupt me, I can tell, but I shake my head once, letting her know that I’m not done. “But you’re right, life happens and because it does, we need to take measures to ensure Xander’s well-being. For now, I’ll contact a lawyer and have a will drawn up naming you as legal guardian in the event that anything ever happens to me.”
“Okay but …”
“We’ll start the paperwork for you to adopt him, Em. This way no matter what happens between us, you’ll know where you stand. I’m never leaving you, never, but if it makes you feel better to know that he’s legally yours, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Really?” she asks in a relieved whisper.
“Yes, really.”
“Okay,” she says, trying to smile but flinching when the pain from her bruises registers. I wish I could help her, take the pain away somehow, but all I can do is make sure she’s comfortable.