Southern Romance

by Smith, Crystal

  She would come to every once in a while but then pass out again. She was riding on the horse with Davis. She was seated in front of him, she was forced to lean her body against his, the thought alone was sickening. What choice did she have? She couldn't stay with it long enough to even see where they were headed.

  Sara woke up to the feeling of warmth. For a moment she thought it was over or maybe it had been such a terrible nightmare. She opened her eyes and looked around. The surroundings were unfamiliar to her. The room was dusty and the walls were planks of wood that were old and weathered in appearance. Pieces of the boards had rotten and allowed sunlight to come through them.

  The room smelled musty. There was a broken table in the corner, only a single chair next to it. The fireplace was made of rock. The fire going inside was the only thing that was pleasant. The warmth almost made some of the pain go away. Sara laid there and enjoyed it as long as her mind would let her. When her dazed and confused memory returned, she remembered how she had gotten to where ever it was she was at.

  She sat up and quickly had to lay back down. The throbbing in her head was unbearable. She reached to the back of her hand and it was wet, she looked at her hand and it was blood that she had been feeling.

  Confirmation enough, that it wasn't a nightmare, it was real, so unfortunately very real. She looked around and didn't see her captor anywhere. Now is my chance she thought. I have to run now. I have to get out of here. She went to stand and couldn't bear any weight on her foot. It was black, and very swollen again. It sent a sharp pain through her each time she tried to put weight on it.

  She found the courage and strength to move on somehow. When she opened the door, a quick blow to her face and she was on the ground. Everything was blurry and she could hear Davis mumbling, "Stupid woman, did you really think I would go far?" She could taste blood in her mouth.

  When she woke this time, she was back in the bed, and she could feel his hand on her stomach. She couldn't move, she squirmed, but it was no use. He had tied her hands to the bed post and her feet the same. She was wearing nothing but her panties and bra.

  "What are you doing, why are you doing this?" Sara almost couldn’t get the words out because her face was badly swollen and she was crying hysterically from pain and being terrified.

  "I told you, you will be mine, when I am done with you, you won't want another man to ever

  touch you again. And that precious little treasure of yours, well it will soon be mine. And don't

  think for a second, it won't. You have nowhere to go now."

  "Really, is that what you really want?" Sara found herself laughing at him. "You wasted your time, it isn't yours to take, it was taken by a man who loves me and I love him. My husband. That’s right my husband. Now who’s the fool." Sara’s laughter was abruptly ended. Davis tensed, anger ran through his veins, he struck her face, and then again, and again.

  Sara fought to stay conscious. She watched as he paced the floors, throwing the old wooden chairs around the room. She wanted Jade to burst through the door and save her. She needed him, and then it hit her. What if this was it? What if she never will get to see him again? There was so much she needed to tell him. So much she should of told him. And then she thought of the last words she had told him. I love you my husband. She had told him.

  Then she felt a new sense of the need to survive. She didn’t want her life that was just beginning to end now. She had to survive. She had to see him again.

  "Please don't, just let me go. I won't tell again. I promise. I won't. Just let me go please."

  "There's no use in begging, you’re not going anywhere. Plans have changed though. When I

  get done with you, you’re not going to look like you do now. He won't want you. You will be so scarred and ugly, no man will want you. If I choose to let you live. I guess we will have to just wait and see." Davis was feeding off the fear she was showing.

  He went to her, reaching down and cupping the scarred breast with his hand and squeezing it causing Sara to cry out in pain. “Well if that wasn’t sickening enough to keep him gone. Guess I am just gonna have to do better than that.” He stood and raised walking over to the stove where he had a poker in the fire. He pulled it up looking at the red end and smiling at her.

  He walked over to her, placing his whiskey stained mouth onto her abdomen. She spat at him. When he raised, he pulled the hand back holding the poker, Sara closed her eyes and turned her head away, expecting to feel a hot scorching blow, but instead he collapsed down on top of her. She heard the poker hit the floor.

  "Sara, are you ok."

  "Jade, oh Jade, I knew you'd come."

  Sara couldn’t see much of anything, but she could hear Jade’s voice and knew his smell better than any other smell. It was finally over. Jade quickly bound Davis’s hands and feet. Sara began to panic. “What if he gets loose?” Nobody would believe them, after all they didn’t believe her the first time.

  "Sara, slow down, it's ok now, it's ok." Jade wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have trusted you were safe."

  "You didn't know.”

  "Not now, we gotta get you help." Jade swooped her up into his arms, and she went limp.

  She was limp on the way back. She could feel the warmth of Jade holding her in place. Her eyes were so heavy she couldn't open them not that she could have anyways with the severe swelling the blows had caused. But she knew it was Jade. She could tell by his touch, by his smell, and the sense of safety she got from being in his arms.

  When they got back to the house, there were police cars everywhere, Emmy Jean and George were not so patiently waiting for them. The officers were readying their dogs for a search and rescue.

  Emmy Jean seen them coming first in the distance. She couldn't say anything. All she could do was run towards them. It didn't take everyone else long to figure out what was going on.

  Emmy Jean got her first glance at Sara at this point, and was in total shock. Both of Sara's eyes were black and now swollen completely shut. There was dried blood that had come from her busted up nose. Her lips looked like she had had an anaphylactic reaction to medications. All she could do was go for EMS while George helped Jade and Sara down.

  The only sound Sara made on the way to the hospital was for Jade. EMS wasn't going to allow Jade to ride with them to the hospital, but Sara began panicking and lashing out at anyone who touched her so they felt it would be in her best interest to allow him to ride.

  Jade held her hand all the way. The sirens were blaring, lights were flashing, but none of that mattered. Sara's body just couldn't take the trauma, and she was finally in a coma like state. She never woke again. Not while EMS unloaded the stretcher, or when the doctors examined her, not even when they started another IV.

  Sara underwent major facial trauma and had to have surgery to fix all of the repairs. Four and a half hours later, her parents arrived to the hospital and waited anxiously for the news.

  "Jade, everything went ok. We had to insert a synthetic plate to her right and left sides of her face. Dr. Hillsborough was able to repair most of the outside with minimal scarring expected. He was able to also repair the scar to her brow. There will still be a scar but it will be less visible. We have her in ICU for now, she has a tube in her throat hooked to a machine breathing for her. I want to keep her sedated for at least the next seventy two hours to allow the healing to really begin before we start trying to wake her up if we can. Do you have any questions?"

  "Only one, when can I see her?"

  "As soon as they have her good and settled, they will call you back."

  Jade shook his hand and thanked him for everything.

  He sat back down next to Emmy Jean and fell to pieces. He hadn’t needed his Mom to hold him like that in a very long time. Emmy and George held him.

  “It’s not your fault son.” George tried his best to soothe him but he got no response from Jade.

  Nobody spoke f
or what seemed like forever. Rick kept looking at his watch checking the time. Marie was pacing the floors with tears slowly rolling down her face. She stopped and her body tensed.

  “I can’t take this. I know it’s only been 30 minutes I need to see my baby.” Marie stood and went to the desk. “I really need to see my daughter. Please.”

  Shift change had taken place and the receptionist had only heard about what had happened.

  “Ma’am calm down. What is your daughter’s name?”

  “What do you mean what is my daughter’s name. Are you kidding me? How dare you? You know damn well who my daughter is.”

  “Ma’am, I know who she is, but I wasn’t given her name. If we are not involved in the care of the patient we aren’t supposed to know anything. Ma’am I need her name to help you.”

  “It’s Sara Steven’s.”

  Jade felt a lump and raised his head. “Um, I need to tell you all something.”

  “Ma’am we don’t have a Sara Steven’s.”

  “What that is impossible. She just went through surgery. You look in that nifty little computer of yours and find my daughter.”

  Jade stood and went to Marie. “You might wanna sit down for this.” Marie was confused but did as he asked.

  “Um, she can’t find Sara Stevens in the computer because there isn’t a Sara Stevens here. Sara Thomas is registered.”

  There was a sudden drop of silence. You literally could have heard a pin hit the floor.

  “What do you mean? Jade you better get to answering some questions for me son.” Rick’s tone was mono. Jade didn’t know how to take it. The look said he was about to be in the bed next to Sara.

  “Well, you see Sir, I love her. She loves me. I should have told you sooner. We got married last night.”

  “You what?” Marie was stunned. Nobody could say anything. Rick started laughing. Nobody knew how to take it. He stood up, Jade stood as if to take his beating like a man, when Rick wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. “Thank You and welcome to the family officially that is. If nothing else came of this. I just won myself a horse.”

  They all started laughing hysterically. “Someone wanna tell me why this is funny and what the hell it has to do with a horse.”

  “You see son,” George stood and came to his side placing one hand on his shoulder. “Years ago, when you used to chase her around the yard with frogs, me and Rick made a bet. Rick said one day you two would be married. I thought that was a bet I was going to win to. I never thought I would live to see the day. The deal was, if you two got married, I had to give him a horse of his choice, leave it on the ranch, care for it, and feed it. When he came to town, it was his to mend after and do with as he chose. If you or Sara married someone else, then I won the bet which would of forced Rick to come stay thirty days on the ranch and do my job that he said wasn’t real. I sure was hoping I was going to win to. Damn the luck. But I couldn’t be happier for you two under the circumstances anyways.”

  Jade stood there shaking his head. “You mean, why didn’t I know about this?”

  “We decided we would let nature take its course and if it was meant to be then so be it.”

  Jade sat down rubbing his fingers through his hair. I don’t believe it, was the look all over his face. It didn’t take long for the laughter to go away. The doctor came and lead them back to her room. Her face was wrapped completely. Tubes were coming out of her everywhere. If they hadn’t known it was her, they wouldn’t have believed it.

  The next morning, after Jade was able to see her, he told everyone he needed to go shower and clean up. There was a look in his eyes his dad had never seen before. The way George looked at him only made Rick question what was going on as well.

  Jade left and drove as fast as he could back to the ranch. Jade had told the police that the man that had done this was Davis but he got away. Jade had full intentions of torturing him, just as he had done to Sara. Eye for an Eye.

  Jade saddled up Danger and went after him. When he arrived, Davis was awake. “So the boyfriend has come to finish me off. You better do it right you know. I won’t stop until I am done and have what I want.”

  Jade never said a word. He stoked up the fire real hot. He picked up the same poker that Davis had threatened Sara with and held it up looking it over and then glanced down at Davis and placed it in the fire. It was enough that Davis now knew exactly why Jade had come back to him.

  Jade pulled up the single chair and sat there watching Davis stutter out words of apology at first. Trying to convince Jade he was a sick man. Jade had no doubts he wasn’t sick. It would take a sick man to do the acts he had done. When Davis didn’t get a reaction from Jade as he was hoping, he started again.

  “She asked for it you know. She practically begged for it. I don’t know what she told you, but she wanted it. She wanted me. It doesn’t matter what you do to me today, that bitch was mine first. She will never forget me.”

  Jade stood abruptly and grabbed a hold of Davis and began hitting him over and over again. Then he stood and went to the fireplace. He reached for the poker and walked back to Davis. Still Jade had not said a single word to him.

  “The way I see it, you did way more to her than I’m gonna do to you. But you, you worthless piece of excuse of existence, you will never forget me.”

  “Jade, put it down.” George’s voice startled Jade.

  “Stay out of it. He deserves it.”

  “That may be, but that’s not who we are. If you do that to him, then we are no better.”

  Rick walked over to Jade and placed his hand on his shoulder. “I know what you’re feeling right now. I have dreamed of this very moment. But this isn’t the way to do it. We have to turn him over to the law.”

  “The law, what kind of justice do you expect to get. The kind that Sara got the first time.”

  “He won’t get away with it again Son.”

  Jade stood there for a moment and threw the poker to the side. “You will pay. But your gonna do it in the very court room that let you off the first time. In front of all your friends. They will see what a low life you are. And then, I’m sure when you reach whatever prison you are sure to spend the rest of your days in, I hope that you meet up with some of the men you put there. Have a good life.”

  With that Jade turned and walked away. George and Rick stayed inside and waited for the police to arrive. When they arrived, Jade half expected to be taken in with Davis. The police spoke with Rick and George. An ambulance was called to tend to Davis. When they were loading up Davis, he smiled back at Jade. Jade went to go after him, but a police officer grabbed him.

  “That’s not the way to handle it. Let him smile. But he’s in for a surprise.”

  Jade looked at the older officer that was talking to him. The officer left Jade and walked to Davis. “Davis, you ok?”

  “No, they brought me out here, told me they was going to kill me.”

  “Hm-mm, that’s odd you say that. But you don’t have to worry about it now. Your safe.”

  Davis again smiled at Jade. This time the officer smiled as well at Jade. And then Jade seen what the officer was doing. He had reached to his back he was pulling out hand cuffs.

  “Davis, you’re under arrest for the assault and attempted murder of Sara Stevens-Thomas, I suggest you use your right of silence.” The officer cuffed him to the stretcher.

  It took a few minutes for Jade to pull himself together. “Jade, come on it’s over.”

  The three of them went to the house, showered ate and went back to the hospital.

  Jade stayed with her day and night after that. He left only long enough to shower and return. He had no doubts that she was going to wake up anytime and he didn’t want her seeing him a hot mess looking like a homeless man more than the husband she loves and married.

  “Jade go home. Get some rest. Ride Danger. You have been here for nearly 4 weeks straight. You can’t keep doing this. We should probably just work out some kind of a schedul
e.” Marie was beginning to worry about him to. He wasn’t eating right at all. He hardly slept. She was pleased and grateful he had maintained his hygiene.

  “I’m not leaving. You can say what you want, but I’m not.” Jade’s seriousness was enough to let Marie know real quick he wasn’t going anywhere and there was no use in trying.

  “Jade. I need to talk to you. Do you wanna talk in private or shall we talk here?” Dr. Hillsborough had a very serious look on his face.

  “You can try to walk out of this room. But Jade Thomas, I will still whoop your little cute ass if you keep something about my daughter from me. She may be your wife, but she is my baby. Understand me?”

  “Yes Ma’am. Better get on with it doc, we aren’t going nowhere.”

  “Jade you might wanna sit down. Or stand either way, I’m not sure how to go about telling you this. You see, Sara has been here for almost four weeks. One of the nurses got to questioning when her last period was and why she hadn’t had one yet. So we ran a few tests.”

  Marie started crying, wrapped her arms around Jade and was completely full of joy.

  “Ok, I need English. I guess she knows what the hell you’re talking about, but I haven’t got a clue.

  “Ma’am you wanna do the honors or shall I.”

  “Oh by all means, I’m gonna do it. Jade you’re gonna be a daddy.” Marie belted out. It wasn’t long when she was grabbing his hands and helping him sit down. The color left his face all together. He couldn’t have been any whiter than he was in that moment.

  “How could this have happened?”

  “Well you see son, when two people love each other they well have sss.”

  “Wow, slow down there. I know how it happens but we used proteeeccction.” And then Jade stuttered again. Just as Sara had done when she was drunk.

  “The night we got married, let’s just say we were a little, or maybe a lot of alcohol later feeling no pain. We didn’t use any protection that night. How could I have been so stupid?”