by TJ Rudolph
An hour later Andrew stood up. “We’ll be heading home now, Grace, you look like yer need some rest.”
Martha came to stand next to me. “Grace, would you mind if I say a little prayer for Chase.”
“I don’t mind at all, he needs all the prayers he can get,” I told her.
She took his hand and said a silent prayer and then she kissed me on the cheek.
“We will visit yer again soon,” Andrew said to me before he closed the door.
I went to sit by Chase’s bed and put my hand on his cheek. “Chase, you need to wake up now. I need you to know that I am sorry for the things that I said, for the way I acted. I know it wasn’t your fault. I promised you that I would never leave and I broke that promise, I’m so sorry. You have to wake up, Chase, you just have to,” I sobbed.
I lay awake for hours that night until my weary body took control and I fell asleep with my head on the bed. My dreams were filled with horrid visions of Chase running away from Jerry and me trying to escape. I tossed and turned until I eventually woke up in a sweat.
“Have a bad dream?” I heard a voice beside me. I looked around the room thinking it was Aaron but there was nobody there. I felt a hand squeezing mine and I looked up at Chase.
“Chase!” I screamed.
“Hey, baby,” he smiled and then coughed.
“Chase,” I said again wide eyed. “Should I get a doctor, do you need anything?” I asked as my tears started flowing down my cheeks.
“Just put those sweet lips on mine so that I know that I am not dreaming,” he told me.
I crashed my lips against his as my tears continued rolling down my face. He kissed my cheek. “I’m okay, baby, no need for tears.”
“I’m just so happy to see your eyes open. I thought you’d never wake up. Please let me get a doctor to check you out.”
“Okay, just don’t take too long,” he croaked.
I ran out of the room and told a nurse to call the doctor. The doctor was there within minutes. “Mr. Ryder, I am so glad to see that you are awake,” he said when he walked inside.
He walked up to Chase’s bed. “I am Doctor Freeh, how are you feeling?”
“Just peachy doc, I think I am ready to go home,” his voice was low and hoarse.
The doctor laughed. “I am afraid you will have to stay with us a few more days.”
He took a stethoscope out of his pocket and placed it on Chase’s chest. “Your heart sounds stronger today, that’s a good sign.” He pressed on his chest directly below his heart. “How does that feel?”
“A bit tender,” Chase answered.
“That’s perfectly normal,” the doctor told him. “when you feel strong enough I want you to get up and take a short walk outside. If you manage that then you can go home the next day.”
“Thanks, doc,” Chase said.
“See you tomorrow, call the nurses if you feel any discomfort,” Doctor Freeh said and left.
“Come here,” he called me over to him.
I went over to Chase and sat down on the chair. He shifted to the side of the bed, creasing his face because of the pain. “Get in here, I need to hold you,” he said.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He patted the bed and I climbed in next to him. I looked into his eyes, with tears in my own.
“Don’t cry, Grace, I am perfectly fine and I am with you.”
“Chase, I am so sorry for the way I treated you when I found out about Aaron. I know that it wasn’t your fault and I don’t blame you. If anything happened to you before I…”
“Shh, baby, I know and you had every right to be upset. I am just glad that we are together now,” he said pulling me close to him. “So what happened to that bastard Jerry?”
“The strangest thing happened when we were in the forest,” I told him. “The police showed up out of nowhere and killed him. I don’t even know how they knew we were there, but I suspect that Officer O’Neil had something to do with it.”
“John was there?”
I nodded. “He shot Jerry before he could pull the trigger on me.”
This time he had tears in his eyes. “I can’t believe he actually came.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“A few days before I came to get you, I went to see John I told him that I thought something was wrong, but he was hesitant to help me because he said that there needed to be evidence that something happened. The fact that your clothes were gone and we just had a big fight didn’t help my case. I wasn’t convinced, something felt off so I went to campus. I still had the key you gave me and when to look around in your room. When I walked in the first thing I noticed was your handbag and I found it strange that you didn’t take it with you. I opened it and saw your phone inside. When I checked the messages, I saw the ones from Jerry. I texted John giving him the location and the details and told him that I was going there. I didn’t think he would show, but I should have known he would never let me down. My only regret is that I took so long to realize something was wrong.”
“As long as we are both safe now,” I said as I snuggled into his neck.
He kissed the top of my head. “I love you, Grace.”
I looked up at him. “I love you too.”
I told him about everything that happened with Agatha and Chris and how sad I was that things panned out that way.
“They’ll come around, even if I have to convince them that what we have is real,” he said.
We spoke into the early hours of the morning, with Chase drifting off to sleep in between conversations and then waking up again. Eventually we both drifted off to sleep.
The next morning when I woke up, Chase walked slowly out of the bathroom that was in his room. “Good morning, beautiful, I need to take that walk so that I can get out of here,” he told me.
I smiled to see him up on his feet. “How are you even up? I mean are you even human?”
He laughed and then immediately put his hand over his chest where the bullet wound was, “I hate hospitals, so the sooner I get out of here the better.”
“Just take it easy,” I warned him.
After I took a shower, we took the elevator down to the reception area and slowly walked into the garden at the back of the hospital. It was a big, open space with a few wooden benches on the green grass. We took in the crisp air as we strolled past a row of tall, naked trees. Chase stopped at a tall palm tree and leaned against it.
“Are you tired? Do you want to rest?” I asked him.
He grinned. “No, I just want to kiss my girl.”
I smiled shyly as I walked over to him, he pulled me in his arms and gently pushed me against the tree. He studied my face for a moment and then focused on my eyes before he leaned in to kiss me. We lost ourselves in that moment, we got our second chance and we were never letting go again.
He pulled away and placed his hand on my cheek. I think we should head back so that I can tell the doctor that we are ready to go home.
I suddenly realized that I hadn’t told anyone that Chase was awake.
“I have to phone everyone to tell them that you are awake.”
We went back and the doctor examined Chase while I went to call everyone. Sebastian and Dean wanted to come to the hospital, but I told them that we would probably go home in a few days and I invited everyone to Christmas lunch at my house. I didn’t think that Chris and Agatha would be interested in being anywhere near Chase. I just needed to speak to my dad, who would be arriving that night.
I walked in as Doctor Freeh was giving Chase the go ahead to go home the next day. “Grace, just the person I was looking for. You need to make sure that he takes his medication, even if he is feeling stronger or doesn’t have much pain. He needs to complete the course of medication he was given. He seems a bit stubborn,” the doctor told me and we all laughed. “Also, for the next few weeks he must rest as much as possible, his recovery is dependent on it.
“I will, Doc
tor Freeh, thank you for everything.”
He shook Chase’s hand. “You will have to come for a checkup in two weeks’ time but call me if you need anything before then.”
“I will, doc, thank you.”
I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, it was going to be a fresh start for both of us and I was looking forward to a new chapter in our lives.
Chapter 19
I called my dad the next morning before we were about to leave and told him everything. He was silent a lot of the time, and usually there was a lot said in those silent moments.
“Dad, are you still there?” I asked after I told him the part about Jerry being killed.
“You should have told me, Grace, I am your father and I am supposed to protect you.”
I know how deep those words ran, alluding to the time when I hid what I was doing with my mother. Back then he had said the same thing. “I am the parent here, Grace, not you! Fathers are meant to protect their daughters.”
I let him down, I took that away from him again, but given the choice I would do it all over again.
“I know, Dad, and I’m sorry. But I’m okay now and we can finally close that chapter of our lives.”
“We’ll speak when you get home, I can’t wait to meet that young man who saved your life.”
“See you soon, Dad,” I said and hung up.
I walked back into the room and watched as Chase pulled on the blue t-shirt that Sebastian brought when he last visited. When I told my dad who it was that saved my life, I was so terrified at what he was going to say but all he said that any guy that saved his daughters life was forever in his debt, no matter what his past was.
Chase turned around and smiled, “you ready to go?” he asked.
I nodded.
“You don’t have to go with me to WRC you know. I know you wanted to spend some time with your dad.”
I walked over to him and pressed my hand against his cheek. “You are going home with me, and I am not going to leave you alone there.”
“Are you sure that’s okay with your dad?” he asked.
“He can’t wait to meet you,” I said.
We left the hospital and I drove us to my house, it was just over an hour’s drive and Chase slept most of the way. When we arrived and I climbed out of the car, my dad was waiting for me on the front porch. He ran toward me lifting me in his arms. “I’m so glad nothing happened to you, Grace.”
“I’m fine, Dad, Jerry will never be able to hurt us again.”
He nodded, my dad was a man of few words he already said what he needed to over the phone, and I knew he blamed himself for everything. The moment he found out about my mother he connected it to him having to work away and he never stopped blaming himself.
“It’s not your fault, Dad, he was a bad man.”
He gave me a forced smile and I knew that he had to work through it on his own. He turned to look at Chase. “This must be the man who I owe a great deal to.”
Chase came to stand next to me and shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you, sir, and you really don’t owe me anything. “Your daughter means everything to me,” he said turning to face me. I smiled at him.
“Call me Joel, and like I told Grace you are welcome to stay here as long as you need too.”
“Thank you,” Chase said.
We were barely inside when we heard a knock on the door. “I’ll get it,” my dad said from the kitchen.
I heard Agatha’s voice in the foyer. “Hi Joel, is Grace here?”
I walked out of my room, toward the front door. I stopped when I saw Chris next to her.
“Grace, can we talk?” Chris asked.
“Sure,” I gave him a tense smile as I led them to the lounge. They sat down next to each other and I sat down opposite them.
Chris cleared his throat. “I believe Chase is here, I would like to speak to him too.”
I was unsure about asking Chase to come inside, only because Chris looked so uneasy. But Chase appeared before I could decide whether or not I was going to call him.
He walked over to Chris and shook his hand and Chris nodded.
Chase sat down beside me and put his arm around my waist. My dad leaned against the door frame and watched us. He already knew what happened at the hospital between Chris and I, and I knew that he would give us the space to work it out.
“I wanted to come here today…” Chris started to say and then he stopped, took a breath and started again.
“I’m not going to lie. Coming here today was not easy for me, when I thought it was going to be just you, Grace, I wanted to apologize. But then your dad told me Chase was here and I wasn’t so sure.”
He wrung his hands together and looked down at them. Agatha moved closer and put her hand over his.
Chase and I waited for him to be ready and then he continued.
“What I said to you, Grace, I realized now that I was wrong and I am sorry that it took me so long.” With tears in his eyes he turned to Chase. “My wife and I we did forgive you a long time ago, we know that it was not your fault and to throw it back in your face… I need you to know that we don’t blame you and that has not changed.”
“I guess I wanted to apologize to both of you. Grace has always been like a daughter to me and the fact that I wasn’t there to protect her…” he stopped and Agatha squeezed his hand. “What I wanted to say,” he continued, “is that even though I wasn’t there to protect her, I am thankful that you were there for her.”
Chase nodded and I breathed a silent sigh of relief through the tears building in my eyes.
“We have known Grace almost her whole life and the fact that she has chosen to love you says a lot about who you are. She is a beautiful person in every way and I guess I just want to ensure that she won’t get hurt again,” Chris told him.
“I will never do anything to hurt her,” Chase assured them.
“And we believe that,” Agatha said. “And I don’t think we thanked you for saving her life.”
“No thanks needed,” Chase said. “I would give my life for hers in a heartbeat.”
Chris stood up and walked toward me and I stood up to. He pulled me into his arms. “I hope you will forgive me for the harsh things I said at the hospital, Pumpkin, I was just angry with myself.”
I hugged him back. “I understand, I am just happy that we are a family again.”
“We will never stop being a family, Pumpkin, no matter what.”
Agatha joined in the hug, wrapping her arms around both of us and we stood like that for a while.
I stepped out of Chris’s hug. “Are you coming over for Christmas lunch tomorrow?” I asked him and Agatha. “You can meet all the friends I’ve made at WRC.”
“We would love to,” she said kissing my cheek.
“We will see you tomorrow then,” Chris said.
I stood in the doorway and waved to them as they drove off.
“I’m glad it all worked out,” I heard Chase behind me.
“Me too,” I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me.
“So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?” he asked.
“You are getting into bed,” I ordered. “I put your pills on the nightstand next to your bed, you need to rest!”
“Sheesh, you are worse than Doctor Freeh,” he grinned.
“Just get your handsome behind to bed!”
“Yes, ma’am, he saluted and gave me a swift kiss before leaving.