by Goda, Julia
“No. I saw stars and had to take a few deep breaths so I wouldn’t vomit, but I didn’t pass out.”
“Okay. That’s good. Your nose isn’t broken, but it’s swelling and there’s already a bruise under your right eye. You might have a mild concussion. I’d like to take you to the hospital to make sure we’re not missing anything.”
I nodded at her and closed my eyes. Now that the fight was over and the adrenalin was leaving my body, my face hurt like hell. Chloe was sitting beside me on the back of the ambulance, wrapped in a blanket. She grabbed my hand and held on tight. I looked over to her and gave her a small smile, which I meant to be reassuring but wasn’t sure didn’t look like a grimace. I gave the police officer my statement while the EMT finished cleaning me up.
“Do you mind if Chloe rides with us in the ambulance? She’s Jesse’s sister and I don’t want to leave her behind,” I asked the EMT.
“Sure, no problem,” he said.
“Do you mind letting him know that his sister is with me? I know he is going to be worried.” He nodded then gave me a blanket before he walked over to where they were loading Jesse onto a stretcher.
On our way to the hospital, I called Taryn to let her know what happened. She was beside herself with worry about all three of us and promised me she would get on Jesse and Chloe’s case right away to make things happen with Child Services. Their situation of being street kids had now changed to a case of physical evidence of assault and abuse witnessed by a social worker, meaning they would be taken in by the state to make them safe.
“I don’t want Chloe going to an emergency foster home tonight, Taryn. She’s gone through enough. She is scared out of her mind and worried about her brother. Let her stay at the shelter until Jesse is released. She needs people around her she knows and trusts, not thrown into a new situation without her brother at her side.” I felt Chloe’s body tighten next to me in the ambulance at hearing me talk.
“I hear you, Lizzy. I won’t do anything tonight. You’re with her, so that gives us time to see how Jesse is doing in the morning to come up with a plan. But I’ll have to call it in tomorrow first thing. I’ll do my best to talk them around to letting her stay with us until her brother is released, but I can’t guarantee it, Liz. For now, let’s worry about Jesse and we’ll deal with everything else tomorrow. You gonna bring her back here or do you need someone to pick her up?”
“I’ll call Cole to come and get us. My car is still at the pier, but we’ll make sure to drop her off once she has seen Jesse and I’ve had a chance to talk to both of them. Let Jimmy know it might be a few hours, though.”
“Alright, Liz. Will do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Taryn paused, then added in a low voice that was laced with concern, “And Liz, I know you’d do anything for those kids, but I swear to God if you ever try to take on a parent in a physical altercation again and get hurt in the process, I’m gonna kick your ass.” With that she hung up. Huh. Guess I should prepare myself to get seriously reamed out tomorrow morning when she saw my face. I might have downplayed how hard Jesse’s father had hit me.
My next call was to Cole. We had arrived at the hospital and were being led through the hall to the emergency room. This was not going to be fun. He would lose his shit when he heard someone had punched me in the face. He answered on the third ring.
“Hey, honey, I’m just on my way home. I was gonna pick up dinner. I thought we could cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie. You want Indian or Pizza?” That was sweet and considerate, and I so wanted that right now, but instead I had to burst his bubble of takeout dinner and a movie.
“That sounds really good, babe, but unfortunately, you’re gonna have to turn around to pick me up. I’m at the hospital.”
“What? Why? What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’ll tell you everything when you get here. One of my kids got beaten up by his father today, and I kinda got in the way when it happened, but I’m fine.” I didn’t think it was a good idea to tell him about the punch in the face while he was driving. Better disclose that information when he was not behind the wheel.
“You got in the way when it happened? What does that mean? They must have reason to worry if they took you to the hospital, Liz. Tell me what’s going on!” He was shouting now. Worried and panicked about me not being okay.
“I got pushed around a little and they want to check out my head just in case,” I downplayed, “I’m okay, Cole.” Shit. I was right. He was absolutely going to lose it when he saw my face.
“Liz, I know you’re lying to me. Tell me what happened. Now.” Great. He was being bossy. I knew what that meant. He wouldn’t let up until I told him and if I didn’t, he would be even angrier by the time he got here.
I took a deep breath before I told him what happened. “Fine. I was pushed and fell to the ground, then when Jesse’s father wouldn’t let up and beat the shit out of Jesse, I tried to pull him off and he punched me in the face—”
“He did WHAT?” Cole roared into my ear. Oh yeah, he was mad.
“Babe, I’m fi—” I tried to calm him down, but was interrupted again.
“A grown man punched you in the face, Liz! Stop telling me you’re okay! He better not have broken your nose!”
“No, it’s not broken. I just have a bruise—”
“Fuck, Liz. Fuck! I’ll be there in ten minutes!” Then he hung up on me. I looked over to Chloe who gave me big eyes. Guess Cole had been shouting loud enough for her to hear everything. I gave her an eek-face to lighten up the mood and earned a small smile in return.
“Can we go see Jesse now?” She asked me after the nurse had taken a look at my nose and a doctor had come in for some simple tests and to ask me a few questions. Turned out I had a mild concussion. Nothing serious. But the swelling of my nose looked horrendous and I had a purple bruise under my eye. I looked like Rocky Balboa after fighting Apollo Creed.
“Yeah, Chloe. We’re gonna go see him now.” I threw my arm around her shoulders to give her some support when we walked down to hall to where they were taking care of Jesse. When we got there, his doctor assured me that his injuries were minor. He had some cuts and bruises and a split lip, but nothing was broken. We would be quite the pair for a few days with matching black eyes and swollen faces.
“He has a full blown concussion, so we’d like to keep him here overnight, where we can keep an eye on him to make sure there is no swelling in his brain. But other than that there is nothing much we can do. He’ll have to take it easy for a few days.” Okay. That was good news.
Chloe was sitting by Jesse’s bed while I was talking to the doctor, and I could hear them talk quietly. I walked over to them and sat down on Jesse’s other side. It was time to talk and let them know what was going to happen now.
Before I could start, though, I heard someone call my name. Cole was here. I turned around just as he was reaching our little curtained-off cubicle. One look at my face and he froze. The muscle in his jaw was ticking and he clenched both his fists at his sides. I got up and walked to where he was standing, stopping right in front of him. Cole didn’t take his eyes from mine, but also didn’t make a move toward me. He was trying to control his anger. I could tell it took everything in him not to charge out of there and make Jesse’s father pay for what he had done to me. When I tentatively leaned my forehead against his chest, his arms came around me and I could feel his lips against my hair. Slowly, his body relaxed into mine.
“How much pain are you in?” He asked me after a few minutes. His voice was calm and controlled.
“Not much. They gave me something. I just feel some pressure.” I mumbled into his chest. Cole leaned back to get another look at me. His hands came up to cup my face gently. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, concern and anger warring on his face. I knew his concern for me won out when he leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. “It will be a lot worse than pressure by tomorrow, baby,” he murmured there. “You ready to go home?”
“Uhm… not really.” I moved to his side so he could see Chloe and Jesse across the room. Both their eyes were fixed on us.
“Right.” The anger was back, as was the muscle twitching.
“They’re keeping him overnight to monitor his concussion. I was about to explain to them what was going to happen next, now that their father has been charged and arrested.”
“He’s in jail?”
“Yeah. Some people came to help us when I got hit and held him until the cops arrived. I gave them my statement and they arrested him. Not sure how long they’re gonna be able to hold him, though. I need to talk to them tonight. They need to tell their story so he can be locked away. Then we need to take Chloe back to the shelter before we can go home. I don’t want to leave her right now. She’s scared out of her mind and apart from her brother, I’m the only person she trusts right now.”
Cole looked down at me with a warmth in his eyes that surprised me in the current situation. His next statement explained it, though.
“You’re gonna make a good mom to our kids someday. I knew you felt deep, but if you feel this responsible and protective of other people’s kids, I can only imagine what you’re gonna give our babies.” Holy hell. Where did that come from? Not that having babies with Cole had never crossed my mind. It had. A lot. But his pronouncement still blindsided me. My body locked and my eyes got big. I wanted to say something, but couldn’t hold on to one coherent thought. Cole chuckled then kissed my temple and gently pushed me towards the bed, saying, “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see if I can hunt down some decent coffee and be back.” Then he was gone. I still stood there, looking at the space where I had last seen him, and couldn’t make myself move. So many feelings were warring inside of me. Shock. Fear. Worry. Excitement. Elation. I couldn’t settle on just one.
“Lizzy?” Chloe’s quiet voice snapped me out of my daze. I turned around and took a deep breath. Then I sat down and talked them through everything that was going to happen now. There was a lot of anger and fear and tears, but in the end, we agreed that they would give a statement to the police about their abuse the next day. I promised them I would be there if they wanted me to and they both nodded. What a relief. They were done living in fear. Now they could start to heal, start their new lives, and I was immensely happy for them.
By the time Cole and I got back to my apartment, it was almost midnight. The pressure in my face had changed to a dull pain that I could tell would be excruciating soon if I didn’t take more painkillers. Cole made sure I ate something before I took more meds, then we cuddled up in bed and he held me until I fell asleep.
Chapter 12
Lizzy
The smell of coffee woke me the next morning. The pain in my face was killing me. Who would have thought that a punch in the nose would hurt that bad? I got up and slowly walked to my kitchen to see Cole leaning against the counter in his pajama pants, a cup in his hand, staring at his feet. When he heard me, his head snapped up and he gave me a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He walked toward me and kissed my forehead. “Morning, baby. You sleep okay?” his lips mumbled against my skin. I nodded then looked up at him. Something was wrong. He was too quiet.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
His eyebrows shot up at my questions. “No. Everything is not okay. My girlfriend took a punch to her face by a man who has a hundred pounds on her. She is standing in front of me with a swollen and bruised face. That, baby, is not okay. I want to hurt him so bad I can hardly control the urge to drive down to the station and beat the shit out of him.” Oh. That’s what was wrong.
“Oh,” I said stupidly.
“Yeah. Oh.”
He turned to the coffee machine and poured me a cup. I walked up close to him and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my cheek carefully against his naked back. I wasn’t sure what to say. I loved it that he was so worried about me, but at the same time I hated that he had reason to be worried in the first place. He had been worried about me since the day we met. The angriest I had seen him was that night when I barely escaped being raped by one of my mother’s friends and ran through the forest to get to him. This anger was different. This time, someone had actually succeeded in physically hurting me and Cole was the kind of man who needed to do something about it. And I loved him all the more for it.
“I love you, Cole.” He turned in my arms then held me tightly to his chest.
“I love you, too, baby. More than you can imagine. Nothing can ever happen to you. You can’t ever leave me. Don’t ever scare the shit out of me like that again.”
“Okay.” Really, what else could I say?
“I’m going in late today so we can go and get your car. Promise me you’ll take it easy today. I know there is no chance you’ll let me talk you into staying home to rest. I get you have a lot to deal with and figure out today, but please don’t overdo it. You’ll be in pain and I’ll worry about you. I wanna see you at lunch today if at all possible, and I’ll be home early tonight. And don’t freak out, honey, but I want to move in together as soon as possible. We’ll have to decide who’s gonna make the move or if we’re looking for something new. No more moving back and forth. I want us to settle.”
“Cole—” I started, but he wouldn’t have it.
“No, Lizzy. You being out on the streets saving kids has always worried me. Your shelter is in a bad enough part of town that anything can happen to you. Yesterday proved that and that wasn’t even anywhere near as bad as what could potentially happen. I’m smart enough to know that I won’t stand a chance to talk you into changing jobs. Your job fulfills you, it’s who you are and I love that about you. That you can be so passionate about something, that you would do anything in your power to help people in need. But this is me making sure you are safe and with me whenever possible. I also want you to take up some classes. Self-defense would be good or some kind of fight training. We’ll look into that so you can start as soon as you’re healed. I know you’re tougher than you look, but you don’t stand a chance if someone wants to actually hurt you. I need this, Lizzy, and you’re going to give it to me.”
Wow. There was a lot there. I got it that he was worried about where I worked and how easily I could get hurt. And he was right. There was no chance in hell I would give up the job I loved. Taking up fight training or self-defense was probably a good idea, but moving in together? It had only been two weeks!
Cole was watching me as those thoughts flitted across my face.
“Let me ask you this, baby. You think you’re gonna fall out of love with me?”
No. Absolutely not. I had been in love with him all my life, and now that I had him, I couldn’t imagine being without him again.
“No,” I whispered.
“Then what are we waiting for? You are the one I want to be with for the rest of my life. The only one I can imagine my life with. Let’s start our future now, not in six months or a year. Move in with me.”
It made sense when he worded it like that. We weren’t going to fall out of love with each other, so why not move in together? And if I were honest with myself, having him with me every day was exactly what I wanted. These past two weeks had proven that. It had been better than I had ever imagined, actually. And I had imagined a lot and had come up with some good stuff. What I didn’t want to do, though, was move into his fuck pad. I didn’t think I could get over how many women he had brought back there and I definitely didn’t want any of his past flings to show up at our door. That would not be pretty.
“I’m not moving to your place. You can move in here or we’ll find something else. And we’re donating your bed.” He chuckled then crushed his mouth to mine in a fierce but still careful kiss so as not to hurt me before he pulled back and grinned at me.
“Done. I’m getting rid of it today. Tonight, we’ll start looking for a new place. Don’t get me wrong, I like your place, but it’s too far from work and it’s too small.”
“Deal.” He gave me an
other kiss, this one long and deep before he took my hand and pulled me into the bathroom to take a shower with him. That was definitely something I could get used to: daily morning showers, which meant daily morning orgasms for me.
Eight hours later, I stumbled into my apartment in search of the pills in the kitchen. The pressure in my face was gone. Instead, there was this constant dull pain that made me think my head was going to explode any second. The painkillers I took this morning had worn off by lunch, four hours ago. Since then, every movement or loud noise or actually any noise at all had intensified the nonstop throbbing. I was ready to call it a day. Take the meds, change into sweatpants, and collapse onto my couch. Good plan. Time to follow through. The day had been successful. Jesse was released around noon and we settled them in at an emergency foster home after we sat down with Child Services so they could tell their story. That had been hard on both of them, as was to be expected. There had been a lot of tears on Chloe’s side and coursing on Jesse’s side. They still seemed shocked and pained by the time I left, but also relieved that it was finally over.
“Will we still see you around?” Chloe had asked me at the door. She was nervous about staying at a stranger’s house, I could tell.
I touched her cheek gently and assured her, “Of course, honey. I’ll come to check in on you tomorrow and keep you in the loop about getting you into a more permanent home. And you are always welcome to stop by at the shelter. Actually, I demand that you visit me often,” I said, smiling at her.
She smiled back at me then leaned into her brother next to her, who was looking at me with grateful eyes. He didn’t need to say anything. I knew. So I nodded at him and gave him a smile as well.