Never Forgotten Love

by S. M. Stryker

  I looked at Harlow; she has tears in her eyes. She was still holding my hand tight. I pulled her into my arms. “Oh Beck, I don’t even know what to say. Could it have really been that easy to see that she had a chemical imbalance? The Doctor was right, it is a night and day difference. She did love you, but she couldn’t break through to you.” I just stood there, dumbfounded at the revelation.

  “NO, STOP! NO I WON’T!” my mom yells out. I stand up from the chair I have been sitting in for the last hour. All the monitors are screaming their alarms as she struggles in her sleep.

  I place my hand on her cheek and whisper close to her ear. “It’s ok mom, shhh, it’s Beckett, no one is going to hurt you, shhh you’re ok, shhh I’m right here mom I’m right here.”

  Slowly mom starts to open her eyes, they are racing around searching, looking for something, she can recognize. I step back so she can look at me, her eyes focus on my face. “Oh Beckett, my baby boy Beckett.” Tears start to stream down her face again. “You’re ok, he didn’t hurt you, I told him no, I wouldn’t do it, I wouldn’t hurt you, not any more, no more, not hurting Beckett, not my bab…” she was out again. The nurses came in to reset her monitor that had gone off with her nightmare.

  “Is it possible to speak to the Doctor again? Is he still here?” I ask.

  “Yes, he is still here, I’ll put a call into him.”

  “Thank you.”

  About thirty minutes later Dr. Hanson opens the slider to my mom’s room. “Doctor may I speak to you in the other room, please.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I’ll sit here with her while you two talk.”

  “Thank you, Harlow.” Leaning down I kiss her cheek.

  I follow the Doctor out of mom’s room into the little office we were in earlier. We both take a seat. “Dr. Hanson, I never asked, what exactly is my mother’s condition? What is her prognosis?”

  “Mr. Dalton, your mother was shot in the abdomen; the bullet did a lot of damage to her internal organs. We removed her spleen, but it hit the intestine, liver, and kidney. We repaired what we could, but there is always the possibility of sepsis especially when you are dealing with the intestines. She seems to be healthy so that is in her favor. As I said earlier the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours will be the most critical.”

  “I have noticed that when she wakes up she starts rambling and then passes out again. Is that because of the pain medicine she is on?”

  “Yes, along with the anti-psychotic drug that we talked about earlier. She hadn’t had it in her system very long before it was discontinued, this is a drug that you really need to be weaned from gradually, or it can cause issues like that. Once it’s in her system for a couple days or so, that should stop.”

  “Thank you Doctor I appreciate your help.” We leave the room as I walk back to my mother’s room. It has been a long day and I know that Harlow has to be exhausted, because I know I am. As I sit back in the chair, mom starts to stir. I pick up her hand and start to rub it with my thumb. “Mom, it’s Beckett, can you hear me?”

  “Beckett, Oh Beckett, are you ok? He’s going to try and hurt you.”

  “Mom, I am fine, can you see me?” her eyes flash to mine. “Mom can you tell me who did this to you?”

  “Thomas…Hmm…Brad Thomas, he wanted me to hurt you, he took my medicine and wouldn’t give it back, he said he would give it back if I helped him. He wanted information on the little girl that lived next door. I told him that we hadn’t seen her in ten years he thought I was lying. He said that since I was no longer useful to him and that I was just a loose end. Then he shot me,” she starts to cry. Then there is anger in her voice. “But I’m a stubborn old bitch; he wasn’t going to kill me that easily.” Then her voice was calm and she looked up at me. “Well, at least not until I could talk to you.”

  “Mom, that’s not important right now. You need to save your strength.”

  “No Beckett, I won’t wait, I don’t know how long I have, but I need to say this in case I never get a chance, you need to know. Do you know those little Russian dolls that you can open up and there is another one inside, and then another and another?”

  “The nesting dolls?”

  “Babushka dolls,” Harlow says.

  “Yes, I have a set at home.” I look at Harlow thinking my mother is rambling again. “That is what I had always felt like. Like I was the smallest doll and I had so many layers that I couldn’t get through. I could see what I was doing, but I was so angry I couldn’t stop myself from saying or doing the horrible things I did. I felt like a prisoner in my own body. I think deep down I tried to stay away so I wouldn’t hurt you more. It wasn’t until a couple months ago, I was admitted to the hospital, and they figured it out. All those years, all those horrible years, I am so sorry Beckett.”

  “Shhh, it ok, you’re getting the help you need and that is all that matters. Mom, do you know what Brad was planning on doing?”

  “No, all I know is that he wanted me to distract you any way I could, and then he said what he was going to do to you and it was as if the doll started to open, I could see clearer for once, maybe not all the way, but it was enough for me to say no. He didn’t like that, he’s a bad man.”

  “Mom, you really need to tell the police this information so they can try to stop him.”

  “Ok, Beckett, I will, but I’m so…tired…” and she was out again.

  I look at Harlow as she gives me a weak smile. “I need to get you home. This is a lot to process and even harder when we are exhausted.” I write mom a note leaving it on the nightstand as we stand to leave. I stop by the nurse’s station and leave a message with the nurse to let my mom know I’ll be back in the morning. I also give them my cell number in case they need to get in touch with me. I twine my fingers with Harlow’s and we walk to the Jeep.

  The weekend flies by, probably because of the early morning at the bakery and staying at the hospital with mom, I feel as if there was no time to relax, I need to decompress; I decide to go workout at lunch. Still concerned about Harlow going by herself to the bakery, but I feel I have no choice. I know Mitchell and his men will be there to watch over her, but it’s not the same, but since Richard is out of the office, I have to be the one to run things. I’ll have to rely on Mitchell’s team to keep an eye on her.

  I stop by the hospital after work Monday to check up on my mother. She’s been improving, which is a good thing and we’re exploring our new relationship as mother and son. I have so much pain and resentment to overcome when it comes to my mother. It’s hard to believe that after twenty-four years she finally is acting how a real mother should be. I am so afraid of what might happen if she ever feels as if she is cured and stops taking her medication, I don’t know if I can handle her reverting back into the old mother mode.

  On Tuesday, I go to the hospital at lunchtime. I had made plans to go out to dinner with Harlow after work. I walk into mom’s room as she is talking to a detective about the incident; according to her doctor, she has asked to be weaned off most of the pain medications and is more lucid, she isn’t rambling the way she had been when we first saw her on Sunday. She can hold a good conversation and it still amazes me that she is the same woman that was never there for me.

  I talk to the detective about what we know of Brad to give him more to go on and to hopefully find him. With mom identifying him as the man that had attacked her will put more heat on him to make his move on either Harlow or myself and with any luck get sloppy so we can catch him.

  I am clearing my desk getting ready to go pick Harlow up for our date when I received a call from Mitchell. He informs me that there was a fire set in the dumpster behind Harlow’s shop. “Harlow! Is she ok? Was someone with her? Any damages? Shit Mitchell!”

  “Beckett, Harlow is fine, she is a little shaken up, but she was never left alone. Luckily, there was no damage to her shop. There was no evidence that it was Brad that did this, but when I put the security system in I put cameras at t
he front and the back of the store, Davis is in the bakery with her now and I am heading over there now.”

  “You might not be able to prove it yet, but what is your gut feeling? Do you think it was him?”

  “Without a doubt. He was testing us to see how much protection she has. Davis is in the process of going through our video feed. Hopefully, that will point to Brad as the arsonist.” Mitchell stated. “We will have the evidence within the next hour.”

  “Good, so you should have it by the time I get there to pick Harlow up.”

  “Yes, we should.”

  I sent Harlow a text telling her that I was on my way and to see how she was holding up.

  I finished locking my desk and make my way out of my office, stopping at the front desk to talk to Raven before leaving the office.

  “How are things going today Raven?”

  “Everything is good, nothing out of the norm. Is everything good with you? You look a little stressed.”

  “Someone started a fire in a dumpster behind the bakery, but no one was hurt, it was more of a distraction than anything else.”

  “Oh my gosh! Is Harlow ok?”

  “Yes, she is fine, Mitchell says she is just shaken up a little, so make sure when you leave to watch for your surroundings, in fact, have Carson walk you out when you leave.”

  “I will. Was it Thomas, I mean Brad?”

  “I don’t know, Mitchell is checking that out, but I am leaving to get Harlow.”

  “Ok.”

  I check my phone to see if Harlow has text me back, but there was nothing. I had a strange feeling she was in trouble. It isn’t like her not to text back and it had been at least fifteen minutes.

  There are still fire trucks around the building when I get to the bakery. Firefighters are doing their mop up, some are rolling hoses and putting them back on the trucks, others are talking to the people that are meandering around the shops.

  I look around to see if I notice Brad looming around, but only see the firefighters through the haze of the smoke. The smell from the fire lingers in the air.

  I walk into the shop, it’s eerily quiet, and there was no one around, which I found extremely odd. I look up and the bell on the door was gone. I know that Harlow would never leave the cash register unattended; she always had a counter girl out here. I holler out for anyone. Nothing, then I heard it, a muffled sound. I jumped the counter pushing the door open as I see Harlow being dragged out the back door by someone in firefighter turnouts, his hand was covering her mouth, and she had a look of terror in her face. She was trying to fight him, which was slowing them down. Peering to my right, I could see one of Mitchell’s men on the ground, blood oozing from his scalp and Shannon sitting on the ground ankles and wrists duct taped with a strip across her mouth. Tears streamed down her face. “Shannon, are you alright?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  A FRIGHTENED SHANNON nods her head yes. Grabbing my phone I speed dial, “Raven, don’t talk just listen, Brad just grabbed Harlow at the bakery, he is in fireman turnouts, I need an ambulance, also police at the bakery, Mitchell has a man down in the back room, then call Mitchell and let him know what is happening. I am going after Brad and Harlow.” I press end and stuff my phone in my pocket.

  Running through the back door, I am confronted with more firefighters inspecting the dumpster and looking for hotspots. I stop, turning to see if I can see which direction Brad went, but everyone looks the same. As a firefighter walks by me, I grab his arm, “A fireman with a girl just came out this door, did you see them?”

  “Yeah, she looked as if she was having problems breathing; he was heading around the building to give her some oxygen.”

  “Thanks, man.” I ran to the left of the building down the alley, the direction the firefighter pointed. I see him in the distance he is trying to put Harlow in a van. She is kicking at him, but it doesn’t even faze him. I noticed that her hands were taped too.

  As I run towards them, I hear him say, “You want to fight bitch, I’ll show you how I fight.” He lifts his hand as if he were going to backhand her. He has her half way into the van by the time I reach them.

  “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size? Don’t you know that men that hit women are just fucking cowards?” I yell, knowing it will get his attention.

  He lets her go as he turns toward me. Harlow scrambles out of the van and screams. “He’s got a gun!”

  “So the computer nerd wants to play rough. I heard you couldn’t fight your own battles that you had the bitch do all your fighting for you.” Brad spits out like venom, as he looks me up and down.

  I take a couple more steps closer to him as he reaches into his jacket pulling out a gun. “Come on man, you don’t want to do that, put the gun down, and let’s talk this out.” I try to reason with him to distract him; I’m trying to act passive so he doesn’t realize what I am doing.

  Harlow is panicking, tears rolling down her face, she biting at the duct tape that is holding her wrists together in order to free her hands. “Beckett, getaway, he’ll shoot you.”

  Brad continues his rant. “No, we aren’t going to talk this over. The bitch strung me along; she’s nothing, but a cock teaser. All she did was talk about her long lost best friend, wearing that stupid bracelet as if it were a wedding ring. Then you appear and she is all over you in no time. No one says no to me especially a bitch!” Brad holds up the gun, pointing it at Harlow. So this way, no one will have her.” Before he even knows what hit him I grab the gun redirecting it away from Harlow’s body and wrap my hand around the barrel to control it, I then throw three uppercut punches to his face; blood starts to pour from his nose and mouth. I take the gun that I have controlled at his hip and rotate the gun to his hip then I flip it one hundred eighty degrees as I hear his finger break from being in the trigger hold. Brad shrieks in pain as a torrent of curse words fly out of his mouth. I flip the gun back pulling the gun free of his broken finger. I secure the gun removing the bullet from the chamber and walk over to a stunned Harlow. She looks at me in awe, as if looking at me for the first time.

  The police are just arriving as I finish removing the tape from her wrists. Brad is stunned; he is holding his hand as he yells, “You’re going to pay for this, both of you! You’re going to be sorry!”

  When he sees the police, he tries to run, but Mitchell is coming from the side of the building. Brad stops in his tracks. Mitchell chuckles “Well if I didn’t know better I would say that my man Beckett got a hold of you.” Mitchell turns Brad around and escorts him to the police.

  The police cuff Brad and place him in the back of a cruiser. “Are you ok? Did he hurt you?” I ask Harlow.

  “No, I am fine, just a little stunned and I think I am in shock…because I thought I just saw you disarm him and fight back?”

  “I guess we should sit down and talk. I can tell you about a small teenage boy that was always getting bullied and what he did to take control.”

  Mitchell walked up to Harlow and me. “Harlow, I know you two have already met, but this is Toby Mitchell, I call him Mitchell, we met, what is it eight, nine years ago?”

  “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Mitchell agrees.

  “I met Mitchell in a Krav Maga class that I started taking in high school. I liked it so much I even talked Richard into going too.”

  Harlow’s mouth was still hanging open. “I knew you were in good shape, but I never even gave that a thought. So all of this time, you were prepared for Brad? You were my body guard without me knowing it?”

  Mitchell excused himself to talk to the police and show them the video he had of the person starting the fire in the dumpster.

  “I told you I would do anything for you. You protected me when I was a child, now it’s my turn to protect you. I have always known we were to be together, but I needed to be able to protect you as well as care for you Harlow. I never want you to be afraid when you are with me, and I didn’t want you to feel like you still were my protector, you de
serve to be cared for, loved, cherished, and protected by your man, not the other way around.” She wraps her arms around my neck and reaches up on her tiptoes, she pulls me down to her as she places her lips over mine kissing me.

  I hear someone to my back clearing his throat. “Excuse me, I’m Officer Mills, I would like to sit down with you both and ask you a few questions if that is alright.”

  “Of course, how about we go into the bakery I know I could use a cup of coffee,” Harlow says as she smiles up at the officer, he nods his approval.

  We walk into the back door of the bakery. Shannon runs up to Harlow, wrapping her arms around her. “Harlow are you ok? I was so scared for you.” Tears run down Shannon’s face.

  Harlow wrapped her arms around Shannon, rubbing her back. “Yes, I’m fine, are you ok? Did he hurt you?”

  “No, he only hurt Davis, they said he needed stitches, but he wouldn’t go to the hospital to get them, the man hit him in the head with a gun,” she said, wiping the tears from her face.

  “Have you already talked to the police?” Harlow asks Shannon.

  “Yes, I was just waiting to see if you were ok and to take care of things here in case someone came in. I didn’t want to leave it unattended.”

  “Thank you, Shannon; why don’t you go home now, I really don’t think we will have any other customers today, I am going to lock up so we can talk to officer Mills. Are you going to be ok to drive home or do you need someone to take you home?”

  “I’ll be ok to drive home; do you want me to make some coffee for everyone before I leave?”

  “That would be wonderful, thank you Shannon.”

  Officer Mills and I walk to a large table toward the back of the bakery and I sit while Harlow turns the sign and locks the door, then she grabs a couple plates, puts some cupcakes on them, and brings them to the table. As she was bringing the cupcakes, Shannon is setting a tray of coffee with all the fixings on the table. Harlow then walks her to the front door hugging her again and telling her goodbye.