by Jenn Hype
I must have let out some kind of noise, probably a surprised gasp or some other noise that someone who accidentally witnesses her friend getting sucked off would make. My timing was indeed impeccable. If I wasn’t so distracted from how stressful the night had been then the sight in front of me might have actually turned me on. Or made me crack up.
However, when Joe turned to look at me, finally noticing my intrusion, an entirely different noise came out of me.
A choked sob escaped my throat when I realized the face looking at me wasn’t Joe, it was Chad.
I barely had time to register the surprise and embarrassment on his face before I bolted out of the door. I collided with Joe in the hallway, who grabbed me by my midsection as I tumbled over, partially from impact, but mostly because I was doing my damndest not to start retching all over his floor.
When he noticed the tears falling silently down my cheeks he pulled me up and tucked me into his side, ushering me down the hall and into the kitchen.
“I...I’m sorry...I shouldn’t...I...Adalyn...She...But I should have...Oh my God…” I wasn’t making sense and I was mortified at my lack of self control. I couldn’t believe I was breaking down like that in front of someone. So many emotions came barreling forward as I stood in Joe’s kitchen while he held me tightly in his arms, making soothing sounds.
Somewhere inside of me I knew I had no right to be so upset about Chad being with another woman. I had rejected him this last time, it was what I told myself I wanted. And despite how gutted I felt every time I thought about him, I was starting to feel like maybe it had been the right decision after all. That is, until I actually saw him with someone. Now...now I just felt like I was the biggest fucking idiot on the planet.
Later. I’d think about that later. Adalyn was my priority and I needed to get my shit together.
I pulled back, my tears finally starting to dry up, and seeing the look of sheer horror on Joe’s face actually made a nervous bubble of laughter pop out. He still had no idea why I was so upset, and I was sure he had no clue what he was supposed to do to help me, but the confusion and fear in his eyes told me he cared. I shook my head, wiping my eyes and smiling apologetically. I’d been somewhat avoiding Joe since the fallout with Chad, needing to give myself some distance from the situation, but I had really missed him.
Realizing I’d wasted entirely too much time upset about seeing Chad, I quickly recapped the night’s events to Joe. Like the flip of a switch Joe got serious, his entire body tensing up. Work Joe. Badass Joe. All business Joe was making an appearance, and though he was very intimidating when he got this way, knowing he was taking my concerns seriously calmed my nerves.
Chad appeared, pulling a shirt over his head and I turned back to Joe and buried my face in his chest, lightly shaking my head, hoping Joe would get the message that I didn’t want to talk to Chad. His chest tightened¸ but he didn’t say a word. He just grabbed my arm and led me in the opposite direction, away from Chad, and took me out front through the garage.
“Thank you, Joe. I’m so sorry for…”
“Stacy, stop,” he cut me off mid apology. “You know I love you. No apologies necessary. I’m just glad you came to me. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help sooner; I didn’t realize my phone was dead. Right now you need to go home and get some rest and let us look for Adalyn. I’m sure she’s fine but she will probably be exhausted and emotional and will need someone to lean on, so you need to be rested for her.”
His words were firm with no inflection, but I knew what he was doing. His confidence and commanding body language told me he was in control and everything would be fine. I threw my arms around his neck, even though he’d already switched over to cop mode, and when he didn’t return my hug it didn’t bother me in the least.
“Do you need me to take you home? I’m not sure you should be driving with how exhausted you must be.”
“It’s okay, I have a ride,” I said, motioning to Scott standing behind me, holding the passenger side door open. Knowing we had reinforcements relaxed me enough to realize how horrible tonight had been and I felt terrible all over again that Scott had gotten sucked into such a mess.
Joe arched an eyebrow in question, but gave no other response other than a quick head nod as he turned back to the house. He yelled over his shoulder, demanding I get some sleep and promising to call me when they had found Adalyn. The fact that he’d said “when” and not “if” did not escape me, and the exhaustion that the adrenaline had been holding back finally fell over me like a heavy blanket. My limbs felt heavy and my eyes sagged, still burning from crying.
I made my way over to Scott and he drove me back to my apartment in silence. He offered to come in with me, but I politely declined, feeling like I had already taken advantage of his kindness long enough. I gave him a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth when he walked me to my door. Right as I pulled away from him my phone rang and my hands were shaking so badly from lack of sleep that I dropped my phone when I tried to pull it out of my bag.
Scott answered it for me and I could hear Joe on the other end, telling him they had found Adalyn and she was on her way to the emergency room. After hearing emergency room, everything else faded out. I took off running towards my car, but Scott caught up to me quickly, grabbing my hand.
“Stacy, let me drive you.”
“No, it’s okay Scott, you’ve been so great tonight. You should get some rest. I already feel horrible about how tonight has gone and you must be exhausted. I’ve put you out enough”
Scott shook his head and grabbed my hand, leading me back to his car. “That’s nonsense, Stacy. I don’t mind at all, I’m glad to be able to help. Once we know Adalyn is fine then we can both rest, but I’m fine to wait. In fact, I insist.”
I wished so badly that I felt more for Scott than just kinship and slight physical attraction. He had been beyond amazing and anyone else would have fallen hard over someone as perfect as him, but my heart just wasn’t in it. Maybe we could make it out of this and remain friends. We hadn’t crossed any physical boundaries so keeping things platonic might actually work.
I may have dozed off a little on the way to the hospital, because suddenly Scott was gently nudging my arm. My eyes popped open as soon as I realized where we were. The brief amount of rest I’d gotten had actually made my body feel about a hundreds times more fatigued than before, but adrenaline kicked back in as I jumped out of the car and ran into the emergency room.
I halted abruptly, causing Scott to crash into the back of me, when I spotted Chad standing at the desk, speaking with a doctor.
Chapter 16
Chad
A commotion at the doors to the emergency room caused the doctor to pause mid sentence, and I turned to follow his line of sight. Right there, a few feet away from me, was Stacy. She looked exhausted - her hair was disheveled, her eyes had bags under them and were puffy from crying, but mostly she looked absolutely stunning. I knew I’d fucked up back at Joe’s, and I knew it would be best to just give her some space, but I so badly wanted to run to her and try to explain. And I almost did, until I saw the man standing behind her. The same one who I’d seen her drive away with as I watched out the window at Joe’s. He slid his arm around her waist and whispered something into her ear. The gesture was so intimate, and all of the guilt I felt about Stacy walking in on my dumb ass getting a blow job went right out the window and was swiftly replaced with rage.
I knew I had no right to feel so possessive over her after I’d given up trying. But seeing another man with her was like having a bucket full of ice water doused over my head. I was a fucking idiot for accepting that she didn’t want me, but no matter who the hell this guy was, Stacy was mine. Or at least, she would be, because despite how fucked up things were, there was no way in hell I was giving up again.
Stacy looked defeated and it tugged at my chest, but as soon as she saw the fire raging in me from the sight of her with another man, a fierceness overcame her. You could literal
ly see her walls coming up and her face hardening as she geared up for a fight.
With his hand still on the small of her back, Stacy marched right up to the desk I was standing at and asked the nurse at the computer where to find Adalyn. She stood so close to me that I could smell her shampoo mixed with the light scent of her perfume, and despite how badly I wanted to punch the asshole that was touching her in the face, I wanted to wrap my arm around her and pull her into me that much more. I found my hand moving towards her, almost automatically, but as soon as my fingertip touched her arm she jerked away from me.
Never one to back down, Stacy looked me right in the eye and let me see everything she was feeling. Sadness, anger, betrayal and disappointment. If it hadn’t been for the flicker of sadness, I would have thought she truly hated me. When she stormed past me in the direction of Adalyn’s room I took off after her.
I started to call out for her, but she ducked into Adalyn’s room, with her date still stuck to her side. Fucking asshole couldn’t even give her two minutes of space to check on her friend?
Of course not, idiot, he’s just being supportive. Unlike you who’s being a giant dick.
Shit, I needed to get my act together. So Stacy had a date? What she had seen was much worse and I had no right to be angry. I was the one who kept pushing her away. I deserved the pain searing through me at the thought of another man touching her. I deserved worse, but it didn’t stop me from desperately wanting to lay claim to her and tell that mother fucker to get lost.
“Dammit!” I yelled as I kicked a waiting room chair. A nurse ran up to me as I ran my hand over my face, asking me to calm down or leave. I just waved my hand dismissively, ignoring the huff she gave as she stormed back to where she’d come from. I needed to get ahold of myself before Stacy came back out. I had a lot that needed to be said, and saying it when I was pissed would only make things worse.
I paced back and forth for over a half an hour before Stacy and her date finally came out of the room. Her eyes locked with mine immediately, and I braced myself for her to walk away or scream at me, but instead she walked right up to me and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a gentle hug.
I was so stunned that I didn’t move at first, but after a couple seconds my body relaxed and I pulled her tightly against me, all the anger I’d been feeling moments ago just melting away. After an entirely too short amount of time, Stacy finally pulled back, tears streaming down her face.
“Thank you for finding her, Chad. I’ll never forget it,” she whispered, then turned around and took her date’s hand in hers and walked towards the elevators.
What. The. Fuck.
Why did that hug and her words sound so much like a goodbye? Why did I hear resignation in her voice, as if she knew those were the last words she would ever speak to me?
I took off towards her, determined to not let her pull away from me entirely like this, but the elevator doors closed right as I neared them. I just stood there watching the door close as she averted her eyes, each tear falling down her cheek proving what a worthless piece of shit I really was.
Chapter 17
Stacy
Scott took me home to change and we finally parted, after having a brief discussion about staying friends. I was afraid to hurt his feelings, but he made it easy for me, saying he knew without me explaining that my heart belonged to someone else. I wanted to get angry at him for assuming shit, especially knowing he meant Chad, but he was right and I was fucking tired and he’d been a saint, so I bit my tongue instead.
I changed out of my dress, finally, and fell onto the bed. The doctors said when Chad had brought Adalyn in she was unconscious and would remain that way for a while, so I set my phone alarm to wake me in two hours.
When my alarm went off it felt like I’d been asleep for five minutes. Every muscle in my body ached like I had just ran three fucking marathons in a row. I had blisters on my feet from my shoes and all I wanted was to take a hot, relaxing bath, but I needed to get to Adalyn. I wanted to be there when she woke up. So I quickly tossed some of her stuff, along with mine, into a bag and headed to the hospital.
Ian was in her room when I got there, holding an extra cup of coffee for me.
“Thank you, but you need to get the fuck out.” I yanked the cup out of his hands and threw myself into the chair next to Adalyn’s bed. She was still out cold and she looked so small and broken lying in that bed. My heart ached for her, knowing the kind of pain she was feeling, even if she wasn’t conscious.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ian stated, stiffening his spine and crossing his arms like a toddler about to have a fucking temper tantrum.
“It’s not a request. I get why you’re here, Ian, I do. You feel bad and want to make sure she’s okay, but when she wakes up she’s not going to want to talk to you. At least not right away. I promise I’ll keep you updated, but you can’t be here right now. If you really want to make it up to her, then start by giving her some space.”
Ian sighed and ran his hand through his hair, making me promise to let him know as soon as I had an update, and left, saying he’d be in the waiting room. I tried to sip on the coffee he’d brought me, but it just burned in my empty stomach and made me feel queasy. So instead I pulled my chair up next to Addy’s bed and laid my head back, dozing off.
I woke to a scream, and shot straight out of my chair, lunging myself at Adalyn when I realized she was the source of the screaming.
“Ian...Maggie...hurts...why…” She wasn’t making sense. Her words came out choppy and almost unintelligible, and I wondered if she was even aware of them coming out. Nurses rushed in as her heart monitor beeped off the charts, while I tried to calm her down. She never even looked at me, like she didn’t recognize my voice. Then she was out again, dead to the world, after the nurses injected some kind of sedative into her arm.
Adalyn didn’t speak again after that. When she finally came to, she was eerily calm. Honestly, it scared the shit out of me. She had done this after the rape, but it was different this time. Even in the quiet hours I’d spent sitting with her the weeks following the rape, you could still feel the emotions rolling off of her. This time, though, it was like she was dead inside. I tried to talk to her a few times, and the one time I said Ian’s name, she freaked out again.
After sedating her the second time, I stepped outside with the doctor and gave him some background on Adalyn and what happened back in college. I gave the doctor her parents’ phone number, who gave him permission to contact the psychiatrist who treated Adalyn after the rape. I was surprised to find out the psychiatrist was flying out, and it made me worry that things were more serious than I initially thought.
I felt like shit when I finally insisted Ian leave the hospital altogether. I knew he was hurting, and as much as I loved him, my loyalty was to Adalyn. Knowing Ian my whole life definitely added to my guilt, but Adalyn needed me more than he did. I knew he understood and wasn’t angry with me, but it still killed me to see two of my best friends hurting so badly.
Weeks went by and Adalyn still wasn’t speaking. I’d returned to work part time, only because I had bills to pay. I was so worried about Addy; I didn’t want to leave her. I could tell my constant hovering was starting to make her crazy, though. Ian had been blowing up my phone constantly asking for updates, but I never had anything to tell him.
Then one day I got a call at work. One of the girls I worked with pulled me out of the operatory and said there was an emergency. My first thoughts went to Adalyn and I panicked.
“Fuck!” I ignored the gasp coming from the patient lying in my chair who had been startled by my outburst. I never in a million years could have predicted what would be waiting for me on the other line.
“Hello?!” I yelled anxiously into the phone.
“Calm your tits, Stacy.”
“Adalyn?” I could hear her laughing on the other end of the phone. Fucking laughing. Bitch hadn’t opened her mouth in weeks, then calls me out of the blue
cracking up like she hadn’t been out of her damn mind the last month. Was I in some sort of twilight zone? Did I huff some nitrous oxide and pass out?
“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry, Ian’s being ridiculous.”
“Ian?! What is happening right now!?” The patients in the waiting room were staring at me, but I didn’t care. “What the hell is going on!? Why are you with Ian? When did you start talking? I feel like I’m losing my shit here, Addy!”
More laughing. “I’m sorry, Stacy. I promise I’ll catch you up. But first, I need a favor…”
I called Joe as soon as I got off the phone with Adalyn and told him what happened between her and Maggie. I still couldn’t believe Adalyn had run into her on the street and beat the shit out of her. It was so out of character for her, but I was so proud I could cry.
I knew it was a lot to ask, for Joe to be able to help if Maggie pressed charges, but I felt obligated to do what I could to protect Adalyn. There was no way in hell I would let Maggie cause her any more grief, not if I could help it.
Joe was not usually such a stickler for rules, but he was with Chad and said that there was no way Chad would let him go along with anything that would ‘obstruct’ an investigation. Fucking Chad.
“Put him on the phone,” I demanded. I waited through several seconds of silence before yelling, “Now, dammit!”
“Stevens.”
“Cut the shit, I know it’s you. I told him to hand you the damn phone. Now listen to me, you son of a bitch, you fucking owe me. I’m not the kind to hold grudges, but I haven’t forgiven you for being such an asshat. So if you care at all about how you hurt me, then this is your chance to make it up to me.”
I waited for him to say a smart ass comment or tell me to fuck off, but after a minute or so of silence, I took that as a cue to keep talking.
“Adalyn beat the shit out of that bitch Maggie who fucked up her life the night at the charity event. You saw first hand how messed up Adalyn was after that, so you have to understand why I can’t let Maggie come after her, which she undoubtedly will. She’s a psychotic whore with too much time on her hands and a propensity for drama.”