Chasing Leah (Journey Series)

by Williams, C. A.

  Finally some peace and quiet. We step out of the club and walk down the empty road into the stillness of the late night. Luckily this town is small enough that we can walk pretty much everywhere and we head in the direction of the small bed and breakfast the bride’s parents set us up at. “Speaking of my girl,” Mark says as he reaches into his pocket, a big grin breaking out across his face as he pulls out his ringing phone. Jeez we were both in love with our girls. Never thought I’d see the day Mark would be smiling about a girls phone call like that. He’s always been such a hard ass.

  “Hey baby! Whoa Rem what’s the matter? Slow down, it’s okay angel. Just calm down.” I stop our walk towards the B&B so he can concentrate on the phone call from Remy. Obviously something’s wrong. I haven’t been around Remy much but I know she’s not a drama queen like some girls. Leah wouldn’t be friends with a girl like that. “Here,” Mark says as he shoves his phone into my hands and I look back at him with a questioning look. He pats my back with one hand and motions towards the phone again. “She needs to talk to you.” Me? Oh shit. A million thoughts run through my head and the only one that comes to the surface is Leah. Something’s happened to Leah. “Hey Rem,” I say with a trembling voice, bracing myself for whatever she has to say but knowing I’ll never be prepared if something’s happened to Leah. My Leah. “Chase,” she says between sobs and takes a big breath. “You need to get here now. NOW.”

  Yup this doesn’t sound good at all. “Remy what’s going on? Is it Leah, tell me what happened? Please?”

  I hear a few more sniffles come through the phone and thankfully she’s seemed to pull herself together a little bit. “There was an accident Chase. She was driving home after our shift, some asshole creamed her. I left a little after her, if I would of just made her stay with me maybe told her I needed help finishing up, this wouldn’t have happened. The jeep is a mess. I just don’t…..you need to get here Chase. I’m in the ambulance with her right now, we’re on our way to the hospital.”

  “Oh shit okay Rem. Can she hear you, how bad is she? I need to….I’ll be there soon. Okay tell her I love her and I’ll be there soon.” I hang up the phone without waiting for an answer from Remy and push my fingertips into my eyelids. This can’t be happening. What about Caleb? Shit I didn’t even think about him. “I need to get back right now Mark.” He shakes his head at me and starts running back towards the club. Luckily we haven’t made it very far. “I’ll be right back with the car dude, just relax.” He shouts over his shoulder as I stand frozen to the pavement. “We’ll get there in no time, she’ll be okay.”

  But he doesn’t know that, we don’t know that, no one knows that. I don’t pray often, mom was never religious but I’m praying right now. Please let Leah be okay I NEED her to be okay she’ll be okay, she’ll be okay.

  Chapter 20

  Leah

  “Leah, Leah? Please wake up, please wake up.” I hear a shaking voice say over and over but can’t tell who it is through the fog in my head. “Miss, you need to step back please,” I hear an authoritive sounding voice demand. “But she doesn’t have anyone here! Please, please,” they beg again as I drift back into unconsciousness. I can feel my body being moved and jostled around but I can’t seem to break through the fog that’s holding me down. I hear the sound of a siren and wonder where that noise is coming from. Can’t someone please shut that thing up, my head is seriously killing me.

  “Chase is already on his way.” I hear someone say who sounds like their sitting behind my head. I try to raise my hand to reach out to them but my body is not cooperating. What’s wrong with me? I struggle to remember what happened as I see the blackness fade in again before I think that I just need to talk to Chase, just to hear his voice. At least he’s on his way.

  I slowly wake up again to the beep beep of machines and a low murmur of voices. I hear Allys voice right away and think she’s talking to Remy. “I can’t believe this happened to Leah. Life just keeps shitting on her over and over. I don’t know what she’s going to do….” She breaks off as I hear her words turn into sobs. Where’s Caleb, she was supposed to be with Caleb. I want to reach out and tell her I’ll be okay to reassure and also to demand she tells me where Caleb is but my eyes won’t open, they feel like there being weighed down by 1000 pound sand bags and I’m forced back into the blackness.

  The next time I manage to come around I feel a light tickling sensation running across my cheek and over my eye lids. “How long has she been like this?” My heart swells as I hear the familiar soothing voice. Chase. He’s here, I remember trying to reach for my phone the night before and I try to call out his name again but my throat doesn’t want to respond and I feel something foreign pushed into it.

  “She’s been out of it since about 12:30 last night. She hasn’t been responsive since they pulled her out of the jeep. They had to pry her out when they found her. That drunk asshole didn’t even see the light, just plowed right through her and the snow didn’t help with the slickness of the roads.” I hear Remy answer back through sniffles. I feel the slight sensation running across my face again and smell the scent of Chases soap that I love. A wetness trickles down my cheek and someone’s finger brushes it away.

  “I should have been here,” he whispers out.

  “Chase don’t blame yourself. You wouldn’t have been able to stop the accident even if you were here,” I hear another voice add as I identify it belonging to Ally.

  “Yeah but it would have been me instead of her. I can handle more, she’s just so small, I’m sure there wouldn’t have been as much damage to my body. I can’t stand to see her like this, she looks so frail.” He pauses and I hear a breath huff out. “And to think what I was doing when it happened.”

  My heart skips a beat as I think back to that night. He had been at the after party with the guys. An after party where there were plenty of women throwing themselves at him. One in particular as I recall her high pitched whine. I fight to stay awake and hear the rest before the darkness pulls me under again. This time isn’t all black though.

  I dream of Chase. Chase surrounded by women as I stand in the corner watching with wide eyes as he turns to each of them with that glittering look in his green eyes that I thought was only meant for me. He leans in kissing each one while they run their hands all over his body, while I try to scream at him to stop but no words will come out. Chase doesn’t even glance my way once.

  I wake up again and this time I’m able to slowly open my eyes. The room is dark and it takes a minute for my eyes to adjust as I look around and take in the hospital bed that I’m laying in. No one else seems to be around as my eyes scan the room and I listen to the steady thrum of my heart monitor. I inspect my body as I lay there and realize my left leg has a cast around it extending all the way up to just above my knee. I realize I must have a breathing tube down my throat as I claw at my neck feeling the uncomfortableness.

  I hear someone enter the room as I turn towards the door and I can tell its Chase from the outline of his body. He bends down to place a light kiss on my forehead and I turn away from him as I remember the last words I heard from his lips. “Leah, baby?” He whispers as he brushes my hair back. “Are you awake?”

  His startling green eyes are filled with tears as he looks back into mine, unblinking. The tears begin to run down his cheeks as a wide smile breaks across his face. He leans back down to swipe a kiss over my lips and I shake him off with my head. I see him grimace as he steps back. “Um I’m going to get a doctor. I’ll be right back baby, I promise.”

  Chase comes back a few minutes later followed by a doctor and Ally and Remy who both push past the doctor to come and give me hugs. “Oh Leah,” Ally cries out. “Don’t ever do that to me again. We were so worried you would never wake up. Chase has been here every minute with you since he rushed back,” she whispers in my ear.

  I flick my eyes over and quickly take in Chases appearance. He’s dressed in a pair of black pants and an untucked white dress shirt t
hat looks disheveled and I’m sure it’s the outfit he wore to the wedding they performed at, there’s a thick growth of stubble on his face and he has his black baseball cap pulled on backwards. I notice the dark purple circles under his eyes as he moves closer to stand next to me while the doctor examines me and he keeps his eyes trained on mine through the whole process.

  “Well Leah everything checks out good. We were all just waiting for you to wake up from your little nap here,” he says with a wink. “Doesn’t look like there’s any serious damage besides this here,” he points down at the cast. “That’s definitely going to take some getting used to. Now I bet you’re ready to get this out,” he says as he leans down to pull at the end of the plastic tubing. “There will be just a slight pull that you’ll feel. It will be awkward more than anything,” he says gently as he guides the tubing out.

  I gasp and lean forward to bark out a cough as he presses a stethoscope to my chest. “Everything sounds good, you’ll probably be set to go home sometime tomorrow. We’ll just want to monitor you for the night.” He picks up a clipboard to write out a few notes and nods to me before leaving the room.

  My bed is instantly surrounded by everyone and I notice Skylar had joined the group while the doctor was examining me. “Oh Leah,” Remy says as she leans in for another hug. “I was so scared when I came up to the accident and realized it was Chases jeep. Then they wouldn’t let me be with you,” she broke off into a quiet sob and covered her mouth with a slender hand. “I’m sorry Leah, I don’t want to upset you.”

  Ally and Skylar both come over to give me quick pecks on the cheek. “We’re gonna head out sweetie and check on Caleb. He’s doing fine by the way, Marys been helping out with him,” Ally says with a pointed look at Chase. “I think he needs sometime alone with you,” she whispers into my ear. I nod my head and try to steady my heartbeat as I can feel it begin to race. I’m not sure I’m ready to be alone with Chase but by the time I find the voice to tell anyone everyone is being shuffled out the door and Chase closes it quietly behind them.

  He scootches a chair closer to my bedside and reaches over to grab my hand which instantly warms mine but I let it hang loosely. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here baby. As soon as Remy called I grabbed Teddys keys. I think I broke every speed limit and traffic law to get here.” I cover my mouth as I feel another cough coming on and Chase leans me forward and brings a cup of water to my lips. I feel the cool liquid trickle down my throat and it soothes some of the rawness.

  “Chase,” I croak out at barely a whisper. “Please get out.”

  His jaw drops and the hurt look on his face squeezes at my heart. “Baby what’s wrong, do you need me to get the doctor. Are you okay, are you in pain? What…”

  I interrupt him holding up a hand, “Just stop, please. I don’t want to fight with you, I don’t have the energy.”

  He purses his lips and rubs at the bridge of his nose like he’s trying to erase my words. “No Leah I’m not leaving. I promised I wouldn’t leave you and I’m not letting you push me away.”

  “I think you owe it to me, considering.”

  “Considering, what?” he says with a puzzled look on his face. I try to contain the tears I feel are on the brink but they begin to slowly stream down my cheeks. Chase tries to rub them away with his thumb but I push his hand away. He slowly drops it back down to his side and clenches it into a fist.

  “I was in and out of consciousness for awhile Chase. I heard brief conversations in the small amount of times I was awake,” I narrow my eyes at him. “Is there anything I SHOULDN’T have heard Chase?”

  “Of course not Leah. Why would you think that? I just felt so guilty I wasn’t here with you when it happened. You were stuck in that car and in so much pain while I was at some dumbass party. I should have been here with you,” he growls out. “I’m sorry. I just….seeing you laying here so frail…just took my breath away. I needed to be here for you and I wasn’t.”

  I raise an eyebrow at him, “And is that all?” He runs a hand over his face, “Of course Leah. What else would there be baby?” I struggle to get the right words out and swallow over the rawness of my throat. “I just remember talking to you right before it happened Chase and I heard all of those girls with you. I just couldn’t keep my mind off of what could be happening. And then one of the times I was awake I heard you saying something about what you had been doing when the accident had happened. My mind right away went to you being with another girl.”

  “Leah how could you…I would never…” his voice trails off as he looks like he’s trying to compose himself. He takes both of my hands in his and kisses each of my fingers slowly. “You’re the only girl for me Leah. Ever. I see myself spending the rest of my life with you. I don’t even look at other girls Leah. I just felt so bad that I wasn’t here for you when it happened. I told you to depend on me and you couldn’t.”

  Well obviously I jumped to conclusions. I couldn’t see Chase doing something like that to me anyways, he just wasn’t that type of guy. “’Kay Chase, I believe you. But you have to understand you can’t be with me all the time. I wish you were but I know that’s not possible. This wasn’t your fault,” I whisper as I rub light circles across his palms.

  He stands up and leans down to place a soft kiss on my lips. I feel his warm full lips move slowly against mine before he pulls away. “I should get going babe. You need your rest.”

  “No Chase please stay. I need you to be here.”

  He grins at me before sitting back down and grabbing onto my hand, “I was hoping you would say that. I just didn’t want to push you. I was just gonna go down to the waiting room and try to catch a quick nap anyways.”

  “Come here,” I gently tug on his hand. “You look like you haven’t slept in days,” I pat the small spot beside me. “You sure Leah? I don’t want to bump your leg.”

  “Just be gentle.”

  He slides down the guard rail and in next to me, lying on his side as he curls his arms gently around me. I turn and bury my head in his chest breathing in his scent and relax in the comfort of Chase.

  “Go to sleep baby, you need the rest,” he says as he kisses the top of my head. I feel the rise and fall of his chest and can hear the sound of his light snoring within minutes of his head hitting the pillow. My eyelids feel heavy too after only being awake for a short amount of time. I drift off to sleep feeling safe wrapped in Chases warmth.

  I wake up the next morning when a nurse comes into the room, her nametag reads Molly as she checks over me. “Hi sweetie, glad to see you up,” she says in a quiet voice. “You gave everyone quite a scare, especially this one,” she gestures towards the still sleeping Chase who’s wrapped around me, clinging to me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.

  “Well everything looks good. Think you could try eating something this morning?” My stomach loudly growls at the question and I instantly feel how starving I am. “Yeah I think I can start with something small.”

  “’Kay sweetie, I’ll call down to the kitchen and have something sent up to you. As long as you can keep that down, you should be out of here around noon. I’ll bring a wheel chair up and help this handsome fella get you situated.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper trying to keep my voice down so I won’t wake Chase. A wheelchair? After seeing the cast on my leg I didn’t even stop to think how much it would affect my life. How was I going to work? I don’t think Gino will find much use for his waitress with a broken leg. My final exams for the semester were coming up too. Wait they said I had been here for….four days. I count out on my fingers and flop my head back on the pillow with a groan. I’ve already missed half of the school week. And Caleb. Who could take care of a three year old with a cast on? That one seemed most impossible.

  “Stop,” I hear a muffled voice say from my pillow. “Stop, what?”

  “I know what you’re doing,” Chase says as he sits up and rubs the back of his neck. I’m sure the position he was sleeping in wasn’t comfortable at
all.

  “And what exactly am I doing oh wise one,” I ask as I rub my hands over my face trying to figure out how I’m going to get around with a cast.

  I’m sure Mr. James wouldn’t mind me missing the utility payments for a little while but I hated shoving responsibility off on to someone else. Plus my tuition for next semester would only be partially covered by scholarships and I was supposed to be coming up with the rest. Not to mention books and labs and any other supplies I needed. Baths for Caleb, fixing food, putting him to bed, chasing him around the apartment to keep him out of trouble, the responsibilities were endless.

  Chase pulls my hands away from my face and places small kisses across my tightened jaw. “Your worrying,” he murmurs in between pecks that he’s now trailing down my neck and I can feel his warm breath that sends tingles through my body.

  “Well I’d say I do have a lot to worry about Chase, quit trying to distract me.” I playfully push on his head and he looks up at me through his long dark lashes. “You don’t like my distraction Leah?” I bite my lip and try to stop my mouth from turning up into a small smile. “I’ll take care of everything babe, don’t worry.”

  “Chase I don’t need you to take care….”

  “Just stop,” he says as he interrupts me. “You have me and you have some awesome friends who are more than happy to take care of you.”

  I close my eyes and try to argue with his point even though I know he’s more stubborn than me most of the time. “But Chase I don’t WANT people to take care of me. I’ll figure this out.”

  He puts a finger over my lips to shush me. “Leah no one’s doing this because they feel sorry for you. We’re your family, it’s what families do.”

  I huff out a breath and open my eyes to look back into his brilliant green jewels. “Fine but don’t think you can boss me around. My legs broken nothing else, I’m not completely helpless.”