Echoes of Aphasia

Chapter 5: Echoes Of The Past

After Hayden left the next morning early, I grabbed myself a bucket of chocolate flavored ice cream and got back into bed. I wasn't feeling in the mood to be around people. It was one of those days where the pain of losing so much was just to hard to bear and I didn't have the strength to put on a fake front. So instead I spent the rest of my afternoon watching videos of Zach. I switched my phone off and snuggled into my blanket with my laptop playing the endless videos of Zach. I guess I should go into some detail of who exactly Zach is, since I'm almost always thinking about him.

Let's start at the beginning… On the night that I turned 19 years old, I went out with a couple of friends to watch a late night movie. I had to work that day to pay for my studies, so I was only able to get off from work at 8P.M. since my boss at the time thought that I didn't have a life outside of work.

I can still remember the weather… It was pouring down extremely hard and the roads were slippery, but I somehow managed to get to the cinema's safely. I was supposed to go to the cinema with one of my friends in her car, but because I finished working so late, we decided that I would just meet them all at the cinemas.

Everything was going great. We got our popcorn and snacks and watched the movie peacefully. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and we couldn't laugh any more. After the movie we went to a 24/7 open diner that made the best chocolate cupcakes. We ordered their biggest cupcakes and stayed there until about 3A.M.

I was starting to get really tired by that time so I told my friends that I would be heading home. We said our goodbyes and then we all went our separate ways. Everything seemed to be in order, as it always was. However, only when I was nearing my apartment did I see that I was being followed by a black vehicle. I couldn't properly see the make of the car, but I realized that I was in a situation that I did not want to be in.

I tried to lose the car that was following me by making sharp lefts and turning extremely fastly. I Couldn't at that time call anyone because my battery had died earlier that night and all of my friends were still out for the rest of the evening. After about an hour of aimlessly driving around, trying to shake the car following me, I ran out of gas.

I was trying to look for a gas station, but there was nothing in sight. The rain was still pouring down, and the wind was blowing extremely fast and hard. My car ended up stalling alongside the road. Then it happened. My birthday officially turned into another one of the worst days of my life.

The guys that were following me, found me stranded next to the road and used this to their advantage. They threw me against the pavement and started beating me with baseball bats. Since it was raining so hard, no one really drove around which meant, that no one saw how the guys were trying to kill me.

The only thing that went through my mind was that my night couldn't possibly get worse. But I was wrong. I was so terribly wrong. Not only did they beat me with a baseball bat, but they started stabbing my already broken and battered body. They kicked me in the abdomen and suddenly I felt an excruciating pain throbbing through my body.

They stuck a knife between my flesh and my jeans and then they proceeded to rip my skinny jean from my legs. I knew what was coming next. I started pleading with what little strength I had left for them to not rape me, but they silenced me with a punch in the face and told me to shut up.

They were about to do what they wanted to when we heard a loud bang. My ears felt like they were bleeding from the noise. I continued hearing a ringing noise in my ears which caused me to struggle to keep my eyes open, but I remember vaguely seeing a police officer running towards me, telling me to stay awake. He had a frenzied look in his eyes, but somehow, his chocolate brown orbs calmed me down tremendously.

After that I lost consciousness and only woke up in the hospital three days later. I still remember the doctor. She was nice but she had sadness in her eyes as she approached me. “I'm so sorry about what you experienced Lexi. You just lost your husband and now this.”

Yes I was married at 19. We fell in love in school and the year after I graduated from school, we got married at the church building. Our parents were supportive of our choice. We loved each other enough to know that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Unfortunately, that didn't work out for us. We were married for three whole months when a truck’s brakes failed to work on the highway.

Jeremy had no time to try and get out of the way. By the time he saw the truck speeding towards him, it was too late. They told me he died on impact. Everything just felt too surreal. For weeks after his death I pretended like he was away on some business trip and that he would be returning soon, but that delusion only lasted so long before I completely broke down.

“Lexi, you might not think so now, but you are so lucky, girl. Your baby is safe and will be alright.”

I stared at the doctor, Dumbfounded. What baby was she talking about? I mean, yes my husband and I did make love on our honeymoon, but I wasn't pregnant. I would have known if I was pregnant.

“Ex.. excuse me doctor? What baby?”

“Oh my dear Lexi, you didn't know? You're four months pregnant.”

I cried the minute those words left her mouth. I still had something left from Jeremy. He left me with something precious that no one could take away from me. Only then did it strike me. I almost lost my baby. Those guys almost murdered my little precious baby.

“I didn't know doctor.. I felt an excruciating pain in stomach when they hit me.. Did they.. did they hurt my baby when I felt that?”

“They did, but luckily the damage was not too bad and so your baby was able to survive the blows. I will have to check up on you every two weeks to make sure that both you and the baby are fine, but other than that, the two of you will recover perfectly.”

“Thank you so much doctor. Do you know what the gender is of my baby?”

“Yes dear, it's a boy. Congratulations Lexi. Do you have any idea what you are going to call him?”

I thought about it for a minute and then I grinned at the doctor. I knew what I wanted to call him. Jeremy and I discussed this so many times when we got married.

“Zach. I'm going to call him Zach.” This was one of the best moments in my life. Knowing that I had a baby growing in my tummy was one of the great feelings in the world and I couldn't wait to tell everyone the good news. Finally something started looking up for me. I would no longer be alone anymore.