Getting Along

53. Eve

I woke up warmer than usual. Sweating. My eyes opened when I felt Hunter against me—more like on me. She was half lying on my chest, her hair all over my face. I chuckled a little as I blew it away causing her to stir in her sleep.

Is this a sign that I can hug her back? Am I allowed to touch her again? She hasn’t hugged me since we found out about she was pregnant; hadn’t kissed since then either. Perhaps this is her subconscious way of telling me she was on her way to getting better. Not that cuddling in her sleep meant she was fully over it. I was proud if her though; this is happening quicker than I expected it. But I still restrained myself from wrapping around her.

“Hunter,” I whispered, trying to slip from under her. “Hunter, I have to get up.” She sighed in her sleep and thankfully rolled over on her other side. Now that I was free, I grabbed my phone and went into the bathroom to make what turned out to be a million phone calls.

I called the police first, explaining the situation. They seemed more urgent about this than they were about our break-ins. I was passed on from the operator, to the actual police, to Detective John once again. The attack was explained for a second time, and he promised to find Gabe and ‘make sure justice is served’. He told me he planned to stop by the house later today.

Once I hung up with him, I called Hunter’s parents. They were hysterical—Jen was weeping into the phone while Martin went off in curses. I told them what Detective John said and Hunter’s condition at the moment was getting better each day. The news seemed to calm them a bit, but they were still questioning me like I knew everything. I answered as many of their questions as I could before I made up some lie about helping Hunter with something and hanging up. Sometimes talking to them was overwhelming and nerve wrecking, especially when they’re upset.

I took a couple silent moments to myself before calling my own parents. Sometimes I felt like they were in the dark about certain things, but Mum assured me she spoke to Hunter more often then I knew. I didn’t know how I felt about that. She was frantically spewing questions at me, just like Jen did, so after answering what I could, I hung up and called Dad. He was always the calm one in times of stress—always has helpful things to suggest.

When I hung up with him, I looked up from the floor, startled to see Hunter standing in the doorway. “Hey…” I muttered.

“You’re loud.”

“Sorry,” I blushed. She didn’t say anything back, but her face softened. “What?”

“You look cute.”

A chuckle bubbled out of me, “Do I?” She nodded. “Well thanks, so do you.”

“Thanks.” I watched her gulp and glance at her feet before walking forward. My own body tensed, like hers usually did when our positions were switched. She held a hand out for me and I hesitated to take it.

I eyed her instead. “Hunter…you don’t have to force anything…” She let her hand drop and fiddled with the end of her shorts. “You can take your time. There’s no rush.”

“Okay.” She mumbled.

“Want breakfast?” I sighed after a short silence. She nodded.

——

After we’d eaten breakfast, Detective John came. We were all polite though we weren’t very happy to see him. We ended a month long trial only three months ago and it was more than irritating for us to be right back with him again. Luckily, he felt the same way.

The questions and explanations went on for hours.

Hunter did most of the talking. She was suddenly angry about this rather than broken and sad. Tears streamed down her face as she described what happened and her ‘relationship’ with Gabe. Detective John even seemed thrown off by her loud talking, especially since every time we were with him I was the one yelling. He asked her questions that I guess were protocol in these situations and she answered them quickly.