I woke up reluctantly. My head was throbbing and my whole body felt like I was hit by a bus. I slowly began to open my eyes but immediately shut them after seeing the harsh light that flooded the room. After a minute I was finally able to open them completely and realised I was in a hospital room. I slowly moved my head over and saw Chres sound asleep in a chair next to my bed. He was securely holding my hand and was laying his head on the edge of my bed.
“Chres.” My voice came out very soft and dry but somehow he heard me and sat up in his chair. His eyes seemed panicked and relieved all at once and he let out a sigh. I could tell he hadn’t slept in a while and probably hadn’t showered either.
“What’s going on? Why am I in the hospital?” I looked back over to him and his face was ashen. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a knock on the door. A second later a woman walked into the room, closely followed by my mother. As soon as my mom’s eyes landed on me she burst into tears. She walked over to me and pulled me into a strong hug that caused a sharp pain in my ribs.
“Mom, you’re hurting me.” She quickly let go and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I’m sorry honey. I’m just so happy you’re finally awake.” She moved some of the hair out of my face and gave me a small kiss on the head. It took me a second to realise what she had said to me.
“What do you mean finally awake? How long have I been asleep?” She looked over to Chres who still hadn’t uttered a single word since I woke up. He still had a firm grip on my hand and was slowly rubbing the back of it with his other one. Letting out a sigh, my mom slowly looked back at me and held my other hand in hers.
“You’ve been asleep for two weeks Destiny. You had a pretty bad concussion and they put you in a coma to stop the swelling in your brain.” She looked to be on the verge of tears again and slowly looked away from me to compose herself. Again, I let the information sink in and looked over to the woman at the foot of my bed, she sat there quietly and looked up feeling my gaze on her.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I’m Mary McClain. I’m here to ask you some question about your attack. I know you just woke up so I can come back another time if you like.” She motioned over her shoulder to the door and I shook my head letting her know she could stay. She nodded and opened her bag, bringing out numerous items, setting them on a nearby table. I sat up a little higher in my bed, disregarding my body protesting the movement.
“So I want you to tell me everything you remember about that day. Was there anything strange about it?” She asked me after pressing play on a recorder. I thought back to that day. Somethings seemed a little fussy but for the most part I remember it clearly.
“Well I went to work that day like usual and Chres came and told me he was working late that night. That wasn’t really strange because he sometimes works at night. My mom and her boyfriend were in town and were staying at our house, so I decided to spend the night with my mom. I left work and went home but when I got there the door was already opened.” I stopped for a minute to think of what I remembered next.
“How was the door opened? Did it look like the lock was picked or that someone used a key?” Mary asked trying to trigger a memory of what happened. I thought a minute more before I remembered what I saw.
“I looked like it had been kicked in. I remember the wood was kind of splintered. I walked into the house because I was worried that my mom might be hurt. I had mace in my purse and I got it out before walking in. I went to the kitchen and saw that my mom had left earlier for the pool. A noise came from down the hall and I slowly walked towards it. Now I realise I should have called the cops but I didn’t think of it at the time. That was my mistake. I looked and saw someone laying on the floor. It’s not clear who it was.......” I paused mid sentence and looked up, realising what happened. The whole thing became clear and everyone’s attention was on me.
“It was Dave. He did it. I remember because I was going to call the cops and he grabbed me.” I looked over to Mary and she nodded her head before turning off the recorder. She let out a sigh and started putting her stuff away.
“Thank you for your time. I already had a hunch about Dave but they questioned him and let him go. He could be anywhere by now. Do you have any clue about where he could be?” She directed her question to my mother who’ face was completely pale. She was tightly gripping my hand and I wince a little from the pressure. She seemed to have come to her senses and shook her head.
“He told me he had to go visit his family but he didn’t tell me where.” Mary nodded her head and closed her bag before fixing her suit. She slowly walked over to me and handed me a card.
“If you need me please call. I’ll inform the police of this new information and we’ll set out to find Dave.” She gave me a curt nod, said goodbye to my mom and Chres, then slowly left the room. I laid my head back on my pillow and closed my eyes, my headache getting worse.
“Ma, can you see if I can get something for this headache?” I looked over at her and she quickly agreed, rushing from the room. The room became very quiet and had a heavy curtain of emotion over it. I finally looked at Chres and he was watching me closely. I gave him a small smile and touched his face.
“Hi.” I didn’t know what else to say to him. The fact that he was being so quiet was starting to worry me and the only thing I wanted to hear was his voice. He softly grabbed my hand and kissed it before setting it back down on the bed. Slowly standing up, he walked over to the window and looked out of it. After a while he turned back to me and the look in his eyes crushed me. I let out a sigh and looked away.
“Don’t look at me like I’m broken Chres. I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. I’m used to it.” I quickly shut my mouth and closed my eyes, regretting what I said. Why did I have to open my big mouth? I didn’t want him to know and I just let it slip. I heard Chres walking towards me and a minute later I felt his hand moving my face to look at his. I opened my eyes and his were inches from mine, searching my face.
“What do you mean you’re use to it?” He seemed pretty calm but I knew him better. I knew he was trying to hold back his anger. I looked back into his eyes and tried to think of a way to explain this to him. I know he is going to be mad that I didn’t say anything sooner but I had my reasons. I opened my mouth to speak and all that came out was air.
“What are you not telling me Destiny?!” Chres all of a sudden exploded out and I jumped in surprise, the loud noise causing my head to throb. I closed my eyes and held my head in my hands until the pain subsided. I finally looked back at him and he was still sitting there, waiting for my answer. I let out a sigh, knowing that there was no way around this.
“This isn’t the first time Dave’s hit me. He has been abusing me since he moved in with us. The only person who knows about it is Brandon. I didn’t say anything because my mom loved him and I wanted her to be happy, even if it meant I was miserable. I also didn’t say anything because I never thought it would get this far. That when I moved out, that would be the end of it. Of everything I was trying to get away from.” I looked down at my hands afraid to see Chres’s reaction. He was too quiet for comfort and with him that only meant one thing. I peeked up at him through my lashes and he was breathing heavily, his fist clenched tightly. I hesitantly reached out to touch him but he jerked his arm away. He breathed in deeply and let it out before he kissed my forehead and headed for the door.
“Chres...Chres.” He completely ignored me and kept walking out of the room, passing my mom on the way. She looked back behind her but Chres was already gone. I felt the tears coming and quickly wiped them away before my mom could see. She turned back to me and I could tell she was holding back questions but decided not to ask any. She just handed over the pills and water without saying a word which I was thankful for. I downed them and looked at my mom who was watching me closely.
“I’m fine ma. We’re fine. He’s just a little overwhelmed with everything that’s going on. That’s all.” I could tell by her facial expression that she didn’t believe me but I really wasn’t sure what else to tell her. I knew Chres was upset and I knew why but I couldn’t drop another bomb on my mom today. She just found out the man she loved put her daughter in the hospital and I wasn’t going to crush her even more.
“You know Chres never left once when you were asleep. Not even to eat. He slept in that chair for two weeks straight and reacted to every movement or sound you made. Whatever you guys are going through will end soon OK?” She gave me a reassuring smile and I nodded my head. A minute later a knock on the door got our attention and a doctor walked in.
“Hey. I heard our patient was up. I’m Dr. Foster and I’ve been looking over you the past two weeks. How are you feeling?” A middle aged woman walked in and her warm smile lifted my mood a little. I sat up a little higher on the bed and she walked over to me.
“I’m doing OK. Just a little sore.” She smiled and began examining me. She asked me questions along the way and began to fill me in on my condition.
“Well you suffered from a concussion and we put you under a coma to help stabilize it. You have two fracture ribs and you have stitches across your hip but other than a couple of cuts and bruises there’s nothing major. You can go home in about two days.” She gave me a small smile and left the room. As soon as she left the room was filled with loud voices. Bre rushed into the room, followed by everyone of my friends, and pulled me into a hug.
“You’re finally awake. I was so worried about you. I thought we were gonna lose you.” She finally pulled away and wiped away some of the tears from her face. I just smiled and pulled her into another hug before I was attacked by the rest of my friends. Eventually the medicine started to kick in and I was dosing off. The last thing I remember was my mom kissing my head and tucking me in.
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I put the last of my stuff in my bag and closed it. I was finally getting let out of the hospital and I was excited to say the least. I hated hospitals and was tempted numerous times to leave on my own. I zipped up my bag and heard a knock on my door. I looked up and Chres was standing there with a bouquet of flowers. He just stood there and I watched him, waiting for him to say something. After he stormed out of the room two days ago, no one has been able to reach him and I wasn’t expecting him to show up.
“Hey, I got you flowers.” He held them out to me and I took them from him. I set them down on top of my suitcase and went to grab my purse. I picked it up and was surprised to find Chres standing in front of me. Without warning he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. His whole body seemed to relax and I held onto him, missing his scent.
“I’m sorry I left. I just needed some time to think but I still shouldn’t have left you here like that.” He tightened his hold on me and I held onto him. We finally pulled away and Chres planted a small kiss on my lips before grabbing my bag.
“Come on. Lets go home.” I smiled, grabbing my purse and the flowers before following him to the car. The ride home was quiet but I was glad for that. I was able to think about what had happened. No one had asked me anymore questions and I don’t know if they found Dave. I also knew I had to go back to work soon. My mom had called and explained the situation the day after but I wanted to get back soon.
“Don’t even think about it.” I heard Chres’s deep voice interrupt my thoughts. I whipped my head in his direction and he was staring at me. “I know you are thinking of work and you shouldn’t be. You need to rest Destiny.” He turned his attention back to the road and continued driving. I hate how he can so easily read my thoughts. I just sat quietly until we got home. I saw Chres had everything either replaced or repaired while I was gone. I walked straight to our room and crawled onto the bed. The medicine I was taking was really making me tired and all I wanted to do was sleep. Chres came over and pulled the covers over me and kissed me before heading towards the door. I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Lay with me.” Chres obliged and crawled in behind me, pulling me to his chest. I snuggled in closer and slowly fell asleep.
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I woke up hours later a little disoriented but realised where I was when I saw Chres next to me watching T.V. When he felt me move he looked down at me and turned down the volume.
“Did I wake you?” He set the remote down and shifted so he was laying next to me. I stretched out and shook my head before laying on my side to face him.
“No you didn’t wake me. I need to get up anyway. The doctor said I need to do more activities to get my strength back.” He propped his head up on his hand and looked down at me. We sat there for a minute or two just looking at each other before Chres filled the silence.
“So what do you want to do?” Honestly, I knew what I wanted to do. I bit my lip and slid my leg around Chres’s waist. He watched my movement with heated eyes and started massaging my thigh with his hand. I smiled knowing I had him. I slowly crawled on top of him and kissed him before he could change his mind. He moaned and grabbed my waist pulling me closer. I winced a little, a sharp pain traveling up my side. I ignored it but Chres noticed and pulled away.
“Destiny we should stop. You just got out of the hospital.” I brushed off his warning and kissed him again. It must have distracted him because he flipped me onto my back and took over, his lips trailing kisses down my neck. Without hesitating he took off my shirt and sweats, his clothes following shortly after. He pulled away and looked down at me. His hands softly trailed over my stitches and the bruises on my body. I just watched him the whole time. I couldn’t tell what he was feeling or thinking but when he met my gaze I knew he was hurting. He was hurting because I was hurt.
“Hey..” His head shot up to meet my gaze and I sat up to kiss him. I pulled away, our lips still brushing against each others “I’m OK.” Chres let out a sigh and kissed me back the rush from earlier completely gone. He took his time, kissing every cut and bruise on my skin, making sure nothing was left untouched. He finally pushed in me and I knew then, I could never leave Chres.