BRIDGET GALLAGHER
Everyone was acting... strange to say the least. My parents had never been affectionate. Yet, I didn't realise how much they actually didn't care about me until now. I had been back for a week without even a phone call from them. Peter told me they were trying to give me space, but something was off. Even Cara, who was in Italy until next month, was calling twice a day. Especially now, I missed having her bubbly energy and inappropriate jokes to lighten up serious situations.
Jacob was being weird too. Whenever we spoke, it was like he was trying to not say something. He seemed afraid to touch me or leave me alone for too long. This was all understandable, but I wished so badly he would just talk to me.
As I washed some dishes piling up in his sink, he came down the stairs dressed for the today with a sad look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked, shutting off the faucet.
"Come here." He said. My feet swiftly carried me over to him.
He immediately pulled me into him, engulfing my senses with his presence. My arms wrapped around his waist as I looked up to his eyes. The embrace felt like he meant it more for me than him as if he was preparing me for something.
"What's going on?" I asked again as my nerves began to climb.
"You should sit." He backed up to sit on the stairs.
"I don't want to sit. Just tell me." I grew impatient.
"Peter and I didn't want to tell you right away. I thought I would just tell you when you asked. Your parents wanted to wait until you were ready, but I don't think there's time for that. You deserve to know." He said, sitting with his elbows on his spread knees.
"What are you talking about?" I asked. But in the back of my head, I knew. It was the question I had been too scared to ask this whole time. It's not that I wasn't thinking about her. Fear of the answer crippled me into not asking at all.
"You need to see Megan. She's not doing well." He spoke delicately, circling his thumbs around my wrists while he released a bullet into my chest.
"What do you mean 'not doing well?'"
"She hasn't been eating. She's declining." He said vaguely.
"But she's going to be fine, right?" I asked desperately, knowing he couldn't promise me that. The need for some assurance got the best of me.
"Bee," he said softly. His knees pressed against my legs, pulling me closer.
"Please, just tell me what they told you. Don't hide it to protect me." I pleaded.
"We don't know what's going to happen. The doctors are doing everything possible..." he trailed off.
"Can we go now to see her? If you have to work, I can drive myself–"
"Yes, of course. I'm not letting you go alone. I'm staying with you as long as you want me. Work can wait. I already discussed it with Nick."
The car ride to the hospital was painfully quiet. There was more he wasn't telling me. The words he wasn't saying blared so loud that it made my ears ring. I had expected the weirdness to dissolve after we talked about Megan. I was so sure that was all he was keeping from me. Clearly, that wasn't the case.
If I'm being honest with myself, I didn't want to know what he was hiding. I physically couldn't handle anymore. Still, the unknown overwhelmed me. As he walked onto the floor of Megan's hospital room, tightness gripped my heart, stopping me in my tracks in the hallway. Jacob stopped with me, taking hold of both my trembling hands.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"Talk to me." He whispered back, bending his knees slightly to meet my zoned out gaze.
"Does my dad know what they did? Does he know that I know what he's done?" I asked, feeling frantic and panicked.
"Yes, he knows." He said reluctantly.
"When he had the choice to let me die or confess, he was going to let them kill me?"
"He was trying to find get out of it, but Peter and I though it seemed that way."
I'd like to trust that my dad wouldn't hurt me. After everything I learned about him recently, I had no idea what to expect from my dad, and it terrified me.
"I'll be there the whole time, love." He promised. I nodded.
Jacob warned me that there would be extra security by Megan's room since the people that took me had not been caught. I death gripped his hand as we approached her room. Peter and my dad were on there laptops working. My mom planned her next social event on the phone, business as usual. They met us in the hall. Through the window, Megan lied in bed, much paler than when I left. Her lips had turned nearly blue.
"Bridget," Dad said, more cheerful than appropriate as he came to hug me, "I'm so glad you're home. I was so worried."
He embraced me as if he didn't almost let me become collateral damage to his crimes. My arms stayed at my sides with my hand still in Jacob's. My mother was next.
"Are you okay? I was so scared." She hugged me.
All I felt was numb to their forced affection and fake words. If they were worried, why didn't they check on me? I stayed quiet worried that I'd say something I would regret.
"Honey, you're room is all ready for you. We increased security around the house. I'm so excited for you to come home." My mom said.
I pulled away, wondering if I heard her correctly. Jacob looked as confused as me.
"We can talk about that later. I want to go in and see Megan." I decided not to argue yet.
"Right, of course, well, thank you for dropping her off, Jacob. You are more than welcome to come by and visit tonight." She said.
This time, my parents caught onto the confusion on my face. No way in hell was he leaving. The idea of being alone with them froze the blood in my veins. His hand tightened around mine.
"He isn't leaving." I told them.
"It's just that this is a private matter. We think it's best if you only see family for awhile." My dad elaborated, which added on to my uneasiness.
"What are you talk about? He's not leaving, and I'm not coming home tonight." I objected. "I promise we will talk about everything later. Can I please just see Megan?"
"There's nothing to talk about. Go see her, but not for too long. She needs to rest." Dad said.
I needed to see my sister and get as far away from him as I could. Something about the way they were speaking left a lingering chill beneath my skin. They acted like they were going to trap me in my home to prevent me from telling anyone what I now know about them.
If I wanted to see Megan, I had to be polite. They didn't accept anything else. She woke up as Jacob opened the door to her room. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. The room was flooded with flowers, balloons, and cards from her classmates.
"You're back!" She smiled weakly. I swallowed the lump in my throat threatening to make me cry as the image of her burned into me. He was right. She's declined a lot. How could it have gotten this bad in just seven days? I finally let go of Jacob's hand to hug her.
"Did you have fun in New York?" She asked.
"No, I missed you too much." I said, trying my best to not allow the tears to fall, "How are you feeling?"
"Tired, but I'm okay. Mom won't tell me anything, but I heard Dr. Ross say I'm at the top of the transplant list. That's a good thing, right?"
That meant she was sicker than any of the other transplant candidates. It was most critical that she got the next available heart over anyone on the list. Jacob sensed me struggling and responded for me.
"Yes, love, that's good. After you get a new heart, you will feel so much better. Once you're home, we can go to the beach, again." He assured her. The tears became harder to fight.
I remembered how uncomfortable he was around my younger siblings at first. Not only was he used to them now, he seemed to really care about them as well. His interactions with Megan always made my heart swell.
"And you will finally teach me how to surf?" She asked with a little glimmer in her eyes while she held his hand.
"Of course." He promised.
She showed us some of the gifts her friends from school brought her. She taught Jacob a new card game she learned while he returned the favour by teaching her poker. We couldn't have been there more than an hour when someone knocked on her door.
A nurse opened the door turning our attention to her, "Sorry to interrupt. Megan has an x-ray in a few minutes."
"It's fine. They're leaving in a minute anyway." My mother said from outside for me to hear. We said our goodbyes to Megan and prepared to face my parents in the private waiting room.
As my father put his hands on my shoulders, I nearly yanked Jacob with me, terrified of being any degree of alone with him.
"Bridget, I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't give you the wrong idea." He began. "We just think it's safest for you at home. It's best to only be around family right now."
It's typical of my dad to dance around what needs to be said, but this was too far. I wasn't going to pretend that nothing happened. And why did he keep saying 'only family?'
"Since when do you care about my safety? Did you care this much when you decided to let my abductor kill me to protect yourself?" I matched their fake politeness as I moved away from him and closer to Jacob, who remained strategically silent.
He bit the inside of his cheek to settle his temper. I understood that, if he defended me or disagreed with my parents, they would start to see him as a threat. After learning how my dad disposes of anyone seen as a threat, it was better that he didn't say anything.
"We want what's best for you, honey." My mom said.
"I know, Mom. I need some time before coming home." I said as my patience wore thin.
"Jacob, please, give us a moment alone with our daughter." My dad said.
His eyes widened as he looked down to mine. Even with my dad trying to corner me into going home with him, I felt secure, knowing Jacob was not going to let that happen.
"I would be happy to, as long as she is comfortable with it." He looked to me for an answer. I shook my head.
"Bridget, it's not a suggestion. You need to be home, where you are safe. You're being unreasonable." Dad said, getting angry, but I didn't stand for it.
"Don't pretend for a second you care about my safety." I said with my frustration imploding inside me like baking soda and vinegar. Jacob gently squeezed my shoulder to soothe my anger, knowing I didn't want to have an argument with my parents.
"How dare you insinuate–"
"How dare I..." I laughed. I rolled up my sleeves to reveal the raw rope burns on my wrists. I lifted up the hem of my shirt just enough for them to see the dark blue and violet spots on my hip to show him.
"Those marks are there because I defended you. I didn't believe him when he began telling me what you did, so he beat me until I agreed to listen to him. All while you didn't care whether I lived or died." I said. My composure could have broken like glass at this point. The sight of my injuries left them speechless. I couldn't speak again without shattering. I didn't even bother with a goodbye.
The feeling that they were trying to isolate me was too unsettling to bare. I had to get away from them. I pulled Jacob's wrist to head toward the exit. As soon as the elevator doors separated us from my parents, a strange sequence of relief then panic overwhelmed me.
I didn't even notice my quickened breaths until my forehead was against Jacob's shoulder as he tried to hush the panic bulldozing its way through my system. The whispers in my ear sounded tunnelled away. It wasn't until the fresh air hit my face that I calmed down before spiralling into a full blown panic attack.
"How are you feeling?" He asked as he started to car.
"I don't know," I said honestly, "Megan looked so much worse. My parents were acting insane. They never cared before if was home or not. What are they planning to do to me when I go back?"
"Yeah, it was a bit strange, but you handled it brilliantly. You were calm. You stood up for yourself and controlled the situation. I'm proud of you, Bee." He grinned as he reassuringly squeezed my knee. The way he spoke sounded like it came from experience.
"It felt like they were trying to take me away from you. I never thought I would be so scared of my own parents. Is that normal? Am I crazy?"
"You've endured an immeasurable amount of trauma in a very short time. Nothing you're feeling is crazy." He said.
The tears I was holding back earlier threatened to fall again. This time, exhaustion overcame me as my eyes reluctantly watered. I never used to cry this easily or often, but in the last few days, the wind blowing could have broken me.
"Jacob, I was terrified in there. I was scared of them taking me home. I was scared in the elevator because it was too enclosed. This morning, I was scared when you took a fifteen minute shower instead of your usual ten." I sniffled. "I don't want to be like this."
"It won't alway be like this, Bee. You've learned a lot of frightening things about your own family. You just got back. It's normal to feel scared after everything that's happened."
The reminder made my heart race. I willed my tear ducts to stop, taking a deep breath. Even wondering about what he was still hiding from me was easier than thinking about my parents.
"I can't think about it anymore. I need to distract myself." I said.
He nodded in agreement and turned on some music as a distraction. His phone buzzed a few times. At a red light, he checked his messages with a smirk on his face.
"What are you smiling about?" I asked as his contagious grin creeped up on my face.
"I have a surprise for you waiting at home." He said.
"What is it?" I asked, but he shook his head, ignoring me as he turned up the music.
"What kind of surp–" my questions were cut off by Jacob shouting along to Suspicious Minds blaring through the speakers.
"Oh let our love survive or dry the tears from your eyes," he shouted, making me giggle. I appreciated the effort he was putting in to keep my mind off of everything.
I laughed with him, turning up the volume until it vibrated through the dash.
"Let's don't let a good thing die. When honey, you know I've never lied to you," he sang loudly with a goofy smirk on his face, "We're caught in a trap, I can't walk out because I love you too much, baby."
Butterflies filled my abdomen as his playful side came up to the surface for the first time in awhile. The muscles in his arm flex as he gripped steering wheel. The movement of his jawline and the obvious veins in his neck as he shouted the lyrics was an image I wanted tattooed in my brain. Everything about him was breathtakingly beautiful.
"I didn't know you like Elvis." I said as the song ended.
"It's actually my favourite. My dad loved his music. I think that's where I got it from." He said casually.
The earth stopped turning at the mention of his family. In any normal conversation, I would ask more about it to make small talk, but Jacob you wasn't normal. I was as uncomfortable asking more about his family as he was talking about it. Except, this rolled off his tongue as if he hasn't repelled the topic anytime it was brought up. He must have noticed that I stopped breathing because he spoke again.
"On Sundays, we would make breakfast together with Elvis playing the background." He spoke slowly. His eyes remained on the road. The words didn't flow out as smoothly.
"You don't have to talk about it. I know how difficult it is."
"I wanted to try a little." He said shyly, making my heart flutter.
I didn't realise we had gotten to his house until the car stopped. After we were inside, I found myself looking around every corner for said surprise with Jacob laughing at my expense. He ran upstairs the change into shorts and a t-shirt while I waited around, dying in anticipation. Only a few minutes passed before the doorbell rang. He slid across the wood floors in his socks to beat me to the door.
"Your surprise is here." He smiled.
Before he could even open the door, he was nearly knocked off his feet by the person on the other side of it. Bursting through the door and nearly tackling me to the ground was Cara with a large bottle of wine in each hand. The impact as she threw her arms around left me stumbling back onto the stairs.
"Cara!" I squeaked. When she finally let go, I saw the tears cascading down her cheeks.
"Are you okay?" She sobbed. Seeing her cry made my tears return for what felt like the hundredth time today alone.
"Not really." I shook my head. She pulled me back into hug as I once again lost the fight to the wetness in my eyes. We cried for a moment until we both calmed down.
"How and why are you here right now?!" I asked, still in shock as I wiped my tears away.
"You sounded so sad on the phone. I thought you could use a wine night." She chuckled as her crying stopped as well.
"You left Lake Como for me?! Cara! You have been planning this trip for a year!" I scolded.
"You're my sister. I can go to Italy anytime. I wasn't going to wait a month to see you. Also... you know I love your family, but your mum is as comforting as a cactus." She chuckled.
I didn't tell her that they were the reason I was taken. She only knew my parents were cold, not cold-blooded killers. To be fair, my mom's involvement wasn't entirely clear.
"C'mon, find me a corkscrew so we can drink before I start crying again." She laughed as we walked into the kitchen, where Jacob and Nick looked deep in conversation.
"I didn't even see you come in." I smiled as he came around the counter to hug me.
"I'm so glad you're alright, Bee." Nick said.
Jacob handed Cara four stemless glasses while she struggled to opened a bottle of Merlot that was as expensive as her plane ticket home.
Binge drinking wine with Cara was the breath of fresh air I needed since I got home. Two bottles in and a few hours later, I didn't care what day it was or what's happened in the last couple weeks. All I cared about was not falling on my ass as I walked back from the kitchen. Cara and I snuck a couple shots of whatever Jacob had in his liquor cabinet.
We finished up the chocolate chip cookies Cara and Nick picked up from my favourite bakery on the way over. I took everyone's plates to the sink. The room pleasantly spun as I took one sloppy step after another. A tattooed hand caught me by the waist as slipped near the coffee.
"Easy, Bee." Jacob laughed, saving the box of cookies.
"We should probably go. It's already past one in the morning." Nick said to Cara.
"Why? It's Friday." She slurred.
"I've got a golf outing in the morning." He explained. She nodded and gathered her things to go.
After we said our goodbyes, Jacob and I cleaned up a little before we went upstairs. He laid down on his back in only his boxers with his bare feet crossed at the end on the bed. I changed into one his shirts before joining him. The after bliss of too much alcohol masked the inner turmoil making a mess in my brain. As the night quieted down, the thoughts in my head grew overwhelmingly louder, replaying the words of my abductor. I tried sleeping to ignore it, but it just got worse. I desperately needed a distraction or some other voice to listen to.
"Are you still awake?" I asked.
"Wide awake." He said sounding apprehensive.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked curiously while I traced the fern leaves tattooed on each side of of his lower abdomen. On the surface, he didn't seem like the type of person to have as many tattoos as he does. It was one of the many things that made me so attracted to him.
His hands remained tucked under his head. He had been so delicate with me in every way since I've been back. The absence of his touch felt like sleeping without a blanket. I missed him. I missed the comforting sensation of his hand on the small of back. For now, I savoured the warmth of his nearness while my nerve ending craved the heat of his touch.
"Nothing." He said. I don't know why, even in the dark, I sensed his cheeks getting rosy.
"Then, why are you blushing?" I asked.
"How did you know I... I am not blushing. Stop reading me. That's my job." He objected.
"I didn't know for sure, but I do now." I smirked, moving up to the tattoos on his chest, where his heartbeat quickened against my fingers. "Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me."
"Do you ever feel nauseous when you're around me?"
I was immediately thankful for the darkness over our faces as I cringed at the question, "I make you nauseous?"
"No, no, not in a bad way... like a good nausea?" He stammered as he struggled to find the words. I quickly realised he was trying to process a feeling he didn't understand.
"Try to describe it." I said, hiding my smile.
"Sometimes when I'm happy or nervous around you, I have this... fluttering in my abdomen that lasts for a moment or so. When I searched it, nausea just came up." He said shyly, making my heart want to explode in my chest.
"Butterflies, Jacob, you're describing butterflies in your stomach." I explained as the pink returned to his cheeks. "Don't be embarrassed. I love when you share these things with me because you don't tell me that much."
The fact that he didn't know what feeling butterflies was so painfully adorable and heartbreaking at the same time. I didn't want him to feel embarrassed because I was proud of him for even asking. Two months ago he wouldn't dream of telling me that. I felt the needed to turn the light on to see he his face. I repositioned into the crook of his neck. He didn't say anything for long after that. As my eyelids grew heavier, the next thing out his mouth shocked me awake.
"You know you're the only person to ever scare me? After my family died, I was never afraid to lose anyone else because I had no one left. I had no intention of letting anyone be that important to me again." He said, slurring a few words.
All it took was getting abducted for him to share more of himself with me. The thought reminded me how drunk I still was. Without a doubt, this conversation would not be happening sober. Alcohol involved or not, I still couldn't believe he was saying any of this.
I tilted my chin up to kiss his jawbone. "That's part of the reason you don't like sharing details about your life?"
"There's so much I want to tell you, but I'm terrified of what will happen when I do. I'm so fucking scared of losing you." He said.
The admission made my stomach flip. If anxiety had a sound, it was his voice and the shaky breaths in my ear. I pulled him impossibly closer as my arms locked around his torso. His eyes were an emerald abyss of uncertainty, tempting me to dive in and save him from drowning in it.
"It doesn't have to be now or all at once, but you have to try."
"Definitely not now. You've been through enough this week. I will when the time is as close to right as I can get. This is what meant when I said you would get hurt."
"And I said let me get hurt." I remembered.
I couldn't handle anything else right now, but eventually, I had to know. My hand ran up and down his arm as I tried not to wonder all the possibilities of what he meant.
"You aren't going to lose me." I assured him without giving it a second thought.
"Bridget," he exhaled.
"I'm yours, baby. I promise." I said. The pulse in his neck nearly doubled in speed. I took a mental note, he likes baby.
"Did you just— you've never called me that before." He grinned.
I think I had actually once before. He was half asleep after a nightmare at the time. This must have been the first time he heard it.
"Did it give you butterflies?" I teased, trailing my fingers along his collarbone before he brushed me away.
"Oh, piss off." He laughed, covering his face in embarrassment.
I know I should have felt some sense of doom tied to everything he was hiding, but I didn't. A surprised yelp escaped me as he swiftly lifted me onto him as if I was a pillow. At the centre of my spine, his arms locked me into place, ensuring contact between our entire bodies.
It started to hit me how strong my feelings for him had grown in such a short time. I had started at the shore with no intention of even getting wet. After our coffee non-date, I slowly let the water hit my ankles, telling myself not to go deeper because the water looked treacherous. One second I was knee deep. The next second, I was helplessly engulfed in him ready to submerge myself. The threat of sharks or rough waves seemed miles away despite his promise that when I was ready, he would unleash it all. I was caught in his riptide without a care in the world. However, it was easy not to be scared without knowing the pain of the shark's bite.
"I know it's frustrating for you that I can't properly describe how you make me feel. I do know beyond a doubt that you are so fucking important to me." He said as he drifted into sleep.
"Go to sleep, baby." I hushed him, nuzzling my head into his shoulder. "Goodnight."
"Night, honeybee."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I swear this was supposed to be a short chapter. If you enjoyed it, please vote and comment.
Any feedback is appreciated!!
Anyone notice the significance of the last line? Or the irony in the song?
What do you think Aiden wants to tell her?