Falling - On the Banks of Lake Saint Clare (Falling - Book One) (35 page)

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“If you need anything at all, please call. I’m so proud of you to see how you bounced back. You were one messed up little girl.”

I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say. I didn’t know I had done anything to be praised.

“You must have a lot of moral support at home.”

I thought about my mom at our old house sitting and drinking coffee with Dad, Brad, and Rachel laughing and sharing stories and having a wonderful afternoon, while I sat in the doctor’s office.

“Yeah,” I managed to say.

“My nurse is setting up an appointment for you in the morning with my
collea
gue
. She’s one of the best in the business.
She s
pecializes in girl’s that have gone through similar incidents.”

“Thank you,” I said
,
taking the card. Counseling and Psychological Services? I really didn’t like the idea of having to go to a therapist. Maybe I was crazy and Brad was right.

“Ok, we are done here,” he patted my leg
again
. “Why don’t you come back in two weeks?”

“Sure,” I sighed, hating the idea of coming back.

The nurse and he walked out and I knew I was going to have to change in front of
Kaitlyn
. The doctor had blocked most of her view so I was limited to just hearing the one gasp.

“
Kaitlyn
, I am telling you right now that my entire stomach is bruised, so please don’t make it a big deal. Just look the other way.”

“I won’t react.” She said
,
not
sounding too convincing
.

I took off my gown and started getting dressed. “It
’
s not so bad,” I sighed
,
trying to convince myself.

“Alex, I am so sorry you had to go though that. I wish I would have come looking for you sooner. If we would have not been so worried about who was cruising and what the gossip was, we might have stopped it from happening.”

“We can’t live our lives on what ifs,” I smiled thinking of Michael. “I probably wouldn’t have left
The Lane
either.”

I finished getting dressed and we headed out. “Are you wearing that to the game?
”
Kaitlyn
asked, looking me over with the most disapproving look I have ever seen.

I was wearing a pair of sweats and
an
Aeropostale
t-shirt on. “I admit I don’t look as dressed up as I usually do.”

“You look like a hobo!”

“I don’t look like a hobo. Hobos don’t wear
Aerospatale
.”

“Hoboish,” she said
.

“Well I can
’
t wear a cute dress like you
because
I have a huge bruise on my back
.
I
can’t
wear anything tight because I
can’t
wear a bra, and I don’t want to wear anything sexy to add to all the gossip in town about me being a whore, so this is it.”

“No one is calling you a whore, Alex. Why would you think that?”

“You probably aren’t hearing them.” I said, hearing Brad’s say
,
“everyone in town thinks you’re a whore.”

“I hear everything.
And
Abbie
is cold hard fact queen, she would have heard it
. So Abbie or Erica haven’t heard it, it’s not being said
.”

“Maybe you aren’t telling me the truth.”

Kaitlyn
grabbed my arm, “Listen Alex, I don’t know who is filling your head with this non-sense but if I ever heard anyone call you a whore they would be as bruised as you. Got it?”

I had to laugh, “Got it. Wow, my
little grasshopper is a bad mu
ther.”

Chapter
2
1

“My cell phone battery is flashing. Dang! I don’t have my charger. It’s in Michael’s car. I guess if it’s really important I can use your phone,” I said
,
seeing my phone say “BYE BYE.  “
Do we n
eed to pick up
Abbie
?” I asked,
remembering Erica had said she might be going out of town.

“She’s grounded! Did I not tell you?”

“No! What happened?”

“I am not really sure
,
but she texted me that she was locked in the dungeon and would see daylight in a week.”

“That’s really odd. She has never gotten grounded. Let me use your phone and text Erica.”

Alex: What’s up with
Abbie
grounded?

Erica: Long story. Il call
.

“Do tell!” I said
,
immediately seeing her name pop on the screen and turning it on speaker.

“Alex? Why are you using Ka
i
t
lin
’s phone?’

“Mine is dead. What happened?”

“Oh man! It was bad! We decided to wait till next week to go to
Tulsa
so
Abbie
and I went to
The Lane
to hang, thank you very much for standing us up.”

“Sorry.”

“Well these really good looking guys from Bentonville were down here camping and asked if we wanted to come hang at the campground. Well duh! Of course we did. So we followed them down there. I learned my lesson not getting in a car with guys with drama queen
Abbie
by the way she treated Lloyd and
Monty
.”

I looked at
Kaitlyn
and shook my head.

“We get there and it’s like a big party. Not big
,
big
,
as in a lot of people
,
but enough to be considered a party.”

I rolled my eyes, not really caring what the head count was.

“
Abbie
hooked up with this guy. I can’t remember his name, but he was pretty damn cute. It was getting close to
midnight
and
Abbie
said she had to leave. I told her in a minute and she got so pissed and asked the guy to take her home so she wouldn’t get grounded. She said he asked to come in and use the bathroom but she said no way, her mom would kill her. Stan gets up this morning looks at video tapes of the freaking yard and sees the guy peeing on his privacy fence! Then he looks and sees that the guy brought
Abbie
home!”

“What is the deal with her? Every story she will have to tell at our class reunion will involve guys peeing,” I laughed.

“I know, right? She called me this morning saying her life is over that she has no reason to live that she is tempted to sneak out and go to the campground and elope. Elope? Now she is begging me to forget about the game and come hang with her. I do not want to sit there watching her cry all day and night. Thank you very much. So warning, do not answer your phone!”

“It’s dead anyway,” I laughed. “We need to swing by and pick you up?’

“Only if I won’t be a third wheel. I don’t want to be stuck with love struck
Kaitlyn
, Derek and the married couple all evening.”

“What?”

“You know I am talking about you and Michael. You are too comfortable together, like an old married couple.”

“I have no guarantees,” I smiled. “Michael and I invited the
Dawson
’s over for cocktail’s and to play bridge this evening.”

“Hilarious,” she said sarcastically. “I’ll drive and meet you there.”

We pulled into the parking lot and I saw Michael’s car. Park beside it and I’ll see if it’s locked. I need to get the phone charged. I saw Michael warming up. I loved watching him pitch. Every time I saw him, I’d feel warmness rush through my body. Maybe I should have taken the doctor up on the pill, I thought watching him walk back up the pitcher
’
s mound. Gonna have to look into that one.

“It’s locked,” she said
,
peeking in the window. “I see your charger right there. This window is down a little. I bet with a clothes hanger we can hook them and lift it up. You think it will fit through there?”

“Or we can walk over and ask Michael for the keys?”

“Oh, that would work
,
too,” she laughed.

I walked over to the dugout. I hated being at this field. It was like a foreign place that you visit
,
but don’t feel quite welcome. The coach was leaning against the fence, “Hey Alex. How you doing? I heard you were in some sort of an accident.”

“Yeah, I’m fine
,
Coach. Thanks.”

“Is there anyway I can talk to Michael for just a minute
?
Or grab the car keys from him. Either way.”

“Sure, he’s got a few minutes before the game. Michael,” he whistled, “hustle in.” He looked at me, “Tell your Dad I said Hi.”

“I will,” I said, hating to lie to him. Oh
man
, maybe I am getting too good at lying
.

Michael walked over to me and smiled. “Hey,” he kissed my cheek. “How was your appointment?”

“Wonderful. Best time of my life.”

“I’m sure it was,” he said
,
taking my hand.

“Can you unlock your car, I need my charger.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “Let me grab the keys.”

He walked into the dug out and then back out; Derek behind him. He walked over to
Kaitlyn
and started talking. I was nervous that the coach would get mad that we were being a distraction and get on to us. My Dad would have been ballistic if I had asked to speak to Michael. But he didn’t say anything. He just wrote on his lineup sheet and went on his merry way
.

“You pitching, I take it?”

“Yep, the first few. He doesn’t want my arm to be tired if we win. We
will
play tomorrow and I should pitch the entire game
,
” he said
,
unlocking his door. He turned it on and got the air conditioner going.

I plugged my phone in and saw it charging.

“Everything okay? Doctor didn’t have any concerns?” He asked
,
rubbing my fingers.

“No, he said everything was good. Got the stitches out. Hopefully you can’t tell I had them.”

“You can’t with your hair pulled up. Anything else?”

“He asked me about birth control,” I smiled.

“And?” he asked, not really having a reaction.

“I didn’t know what to tell him. I wasn’t sure what we decided, so he said I can just come back. But it will be like a huge siren going off, I’m screwing my boyfriend! I’m screwing my boyfriend! If I go back.”

“Well, that woman that just walked by the car thinks your screwing your boyfriend right now,” he laughed, watching her turn around and look into the car.

My face started burning, “That’s about the most embarrassed I ever gotten in my life. Did you see the look on her face?”

“And she didn’t just glance is the funny part. She wanted to see. Well, we don’t have to talk about it twenty minutes before the game. We can talk later.”

“There was something else that he talked to me about. I’m a little embarrassed to tell you, but he made me an appointment to see a psychiatrist. I guess he thinks I am crazy in just the fifteen minutes he was with me. It’s in the morning. I’m really scared. Why do I need to see a psychiatrist? I don’t feel insane.”

“A lot of people go to a psychiatrist. It doesn’t mean they are insane. I think it’s a great idea. You went through something that was really traumatic. I am sure you haven’t used your brain in so long, it’s saying what the hells going on here!” He smiled. “With love
,
”
h
e winked.

“With love,” I smiled. “I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

He leaned over and put his hand on my cheek and looked me in the eyes, “I don’t think I have ever seen you look so pretty.”

My heart instantly pounded as hard as it does every time he looked at me.

“
Kaitlyn
said I look like a hobo,” I smiled, felling his hand move to the back of my neck.

“That’s it. Hobos have always
given me a hard on
,” he smiled, and kissed me, slowly moving his hand to my chest, “I love your heart,” he grinned, not taking his lips away from mine.

I turned my phone on and saw Mom had called 23 times. I read her text. “Call me now!”