Not Alone (20 page)

“I’m alive…”

“Emmy,” Brock said in a soothing voice meant to comfort me.

“No, it’s ok. I’m just so happy to be alive. I feel like I’ve cheated death twice now. Someone up there must think I’m worth it,” I said while pointing towards the ceiling.

“Of course you are worth it, Emmy,” Toby stated, sitting on the edge of my hospital bed and running his hand over the top of my hair. “Honey, I know you don’t think it, but you are worth everything. You deserve happiness, you deserve love, you deserve peace, and you deserve to live. You need to quit being so hard on yourself and go after what you want. I bet things may just surprise you.”

“But what I want isn’t even here…” I yelled while sobbing, hysterically. Grady was here, I knew he was, I had heard him. Why wasn’t he here now?

They left me with a pile of Kleenexes and Charlie.

---~~~---

“Charlie I just wanted to thank you for saving me, and I’m so sorry you got caught up in the middle of all this.”

“Emmalynne, shh,” he said, pressing his fingers to my lips. “I know you heard me last night. It was my job, so I was already caught up in the middle of it.”

“So, now that Corbin has been caught, you’re leaving?”

“Well, not exactly. I’ll be here a bit longer. But you have to promise not to say anything about my job, to anyone, Toby and Tessa especially.”

“You know I won’t. I honestly thought I was hearing things... But, you tried to kiss me.” I didn’t mean to blurt out the last part. I was preparing to ease into that conversation.
Real subtle, Emmalynne.

“You have nothing to worry about, it was a lapse in judgment.” I scoffed, being utterly offended. “No, no, you misunderstood. I didn’t mean any offense, you are a very beautiful woman, and if you were my woman I would never let you go, I’d be the luckiest man on earth. But I can see it clear as day that you still love Grady. And the light that shines in your eyes whenever you think or talk about him, I could never compete with that.”

“Well.” My cheeks felt heated, and I was sure they were a nice shade of red. “Thank you. But I don’t think Grady feels the same way, and if he does, he sure has a great way of showing it. I thought I heard him here a few times, but he isn’t here now. Besides, he cheated on me, I saw it with my own two eyes.”

“Emmalynne, you saw what you wanted to see. If you let him explain I’m sure everything could be sorted out.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that to me? If you know something, freaking spit it out already, instead of speaking in code!” Reigning in my temper, I apologized for my outburst. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It’s ok. You’ve been through a lot.  He was here, sweetie. I don’t know if I should be telling you this, but he mouthed off to the lady at the front desk and went rogue, running through the halls of the emergency room, trying to find you. And once he finally did find you, and saw you lying here, unresponsive, he flipped out. I have never seen anything like it. He tried to tear through Security just to be by your side. They eventually had to sedate him, if that isn’t caring, I don’t think you could be any clearer.”

I was completely stunned. That’s what all the shrieking and yelling was about. He was trying to get to me. My heart mended just a little more. But that didn’t explain why he wasn’t here. “Why did he leave?”

“He sat by your side for hours, then asked for a moment alone with you, and left. I’m really not sure why. It was only about an hour before you woke up.”

Charlie and I continued talking for a bit longer. I thanked him again, and he left so I could get some rest.

The pretty nurse strolled in a few minutes later to check my vitals.

“Sorry, I didn’t have a chance earlier, I didn’t want to interrupt your friends. You’ve had quite the entourage here waiting for you wake up. I’m Maggie Walker, and I’ll be your nurse, if you need anything at all, please let me know.”

She had such a small voice. I was relieved to see that I had been assigned a nice nurse, who seemed to love her job, and not one of those who made everything seem like an inconvenience to them. Seriously, they picked this job, at least show respect towards the patients. You had to give respect to earn it.

“Thanks Maggie. I’m Emmalynne, as I’m sure you already know by my chart, but you can call me Emmy. I haven’t seen a Doctor come in yet. Can you tell me the extent of my injuries and when I’ll get to go home?”

“Well as you can see,” gesturing towards my arm, “you have a fractured forearm, the ulna and the radius were both broken. The doctor set the bones back in place, so you’ll have to wear that cast for about eight weeks.” I took in the purple cast that decorated my left arm. Tucker and I would be matching if he hadn’t had his removed a few weeks ago. The cast started at my hand and extended past my elbow, my arm being placed at a right angle. There went baking for the next eight weeks, unless I could get Tucker or Tessa to help out. Ugh, it was even the Holiday Season, my favorite time to bake. Ok I was annoyed. If Corbin weren’t incarcerated I might have been forced to inflict some bodily harm on that asshole.

“And you have a few bruised ribs, but still it can get pretty uncomfortable. We’ve wrapped your ribs with some bandages, to help relieve some of the pain. We had to stitch a gash in your forehead, right near your hairline. It took about six stitches, and once they are removed, the scar should hardly be noticeable. You do have some bumps and bruises across your face and torso, as well as a concussion, so the Doctor will want to monitor you another night, then you should be set to go.”

I couldn’t keep it bottled up. “You know, I’m not a hateful person by any means, but I hate Corbin Montgomery for doing this to me. I’m sorry I hurt his pride by turning down the date he offered, but he creeped me out. And that warrants an attack? He needs a freaking straightjacket and a first class ticket to the looney bin.”

I saw Maggie try to hide a smile, but I really wasn’t trying to be funny.

---~~~---

I was on the verge of drifting off to sleep after Maggie gave me a little more pain medication through my IV line. The gang had yet to return with my food, not that I was hungry anyways.

Getting comfortable wasn’t an easy task. Yes, it was a hospital, so the bed left much to be desired, but with each and every movement, excruciating pain ricocheted through my head and torso. I could normally tolerate pain. I had endured eighteen hours of hard labor without an epidural with Tucker…enough said, but this pain was in a league of its own. I guess I’d just have to lay the way I was and deal with the misery.

Closing my eyes and heading towards dreamland, to hopefully dream of happier times, I heard a sharp gasp, then a broken sob. Opening my eyes, it was someone I really didn’t expect to see.

“Daddy…”

“Oh, pumpkin,” he whispered as he rushed to my side. I got a good look at him and he actually looked great. He seemed to have lost some weight. It was pushing eight weeks since I’d seen him, and that was entirely too long. I wish this reunion would’ve taken place under better circumstances, but I’d take what I could get, especially if it meant having my dad back in mine and Tucker’s life.

“I’m ok dad, just some jackass who didn’t like being rejected very much. But he is currently sitting in jail in Vegas, so I’m in the clear now.” I tried to keep things about as tight-lipped as I could, I didn’t want to bring everything down on him right now.

 “I should’ve been there for you, Emmalynne. There is absolutely no excuse for my actions. But I can tell you that I went to a thirty day inpatient drug and alcohol program, and I’ve now been sober for seven weeks. I would’ve been to see you sooner, but I was too stubborn. Then Toby called me and filled me in with what happened. So much has gone on with you and Tucker and I wasn’t there for you to lean on. If I could take all of your pain away, I would sweetheart. A broken heart and now broken bones, it’s just too much.”

I could see that Toby had been running his mouth. Well, never mind about keeping my dad in the dark about things. It seemed Toby had already spilled. I would have to remember to thank him properly, later on, in the form of a nice ass kicking.

“I’m so proud of you daddy. Tucker will be so excited to see you again. With you…” I reluctantly said, “leaving and then Grady, he’s been pretty down. I talked to him earlier and he wants to come see me, but I just can’t bear to have him see me this way. I want to wait a week to at least let the bruising fade a little.”

“I understand. Do you think I could take him for the week? I’ve missed him so much, and we will have about eight weeks-worth of catching up to do.”

“I think that’d be great. I know he will be excited. Since tomorrow is Monday, I’ll let him know that you will pick him up from school. You’ll get to hear about the exciting way he broke his arm, and had to sit most of the soccer season on the bench. He is an absolute mess.”

“I missed his first broken bone.” It was a statement. If it was possible, dad seemed to look even sadder. I didn’t get it with boys and their fascination with broken bones. I guess it was a guy thing.

“So, Emmy, honey, how are you, really?” he asked with nothing but concern in his eyes.

“I’m fine, dad,” I said as I start to reach for my necklace, but it wasn’t there. I’d have to remember to ask about where it was later.

“Yeah, fine in women’s lingo is code for not fine.” Damn, he had me there.

“Ok, I’m not fine. I’m anything but fine. I’m hanging on by a freaking thread here. I like to be in control and this is anything but in control. My life is so out of control that I feel as if I’m drowning.” I felt myself start to get choked up. Hopefully, sometime soon, I would be able to get through the day without crying. But that day was not today.

“Emmy, if you can overcome all that the bastard, Bryce threw at you, then you can get through anything. I still feel somewhat responsible for that whole ordeal. If I would’ve known what he was doing to you, I think I could have stopped it. But you kept everything so tight-lipped that no one knew. We just thought you were voluntarily pushing us away. If I would’ve known…”

“Dad, it’s over, if anyone is to blame it’s me for sticking with him all those years. I thought I knew what love was, but I was wrong. Until, Grady barged in and threw my life completely off track. My love for him is so much stronger than anything I ever felt for Bryce and that’s what makes this heartbreak even harder. I was just so stupid to get involved with him, deep down inside, I knew he’d break my heart. I just wish he hadn’t made me feel so special, then maybe this would be easier to bear.”

Not wanting to go on further, I pressed the call button to get a hold of the nurse.

“Yes?” Maggie’s small voice chimed in through the speakers.

“I need to use the restroom and I um… need some help.” I knew it was going to take every effort to just move an inch.

“Just a sec, Emmy,” she replied.

It hurt my pride to ask for help of any kind but I had to get out of this bed.

I threw back my covers and tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed but the sudden movement caused my lungs to seize up and my ribs screamed out in pain.

Maggie came in, along with Tessa, Brock, Toby, and Mikey.

Maggie and Toby immediately flanked my sides to help me get to a standing position.

Once my feet touched the floor, my left leg immediately buckled. Regaining my balance, I felt rather than saw Tessa come up behind me to close the back of the gown.

Shuffling towards the en-suite bathroom, I looked at the floor because if I saw even an ounce of pity in their eyes, I would completely lose it.

Accidentally looking at my dad I didn’t see pity lurking in the depths of his eyes. No, what I saw was, was anger.

Finishing my business, which proved to be no easy task, but I did it and by myself, I stared at the horrific scene reflected back at me in the mirror and let out a gasp. My face was completely ashen, there were deep purple shadowed bruises underneath my eyes, as well as various other bruises dotting around my face, along my hairline was a gash sutured with six stitches and my hair was matted and dreadful.

Now I can see why it was anger in their eyes and nothing more. I felt my blood pressure rise and I was feeling pretty irate myself.

I silently and slowly made my way back to the hospital bed so I could spend the remainder of my stay resting, all because of Corbin Montgomery.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Emmalynne

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and Tucker and I happily spent it with my dad. Several times I caught myself wanting to send a quick text to Grady to wish him well and to have a good visit with his mother, then quickly shaking myself free from those thoughts because: 1. I didn’t even know if she still planned on joining him, and 2. He really must not care about me because I hadn’t seen or heard a peep out of him since he had been by the hospital when I was still unconscious.

It’d been two weeks since that fateful night, when I was brutally attacked by Corbin. My bruises had faded immensely and were now a faint yellow in color. My ribs still caused some discomfort but seemed to be healing quite nicely. And my arm would be in a cast for several weeks yet. My dad and Tucker verbally addressed their unhappiness at having to help out getting things ready for Thanksgiving dinner. It would have been easier to handle it all myself but giving the circumstances I decided to bask in their misery.

Tessa called me bright and early this morning, telling me that I had to come to Finnegan’s tonight because she had a big announcement. It honestly could be a number of things but I was thinking she’d finally tell me she was pregnant. I’d noticed the subtle changes in her over the past few weeks. Not only in her appearance, but with the way Brock comforted her. She had been my best friend for two decades, how could I not notice these things?

I was getting ready, taking a little extra time in my appearance. Even though my bruises had drastically faded, I didn’t want people to outright gawk at me, so I applied a little concealer to hide the discoloration. I arranged my hair to fall to my shoulders in soft waves rather than my untamed mass of curls, which was hard with one hand and just the tips of my other fingers. Needing to feel good about myself tonight, I paired my slimming jeans along with a black open knit top with sequins settled overtop a black camisole. The top was lacy and see-through and for me was an absolute splurge. Of course I wore my mother’s necklace and top it all off with a simple pair of hounds tooth flats. I guess I looked as good as it was going to get, with my deep purple cast on my arm sticking out like a sore thumb.