Until You Believe Me (15 page)

I felt like I was on a ship. Rocking back and forth, hitting a few waves of resistance. My eyes fluttered open and all I saw was blond hair and dark brown eyes. It was a fleeting glimpse of someone I did not know.

The ship quickly turned into a rocket. Barreling into space with its rocket fuel making a terrible repetitive siren as it burned out in the atmosphere. There were bright lights all over and so many voices that I couldn't place. My body was exhausted trying to find a connection to each voice.

My brain was so foggy that I could hardly keep track of my own thoughts. I tried to open my eyes but every attempt made me more tired than the last.

Finally, after a long dream about a castle, all made of marble I heard something that I could finally place. A soft, smooth voice of happiness. I didn't know if it was happy but it made me feel it.

I finally willed my eyes to open, and it took many minutes to get them to focus on what was in front of me. First it was lights, then it was a peach color directly across from me. Lastly it was green. All I could see was sparkling green. I realized the sparkling greens were talking, and I willed my ears to open, to come back to me so I could hear what the green was saying. Slowly the fog started to dissipate and I heard words being said.

"Madison baby, please look at me, say something. I need to hear your voice." I felt pressure on my right hand and tried to apply some pressure of my own. The fog had lifted enough for me to be able to place the smoothness and the green.

"Connor." It was barely a whisper but it was loud in my own head.

"Oh God, thank you." I watched him for a moment as his memory started coming back to me.

"What's wrong?" I did not understand why he was crying, I could not see anything sad about him.

"Nothing at all, you are ok. Everything is fine now."

I took inventory of my body as each limb and nerve started coming back with feeling this time. I wanted to sit up so I could regard him more fully but every ounce of my body kept me down. The pain was excruciating and I lost that battle.

"No, no, lay down. Don't move. You're hurt Madison baby. Really bad but you'll be ok. You just need to rest and be ok for me ok sweetheart? I mean you've really got to be ok, for me." Not only did my body hurt but my heart had pain seeing his face in such a dramatic frown. It was that frown I fell asleep to.

The next time I woke I felt noticeably better. My head become defogged much more quickly. I picked my head off the pillow an inch to see a mass curled up in the car in the corner of the room. I groaned as I had to lower my neck back down. I heard shuffling and Connor was by my side in a few seconds.

"Good morning baby, how are you?" He stroked my hair and it was the best feeling I could ever remember.

"I feel ok, what happened?" I needed to move, my body was screaming for stretching or adjusting my position. I slowly tried to sit up, just to be more upright than I currently was. Connor hesitantly let me use him to push off of, cautioning me to be careful and move slowly. Once I felt more comfortable I realized how much energy that had drained. I felt like I was breathing hard just from that small movement.

"You were really hurt baby. I was so scared that you weren't ok. You have lots of things wrong with you but they are getting better."

Though it was foggy I remembered that snarling, smug face. "What's wrong with me?"

"You've been sleeping for a few days baby. Doctor said you had a pretty bad concussion, a couple of cracked ribs, they had to stitch up your side, your shoulder had been dislocated. Your face is pretty banged up on the one side and you had a cut on your neck. But you're ok. You look so much better today."

"What happened?" I knew I didn't want to hear it, but I also knew it was going to have to come sometime.

"Well he was there sweetheart. He managed to find you alone." Connor's story was cut off the the doctor walking in.

"Ms. Branson, it is great to see you up. How are you feeling today?" His eyes roamed to the machines around me as he wrote on his clipboard.

"Sore." My voice was still weak but it was better than I remembered last time.

"I bet. You're doing remarkably well for someone in your situation. Unfortunately I do have to call the police department and let them know. They need a full statement from you so they can finish the case. Although it seems the defendant has been singing like a canary over at the station. Continue to rest and I'll check back later."

We waited for the doctor to leave and I eyed Connor.

"Madison, we don't need to do this. You're not well." I glared at Connor and he got the message. "He got you alone and he hurt you very badly. He hit your beautiful face several time, nearly busting bones and giving you a terrible concussion. He cut you down your side, you lost a lot of blood but they sewed you up. He cracked some of your ribs but thankfully nothing pierced a lunch. And he-." Connor rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I know, you don't have to say it." I did know, I remembered forcing myself to drift away from what was happening.

"I'm so sorry Madison, it's all my fault. I would have still been at work, I would have gotten to you faster than the cops. If I would have stayed, even a couple more hours I would have gotten the security company there to put up the keycard scanners to lock the doors. I'm sorry. I failed to keep you safe." He was pacing the room as he spoke.

At once the thought hit me, why he hadn't been there. "Connor, your dad, how is he?"

He stopped pacing and looked at me. "He is awake, they don't know the extent of the damage but they are keeping a close eye on him. He's safe. I had to get here for you, I knew something had happened from when we were on the phone. I immediately called the police. I paid Sarah, my dad's caretaker to sit with him, I had to see that you were ok."

He sat next to me on the bed and gave me a soft kiss on the lips. "I'm so sorry Madison, I didn't do what I was supposed to. I didn't make sure he never hurt you again. I hate myself for it Madison."

I shook my head. "Stop. What's done is done. We'll deal with what happened but you cannot blame yourself. It had nothing to do with you. I don't blame you at all. It's my fault for getting involved with him."

I saw the anger creep into Connor's eyes. "Madison you did nothing wrong. I never want to hear you blame yourself again. That asshole is going to rot in prison for what he's done to you. I'm making sure of it. My lawyers are already on it. This is not your fault and  I won't listen to it."

I nodded at him. I hadn't seen him that fired up before.

"Your mom was here, she ran home to shower and get some rest. She was very worried about you too. She just about ran down to the jail to kill the bastard herself."

That I knew to be true, she nearly did the same after the first time and no doubt a stay in the hospital would have pushed her to it.

Connor sat on the edge of my bed and held my hand as I closed my eyes to get some rest before she returned.

Chapter 18

"Where are we going? You know you were supposed to get off at the last exit."

"Was I? Oops." Connor said dryly, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

Connor had picked me up from the hospital, a week and a half after I had been put in. I finally got the go ahead to go home and he wasted no time making arrangements to take me there. He and I had spent a lot of time in the hospital talking about the whole ordeal. We were in a really good place with each other and I felt at peace with what had happened. Maybe at peace wasn't quite true, but I couldn't dwell on the whole ordeal.

We ventured further and further from the city, I had no clue what Connor had in store but it apparently wasn't to take me home. The whole ride he had one hand holding mine and the other on the wheel. The whole thing brought me back to the weekend we had spent together. That sense of normalcy had returned except this time it felt we were twenty years older and more mature.

One Connor pulled off the thruway, he wove around a few neighborhoods. Finally, I knew where we were going when he pulled down the old street. We drove up the vaguely familiar driveway. The view this time was vastly different from the first. The white house had a new coat of paint, a new railing around the outside of the wrap-around porch. I saw a hanging bench swing near the front door. The front door was painted a deep hunter green as well as the shutters.

Connor pulled up close to the walkway and quickly jumped from the truck. He ran around and opened my door. Since I've known him, Connor has treated me like I was glass. Now that was ten times worse. I was not only made of glass, but this glass had been broken and was now barely being held together by still wet glue.

He held his arms out for me to balance on as I slid out. Most of my pain was gone but I still had brusing in my ribs that was not quite gone.

"I can make it you know, they released me for a reason."

"Yea, because you bugged the hell out of the poor nurse. Another couple of days would have done you good. You're too stubborn for your own good." He held my hand and kept a close on me as we walked up the pathway.

"Why are we here?"

"Shhh, just go with it please."

We stepped onto the porch and Connor unlocked the front door. He led me in and the moment I walked in my jaw just about hit the floor.

The house had been completely remodeled. Where there was dust and no floors, there was now beautiful oak floors, very similar to what was in his house now. Every room was painted and modern light fixtures hung from just about every room. We walked into the kitchen and I couldn't believe it. Decorated in light blue and white it literally sparkled in the sun.

"How and when did you do this?"

"I put some guys on it about three weeks ago, a little less. I told them three weeks but then when the whole thing happened I promised I would pay them double time if they got it done in two. Chantel came in and did some colors for me. She'll change them if you don't like them of course. I couldn't really get your opinion, you were unconscious when she needed to get started." Connor smiled a little bit, though neither of us knew it was a joke, we talked about the ordeal lightheartedly. The saying about having to laugh or you'll cry, that's what it came down to.

"I think it's gorgeous Connor, she doesn't need to change it for me, is it what you want?"

Connor smiled at me and bent to kiss my forehead. "I want you to live with me here Madison. I want this to be our home, together."

My breath caught in my chest and I search his eyes for any kind of hint that this was a joke. "You really mean you want me to live here? With you?" The words came out wrong but they had already escaped and that was one thing about them, once they were out you couldn't scoop them back in.

His face changed to a neutral expression. "I meant with me, here, and you, yes."

I looked around and couldn't believe what I saw. This was the most amazing house I had ever seen. And standing right in the middle of that amazing house was this amazing man who wanted me to live in paradise with him.

"Of course." Connor's face lit up and he hugged me, still expressing restraint and making sure not squeeze too hard.

He let go and exhaled loudly. "Jesus, I was so nervous Madison. I didn't think you'd say yes. Though, I'm hoping number two is just as for sure." Connor smiled down at me as he lowered himself to the ground. Before I could comprehend what was really happening he was down on one knee. Shuffling in his pocket, before pulling out a little black box.

"There isn't a moment I don't think about you. Even in my dreams you find me. A month isn't a long time, I get that. But I feel like we've lived a thousand years in that time. I want to love you, protect you and grow so old with you Madison. I hope that you'll say yes and you'll agree to marry me." Connor opened up the small box and inside was the most magnificent diamond ring I had ever seen. It sparkled in the sunshine that floated into the house. I knew that I was crying, though I could not stop the tears.

The look on Connor's face was halfway between happy and tortured. His hands were shaking holding the little box. I bent down and kissed his lips softly. "Yes, I want to marry you."

This time he did not exercise retraint, instead he picked me up and twirled me and kissed me with everything he had. Connor slid the ring on my finger and I felt lighter than a feather. It was the most outstanding ring I'd ever seen. Not to mention I was nervous about how much it had cost, it couldn't have been cheap.

"You're the best thing to ever happen to me Madison. I was so scared you were going to leave me in that hospital. It was then I knew that if you woke up I was going to make you mine forever. If I couldn't have you, couldn't be with you I wouldn't be with anyone. I could live the rest of my life alone, but I wouldn't have been able to live without you in the world." Connor kissed and wiped my eyes.

My focus shifted to outside when I heard a car driving up. I looked nervously at Connor.

"It's probably your mother, I told her to give us a little bit."

"Does she know?"

Connor nodded. "I asked her in the hospital if I could marry you."

I heard footsteps on the porch and a small knock at the door. I flung opened the door and ran into my mother's arms.