I lift my arm to reach for him despite the pain. A whimper escapes and he rushes over, his eyes sweeping me.
“What hurts?” he demands.
Everything hurts, but it’s bearable.
Lucy, I mouth to him.
“She’s okay. She was in the hospital for a bit, but she’s been released to her parents. She has a severe concussion and they removed her spleen, but other than some deep bruising, that was the extent of her injuries. The concussion is pretty nasty, though. They’re hopeful by the time basketball season starts, she’ll be good to go. She’s going to be okay, sweetheart. She’s moreworried about you than she is herself. Will is good too. Nasty concussion, but he’ll be fine.”
Joe?
He understands my question even if I can’t speak it.
“Asswipe is sitting in jail. The judge set his bail at three mill and his parents can’t raise the money. He’s not getting out of it this time. It was caught on CCTV from across the street. Everything he did in the parking garage, it’s all there in black and white. And the security guys Barry hired to find you, they went in, subdued him and his buddy. They’ll testify in court to what they found. Your blood, as well as Lucy’s and Will’s, was on his clothes. He’s not getting out of it this time.”
Jail?I need him to verify what he said.Please be in jail.
He nods, reading my lips.
“He’s in jail, baby. He’s never going to hurt you again.”
A sense of relief sweeps through me. He’s in jail. He can’t make bail. I know he can’t because his dad is on disability, and his mom is a cashier at Walmart. They don’t have that kind of money.
“He doesn’t have family in law enforcement here. He’s not a star here. He has no sway.”
I close my eyes and see images of him kicking me over and over. Panic sets in, but then Hutch is there, leaning down to whisper in my ear, “Shhh, sweetheart. I got you. You’re safe.”
Safe.
He’s in jail and can’t hurt me.
He can’t hurt anyone anymore.
“The cops are going to want to take your statement, but I asked the docs to keep them away for as long as possible.”
I don’t want to talk to anyone about any of it. At least not right now. Just thinking about him makes my body start to shake.
“Shhh,” he whispers. “I got you, baby. I got you.”
And he apparently did. He did CPR to keep me from dying.
I push at him a little to try and get his attention. My biggest regret was that I never told him how I felt and even if I can’t speak, I need to let him know.
“What is it?”
I take a deep breath, scared to tell him, but needing to.
I love you.
He rears back like I slapped him when he reads my lips. Maybe the nurse was wrong. Maybe he doesn’t love me. But it doesn’t change how I feel and my need to tell him. I don’t want to live with that regret.
“You love me?” he asks stupidly.
I nod, my body language turning cautious.
He blinks rapidly and then hugs me so gently, I want to cry. He’s so very careful with my bruised and broken body.
“Oh, baby girl, you have no idea…shit, but you scared the hell out of me. You were dead when we found you. There was no pulse, you weren’t breathing. I couldn’t think, couldn’t do shit. All I felt was my world falling out from under me and I fell helplessly, my world shattered at the thought of never seeing you again. I’ve been paralyzed for this whole week, trapped in the thoughts of you not breathing, of you dying on me again. I can’t handle that again, Daisy. Don’t you ever do that to me again.”
