Emma Chase (2 page)

Chapter Two

6 hours later…

I am so tired.  If I listen carefully, I can hear a low beeping noise and—what is that?  It almost sounds like breathing.  I manage to open my eyes just a bit.  My eyelids are so heavy.  The light hurts them.  I move my head, directing my gaze towards the sound of the breathing, and behold, Braden is sitting in a chair with his head lying next to me on the bed.  Is he sleeping? 

I can feel him holding my hand.  I am safe and so tired.  I give his hand a light squeeze.  I just don’t have the strength to give it a real one.  There’s that peaceful feeling again.  I sense myself drift away.

4 hours later…

I am having a dream.  It’s a strange dream.  I am floating over my apartment building.  I don’t know why, but I don’t want to go inside.  I have this sense that I need to stay outside.

Something bad
is happening in that apartment that I’m not supposed to see right now.

What brings me out of my dream are faint voices and what sounds
almost like a scuffle. 

“Sir,
if you cannot control yourself, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“Why isn’t she awake yet?”

“Sir, she has four broken ribs, a broken nose, several cuts and contusions, as well as a severe concussion.  She also had a dislocated shoulder and her wrist is fractured on top of all of that.  We are doing everything we can to keep her comfortable while she recovers.” 

I feel sorry for whoever they’re talking about.

12 hours later…

I struggle to open my eyes.  Each eyelid weighs a ton.  My head is fuzzy and my ears are clogged giving me a sense like I’m in a tunnel.  My throat feels like sandpaper.

I squint against the bright lights and my eyes move to the TV hanging on the wall then to the ceiling. 

I roll my head to the right and see machines and tubes.  Ahhh, the hospital.  Right next to that is a small table with a salmon-colored pitcher and cup.  I realize how thirsty I am.

Then
I realize how badly I have to pee.  I take in the room and spot the bathroom. 

Now,
I wonder how am I going to make it way over there with all of these tubes and machines hooked up to me. 

I check out my left arm and notice that it is in a sling.  It sucks that I’m a lefty.

And just like that, all the memories come flooding back to me.  They wash over me like a tidal wave.

Tears begin
prickling my eyes. 

Shit. 
I have to save my strength for getting out of this bed and over to that bathroom.  That is my main goal in life at this very moment.  No time for crying.

Hmmm…I’m barely registering
any pain. 

Whatever they are delivering to me through t
hese tubes is good stuff.  I’ll have to make a mental note to tell the doctors that.  Maybe they will send me home with a few pills to get me through the first couple of days. 

I calculate a plan to get to my destination, when I notice a light…snoring sound?  I slowly rotate my head towards the sound and… Oh. My. God.  Braden is asleep in the chair next to the window. 

His long legs are crossed at the ankles.  His beautiful, muscular, tattooed arms are folded over his broad chest.  He is wearing dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt that stretches across his chest almost too tightly.  The way that boy can rock a t-shirt is almost sinful.  He is wearing a black Under Armour baseball cap that hangs low over his eyes and his neck is resting at what appears to be a very uncomfortable angle.  That’s going to hurt later.

Damn, I have to pee. 

I sit up slowly on my elbows to get a better grip on my surroundings. 

I lift up to a sitting position, wincing from the pain in my ribs, and
let my legs drop to the side of the bed.

That bathroom is only a few feet away.  I can do this.

“Em?  You’re awake.” 

My eyes drop and
I stare at the floor. 

Maybe if I don’t address him he will just go away and allow me to keep some shred of dignity. 

“Em?  What are you doing?  Here, let me help you.” 

Braden
rounds the bed, walking over to help me. 

I glance up and study his face as he comes closer.  He lifts his cap to unearth his gorgeous dark brown eyes.  He seems to be growing out his goatee, which looks great on him. 

Sinful.

“I have to
umm…go to the bathroom.” 

His eyebrows sho
ot up and he smiles.  I roll my eyes.

“Are you going to help
me or are you just going to stand there staring at me with that goofy smile on your face?”

“We’ll call the nurse.”

“No!  I don’t want to call a nurse.  I can do this by myself.”

“Emma, we’re calling a nurse.”

“There’s no reason to call a nurse when I am fully capable of making it to the bathroom without bothering them.”

I
look away from him towards the bathroom.

I
attempt to will my body to move.  My body doesn’t want anything to do with it. 

Move, damn it. 

It damn near took everything out of me just to sit up, so of course my body is protesting.

I drop my eyes to the floor and scoot f
arther to the edge.  I can do this.  All I have to do is stand up, put one foot in front of the other, and— 

Shit.

Braden’s head droops slightly to the side, studying my face as if he were sizing me up.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I lied.

He stares at me.  It’s almost like he knows the battle going on inside my head. 

In one quick motion
, he moves the stand that links me to my IV, puts an arm behind my knees and the other at my waist, and lifts me into his arms.

He uses his body to nudge
the IV stand along next to us and carries me to the bathroom, setting me down in front of the sink.  He spins around and walks out the door, closing it behind him. Umm…wow!

That’s Braden.  All heart and no bullshit
—a straight shooter.  He is a “tell it like it is” kinda man, always taking control of a situation.  It isn’t always well received, but he doesn’t know how else to be.  These are just a few of the reasons I fell for him to begin with.  I needed a strong man if I was going to have one at all. 

It helped that he is close to his family.  I’ve never had much of a family, so watching him with his was a gift of its own. 

Being with Braden meant being a part of his family. 

They are a great family.  The brothers, Olivia, and Jim stick together through thick and thin.  Once you get a taste of that and they bring you in, you are a lifer.  

That is, until everything goes to shit.  Olivia is so close to Braden that she severed ties with me immediately after we broke up.  I’ll never forget that pain.  It cut me like a knife. 

We were like sisters, but when I broke things off with Braden to keep her and him
—as well as the rest of them—safe, well…I ceased to exist, and that hurt like hell.

I
use the bathroom, which is nothing like my normal bathroom experience.  This hurts like hell.

When I am done, I wash my hands and gaze at myself in the mirror.  It appears that I was in a battle for my life and barely made it out.  I guess that is, in a sense, what happened. 

My long dark brown hair is in serious need of a brush.

I see bruises and cuts on my arms, face, and neck.  My normally petite nose has definitely seen better days.  There is a little bit of blood and mucus coming out of my nostril, so I wipe that up with a tissue. 

My brown eyes are both black and swollen. I have a small lump with a cut on my right cheekbone and a busted lip.  I don’t even look like myself.

I lift up my hospital gown to see that my knees ha
ve scrapes and bruises all over them.  My midriff is killing me and I have a mother of a headache. Other areas of my body are sore, but that is not something I want to deal with right now.  I know what happened.  This is not the time to focus on
that
.  Maybe later, but not now.

There is
a soft knock at the door.  “Em?”

I don’t respond.  I study my hands, trying to tune out everything around me.  Why can’t I just disappear already?

This is not only painful, but it is utterly humiliating.  I can’t stand for him, or anyone for that matter, seeing me like this.

The door open
s and Braden enters.

“Hey,” he says
in a soft whisper.

I ignore him. What was I thinking, going to him last night? 

It was last night, wasn’t it?

He scoops me up and carries me back to the bed, lays me down, and draws the covers over me. 

I lie back and glare up at the ceiling.  Maybe it will swallow me up if I stare at it long enough.

“Em?”  God, his voice is so soft and kind. 

“No,” is the only response I can muster.

“Emma, look at m
e, baby.”

“No.”

“Emma, we need to talk about what happened to you.”

“I.
Said. No.”

Braden exhale
s slowly.  He comes in close, our noses almost touching.  I move my head feeling his warm breath on my cheek.

“When you’re ready,
we are going to talk.  You’re going to tell me everything that happened to you.  Then you’re going to tell me who did this to you.  After that, I am going to go out and find that motherfucker—“

“Braden, please.  I—“

He kisses me on the side of my forehead. 

“I’ll give you all the time you need.  You’ve been through hell and back. 
I get that.”

His eyes hold mine.  I am unable to break free from his pull.  I am trapped.  I suck my bottom lip between my teeth.

Braden’s focus moves down to my mouth before settling back on my eyes.  He nodded.

“
I’ll send the doctor in.”  He spins around, walks to the door, and opens it.  Before he closes the door, Braden turns back to me. “This time, Emma, I won’t let you push me away.” 

And he
is gone.

I pull the blanket up to my chin with my good arm and decide that maybe it is time for another nap.  The trip to the bathroom and my exchange with Braden wore me out.

I start to drift off when the door to my room opens.  I can tell that whoever is entering is trying to be quiet.

“It looks like she’s
sleeping.  We shouldn’t bother her,” Olivia whispers. 

I keep my eyes closed in hopes that she and whoever she is talking to will leave.  Besides, why is she even here?

She hasn’t spoken a nice word to me since Braden and I broke up about a year ago.

“Let’s leave and come back
later.  She has been through a hell of an ordeal and needs her rest,”  I hear Jim respond. Then there is crying.  Ugly crying.  “Shhhh, princess.”

I listen to Olivia cry and her father console her. 

Why is she crying?  Is she okay?

After what has to be a couple of minutes, Jim says, “Let me take you home to get some rest and we’ll be back here first thing in the morning.”

“No,” Olivia chokes out through her tears.  “I’m not leaving her.  I’ve been downright cruel and nasty to her all year.  We were best friends, Daddy, and I alienated her.  I have to be here for her now.  Can you understand?”

“Yes, of course
, princess.  I’ll bring you some breakfast and fresh clothes in the morning.”

Jim and
now Olivia kiss me on the forehead before they walk out of the room. 

This day is just getting weirder and weirder.

It isn’t long after they leave that I fall asleep.

*****

The first thing I see when I wake is Braden sitting in the chair watching me.  He is wearing a grey Henley with dark blue jeans and his badass, ass-kicker boots.  I take notice of how he is sitting.  His elbows are on his knees, hands intertwined, head down, eyes burning into me as if he is deep in thought.  He looks like a beautiful, tormented god.

“Braden?”

He stands up from his chair and comes to the side of the bed.  I wait silently as he stalks toward me. 

He
doesn’t respond.  Instead, he lifts my good hand to his mouth, flips it over, closes his eyes, and kisses my palm. 

I sigh.

When his eyes open again I see the pain is still there.  

M
y heart is beating erratically and a fine sheen of sweat forms across my forehead.  Great, am I really going to have a panic attack now? 

In an effo
rt to shake it off, I pull my hand from Braden’s hold and sit up to adjust my pillow.

“Here, let me get that for you,” Braden offers softly.

He adjusts my pillow higher up on the bed and lays me back.

  “Is that better?
He asked.

“What are you doing here?” I replied.

“Baby—“

“I am not your baby
!” I snapped.  “Why are you here?”

He open
s his mouth to respond, but before he is able, there is a light knock at the door.  In walks Olivia. 

Great.

“And why the hell are you here?”

“I just thought I would come—“

“You know what?  Never mind,” I interrupted.  I throw back my covers with all the strength I could gather and scoot to the side of the bed.  I grip the IV stand and slowly rise up off of the bed. 

Damn
, I hurt. 

I try not to wince from the pain.  I am going to try to save some of my dignity through this whole shit show that has now become my life.

“Emma, get back in bed,” Braden ordered. 

The hell I will.

It takes almost everything out of me to stand up.  I am not going to get back in that bed because
HE
said so. 

I take a couple of step
s—
or more like shuffl
e—
and grip tight to my IV stand.  Apparently, I have a lot of faith in it to keep me on my feet.

I hold my head up and face them point my chin up in defiance.

“Both of you… Get. Out!” I demanded.

Olivia’s eyes drift towards the bed where Braden is still standing.  I look at him too.  He appears agitated. 

“Get back in bed, Emma. You need to rest,” he says.

“I don’t take orders from you,” I
spat back at him. 

“Get back in bed!” he barks. “
Please
.”

Oh, hell no.

I shrug and hang my head to the side.  “I’m going for a walk.  When you two leave, I’ll get back in bed.”

I turn on my heels and wobble.  Ok
ay, maybe this was a little too much too soon.

“Whoa.  Careful,” Braden whispers into my ear from behind me.

He snakes his arm around my midriff.  His chest is at my back.  His other hand is lightly touching my hips. 

Before I kn
ow what is happening, I am being lifted into his arms.  I always loved his big, strong arms.  They are my favorite part of his body.  Well, third favorite part of his body.

He carefully put
s me back in bed and covers me with the blanket.

“Emma, we’re here—“Olivia beg
ins.

I cut my eyes to her. “You haven’t spoken to me in almost a year.  Well, except last week when I came to Holt's.  We aren’t exactly friendly anymore, or have you forgotten?” I remind her.

Her eyes widen before her head drops and her eyes
meet the floor.

“
I tried to call you every day for a month,” I snapped.

Oh God!  Here come the tears.
  I tried to force them back but they continue to pool in my eyes. 

“You were one of my best friends!”  I sobbed.

Olivia’s body jerks as if I hit her.  Right now, I really wouldn't mind smacking her.

Braden’s hand comb
s through my hair.

I glared at him.   “And you!  Stop touching me and calling me baby.  We aren't together, remember?”

Braden doesn’t even flinch.  His eyes narrow and his face goes red.  He doesn’t say a word.  He just lets me finish saying what I need to say all while continuing to sift his fingers through my hair.

“Are you two here because you
have some sort of guilt that you’re working through?  I don’t need your guilt or pity.  What I need is for you to get the fuck out of my room!”

I don’t know if I am truly this angry or if I am trying to keep from embarrassing myself with crying.  I know if I start I am going to have a hell of a time reeling it back in.

I narrow my eyes at Olivia. She watches the floor, nods, and moves slowly towards the door before leaving. 

I turn to Braden and beg
in the next stare down.  I will win this one too.

The door to my room open
s again.

“What now?” I shout.

“The police are here to take your statement,” the nurse says quietly.  She pushes the door all the way and a tall officer follows her in.

Oh my God!  Please tell me this isn’t happening right now.

“NO!” I shriek and shut my eyes to try to block it all out.  This cannot be happening.  I knew I was going to have to relive this nightmare.  I’m just not ready yet.  There is nothing like the humiliation of my story, and I am going to have to tell it to this complete stranger. 

I scan Braden's face, who now has a new softness in his.  “Baby.”

The tears spill out of my eyes.  He swipes at them with his thumb, but they are falling down my cheeks faster than he can catch them.

I
shake my head.  “I’m fine,” I say immediately. 

He look
s at me with what seems to be admiration.  Could that be?  I shake my head again to clear it. 

“I’m fine
,” I repeat, trying to convince myself more than anyone else.

“Em, talk to the officer.  Tell him what happened to you so that they can go after the scumbag that did this before I find him.”

I nod.  “Okay.”

He kisse
s the hair on top of my head, replies to my okay with a soft, “Okay,” of his own, and exits the room.