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Authors: Debi V. Smith

Family Ties (38 page)

BOOK: Family Ties
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“Do you need anything?” he asks. “All you’ve had was the coffee hours ago.” 

“I’m okay.”

“I don’t want J accusing me of letting you wither away to nothingness.”

I snort and cover my mouth. “I hardly think I’ll wither away to nothingness in one night.” 

“Just let me know if you change your mind. Otherwise, I’m dragging you to the cafeteria for breakfast once it opens.” 

“Cafeteria food,” I say, scrunching up my face.

“Unless you want to leave the hospital for a restaurant, that’s your option.” 

There is no way I’m leaving the hospital until Jason does, even if it means suffering through cafeteria food. “Cafeteria it is.” 

We talk in whispers through the night. He tells me more about growing up in Portland, Oregon. His mom and dad’s divorce when he was young and how he grew up playing them against each other to get what he wanted. His mother’s second marriage, his stepfather, and his half-brother. Mostly, he talks about how basketball helped calm his rebellious spirit with the discipline it required.

By the time I drift off at Jason’s bedside, I have a new appreciation for Tommy and his willingness to stay with me when he could be back at the dorm.

 

CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX

“Ow!” I shout, startled awake by a firm hand clutching my bruised shoulder. I scan my surroundings, disoriented. Tommy rubs his eyes.

“Sorry,” a new nurse whispers next to me.

I take a deep breath, realizing where I am. “It’s okay. You can’t see the bruises through the clothes.”

Jason stirs, but his eyes remain closed.

“We’re taking him down to radiology for the CT scan Dr. Green ordered. We’ll bring him back up here when he’s done.”

Jason searches for my hand and I slip it into his.

“I’m here, J. They’re taking you for another scan so we can take you home. Tommy and I are going down to the cafeteria and we’ll be back here as soon as we’re done.”

“Food fight,” he says, dragging out each word.

I snicker and brush my lips across his cheek. I follow the nurse out and write down Jason’s cell number for them, then head to the cafeteria with Tommy. I take more ibuprofen once we’re seated.

“Is it bad?” he asks.

“Only when I move.”

His face wrenches at my answer. “I think I’d rather bust my knee playing basketball.”

“Bruises fade.” 

“Yeah, but that’s almost half your body, Sara.” 

“My father gave me beatings worse than this,” I say nonchalantly, taking a bite of the tasteless, runny scrambled eggs. I grab the salt shaker and douse my food with it, then slide it to Tommy.

“I’m sorry. I can’t even imagine what it would be like.” He pokes his fork into his eggs.

“There were days I thought he was going to kill me.” I slather butter and grape jelly on my toast as I tell him about the time Simon nearly drowned me in the dishwater after Jason showed up at the house. “When I was trying to get away the time Dad and Jason intervened, I thought for a split second he was going to beat me to death.” I bite into the crunchy toast and let the combination of bread, butter, and sweet grapes mix in my mouth.

There’s no sorrow when I talk about it anymore. No anger. I went to therapy. He’s in prison. My demons are gone. He holds no power over me anymore.

I have new rules to live by:

1. I will pursue happiness.

2. I will stand up for myself.

3. I will relish new experiences and new friends.

4. I will love and appreciate my chosen family for the rest of my life.

5. I will forgive Jason anything.

6. I will have my always and forever.

 

Alana and Dad are in the room with Jason when we return from the cafeteria. Jason dresses in a cautious manner while a nurse next to him explains his discharge instructions.

“Dad, can you drop me and Tommy off at the dorm? I need to get Jason’s car.”

“Sure. We’ll take Jason home and get him settled.”

Twenty minutes later, we wait for Dad to pull the car around with Jason in a wheelchair. I squat next to him. “Do you remember where you put your set of keys?”

“In my duffel.”

“Is there anything else you want me to bring home from your room?”

“Laundry, books, and laptop.”

Chad is lounging on the sofa watching TV when we get back to the room. “How is he?” he asks as we walk in.

“Better,” I reply. “My dad and his mom are taking him to our place while I pick up some of his stuff and get the car.”

“That’s great. Do you need help?”

“Maybe. Let me get his stuff together and see. Oh, and the lasagna he brought back last night, you guys can share it. Just don’t get rid of the container, please.”

I head into Jason and Tommy’s room and gather everything Jason requested, which turns out to be more than I can manage on my own. I carry the laundry basket out on my hip. “I think I do need help. Do you guys mind?” I ask, setting the basket down and adding my purse on top.

They jump up, head into the room, and return with bags in hand.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Chad asks.

I pause, about to tell them not to worry when Tommy speaks up, “We’ll walk back. You don’t have to drive us back.”

“When you put it that way,” I smile. “Sure.”

We load up the car and arrive at the apartment in a few minutes. Tommy and Chad follow me through the door.

The futon is pulled out and Jason is under the covers. Dad and Alana are reading the
Los Angeles Times
at the table. I remove the backpack and laptop bag from the laundry basket Tommy carries and I nod towards the walk-in closet. I take the bags to the desk in the dining room.

“Thanks guys,” I whisper to Tommy and Chad.

“You’re welcome,” Tommy says low. “My cell number should be in Jason’s phone. Call if you need anything. I mean it. One of us will be here to help.” 

I nod. “I have your room number too.”

They leave quietly and I walk over to Dad and Alana. “Do you two need anything?” I ask.

“No, honey. We’ll be getting out of your hair,” Alana answers, folding up the section of paper she was reading.

“Do you need us to pick anything up for you before we go?” Dad asks, stacking their sections together.

“I’m good. The guys are nearby if I need help.” 

I close the door behind them, locking it, then slip off Jason’s jacket and drop it on the floor next to the futon. I climb under the covers as gently as I can and lay on my left side.

“I’m awake, Parker.” He opens his eyes and grins.

The pinpoint of light brightens my world. I smile in return, happy to have him home. Safe. “This whole time?”

“Uh huh.” He twines his fingers with mine and kisses them.

“What did you mean when you woke up and said, ‘Still the best damn smile’?”

He flashes a guilty grin. “I’ve known you since fifth grade. I didn’t stalk you,” he says in response to my dropped jaw. “We were never in the same class, but I saw you outside during recess and at lunch. One day, you were sitting against the wall watching everyone play. I wanted to talk to you, but you kept your hair in your face like it was a wall keeping everyone away.”

He runs the back of his hand across my cheek. “That day in the cafeteria, I wasn’t sitting next to Arissa by chance. I saw you laughing and smiling across the room.” His thumb runs across my lower lip, “It was the best damn smile I’d ever seen.”

“All this time and you never told me?”

“I didn’t want you to think I was crazy.” He grasps my hip and I wince. “What’s wrong?” he asks, throwing the covers off.

“I’m bruised from catching you then tackling Mandy.”

“I want to see.” He props himself up on his forearm.

I clamber off the futon and grimace as I shimmy out of my jeans, which now have holes in the knees from tackling Mandy. I get halfway through pulling my shirt up and pain shoots from my shoulder. I drop my shirt.

“Do you need help?”

“No. Give me a sec.” I reach behind with my left hand and pull it over my head, then lay back down on my left side.

Tears flow down his cheeks as he surveys the discoloration mottling the right side of my body. “I’m sorry,” he says, pushing the tears away.

“It’s just bruises.” 

“It’s because of me.” 

We each blame ourselves, but in truth it doesn’t matter as long as we’re together.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

He rolls onto his back and gestures with his hand for me to join him. I scoot over and nestle between his arm and his body, then cover us with the bedding.

He cradles his arm against my back and kisses the top of my head. “This,” he says with a contented sigh.

I rest my hand over the thump-thumping of his heart. Definitely this.

 

EPILOGUE

I amble barefoot on the cool grass, carrying a bouquet of dark purple calla lilies and scanning the yard. Dad kisses my cheek as I pass him next to the iPod playing “Sara Smile.”

My, how my family has changed and grown.

Alana, Coach, his wife, and half the team sit to my right. Mom, Felix, Shelly, and the rest of the team sit on my left. Arissa stands on the left, grinning from ear to ear in her lavender sundress holding a bouquet of white calla lilies. Hunter is next to her in a black dress shirt and black pants. Jason, Damian, and Tommy stand on the right, dressed in black like Hunter.

Simon, Tibby, and Victoria are still out there, but this is my true family. The family I was meant to have. I won’t worry about the family I was born into until I need to. I’m moving forward, to my future, with every step I take right now.

My rushing river waits for me, as he always has.

He reaches out as I near, and I weave my fingers through his. I turn my head and our eyes lock. He dips his head and touches his forehead to mine. Words aren’t necessary to express what we feel.

Always and forever.

Yes…I would live through the darkness again to get to here.

 

National Resources

 

National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)

 

 

Childhelp Website:
http://www.childhelp.org/

 

 

CPS Hotline Numbers via Childhelp website:

http://www.childhelp.org/page/-/pdfs/CPS-Phone-Numbers.pdf

 

 

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE

 

 

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN):
https://www.rainn.org/

About the Author

 

Debi V. Smith’s love for writing started with an elementary class assignment to write a poem. She continued to write poetry in her free time, and then tried her hand at short stories in her teens. Longer works were turned in for her college writing classes. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa and worked with children and adolescents for ten and half years, followed by working with adults for two years as a mental health professional.

Debi currently resides in Ohio with her husband Chaz, but Hawai`i will always be home. She is a voracious reader with an appreciation for music and movies. You can find her chatting and sharing music videos on Twitter at @DebiVSmith.

BOOK: Family Ties
12.55Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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