If I Never Knew You (If I Never Knew You Series) (12 page)

Suddenly, my stomach felt like an iron hand had gripped it. I was used to the feeling by now-this morning sickness that happened all fucking day. But it was worse now, for some reason. I could make it, I thought. I'd been through this once before when I got pregnant in my junior year, which led to an abortion most people were not aware of. I quickly scrambled to my feet and bolted out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into the bathroom, where I hastily emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet.

That got Andy's attention. It was probably the pounding of my feet, followed by the gagging noises I was now making.

"Madison?" Andy called my name while coming into the bathroom.

It took me a few seconds before I could sit back and lean on the garbage can to rub my eyes so I could get a clearer vision of my brother.

"It's just the sickness stuff," I admitted.

"Yeah, right!" Andy said.

He knelt next to me and rubbed my shoulder. Strangely, he was younger than me, but now
he
was the one taking care of
me
. With me being pregnant, it felt secure knowing that my little brother would step up to the plate and help me out, particularly when I was so sick.
What a great uncle he will be!
I thought to myself. I could see him being nurturing and gentle with a little child.

Andy pulled my hair out of the way and found a way to tie it up before he rubbed my back. We heard footsteps and Andy stood up as I sat back. Orion appeared in the doorway with a worried look on his face.

"Dear Lord, Madison! You sound awful! Is there anything I can do, Mad?

"Orion, I'm so glad you're here. I
feel
awful!" With that, I felt the need to throw up again, which I promptly did, even though there wasn't much left in my stomach.

Andy gave Orion a scornful look, "Well, I'm glad you're here to show her you care, too. She really needs your support now, because despite what anyone says, she cares for you more than she will ever admit. As for you, you can't say you don't fucking love her because I know you do! You talk about her constantly. And when you're not talking about her, I know you're thinking about her. Even the people in the audience at your shows can tell that you're insane about her."

I was pretty sure they had forgotten I was there. Most of this information was new to me, but it didn't really seem to upset me. On the contrary, it made me admire the man Andy was becoming even more.

"And now she's throwing up because you've upset her, and that's never good for a pre-" I kicked him in the leg. "OW! Madison!"

"You promised," I reminded Andy.

"Oh, sorry," Andy apologized, remembering now. Orion frowned as if trying to put this all together.

Andy helped me up. Orion's eyes fell to where I had subconsciously put my hand on my stomach. It was still fairly flat, thankfully, or this would have been even more awkward. Sooner or later, my tummy would give away my maternal state and I would need to face Orion with the truth. For now, I preferred to keep it to myself.

"Is something burning?" Andy asked suddenly, sniffing the air.

"Oh shit!" Orion shouted, turning and running out of sight. Andy followed after him.

I took a few minutes to brush my teeth and wash the puke taste out of my mouth. I popped a piece of gum in my mouth that I found in my room. I walked out of the bathroom and across the hall into my room.

It was the same way I had left it that morning. The covers of the bed were still hanging to the floor and the bottom drawer of my dresser was jutted out like the dresser was sticking out it's tongue at me. A few articles of clothing peppered around the room, here and there. The book of my drawings was sitting open on my pillow, right where I had left it. I slowly moved around my room, putting things neatly where they should be. I picked up my sketch book and desperately wanted to take it with me, but my drawings would be hard to explain to Orion. Fresh tears began to form in my eyes as I sat on my bed and flipped through the drawings.

I jumped when I saw Orion standing just outside the door.

"I have to say this, Madison," Orion said.

"Why?" I interrupted him. "Is it because you feel guilty? Because saying whatever you're going to say will free your conscience so you can go back to your normal life?" Orion looked at me angrily. I stood up and dropped my book on the bed. "I don't want to hear what you have to say if it is just gonna be some emotionless garbage that will make you feel better about yourself."

He crossed the room and towered over me. I would have stepped back if he hadn't put his arm around my waist, pulled me against him and kissed me. I struggled for a moment, but it was useless so I relaxed in his hold. He pulled away and gently put his forehead against mine. I didn't open my eyes and I wasn't sure if he did or not.

"Don't go back to him," Orion whispered. "Please don't go back.

We need you. Your mom needs you, Andy needs you and, most of all, I need you."

I opened my eyes and stared at his blurry silhouette through the tears. I made a noise that was half laugh-half sob when I saw that he was crying as well.

"You can't go back to him, Mad." He slid his hands over my arms and I flinched as they ran over my bruises. Orion lifted his head to examine me in my long sleeved shirt and jeans. "What's he done to you, that bastard?"

I answered as best I could at that moment. I told him that Damian had gotten drunk one evening and had lost his temper at something I said. I left out that it was about me mentioning that I liked Orion's music. That of course drove Damian crazy enough to hurt me. After he roughed me up, I was angry at myself that I had mentioned Orion, so, in a sense, I forgave Damian for his actions, which was probably a stupid thing to do. Orion was right when he said that there was absolutely no reason for Damian to hurt me physically like that and I should have broken up with him right away. I just didn't know how to extricate myself from Damian without causing any more pain and suffering.

After a few minutes, I glanced at my clock radio. It was nearly seven o'clock. God, I had been throwing up for a long time. There was no time to eat the dinner that Orion had prepared. He would have to eat it with Andy.

"I have to go," I said, quickly.

"What?" Orion asked.

I shook my head and went around him and down the stairs. Andy watched as I put on my shoes and grabbed my purse. Orion came down the stairs, as I opened it and held out the papers to him.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I...I thought your band could use this," I said. Orion frowned slightly and took them from me. "I do need a ride, if you don't mind, please."

"To his place?" Orion asked.

"To work," I said. Both him and Andy raised their eyebrows. "He thinks I'm working, so he's expecting to pick me up there."

"Okay...Let's go," Orion said, putting on his own shoes.

I hugged Andy tightly and whispered thanks to him for not saying anything to Orion. He wouldn't let go of me and I had to pinch him to get away. I refused to look at him because I knew he would give me that damned puppy dog pout of his that made me agree to anything.

"I'll see you soon, kiddo," I said, having no idea if there was any truth in that.

The ride was silent and Orion stopped me from getting out of the car when he arrived at the restaurant. He turned the car off and I watched him fumble with the key ring before holding out a key to me.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"The car," Orion said. I looked at him. "That was the gift for you and Andy. If you ever need it for any reason, just ask."

I knew he was saying more than that. He was saying if I ever needed
him
, then I should just ask. Orion loved his car and it was, as I had come to learn, pretty much an extension of him. I gave him a smile and thanked him softly before putting the key onto my own key ring and remarking about it being the first car key on there. Then, after a quick glance around the parking lot, I got out of the car and went into work without saying anything else but goodbye. I went through to the back, where I was allowed to sit for the next couple of hours. I helped with the dishes, but that was pretty much all the work the girls allowed me to do.

NEITHER ANDY NOR I saw or spoke to Madison much for the next few days, since she had decided to stay at Damian's for a while. I could not imagine what she was thinking. She was a secretive type of girl who rarely opened up about her life.

At this point, Andy had gotten more and more upset. I tried to distract myself with what Madison had given me: a new song. It was not just the lyrics, but the sheet music too. I knew she could write this stuff, but I didn't know she was so musically talented. Needless to say, I was impressed. The words, at first, seemed like they would go with a slower beat, but when I put it all together-the hard beat of the music and the accompanying lyrics-it all seemed to fit.

About four days after I had been given the song, I already had it memorized and found myself humming it on a regular basis at work and while cooking. However, although I should have, I didn't really allow myself to think of what Madison was going through right now. I knew if I did, then I would take out my anger on just about anything, but mainly on Damian. Who knew what that jerk would do next? Unfortunately, he had a tough group of friends that no one wanted to mess with, including me. Otherwise, I would have gone over and kicked his teeth through the back of his head weeks ago. I had to do something soon, though.

One night I was at Andy's when he seemed to be the most anxious and frantic he'd been since Madison left.

"You alright?" I asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

"We have to get Madison," Andy burst out. "We can't leave her there. Something really bad might happen and then it will be too late to save her from that creep."

"What's going on?" I asked. I knew Andy knew something important about Madison, but he wasn't telling me. "Andy you've got to tell me. She means a lot to me, just like she does to you."

"I..." Andy said.

"If you don't tell me, then I can't help her," I stated.

"Madison's pregnant!" Andy said. I froze and stared at him. "And she thinks it's yours, because the doctor said she was two months along, and two months ago she was with you."

I felt completely numb as I stared at Andy. He looked as if he had run a mile-he was perspiring and his face looked exhausted. Then he finally said what I knew he wanted to say all along, but was too fearful to admit to me.

"Damian's been beating her."

I got up and instantly went to get my shoes on. There was no way in hell I was letting that motherfucker hurt either of them!

"Where does he live?" I asked.

"I'll come with you," Andy said.

"Alright, fine, but you stay back, no matter what happens," I said.

There wasn't time to argue about it and Andy, to his credit, didn't try. He simply got his shoes on, and we quickly went out the door. He

gave me directions as I sped through the streets of Knightsbridge. As soon as we drove around the corner on Damian's street, we saw the flashing lights from multiple cop cars. Andy went pale.

"Aw, shit! Don't tell me it's what I think it is," I uttered.

We pulled over behind one of the cop cars and sprang out, running towards all the commotion. Andy made a sound that I wasn't sure was a whimper or groan, but it made me know that this indeed was the right place. We stood at the police barrier blocking the driveway, not sure what to do next.

"Oh God, please help her." Andy whispered. I looked at Andy, and put my hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off, and hurried over to a cop nearby.

"Andy!" I said, following after him.

"What happened?" Andy asked, looking at the cop.

"Not now, boy," the cop said.

"Excuse me, sir, but that's my sister in there. Would you tell us what is going on?" Andy asked in exasperation.

The cop ran his eyes over Andy like he was trying to decide if he was telling the truth.

"What is your sister's name?" he asked.

"Madison Summers. She's eighteen, a couple months pregnant and her boyfriend's been beating her," Andy blurted out.

The cop held up a finger to us and turned around to mumble something in his radio. Andy fidgeted and tried to listen in on the radio chatter.

"The ambulance left several minutes ago. Your sister has sustained several severe wounds and was unconscious when we found her. Her boyfriend has been taken into custody," the cop reported.

"Oh God," Andy said.

"They'll be waiting for you at the hospital-Knightsbridge Presbyterian," the cop said.

Andy ran back to the car and pulled out his cell phone to call his mother, who said she would meet him at the hospital. Barbara was usually very cool-headed and calm in serious situations, but I could tell there was panic in her voice while Andy talked to her.

We didn't talk the whole way to the hospital. I drove as fast I could while Andy sat frozen like an ice sculpture. For a kid who's prone to fidgeting when he's nervous, his stony demeanor frightened me. In addition, he must have felt tremendous guilt for not letting me know sooner about the danger Madison was in.