My Texas Sweetheart (book one) (8 page)

Chapter 12 (Maggie)

When I open my eyes, I’m in so much pain and confused as to why. Where am I, and who are these people? One of them ran to get a doctor. I must be in a hospital, but why? What happened to me? The doctor comes in and asks me if I know where I am, who I am, who they are, and if I remember what happened to me. My answer to everything is no, but I feel like I should at least know who they are. They all have sad looks on their faces, and the one woman has tears in her eyes. The doctor takes them all out into the hallway. I can’t hear anything that’s being said, but I know it’s about me. I try really hard to remember something, but my mind is blank. Wow, this is really confusing. When they come back into the room, I look at all their sad faces, then at the doctor. “Why am I here?” I ask.

He smiles
at me. “You were in an accident.” I close my eyes, trying to remember. “Don’t try so hard. It’ll all come back to you in time.”

I open my eyes and look at him
. “Are you sure? Who are these people? I feel like I should know them.”

He smiles
and nods. “They are your family and friends.”

Tears start
to roll down my face. “If they are family and friends, why can’t I remember them?!” I scream.

He sits down on the bed next to me. “I know you’re scared, in pain, and confused right now.” I start to get up. “No, you need to stay with us for a while. We need to make sure you’re okay before we release you. Just a few more days, okay?” He looks at me and gives me a small smile.

I start to pull at the wires and tubes. The doctor puts his hand on mine. “Maggie, you need to leave those alone.” Hearing him say a name stops me. So my name is Maggie?

I look back at
him.
“How did I get into an accident?” I say through gritted teeth. It almost looks like he isn’t sure if he wants to tell me.

“Your horse got spooked and threw you,” he said.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask, frowning.

He
smiles at me, then looks at the older woman. “Nothing you need to worry about right now. Okay, you need to rest. I’ll get some pain medication for you.” He gets up and walks out the door. Maybe rest is just what I need to remember things.

I look at the people standing around me. “Umm, okay. Maybe we should start with your names.” 

“Okay. Well, I’m your mom, Lily; this is your dad, Brad; your brothers Chase, Creed, Jade, Mark, Gabe, and Adam; and your friends, Amy and Jase.” I look at each of them, not believing that I have that many brothers.

The
doctor walks back into the room with my pain pills “Okay, take these, then try and get some sleep. Maybe things will look better when you wake up.” I nod.

I look back at the others in the room.
“I’m really sorry that I don’t know who any of you are. I wish I did.” They all say that it’s not my fault and to get some sleep.

****

Over the next week, my pain starts to lessen, but I still don’t remember anything. I don’t know which is harder…not knowing who I am, or hurting the people around me. They have been here every day, and Lily stays at night. Right now, it’s just her in the room with me. “I’m glad that the bandage is off your head, baby girl.” I smile at her. She really is the sweetest woman. I am one lucky girl to have her as a mom.

The
doctor walks into the room and smiles at us. “Good morning, ladies! So, Maggie, good news. You get to go home today, but you have to promise that you’ll take it easy.” I would promise him anything to get to go home.

“I promise to do whatever you say. Where’s home, though?”

He looks
at my mom. She says, “We live on a ranch outside of the town of Bumble Bee.” I smile and nod. Lily excuses herself to go make phone calls. After a few minutes, she returns.

The
doctor goes through my release instructions, the meds I need to take, and that I’ll need to come back for a checkup after a while. As soon as he leaves, Lily smiles and says, “I called Dad to let him know what was going on.  He’ll be here in a little bit to pick us up. So…let’s get you up. Do you feel up to taking a shower?”

I look at her. That smile is contagious so I smile back at her and nod. She and Nurse Betty helps m
e cover my cast with plastic wrap and Lily helps me with the showering. Once I am done, she helps me put on underwear, a bra, and a pretty sun dress.   Lily brushes my hair and puts it up in a ponytail, then I put on some make-up. The door opens and Brad, Adam, and Jase come in. I didn’t know they were all coming. Mom smiles at them. “She’s ready. We’re just waiting to her discharge papers and medication.”

I smile at them
, and start to bend to grab my shoes. “Oh, honey, let me get those,” Lily says. I feel bad that she’s doing so much for me.

“
How’s my beautiful girl this morning?” Brad says.

I smile at him
. “I’m doing great, actually.”

Nurse Betty walks in with my
discharge papers and meds. She hands them to Lily, giving her the instructions for the medication, then turns to me. “Good luck, Maggie. You’re a beautiful girl and you deserve more than this.” Through my tears, I smile.

I wave goodbye to a few other nurses as we head out of the hospital
. Lily is holding my hand, Brad on the other side of me, Adam and Jase walking behind us. “How long is it going to take to get to where we live?” I ask Brad, who looks horrified for a second.

Sadly, he smiles. “It will take us a few hours, baby girl.”
Once in the truck, I sit in the back between Adam and Jase.

As I close my eyes
, I hear Lily tell Adam to be careful with my head. “I know, Mom,” he growls. It sounds like he’s pissed off. I wouldn’t blame him. I’m mad at myself so why wouldn’t he be mad, too.

****

Sometime later, I felt someone stroking my face, waking me up. “Hey, Maggie, you’re home,” Jase whispers. I sit up, looking around to see if I remember anything, but still nothing. I look towards the house and see my brothers, Amy, two guys, another girl, and an older couple coming out. Who are those other people?

“Jase… Who are they?” I ask pointing. He smiles and tells me,

“The older two are my parents, the girl is my sister and the other two are Nate and Todd. Chases buddies” he says smiling sadly. I hate that I’m hurting them, why can’t I just remember? 

Jase
helps me down from the truck and I turn towards the barn. I can hear them talking, but all I can do is stare. I start walking towards it. Somebody says my name, someone else says to let me go. As I get closer to the barn, I start feeling really cold. My eyes dart towards a pathway and I remember it. Changing my direction, I move toward the path, unaware that everyone else is right behind me. I start walking on the path. I’m riding a horse and I’m upset about something, but what? I want to turn around and run, but I need to remember. I remember Storm, which brings a smile to my face. I always feel free when I’m on him. Suddenly, I get flooded with memories… my brothers, mom and dad, living here, my best friend Amy and everything that we’ve done together. I can feel everyone behind me but, just as I start to turn around, one memory  hits me like a ton of bricks…riding Storm up the path, him getting spooked, Christian watching me, hitting the ground, pain, feeling my zipper being tugged down and my underwear being pulled off, him on top of me—OH MY GOD! I WAS RAPED!

I turn around to face my family and friends
, tears streaming down my face. I look at them, horrified, wishing I could forget again. I fall to my knees. Everyone tries to grab for me at the same time. “I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!” I scream.
Then I whisper, “I don’t want to remember this. I can’t.” Mom bends down to hug me, but I move away from her. “Please don’t touch me.” No, why would he do that to me? I hate him so much. He took something away from me that was supposed to be special with the person I love… I hate that everyone’s looking at me, I wish they would stop. I can hear both my mom and Amy crying, I close my eyes for a second and then I get up and run to the barn.

I just need to be with storm, he always makes me feel better.  As soon as I get into the stall I feel a little better, wrapping my arms around him. I bury my face in his neck.

“I’m glad you’re okay storm”

I don’t know what I would of done if he wasn’t, I don’t know how much time passes before I hear the barn door opening……..
 

Chapter 13
(Jase)

Since the attack, my mom is trying to reassure me that Maggie will get better and remember everything, but we’ll have to be there for her if she remembers being raped. It’s been five days and she’s looking better, but she still looks like she doesn’t know us. It’s hard going through this with her because I love her, and I know she is confused and scared. I know she feels bad that she can’t remember anyone or anything. We try to reassure her that it isn’t her fault, but I’m pretty sure she blames herself.

I’m heading over to
the ranch now to spend some time with the family before we all head to the hospital to pick up Maggie and her mom, who hasn’t left Maggie’s side since the attack. The family was devastated when they found out that Maggie was raped. That’s not something you expect would ever happen. I can’t say how much I wish one of us would have gone after her and either gone riding with her or stopped her from going. We can keep blaming ourselves, but it won’t change the outcome for her. Storm is finally back to his old self again, waiting on Maggie to come home. Chase and his buddies are staying longer than expected… he because he can’t leave his sister, them because they want to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid. Adam and I have been back at school, fending off questions about Maggie. Amy is having a hard time, and Jenny won’t even look or talk to us. They still haven’t found Christian, which is really pissing everyone off. A few times, we have wanted to go out looking for him, but Brad always talks us out of it.

Pulling up at the ranch
, I see the boys outside. Climbing out of my car, I start to walk over to them. “Hey, guys. What’s up?” I ask.

“Hey, Jase. We were just talking about things,” Jade says.

Just then
, Brad comes out of the house and walks over to us. “Good morning, boys. Lily just called and said that they are letting Maggie come home today.” He grins.

“When can we go get her?” Creed asks.

Brad
looks at us, his grin slipping. “I’m going to go by myself to get them. I don’t want to overwhelm her with too many people going to get her.” We nod, understanding that. We don’t want to overwhelm her, either.

Chase says, “Dad, why don’t you take Adam and Jase with you, at least.”
Brad sighs and nods. We all get into the truck and silently head for the hospital.

As we arrive
, Adam asks, “Does she remember anything yet?” Brad looks at him and just shakes his head.

We get out of the truck and walk into the hospital.
As we walk into Maggie’s room, I notice that she looks a lot better today. Lily smiles at us, saying, “She’s ready. We’re just waiting on her discharge papers and medication.”
Maggie turns around and smiles at us. My heart skips a beat. She looks happy, but confused at the same time.

Brad asks her
, “How is my beautiful girl doing this morning?”

She looks
over at him. “I’m doing great, actually.” Adam and I share a look. I wonder if she really means that. God, I love this girl. She is still the most beautiful thing in the world to me.

The nurse
walks into the room and hands Lily papers and her medication, giving her the instructions. She then turns to Maggie. “Good luck, Maggie. You’re a beautiful girl that deserves more than this.” She smiles at the nurse through her tears. Please don’t cry, baby. You’re breaking my heart.

She and
Lily walk out the door hand-in-hand, Brad on the other side of her. “I sure hope nothing goes wrong,” Adam whispers to me. I agree. Maggie has been through enough. We know that when and if she does remember everything, it might just break her.

As we get close to the truck
, Maggie turns to Brad. “How long is it going to take to get to where we live?” For a split second, Brad looks horrified. Maggie’s smile falls.

Brad recovers and smiles at her. “It will take us a few hours, baby girl.”

We all
climb into the truck and head for home. I can’t help but wonder how Maggie is going to do when she goes back to school. In some ways, I really want her to remember things. In other ways, I don’t because I would really like to tell her how I feel about her. Lily says something to Adam, but I wasn’t paying attention so I didn’t catch what is was. He does look pissed, though. We arrive back at the ranch and I stroke Maggie’s face to wake her up. She looks around for a few minutes before I help her out of the truck. Her brothers, Amy, Nate, Todd, and my parents come walking over to us. Wait, she’s staring at the barn. Is she remembering something? Brad and Lily both try to get her attention, but she won’t take her eyes off the barn. I look over at Adam, whose eyes are wide, a look of concern on his face.  Maggie starts walking towards the barn.

Creed steps toward her. “Maggie?”

“Let her go, son,” Brad says.
Her eyes dart towards the path…the one that she took that day, the day that changed everything. Maggie starts walking towards it.

“We shouldn’t let her do this,” Jade says.

“How are we going to stop her?” Amy asks. 

“We don’t. She needs to do this,
” Brad says. Maggie stops walking when she reaches the path. We all share a look of worry and fear, but she’s smiling so it has to be a good memory.  She starts walking again.

“I hope she doesn’t remember everything,” Adam whispers to me. I nod.

By the looks of it
, she is remembering something else. She starts to turn around towards us, but stops. Her body goes rigid, and she has a look of horror on her face. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. This is going to kill her. “I REMEMBER EVERYTHING!!”
she screams, then whispers, “I don’t want to remember this. I can’t.” Lily bends down to touch her, but Maggie moves away. “Please don’t touch me.” She sounds so scared. What can we do to help her?

Before any
of us can do anything, Maggie gets up and runs for the barn. Amy and Lily both move to go after her, but Brad stops them. “No, she needs time. Just give her time.” They nod, tears running down their faces. “I should call the doctor. I want to see if there’s something we can do to help her through this,” Brad says. After Brad walks into the house, Adam turns to me and says

“Fuck! Why couldn’t that be the one thing she didn’t remember?”

“Doesn’t work like that… Bro” Jade pipes in.

“Pisses me the hell off… that fuck face is still out there”
Creed growls

That seemed to get Lily’s attention, “You’s will not tell Maggie that he hasn’t been find”. Shit does she really think we would even do that to Maggie, she better get that outta her head now! I am so close to yelling at all of them. They are starting to piss me the hell off. What if Maggie came out right now and see this shit? God damn it! They ain’t using your fucking heads! Before Lily can open her mouth again, Chase Roars

“What. The. Hell, is your fucking problem? Are any of you using your heads right now? This right here is the last thing Maggie needs and you all fucking you it”

I stand there watching Chase stomp away, thank you Chase! I could give a fuck that he beat me to it. I’m just glad that they all shut their mouths. Looking about at everyone else, I shake my head and turn to follow Chase.

****

An hour later
with still no sign of her, we go into the barn to check on Maggie. She’s standing with her arms around Storm. “Maggie, honey, the doctor wants to see you back at the hospital.  He just wants to give you a check-up,” Brad says. She nods and comes out of the stall. You can feel how broken she is, kind of like she’s given up. I feel helpless. I don’t know how to help her.

We all stand there watching as they get into the truck and drive off, feels like we just stood there for an hour staring at the lane. It was probably only minutes. Amy was the first to head inside with my mom and Heather right behind her.

“We all need to get our head
s
straight, so we can help Maggie though this. She needs us” Mark says

We all nod, a few minutes pass before we head into the house.

Four hours later
, they’re back from the hospital. Lily helps her upstairs while Brad tells us that the doctor set her up with therapy and medication for panic attacks. Fuck!!! My poor gorgeous girl.