Left Behind (8 page)

I
wondered who would keep me safe from him as he started whipping me with the flogger.

“Pea!” I heard in my dream as I felt my skin tear again and again.

“Marti! Come on Pea, wake up!” I heard again, and I shot up, falling from the couch, only to be caught by Toby. I jerked away from him and backed into the corner of the room, sobbing soundlessly .

He came to me slowly, as to not scare me, and got down on his knees to be on my level on floor. He slowly pulled me into his arms to where I was sitting on his lap. I could feel how tense he was, and felt him kiss my hair.

“My God, Baby. What did that bastard do to you?” I heard him whisper in a choked voice.

We sat like that for a while. Toby had me in his arms.
I was in a position to where I was straddling him; my head laying on his collar bone. Even sitting he was so much bigger than me. He had always been able to make me feel safe.
He was running one of his hands through my hair as the other one rubbed up and down my back. By now I had completely calmed down. I think he realized I didn’t feel like talking about it because he didn’t ask for any explanations. That was one of the things I loved about him, He had always just quietly been there when I needed him. He never did ask me to talk; he just waited for me to open up to him when I was ready. I was looking forward to seeing Troy, but I knew he was always the hot-head. He wouldn’t l et anything go until he knew who to beat up or in this case probably kill.
He’s the one that won’t be happy until he knew the whole story of what happened.

I pushed away from him so he could see me.
‘What time is it?’

“It’s
one o’clock
.” He said looking at his watch. “I guess I should go meet him there.
I’ll be heading out as soon as he gets here.
Will you go with me to greet him and say goodbye to me before I take off ?”

‘Which airport?’
I asked.

“A friend of ours runs a security company in Charlotte. He’s letting us use his company Cessna.” He told me. “We’ll be coming in and departing from the small airport in Rock Hill, so you won’t have to worry about cro wds or being in the city. We’
ll keep you safe.”

I just nodded.
‘
I’ll go get ready and tell Jordan. You c an pick me up when you’re ready’
I signed.

“I brought everything when I came this morning, so I’ll walk back with you.”
He got up with me in his arms and set me down. He kept his hands on my hips and looked into my eyes. I could see the concern written all over his face. He gave me a kiss and then said, “Please don’t take this the wrong way. I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but with what you saw the other night, I would feel better if you didn’t walk in the woods alone anymore.”

I thought about this for a minute, and realized he was right. I wasn’t thinking earlier, or I wouldn’t have. I was just too tired to think straight. I nodded my head again and did my finger in the ok motion.

He helped me down from the loft and we headed back to my house.

*********************************************************************

It only took a fifteen minute drive to get to the airport in Rock Hill.
When we pulled up, I noticed about ten cars in the parking lot. That didn’t seem like too many people, but it still made me nervous.
I was very self-conscience about the scars all over my body. Even if I was fully covered, like now with my jeans, LSU sweatshirt, and my Timberlands, I still felt like everyone was watching me.
My neck and face w ere still uncovered; I felt hideous. When we got out, Toby took my and walked closely beside me. I looked down the whole time, so no one could see my face, but I was looking out the corner of my eyes, trying to see who was around. I felt like I wa s being followed and watched; m ore so than my normal paranoia.
I looked around, only noticing a couple of people milling around outside of the few workers. Then I saw a flash of red hair going into the men’s room.

I stopped dead in my tracks, jerking Toby to a stop as well. My breathing was speeding up to the point of hyperventilation.

Toby stepped in front of me grabbing my shoulders. “Breath with me.” He said. “Come on, Pea, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

Maybe I had just imagined it. Even if he was following me, he wouldn’t have had time to get in here, would he?

Toby put his hand on my cheek to guide my face up to him, so I was looking into his eyes.

“What happened, Marti? You were doing fine.”

I shook my head and signed,
‘
It was just a panic attack. I’m ok ay now.’

He just looked at me for a moment before he nodded. I could tell he really didn’t believe me, but he dropped it, put his arm around my neck where his forearm and hand were hanging off my shoulder, and we headed towards the door to airfield where Troy would enter. There was a little waiting area, but I pulled Toby out the door so I would be able to see Troy get off the plane.

“There’s the plane now.” He said, squeezing my neck. “He’ll be out in a second. He has to wait for the engine to die down.”

I held my breath for a minute in anticipation, when finally the pilot finally opened the door. As soon as I saw him, I couldn’t contain myself. I ran to him. When he saw me, he dropped his bags and ran to meet me in the middle. He grabbed me up around the thighs and picked me up as I put my arms around his neck. I was laughing and crying at the same time, but of course he couldn’t tell that since I was silent . I didn’t know what all Toby told him when he called last night, so I didn’t know if he knew I was mute or not.

He set me down, put his hands on each side of my face, and gave me a big kiss. “God, I’ve missed y…” He stopped when he got a good look at my face. I immediately looked down so he couldn’t see, but he wasn’t having that.
He lifted my chin to see my face more clearly, and then he looked down to my neck. He got a hard look in his eyes, and I knew he was angry. He looked back to Toby. I couldn’t see what Toby did, but Troy tried to calm himself down. He finally smiled at me and said sincerely how good I looked. I started crying and buried my face in his chest right underneath his chin. I knew he meant it was good I was alive.

We made our way inside after retrieving Troy’s bags. He told us that there was no change in Tory’s condition , but they were getting ready for the transport in three days. Toby said that everything should be set up and ready at their house, and started getting his bags together to be able to leave. The plane had had time to refuel and the pilot informed us that he was ready when Toby was.

We all walked back out the terminal door, but after a man hug, Troy hung back.

“I’ll only be gone a few days, but I’ll miss you, Pea.” He said as we walked closer to the plane. He turned to me after giving his bags to the pilot and said, “I love you, Marti. I won’t ever be willing to leaving you again, after this.”

A tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek.
‘
I love you too, Toby. I love all of you.’
I signed and looked down. He probably thought I was a slut for that .

He lifted my chin. “You have got to quit looking down like you’re ashamed of everything, Pea. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You are beautiful.” He kissed me again. “We all know you love us, just as all of us love you. When we get Tory back up and around, we will all sit down and have a serious talk, ok?”

I nodded, Got up to my tip-toes, and gave him a kiss. It surprised him because I had never initiated a kiss before. I had always felt like I was betraying one of them to do that, but since it was finally said, and he seemed to accept it, I couldn’t help myself.

“See ya!” He said as he walked up the steps to the plane. As the pilot closed the door, I walked back over to where Troy was, and grabbed his hand. He squeezed back as we watched the plane taxi down the runway and take off.

On the way out,
I couldn’t help myself, I looked around as I had on the way in, just to see if I caught sight of the red hair again, but I didn’t.

Once we were in the car, Troy leaned over to kiss me again. “You know I want to know what the hell happened to you.
Toby wants me to wait until you’re ready to tell us about it, but if there is any chance this bastard is still harassing you, I’m gonna take care of it. You are not alone anymore, you need to lean on us like you used to.”

‘Toby said you know ASL?’
I signed.

“Yea
h
, our uncle was deaf, so we learned it for him.” He answered.

I nodded
. ‘
Good. I have a keyboard Jordan made for me that speaks anything I type, but he’s making some adjustments to it , so this is my only f orm of communication right now.’

He sighed. “Alright
, that’s fine, but I still want you to tell me about him and what happened to you.”

‘
I’ll tell you some
of it
when we get home, but I stil l can’t talk about the details.’
I signed.
‘Please don’t force me to.’

“I won’t, Cupcake, but I do want a name.”

Troy drove us back to my house. When we got there, Jordan and James came out to greet him and see how I was holding up. We went inside and the guys all grabbed beers and sat in the den to catch up. I just listened to them all laughing about different things, and it really lifted my spirits, but all of a sudden I had a flashback to the man with the red hair.

I knew there were millions of red-headed men in this country, but it was just the feeling I had when I saw him. Even before I saw him, it had felt like I was being followed. I knew if he ever caught me again, I’d not make it back alive.

I had to get my mind off of Blain or I end up making myself sick, so I thought about the trips. Just thinking about them always made me feel bet ter. I had to have faith that T
ory would wake up soon. Maybe it was cliché, but I was hoping that hearing my voice would bring him back. I knew the reality though. If his brothers talking to him didn’t do it, then what made me think I could?

I wanted to stay at their house once the transfer was done. That way I could cook for the boys, and I’d be there if Tory woke up. No, not if…WHEN. When he woke up I wanted to be right beside him. I truly believed that nothing would ever keep these boys down.

But, who would cook for my brothers? If Toby and Troy agree to me staying there, then I’
d just have to have them over for meals. I knew we could work it out.

Toby said they all loved me, but was it the same as what I felt, or was it more just the best friends that we’ve always been? They both did kiss me. There was no tongue involved, just lip to lip, so could I be reading more into it just because of how I feel? If that was the case, why would Toby say we would have a serious talk when Tory woke up?

“You still with us, Cupcake?”

I looked over and all of them were watching me with concern on their faces.

“You zoned out for a few, Sissy.” James said.

I sighed.
‘
Sorry, just thinking.’

“About what?” Troy asked.

‘Different things.’

“Like what?” Troy asked again. He always was the most annoying of the three trips. He always had to know everything.

I huffed out a breath.
‘Just stuff.’
I signed then I got up and went to the kitchen to see what I could cook for supper.

He got up and followed me in there. I heard James whisper to Jordan something about almost being glad he wouldn’t have to hear my screaming. I thought that was a bit insensitive, but I guessed I could understand it. Troy and I used to get into so me pretty loud shouting matches, but we’d always end up forgetting what we were shouting about . By the end we’d both be laughing. We were just too much alike. Both of being strong willed and hard headed.

“You still need to tell me everything.” He said, sitting on a stool at the island in the kitchen.

I finished taking out the stuff to make chicken alfredo and put it on the counter before I turned to him.
‘
I’m sorry, but my hands will be tied for a while, so I won’t be able to talk to you .’
I smirked when I saw how red his face was getting. I bet steam would’ve come out of his ears if we were cartoons. “You’re not going to get out of this, Marti.”

Shit!
I thought. He only used my name when he was seriously angry. I knew I needed to try to calm him down. I took a deep breath and let it out.
‘Look,’
I signed.
‘
I told you that I would, please just be patient. I would like to have a good evening with you and my brothers to welcome you home. Can we please do that? I promi se I’ll tell you about it later’

He let out a huge breath and said, “Sorry, Cupcake. I just wish that there was something for me to be able to do, and I won’t be able to do anything until I know what happened, and who hurt you.”