ACHE (Naked, Book 5) (6 page)

Caelyn’s mother put her head in her hands. “So that’s it then?” she said, looking up at everyone. “We can’t stop this from happening?”

Dr. Goldfarb raised his hands. “Ma’am, if you want to try and argue that Caelyn’s not competent to make her own healthcare decisions, that’s well within your rights. But I’m afraid that’s a matter for the courts, and can’t be decided here.”

“Do you think she’s competent? Mentally?” Caelyn’s mother said. “Because to my eyes, she’s certainly not in any condition.”

Dr. Goldfarb sighed. “Based on our testing, Caelyn’s retained her intellectual capacity. She doesn’t appear to be suffering the kinds of symptoms associated with cognitive impairment, nor does she appear to have significant emotional issues. So I can’t say that the team agrees with your assessment.”

“Thank you,” Caelyn said softly.

“However, I completely understand your mother and father’s concerns. Most people recovering from a TBI succeed in very stable, supportive environments. Does Elijah’s apartment—or a rental home, if such a place is available—offer you that kind of environment?”

“Yes,” Caelyn said.

Elijah nodded. “We want to at least try. If it’s not working, we’re willing to listen to the advice of the staff at the clinic—“

“No you’re not,” Caelyn’s mother said, standing up now. “And I’m not going to involve myself in this pathetic excuse for a plan. You two have made up your minds and we’ll just have to accept it.”

“Mrs. Murphy,” Elijah said, “please don’t go. Caelyn needs you guys.”

“If she loses us, you have only yourself to blame,” Caelyn’s mother told him.

“Because until you came along, Caelyn was the perfect student, perfect sibling, and a wonderful daughter. Now look at her.” And then she turned and left.

Caelyn gripped Elijah’s hand tightly as he stroked her hair. “Don’t let her get to you,” he said. “She’s just scared, that’s all.”

“I hate them so much. I really do.”

Dr. Ramachandran and Dr. Goldfarb both looked increasingly uncomfortable.

“We’re going to help you to plan your recovery no matter what your living choices are,” Dr. Goldfarb told her.

Dr. Ramachandran nodded. “Sometimes things can get messy when a tragedy occurs.”

“Things were already messy before the accident,” Caelyn said.

Elijah shook his head. “It’s going to be fine. Don’t let anybody take your focus off of getting healthy.”

She looked at him. He was still recovering himself. She saw it in the way he sometimes grimaced and put his hand on his stomach when he was helping her to stand or sit. She could still see the faint outlines of scratches on his face, and there were three large cuts that had stitches, which were healing even now.

And yet, Elijah had never once complained or tried to shift attention onto himself.

All he ever did was think of her and help her. Day and night, he was dedicated to her wellbeing.

“Thank you for being amazing,” she whispered. “I couldn’t do this without you.”

“Lucky for you, you don’t have to,” he grinned.

***

Before Caelyn knew it, she was being discharged.

She couldn’t believe that she was finally out of the hospital.

It felt like forever that she’d been in that place, as if her previous life hadn’t even existed. But now she’d been released, and the freedom was something like what Elijah must have felt when he’d gotten out of jail.

As he drove her to their new home, a small two-bedroom house near the rehab center, Caelyn stared out the window at the passing scenery.

“Where’d you get the new car?” she asked.

He was driving her home in an old, battered pickup truck. The seats inside were frayed and there were old cigarette burns on the floor of the cab.

Elijah laughed. “I don’t think you want to know,” he said.

“Did your old car get totaled in the accident?”

He nodded. “I went to see it in the junk yard. It was smashed so bad that I couldn’t believe anyone had survived, let alone both of us.”

Caelyn looked at him. He was focused on the road, no sign of stress or anxiety on his face. “Elijah, what happened that day? Who shot you?”

He paused a long moment before responding. “I didn’t see where it came from,”

he told her. “I caught my brother in the hallway of that building and made him take me to his car to get the bag of cash that he had on him. The cash that he owed me from when he broke into my place.”

“Did he try and fight you?”

Elijah shook his head. “Maybe it was a setup. Maybe he was expecting it, because as we got to the parking lot, I heard shots fired and then I forced him into his car, grabbed the bag and took off. I didn’t even realize I was shot until I was halfway to my own car.”

Caelyn swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Just thinking about the accident made her physically ill. She remembered the dark stain spreading across his stomach.

The sound of the car as it hit the pole. The windshield folding in on itself.

She came back to the present as Elijah took a left turn, and she flinched, imagining an oncoming car plowing into them, but the car slowed down at the light.

Elijah glanced at her. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, her heart racing and her hands shaking from the fear response.

“I think I’m still not all the way back to normal yet.”

“No shit,” he said, deadpan.

“Elijah!” she laughed, slapping him lightly on his muscular shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you just got out of the hospital and you’ve got a lot of rehab to do before you’re going to feel one hundred percent.”

“And you’re an expert now?”

“I’ve read up on it,” he said, more serious suddenly.

“Oh, you have, have you?”

“I have. Yeah. And we need to take a practical, realistic approach to your recovery.” Now a little grin started around the corners of his mouth.

Caelyn shook her head and sighed. “So you must have spent a lot of money on this truck and the rental house. But I know it wasn’t from that cash you got from your brother before the accident.”

“How do you know that?” he said, seeming unconcerned.

“Because, after the accident, I heard your brother and father taking the stuff out of the car. They knew we were hurt and all they did was rob us.”

Elijah glanced at her. “You were in a coma, Caelyn.”

“I wasn’t. Not yet, anyway. I heard them talking about how they needed to take it all back. And then the cops never found anything in your car, which was why you were never charged with a crime.”

Elijah sighed. “You’re way too smart for your own good, kid.”

“So how did you afford all of this stuff?”

There was a long pause before he reluctantly answered. “Well, I’ve been working a little side gig at night.”

“You mean you left the hospital every day at eight o’clock and went to work?

When did you sleep?”

“Can’t say I’ve slept all that much. But it’s fine, I had plenty of motivation to stay awake.”

He still hadn’t answered her.

“What job were you doing that late at night?” she said. “Tell me the truth.”

Elijah downshifted as traffic slowed. “Caelyn, I’m not like you. I can’t make money doing normal work.”

Her hands twisted together as she began to brace herself for what he was about to tell her. “So if it wasn’t a normal job, then what kind of job was it?”

“Freelancing,” he replied.

“That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“You want me to really spell it out for you?” he asked. Then he looked at her.

“You really want to have this conversation right now?”

“Yes.” She continued to stare at him, even as he was back to watching the road again.

“Fine, I’ll tell you.” He licked his lips and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m what they call a strong arm robber—a stickup man.”

“You’re robbing people?” She couldn’t believe her ears. A pain shot through her stomach and she leaned over, grimacing. “You’re using a gun?”

“I don’t rob innocent people,” he said. “I rob other criminals. Drug dealers, criminals, gang members.”

She looked at him, a sense of unreality washing over her. “You’re joking, Elijah.

Please tell me you’re joking.”

He shook his head. “I’m not joking.”

“You have to stop. You have to stop now.”

His shoulders tightened. “This is how I survive, Caelyn. It’s how I paid for this truck and the house we’re going to live in.”

“I don’t care.” She slammed her fist against the door of the truck, causing a powerful thud to sound throughout the cabin. “You have to stop or I’m leaving and never coming back.”

Elijah glanced over at her. “These people that I rob—they’re the worst people on earth. They hurt innocent people that live in these neighborhoods, they sell drugs, beat people up—and all I do is give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about it.”

He made a face. “I need to make money.”

“Then get a job!” she screamed at him.

His eyes widened momentarily. “I hear you,” he said.

She leaned back against the seat, shocked at how loudly she’d been able to yell.

Her voice had been so weak the last few days, and yet just then she’d screamed loud enough to blow out someone’s eardrums.

“Promise me you’ll stop committing crimes,” she said softly.

There was a long silence. They pulled up to the curb. “This is it,” Elijah told her.

“This is our new home.”

“Not if you don’t promise me,” she told him.

He turned the ignition and the truck’s engine slowly chugged to a halt. Then he looked at her. His expression was unreadable, calm and cold. Finally, he cracked a weary smile. “Okay, you win. I promise to stop committing crimes. I’m a law abiding citizen from this point forward.”

She studied his face for clues. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure that I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

***

Elijah cooked her a dinner of steak and green beans, sautéed with bacon. They sat on the couch in front of the TV. They were in the living room of the new house eating together, trying to get back to a normal life.

Caelyn grew steadily more tired.

“Something wrong with the food?” Elijah asked, glancing from his almost finished plate to her steak, which had maybe three quarters left.

“Nothing wrong. It tastes great,” Caelyn told him. She sat back and let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from the bottom of her soul. “I’m just so, so tired.”

Elijah put his fork and knife down. Then he shifted on the couch so that he was turned toward her. His dark eyes locked on hers, simultaneously intense and caring in a way that electrified her soul.

“It’s okay to be tired,” he told her. Then he leaned forward and stroked her hair gently.

“But I need to take a shower.”

“How about a bath?” he said.

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

He stood up. “Okay.” Then he started out of the room.

“Elijah, wait—where are you going?”

Elijah looked over his shoulder. “I’m going to run you a bath. Just sit tight, kid.”

She smiled as he left the room. She couldn’t believe how amazing he was, how sweet and protective and kind.

Then she thought about what he’d told her about robbing from bad guys to get money. How could she come to grips with the fact that he was capable of such kindness and softness, but also capable of horrible things?

There was no clear answer. He was both of those people. She’d seen him threaten a man with a gun, she’d watched him beat someone half to death. He’d gotten her in a car accident that had nearly taken her life.

Those things should have given her plenty of reason to want to run the other direction. Most girls would’ve walked away from him at the first sign of illegal activity.

When Elijah had lied about his name to a cop on the way to Florida—that would have sealed the deal for any normal person.

But it wasn’t like that for Caelyn.

What is it about him? How can I stay with him, knowing how dangerous his life
is, knowing that he might not ever be able to give up his old ways?

She didn’t know exactly what it was that made it impossible for her to even consider breaking up with Elijah. But she did know that his touch was the only thing she truly needed, that the smile on his face was like water, and his lips were like food, his breath was her air to breathe.

Without Elijah, life was gray and dull and without beauty.

When she was with him, life seemed to hold every possibility.

She was still thinking about those strange puzzle pieces that made up their life together, when Elijah re-entered the room. “Come on, let’s get you in the tub.” He came to the couch and held out his hands for her to grab.

She took hold of him and he helped her slowly to her feet.

She moaned, because standing up was still one of the hardest movements for her.

Everything was weak, and her legs shook.

“Come on, lean on me,” he told her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She put her arm around him and leaned against him, so that he took most of her weight as they shuffled to the bathroom.

When he opened the door, she was shocked to find glowing candles scattered all around the darkened bathroom. There were candles on the sink countertops and along the edge of the tub.

The room was already steamy from the hot water running.

“Do you need help getting in?” he asked.

“I do,” she said, embarrassed. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, you’re too beautiful to be sorry.” He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him.

“I wish I wasn’t so dependent on you for help.”

“You’re the most amazing woman in the world,” he said. “Every day I came into that hospital room and watched you fight…” his voice choked a little, and he swallowed.

“I’ve never seen anyone fight so hard.”

She smiled, unbearably touched by his words and emotion. “Thank you for saying that.”

And then he leaned in and his lips pressed softly against hers. It had been a long, long time since they’d had a proper kiss. Sure, they’d kissed briefly in the hospital, but that had been different.