Come Back To Me (20 page)

"Miss Mills, can you hear
me?" I heard a voice say.

I struggled to open my eyes,
they were so heavy and my head felt like it could explode at any
moment. I couldn't move. Panic struck me like the weight of a
thousand pound boulder.

I could hear voices all
around me. "I'm getting a steady pulse, and heart beat."

"Let's get her upstairs for
a CAT scan and some X-rays."

Where were these voices
coming from? Everything went dark again.

"Everything is stable
Doctor."

"Has she woken
yet?"

"Not yet sir."

"Okay, keep me
posted."

I heard the voices again,
but still couldn't see. Doctor? Where was I? I wanted to open my
eyes so bad, but the ability to do so was just not there. I could
hear someone coming up beside me, and moments later things went
dark again.

I wasn't sure what time it
was, or even what day it was when I finally had the strength to
wake. When I did, there was a light on in the corner of the room
that burned my eyes. I couldn't focus on anything, and I was
frustrated.

"Ah, Miss Mills you're
awake."

I moved my head to the side
and saw a petite woman standing beside my bed.

"Who are you? Where am I? I
croaked out.

"I'm Nurse Wilson, and you
are at the hospital. How are you feeling? Any pain?"

"I hurt all
over."

She began to administer
something through an IV on the back of my hand, and while I watched
her I noticed my arm was in a cast.

"W-what happened to my arm?"
I began to feel tears hit my eyes.

"Your arm was broken in
three places. But no worries, the surgeon put everything back
together again."

The reference to Humpty
Dumpty should have made me smile, but knowing that I needed to be
patched up made me more upset. I felt the medicine move up my arm,
and felt my eye lids become heavy once more.

Twenty-Nine

Jake arrived at the
hospital, and entered the Emergency Room doors. He approached the
desk.

"I'm looking for Emily
Mills." He said the nurse on duty.

“
Are you family
sir?" The snippy woman asked.

Jake lied. "Yes I'm her
husband."

The woman pecked around on
her computer keyboard for what seemed like hours, and finally
responded. "Third floor, room 3296."

"Thanks." Jake hurried to
the bank of elevators down the hall. His phone began to ring, and
the caller ID said it was Sam.

"Hello?" Jake quickly
answered.

"Hey man just wanted to let
you know they have the guy in custody that had Emily."

Jake let out a sigh of
relief. "That's good news Sam, thanks."

"Have you seen her yet?" Sam
questioned.

"Not yet, I'm on my way to
her room right now."

"Alright. The police are
gonna want a statement from her, and from me as well. I'm on my way
there so they can kill two birds with one stone."

Jake gave Sam the room
number, and then hung up. His nerves began to overtake him as soon
as he stepped into the elevator. How would he find her? Every
possible worst case scenario popped through his head, and he had to
physically shake just to ward off the terrible images.

The elevator reached the
third floor, and he stepped off, looking for which way room 3296
was. Jake put one foot in front of the other once he figured it out
and headed that way.

Reaching the corridor of the
room he peeked through. What he saw ripped his heart out. Emily was
sleeping, but had a cast on her arm from the shoulder to her wrist.
Her eyes were both blacked, and her left cheek was stitched up.
Jake wanted to cry, but if she woke up, he couldn't appear weak. He
needed to be strong for her.

Moving closer to her bed, he
pulled up a chair. Jake grabbed her cast-less hand and entwined her
fingers with his. There was still the jolt there. The connecting
power that he loved so much about her was always there. Even in her
state, she had that draw of emotions that captured his heart and
soul. She was his all.

Jake lifted his head and
began to speak softly to her.

"Em, I'm so sorry. I should
have told you what I did. I never meant to hurt you, and if you
give me the chance, I will spend a lifetime trying to make it up to
you."

She didn't stir.

"You have to know that what
I did was to protect you. I wanted you safe, and would have done
anything I could to make that happen. I would have flown to the
damn moon, if it meant you would be out of harm’s way. You have to
believe me Em."

"I know you can't hear me,
but believe me when I tell you...I Love You."

Emily still didn't move a
muscle or bat an eye. Jake said what he needed to, and figured it
best to leave for a while. He kissed her forehead and left the
room.

Out in the hall, Sam was
waiting. "Pretty sappy stuff for such a tough guy." Sam
teased.

"I'm no tough guy. And when
it comes to that woman in there, I'm turned into a pile of
Jell-O."

"Well I don't know about
her, but I love ya." Sam laughed.

"Yeah well you aren't my
type. I'm gonna grab some coffee, I'll be back up in a
bit."

Jake stood at the coffee
machine and thought about what he said to Emily. Yes he would do
anything to protect her, but he would also do anything to make her
happy, to make her dreams come true. There was one thing that he
wanted more than anything, and that was to have her by his side
permanently. He never knew true happiness until she was with him.
If he was crazy for wanting all of this after only a couple of
weeks with her, then so be it. She deserved to have someone that
loved her with their whole heart.

Jake pulled his phone from
his pocket and called his mom. She answered on the second
ring.

"Mom, I need a
favor."

Thirty

I could hear Jake speaking,
as if it were a dream. My eyes were closed but his words hit me
like I was wide awake. He loved me. Not only that but he was the
only person that understood me, and wanted to know my dreams and
desires. The man I went to college with, the man that I fantasized
about since then was the man I was meant to be with.

My heart was heavy from the
pain that he was in. He thought he caused this to happen to me, but
he was wrong. I didn't blame him at all. Jake tried to protect me
and I flipped out because of my own selfishness. How could I be so
blind?

When I woke, my room was
crowded with police officers. I knew I would need to answer some
questions, so I managed to sit up in the bed. My body hurt, and I
winced at the pain. A nurse came to my side.

"Miss Mills, can I get you
anything?"

"No I'm okay, thank
you."

"Alright, but if you need
anything for pain, just push this call button." She pointed to a
red button on the side of the bed.

Once she left the room, I
prepared myself for the inquisition I was about to face. The
officers were very thorough, and I began to tell them about what
happened from the first time I met Grant. I let them know about the
office incident, although it was embarrassing, and led into the
part how he raped me at his apartment. I held my nerves steady, and
managed not to turn into a blubbering idiot. I told them about him
finding me at the airport, and they said he tracked my phone to
find me there.

Unlike before, this time I
didn't feel like I had done anything wrong. I gave into the fact
that I never asked for this to happen, and it was just a game of
chance. Wrong place, wrong time.

After the officers had the
information they needed, they left. One gentleman stayed behind. He
was in his sixties, I surmised, and had short hair that was gray at
the temples.

"Hi Miss Mills, my name is
Sam."

"Hi, please call me Emily,
do you have more questions?"

"I just wanted to see how
you were doing. I'm actually a friend of Jake's."

"Did he send you here?" I
raised my eyebrows in curiosity.

"Well yes, and no. I'm
actually a private investigator, and Jake contacted me to help him
find you. He called me from Texas, and I tracked your cell
phone."

"So you were the one who
found me?" Tears sprung up in my eyes.

"Yes I did. Look I know you
are upset at him right now, but I hope you can see that he was
trying to protect you. And I just have to say, I've never seen Jake
act this way over anyone...and I've known him a very long
time."

"Thank you Sam. I know he
was only looking out for me. He probably hates me now
though."

"I wouldn't be so sure about
that. Well I'd better let you get some rest. It was nice to finally
meet you."

He came to the side of my
bed and hugged me.

"Thank you again Sam." I
hugged him back.

Once I was released from the
hospital, I went back to my apartment to try and regain somewhat of
a normal life. It was hard to walk around every day, and not think
of what happened.

The days turned into weeks,
and the next thing I knew it was Christmas Eve. Putting up a tree
was the last thing on my mind, the first thing had been that I
hadn't seen or heard from Jake since the beginning of November. I
wanted to call him, but for some reason I couldn't. He never called
me either and I told myself it was for the best. He deserved better
than I had to offer. After all, I came from a shitty family that
wouldn't know love if it hit them over the back of the head, I had
a very bad track record with relationships, and I was still in that
damn cast. The sad part was, the only two people that signed my
cast were Gary and Harold, but they treated me like
family.

I wandered around my
apartment thinking I should have decorated some for the holidays,
maybe it would have brought me out of this self-loathing funk I was
in. I threw in a frozen microwave meal, and put on a pot of
coffee.

I jumped when I heard a
knock on the door. "Who could that be on Christmas Eve?" I said to
myself.

I went to the door, and
opened it without looking out the peep hole. I was stunned when
Jake stood there looking as amazing as ever.

"Jake...What are you doing
here?" I whispered in shock.

"Are you busy?" He
asked.

"Yes. No. Well not really."
I stuttered.

"Good. Throw on some warm
clothes and come with me."

"Jake I don't think that's
such a good idea."

"Ugh, would you stop
worrying and just come with me?"

"Fine, give me a few to get
changed."

I hurried to my bedroom and
dug through the closet to change my clothes. Where were we going?
Was he kidnapping me...because I had already had enough of that to
last me a lifetime.

I looked in the mirror and
was satisfied with how I looked. I went back into the living
room.

"All ready." I
said.

"Okay good, let's go." He
grabbed my hand and we were out the door.

Once outside we got in his
car and started driving. "Where are we going Jake?"

"To the airport." He
smiled.

"Uh, and where to after
that?"

"You'll see" He
chuckled.

Thirty-One

Jake knew he was taking a
chance knocking on Emily's door. She would either slam it in his
face, or agree to go with him. Either way he was willing to take
that chance because he loved her. If she hated him for what he
tried to do for her, then so be it. He wouldn't let another day go
by without trying to make things right for her.

When she opened the door, he
was floored just as always by her. Sure she had a cast on her arm,
but what caught his eye was how stunning she was. She was dressed
in yoga pants and a pink hoodie, and had her hair in a ponytail.
She reminded him of the night he saw a woman across the street, and
wanted to say hello. "Holy shit" he said under his breath. That was
Emily! His heart jumped at the realization that even from across
the street he was drawn to her that night.

When they reached the
airport, Jake took her hand and led her to the gate for boarding.
He saw her look up at the boarding schedule and then back at him
with wide eyes.

"Uh Jake, why are we going
to Texas?"

"I have a surprise for you."
He smiled.

"I don't have any luggage!
All I have is the clothes I'm wearing!"

"Trust me."

He felt that she did trust
him, and saw her face and body relax. She stared down at her cast
and frowned.

"Does it hurt?" He
asked.

"No. I just hate the
reminder...you know?"

He did know. And he hated
that she was reminded everyday of what happened. If he could turn
back the clock and take it all away he would, just for
her.