Life Over Love (18 page)

         
He her a snap and for a second he thought he’d broken her leg, because that’s what he still had hold of, but when he noticed her hair hanging down to the ground over the side of the bed trailing the floor. That’s when he’d been worried that maybe her neck was broken by the way her head lolled near the corner of the bed.

          
All of a sudden concerned for her safety, he ran to her, to see if she was alright. Then he saw the blood, he must’ve made her hit her head on the corner of the night stand. To him it seemed like a lot of blood, and her pulse felt weak. He ran to the phone, trembling, and praying, he called for an ambulance.

2
2

           
R
yker had a terrible feeling as he drove to her apartment, he heard sirens in the distance and prayed to God that they were not at her place.  He raced to her apartment, and never stopped hearing the sirens as he drove through the town, he drove into the apartment entrance, and felt momentarily relieved.

             
He saw Mike’s truck, but still tried to remain calm. He was trying to figure out where the sirens were coming from. He looked up the street and saw them taking the same route he had. He immediately flew into action and ran inside. He ran into little apartment straight back to her room, he’d noticed the strewn candle sticks and flowers on the floor, but went into a rage as soon as he saw Mike cradling Brianna’s head in his lap. Trying to follow the operator’s instructions, to stem the flow of blood. Ryker yanked the phone out of Mike’s hands, tearing it out of the wall, and throwing it across the room.

            Ryker was like
a mad beast, he yanked Mike by his neck, and lifted him up by grabbing him hard under his left arm pit. He threw the other man hard against the wall in the hallway, “What did you do, you piece of garbage,
WHAT DID YOU DO
?!” 

            
He banged Mike’s head against the wall over and over, until he was practically unconscious. It took four police officers to get him off of Mike. Ryker jumped back to the bed room in the back, to see how she was, she moaned and her eyes fluttered. He ran to her side while the paramedics started an IV, he thought he’d heard her saying, “
I told him, I told him
” but she had passed out again.

              
Her little body looked like she been in a car wreck. He said soothingly, “it’s ok baby, don’t talk shshhhhhh, sleep.” The paramedics needed space to get her loaded into the ambulance to take her to the hospital. Mike was sitting handcuffed by the porch and he had the nerve to ask you if she was ok. “Hell no, she’s not ok! They are taking her away on a stretcher, does that look ok? You defective piece of---” Ryker, clenched both his fists and punch the brick wall, he was so out of control, he said “No, she’s not ok!
NO
! You know what---?!” It was Mike’s turn to flinch this time, Ryker didn’t finish what he was saying , he rushed over to Mike, and he pounded his fist into his other fist, over and over within inches from his face, watching Mike flinch every time and cower beneath him was comical to Ryker. “Look at you. Ugh, you’re pathetic.” Ryker spit on him, and said “Take him away, before I kill this SOB!”

            
The police threw him unceremoniously in the back of the squad car. Ryker rode in the back of the ambulance with Brianna, she didn’t open her eyes for him again, not even to flutter. She looked so tiny and broken, he cried the whole way to the hospital and prayed like he’d never prayed in his life.

                     
The waiting, the worry, it was all too much, but he had no choice, he wasn’t leaving until he talked to the doctor. The doctor’s stern face scared him to death. He tried to listen to what he was saying. He heard the doctor describe her injuries, broken ribs, contusions, broken fingers, luckily there was no internal bleeding, the blood she’d lost when she hit her head was minimal, but until he knew how bad of a concussion she had, he wanted to keep her in the ICU.

           
The first night people started to show up to see her, he wasn’t entirely aware e just knew he’d seen Dominique, Aiden, a little lady with white hair, he was vaguely familiar with Brianna’s parents wondering around. As the hours went by people drifted back out of the hospital. The nurses assured him they’d be out of the woods in twenty four hours. The Twenty four hour mark came and went and he was beside himself with worry and regret. Only her mom remained with him in the waiting room. When they finally got some good news it was going into the forty eighth hour.

             
They told Mary and Ryker that she was heavily medicated, but that she could have visitors for a few minutes at a time. Mary touched Ryker on the arm and asked if he wanted to see her first. “No ma’am she needs her momma right now.”  Mary liked this young man, and she knew he loved her daughter. She reached up and touched his cheek. “She needs you too young man.” Ryker looked down into her eyes so much like Brianna’s, marveling how eyes so unique and pretty could found in more than one place. “No, I need her, but I can’t see her like that ever again. Could you give her this for me though, when she’s ready I’ll be there, waiting if she calls.”

         
He’d written her a letter with everything he’d wanted to say when he was on his way to the apartment that night, he also put some cards with women’s counseling information printed on the back. He hoped that she could get over Mike in time, if not he would settle for her friendship. He wanted her to get better, and he didn’t want to pressure her in any way, so he left the hospital not knowing if he would ever get to hold her close again.

W
hen Brianna was released from the hospital she was more depressed than ever before. She hadn’t seen her babies in what seemed like years, the door had been fixed, and there were fragrant flowers in every nook and cranny, but the apartment still smelled bad from the burnt pork Mike had left to burn in the oven. She couldn’t look around and not think about the bits and pieces that she could recall from Mikes visit.

            
Nothing felt sacred, it was the saddest thing, her little apartment that she’d been so proud of looked like a scene from a horror film. The blood from her fingernails where she had fought so hard to prevent Mike from going into her space, was still bright red on the white door frame.

           
When Aiden had shown up at the hospital she was sure that Ryker didn’t love her, she thought he didn’t even care enough to stop by. When she asked Aiden why, he said he didn’t know either, but he just knew he was real broken up about it. Oh well, so this is what he’d meant when he said I’d end up alone she thought.     She read his letter, but his absence said it all. Brianna existed in a daze, even though she couldn’t remember most of the fight.

            
Her pain, discomfort, and tendency to get winded were enough to remind her that it had been pretty bad. She felt too sad to do anything when she felt this bad. Well almost anything. She got dressed and went to church. Her mom was keeping the kids for her while she recuperated, so she was alone, and she sat in the back row. Everything they’d talked about that day seemed meant for her heart to hear. When the church services were over and people started to congregate in the hallways Brianna got up to leave.

            
She stood smoothing down her skirt when she bumped into a familiar figure of none other than her favorite policeman. He’d been overcome with guilt and thought he’d never forgive himself for not being there when she’d need him most. Not seeing her yet, but feeling himself accidently bumping into someone he’d started to apologize “Oh, I’m sorry ma’am, I…” He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t believe that it was her, he couldn’t even breathe. She was shocked to see him there, not sure if he even wanted to see her she started to make her exit, but then he smiled. She smiled up brightly so glad to see him. Her pain momentarily forgotten, she jumped and hugged his neck, only wincing a little when he reciprocated the embrace. Crying she told him that a life without him in it was no kind of life at all. He tucked her beneath his arm, and her head rested right by his heart where it belonged. They walked out of the chapel as if they’d never been apart and didn’t waste any more time apart either.

23

B
rianna became Mrs. Ryker Danner before the summer was over. As she looked out the bay window of her new home, at her children playing in the yard, with her husband, she was filled with pride and love, crying from the sheer pleasure of seeing all that was hers.

    
So entranced was she that Brianna hadn’t heard Chelsea come in until she was there wrapping her arms around her legs.  “Mommy, are you sad? You’re crying.”  Brianna wiped her cheeks and knelt down to hug Chelsea.
“No baby I’m really, really happy.” She closed her eyes thinking I don’t have to choose life over love, I can have both.         

This book is dedicated to the most important people in my li
fe Andrew, Georgia, Charlie, Cheyenne, Lily, Marsha, Bob, and Brandon, without whom my life would be pointless.