The Lovely Garden (14 page)

With his head still on my shoulder, he pulled out of me so slow he could only be teasing me. Then I was spun around to face him, dress still around my waist. “You go get yourself cleaned up, I’ll talk care of this,” he said, indicating to the spilled drinks.

All I could do was nod and attempt to walk out of the kitchen with weak legs, pulling my dress down. The bathroom wasn’t that far from the kitchen, thankfully. If I had to walk too far, I might have been stumbling with my knees as weak as they were.

The bathroom door was wide open, and the light one, without a person in sight.
Thank god
, I thought, heading in to get cleaned up. I don’t know what I would have done if it was occupied. Probably leaned against the wall for support until whoever was in there got out. Pray that none of Charles’ swimmers decided to slip out of me. No one ever likes to mention how messy sex really was.

I quickly dove in, shut the door, and got myself cleaned up. Jenny always kept an array of items in the bathroom for the guests. Extra toilet paper, towels, and even a hairbrush and toothbrush; I don’t think anyone has ever been brave enough to use the toothbrush. There were even baby wipes, which I used to clean myself up and a wad of toilet paper to dry my underwear.

A quick glance in the mirror told me I was a mess. Sweat beaded on my forehead and upper lip. Hair sticking up all over the place. And my face was flushed. The last I couldn’t do anything about, but the others wouldn’t be a problem. Good thing Charles made us late and I didn’t put any makeup on. I would have had to wipe it all of anyways.

A minute in and there was a knock at the door. I rolled my eyes. “Occupied!” I called so they didn’t try the door handle. It was locked and wouldn’t open, but rattling door handle was annoying. I really hated when people did that. It was even worse when they didn’t give you time to answer after the knock.

Once finished, I started my exit out of the room, an apologetic smile on my face. My smile fell when I saw who was in the doorway. Ava. There was a look in her eyes that scared me enough to take a step back. She was going to hurt me, and there was no one around to help me.

My mind went into panic mode. I needed to get out of there, and it needed to be fast. “Excuse me,” I said, my nerves clear in my voice. I tried to move past her, but was shoved. Hard. Ava’s unexpected strength mixed with me being caught unaware sent me falling. I tried to catch myself but the rug ended up slipping from under me and I hit my head on the edge of the tub. There was a loud
thunk
. Stars started to swim in my vision.

Moaning, I rolled over to get up, but Ava was on top of me before I could make it to my knees. She placed a knee between my shoulder blades, pinning me down. “Poor baby, bumped her head,” Ava said touching the spot less than gently, then pulled her hand back. “Ooh, looks like you’re bleeding. Might want to get that checked out. It’s good for me, though. Makes this
so
much easier for me.”

Ava’s weight shifted ever so slightly, but not enough that I could escape. Not with the state I was in. “Open wide,” she said in a sing-song tone. A towel was forced into my mouth at the same time so far in I gagged. I attempted to bite her finger, but it earned me a slap on the back of my head. “If you try that again, I’ll have to really hurt you.” It sounded as if she hoped I would, so I stayed still.

Ava leaned more of her weight on me. It was hard for me to breathe and the stars started to come back. “Did you enjoy fucking my brother?” she asked as if it was a normal, everyday question. Tears were stinging my eyes, but I held them back. I didn’t want to give the fucking psycho the satisfaction of seeing me cry. It was what she wanted. That, and me to be terrified. I was, but I would be damned if I showed it.

“Of course you did. I heard your moans.” The mystery of the shadow was now solved. I should have guessed it was the bitch. “I bet a whore like you didn’t use a condom. Let’s check.” She moved my panties to the side, and I froze. Went completely numb. If I made a noise, I didn’t hear it. “Well, look at that. You didn’t. Big surprise there.” She stood and walked away from me.  

When I heard the sink running, I sat up, removing the towel from my mouth. I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t bring myself to form any words. Just sat there and watched her with a mixture of horror and fear. This woman had just violated me and was acting as if it was nothing.

The faucet turned off, and she started to walk toward me. I scooted from her, cornering myself between the bathtub and the wall. My heart thudded against my chest when she reached out and plucked a towel from the rack. She stared down at me, a sick smile on her face. “Normally, I wouldn’t go this far, but I think my moronic little brother might actually care about you. I need to go to extremes to get rid of you. I can’t have him happy, now can I?” She dropped the towel and my face. Her heels
clacking
against the floor.

The door clicked shut and I just sat there, only moving to take the towel off of my face. I sat there and stared at nothing, my mind completely blank. I couldn’t even bring myself to say anything when someone knocked on the door.

Rose poked her head in. I just found myself staring at her, wondering if she was there to do what Ava had just done. Even when her blue eyes widened and she rushed to my side I still thought she was going to hurt me. I didn’t do anything to protect myself though I dreaded what she was going to do. When he hands touched my shoulders I let out a whimper that either she didn’t hear or chose to ignore. “Are you alright?” She asked. There was a mixture of panic and concern that I wasn’t used to from someone that didn’t like me.

I shook my head, not being able to bring myself to say anything. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I looked up at her. Rose smiled at me, kind, gentle, and calm. “It’s alright. Just hold this,” she helped me put the towel I was holding on the back of my head, “on here and keep pressure on it. I’m going to grab Charles. Try not to move on your own.” With one last reassuring smile, she left closing the door behind her. I guess she didn’t want anyone to find me in that state. Might have caused a panic.

Some time passed before Charles and Rose walked in, Jenny in tow, but I couldn’t say how much. It could have been a minute, it could have been thirty. I really didn’t know. What I did know was Jenny completely freaked out and shoved Charles and Rose out of the way to get to me. “Holy shit! Are you okay?!” She practically screamed, making me wince. It felt as if her voice was reverberating in my head.

“She’s okay,” Rose replied much calmer than Jenny. “She just needs to go to the hospital. She might have a concussion.”

Jenny’s eyes widened. “Oh god. She might have brain damage. What if she has brain damage?!” She looked at Charles, who was pale as he stared at me. I tried to give him a smile to reassure him, but all I could manage was a grimace. My head was starting to feel as if a sledgehammer was taken to it. Jenny’s meltdown was not helping at all.

“Jenny,” Rose snapped, getting my best friend’s attention. “Amy is going to be just fine. She just slipped and hit her head. That’s all. Now, you need to get out of the way so Charles can get her to the hospital. Okay?” Cowed, Jenny nodded her head and got out of the way, keeping her mouth shut the entire time.

Charles was at my side in an instant, and just looked at me. His eyes said that everything was going to be alright and he was going to take care of me. Tears started to prick the corners of my eyes, but I held them in. I held them as he helped me to my feet, out of the house, and to the car. Once we were in the car, driving to the hospital, I started to cry, and didn’t stop until we were in the emergency room. Charles didn’t say a word the entire time.

It took five stitches to close the wound on the back of my head. Five stitches; a prescription of antibiotics, and an order to basically do nothing that requires brain power until my symptoms go away. The doctor didn’t believe it would take that long fortunately. And it was fortunate that I had a boss that was understanding. It didn’t hurt that Charles knew the woman.

Charles was silent almost the entire time, only speaking with the doctor to ensure he understood my care. When he looked at me, there was reassurance in his smile, but something else in his eyes. Regret. Pain. Something. I think he knew his sister was behind my “fall”, but didn’t want to say anything about it. Wanted me to be the one to tell him, not force it out of me. He was giving me the same treatment as I gave him, though I was sure he was burning with desire to know. To know exactly what had happened. Because people don’t cry from just a bump on the head. Not the way I cried. The sobbing, gasping for breath near hysterics that I released.

And there was that bruise on my back the doctor had pointed out. It had been where Ava had placed her knee to hold me down. The doctor had made sure to point it out. To see how Charles reacted. Look for any signs of abuse. The confusion and shock cleared him of all suspicions. When I was asked about it, all I could do was tell them I didn’t know what happened and hoped it was convincing enough. The doctor shrugged it off as memory loss from the concussion, since I hadn’t remembered that I landed on my elbows, now bruised. The frown Charles gave me told me he didn’t believe me, but we weren’t going to get into it at the hospital.

Hours later and a silent car ride, we reached my apartment. The first thing that I did was go to my room. I didn’t shut the door, but I thought about it. Thought about locking him out so I didn’t have to talk to him. Didn’t have to face him. Didn’t have to lie to him. Because I couldn’t tell him the truth. Couldn’t tell him that his sister not only physically assaulted me, but sexually as well. The shame of that still burned like an ember in a campfire. That I had let someone do that to me, and allowed them to shame me as well. I hated her for it, but I hated myself more.

I sat on my bed and stared at my carpet. It was beige and needed to be vacuumed. Maybe I could do that tomorrow. Vacuuming doesn’t take many brain cells.

Charles sat down next to me, the bed bouncing slightly. “What happened?” His voice was tight, hiding the anger. He had expected me to talk already, and I wasn’t ready. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be ready to talk about it. It must have shown on my face because Charles’ face softened. “Please, tell me.” His pleads shattered my heart and my resolve.

“She pushed me,” was all I was willing to say. My voice cracked and more tears were threatening to spill, but I forced them down again.

There was a knowing in his eye when Charles looked at me. “She did something else, as well, didn’t she?” I just nodded this time, the tears spilling out. “Do you want to tell me?” I shook my head. “Alright. Let’s get ready for bed then.” I couldn’t argue with that. I was dead tired.

It didn’t take long for me to get dressed for bed and to fall asleep into uneasy dreams.

CHAPTER TEN

Charles stared down at me, his light brown eyes searching my face. “Are you
sure
you’re going to be fine?” he asked for the umpteenth time. We had been standing next to the door, it opened to the world, for the last ten minutes. It was Monday and he needed to go to work, but he was stalling, afraid to leave me alone.

“Yes!” I almost screamed, exasperated. “It’s just a concussion. I’m not broken. I’ll be perfectly fine without you here harassing me every five minutes.”

That got me a frown. “I haven’t been harassing you.”

“Are you alright?” “Do you need to sit down?” “Are you feeling dizzy?” Questions I heard over and over again the rest of the weekend. I would hate to see how he acted when I was seriously injured or ill. Then again, a concussion could be considered a serious injury.

I sighed. “I know. I’m just tired and grumpy. And you need to get to work before Rebecca kills you.” My lips touched his briefly before shoving him out the door. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

It was his turn to sigh. “Alright, alright. I’m going. Just call me if you get lonely and want to talk.”

I had been single for a while before I had met him, I think I would be okay by myself. That I kept to myself. I couldn’t blame him for being worried about me and being snarky wasn’t going to help. Instead, I just smiled. “I will. You better get going before Rebecca calls you.” As soon as I said that, his phone started to ring. The dread he felt when looked at his phone was palpable.

“Too late.” Another sigh, and then he started to turn from me and head down the hallway. “I’ll see you later. Love you.” Both of us froze at the same time, my heart dropping and speeding up at the same time. “I, uh,” he stammered.

I cut in. “We’ll talk about that later.” My pitch was too high and my blood too loud in my ears. Not able to face him, I slammed the door closed with shaky hands. All the blood had rushed to my face and I felt I was about to pass out. I needed to sit down.

Aside from my parents and Jenny, that was the first time someone said they loved me and I slammed the door in his face.
Good job there, Amy
, I berated myself. Charles was probably just as shocked as I was, but at least he had work to take his mind off of it. I just had to sit here the entire day and obsess over what he said. Wondering if he had actually meant it or if it were just a slip of the tongue? And if he was serious, how did I feel about him?

I more than liked him, was already in love with him, but was I ready to admit that. To say it out loud to him. He was an amazing man. It was hard not to love him. But was I ready to spend the rest of my life with him?