The Devastatingly Beautiful Series (11 page)

“Son, be a good sport and take a seat before you get yourself kicked out,” He says.

I watch him talk quietly to the nurse while I storm across the room to find an area to pace. There will be no sitting until I see my Molly.

***

After what seemed like hours of pacing, the doctor comes out to speak with us. He looks exhausted.

“Mr. Savage?” He glances at me, then over at my father who doesn’t rise from his seat. He gives a nod towards me and the doctor walks over to me.

“Please let me see her, doc. I have to. I can’t… I don’t know…. Oh my god, don’t tell me she died!” I say, not quite sure what happened to my cool that I thought I was keeping. I was asking questions faster than a twelve-year-old girl on a caffeine high.

“Calm down, Mr. Savage. She’s doing just fine.”

Those words. ‘She’s doing just fine.’ Four of my favorite words at this very moment. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and sit in the nearest seat.

The doctor continues. “She had massive amounts of contusions on her body and there was swelling on her brain from the hits that she took. Whoever did this to her seemed hell bent to kill. Your girl has a strong will to live, though. She isn’t awake yet, but you can go see her. Just know, she looks very... rough right now. We had to drill into her skull to help the swelling recede. She may not notice you when she wakes up, but that is just a side effect from everything she has gone through and she should regain memory soon.”

“Thank you, Doctor. You don’t know what she means to me. Can I see her now?”

He nods and points me in the right direction. On my way out of the waiting room my father stands.

“Go tell her, Son. Don’t let her get away. And give her my best.” He pats me on my shoulder and I move faster than I thought I could to get to her. I need to see her. Walking into her room, I hear nothing but the whirring and beeps of the machines she’s hooked up to. They warned me that it won’t be the best of sights, but I don’t care. I can take it. I’ve seen much worse.

That’s what I thought at least, until I walk in and see her.

She’s so swollen from the liquid they pumped into her, her beautiful face battered from his hits. A tear runs down my cheek and I shake my head. I thought I was strong enough. I thought I could save her from her hell. I couldn’t even do that. He was half my size and I couldn’t take him when I needed to. My weakness has gotten yet another person hurt, almost killed. The sounds of the hospital room remind me of the darkest time of my life and I can’t shake the feeling that this one is about to take the same nasty turn. Unsure of everything now, seeing her like this, I walk out of the room. Surprisingly, my father is standing right next to the door.

“Did I ever tell you of the day you were born?” he asks.

I look at him like he has three heads.

“No,” I say, looking down the other end of the hall, trying to dry my face before he sees me.

“Your mother almost died. I blamed myself because I wanted a natural birth. I thought ‘women used to do it all the time, she can handle it’. So I pushed for it, even though the beautiful woman didn’t want it.”

I turn and look at him. He seems so old standing in the hospital hallway. I almost forget he is the ruthless man who has the majority of the country in fear of him. He leans against the wall, crosses his ankles, and continues.

“She was in so much pain she passed out from it in the middle of pushing you out. With her passed out she couldn’t push to get you the rest of the way out. I couldn’t watch the rest of what happened. Emergency C section, your mother not coming to right away. I just sat on the curb outside the hospital, staring at nothing for what seemed like hours. Your uncle was the first one to hold you. I was sure my suggestions and pushing had killed one, if not both, of you. It took the nurse walking out with news that your mother had woken up and was asking for me to kick me out of my funk. Turns out your mom had pushed so hard it made her pass out. Not the pain, not my insisting that she didn’t have any medications. They said even medicated it would have happened. You were just that big of a baby.”

“So you are trying to tell me to stop blaming myself for things that are out of control?” I look at him.

“I’m saying, I almost walked away from the love of my life because I was worried that it would be me that ended up getting her hurt. Turns out, things that big are out of everyone’s control. There is a higher being that has it all planned out for us ahead of time. We are just pawns.” He grins, looks up and closes his eyes. “So get your ass back in there before she wakes up and you aren’t by her side. You will never live it down,” he adds.

I take his advice and turn to walk back in the room.

“Thanks, Dad,” I say. “I just don’t know what to do with all of these feelings. I’ve never felt this way before.”

“I know, son. That’s what love is. It is both beautiful and devastating.”

“Devastatingly beautiful. Just like Molly,” I say to myself and walk back in the room to sit by the woman I love.

21

Molly

Through the darkness I’ve seen bits of light and heard unmistakable voices. He’s here. I can’t see him, I can’t feel him, but I know he’s here. I just want him to hold me.

“When is she going to wake up?” I hear his voice.

“It’s been a few days, Tatum. We expected her to be awake by now. Her vitals are good, now it is just a waiting game,” another male voice says.

Why can’t I wake up? I try and try to pry my eyes open, but that just makes me more tired. Darkness falls again.

***

I feel something. I think it’s my hand, but I can’t really tell. My body is cold, but my hand, my hand is so warm.

“Son, why don’t you head out? Take a walk. You need sunshine like the rest of us.”

“No,” he simply states. Nothing else. I need more!
WAKE UP DAMMIT!

I keep trying my hardest to move. Focusing on one area, the only one that feels like it would make a difference, I try to move my hand. I don’t know how long I focus on just wiggling my fingers, but I do. Over and over I try to send the information to my hand to move. MOVE!

“Dad. DAD! NURSE!” I hear him yell. “She moved. Her hand. It moved. She moved. She’s in there. Molly baby, wake up for me. Please, Molly. Can you move your hand again?!”

Silence surrounds me. I try my hardest, just like before, and this time I feel it move.
I’m moving my hand. It’s coming back!

Suddenly, commotion fills the room and Tatum’s warm hand is taken from mine. I would do anything to see him again. People keep moving around the room and I refocus my efforts to opening my eyes. I feel like they’re glued shut, and the pain of finally getting them open makes me immediately tear up. Everything is so bright, but through the lights and searing pain,
I see him.

He smiles. There are tears in his eyes and he just smiles at me.

“Hi,” I manage to whisper. It was more like a croak, but I did it. It’s all coming back now.

“Hey, you,” he says, tears streaming down his face. “How ya feeling?”

I nod my head and try to raise my arms to hug him. Just feeling his embrace I know I’m going to make it. This sucks, yes, but I’ll get through it and Tatum will be right there next to me.

Tatum

It’s been a week since they released Molly from the hospital. After she woke up she stayed for a few days to make sure her vitals were staying strong, then we could finally escape. She’s so worried about the wedding she has this weekend, but there is no way she is shooting it. She can barely walk and it’s just a few days away. I went ahead and pulled the strings I needed to pull to get the bride a photography team on me and refund her all the money she has paid (out of my account of course. Molly doesn’t need that burden). To say she was upset was an understatement, but I don’t care, she needs to rest.

I’ve been able to keep the police at bay for a week to give her time to recover, but they are practically beating down our door to get our statements now. I guess money only talks so much when it comes to the law.

“Babe, the investigator on the case is coming by in an hour”

She sighs. She has had good days and bad since we got home. It’s worse when the pain meds wear off, but today she has been quiet all day. I just want to hold her, take her pain away, but I can’t. The pain she feels is more inner turmoil rather than physical pain. When we got home she made me tell her everything. Every. Last. Detail. God, I didn’t want to, but how can I say no to the woman I love? Especially when she looks at me with her bruised and battered face and her bright green eyes shining through.

Apparently her ex went off the deep end when their daughter died. Blaming Molly for her death, he went after the money to find it gone. On a ‘Molly is a bitch’ kick, once he took over the group he put every man out there to find her and find the money, obviously believing she took the money and ran. He then used every asset he had to find her. They had been trailing her for a couple months when I came along. The men in her office hadn’t found anything and Brian was apparently planning a trip to take her back to Tacoma just before she made the trip herself.  The money still is nowhere to be found, but there hopefully won’t be anyone going after it anymore. Now that Brian is dead it’s not the top priority to anyone.

“What about Evie, though? So young, so sweet. She couldn’t have been so wrapped up in this,” Molly states matter of factly. The tears in her eyes stay there, making the beautiful green glisten in the sunlight coming through the window.

“Ah, well… the Evie end of things is complicated. No one outside of Brian and her knew the truth about who she really was. All we really know is that she in fact is the daughter of the man who ratted out Brian when he noticed the money and drugs missing. She hid very well. In plain sight, really.”

“I just can’t believe she’s gone. She was my best friend. You know, she seemed filled with inner peace at the end, like she knew everything was going to work out,” Molly whispers. She is curled up next to me on the couch wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt and looking just as beautiful as she did the day I met her. I am in awe of her strength and still have a hard time believing she is mine. I’m also having a hard time staying away from some of my favorite parts of her. With her body being in so much pain I don’t want to act too fast and injure her more, but hell I can’t wait to be inside her again.

Breaking my thoughts, the doorbell rings. Time to rehash the events of the last few years one more time… and hopefully the last.

Molly

After going through everything I remember of the last 5 years, the detective thanks us and leaves. He took pages and pages of notes and told me that I should be hearing from them in a few days. I don’t want to have to stay here any longer than I have to so hopefully they can get everything straightened out pretty quickly.

Tatum has been wonderful to me. He knows how to bring me out of my bad moods and put a smile back on my face. I can’t imagine having to go through this without him. Each night he holds me and does things for me that only he can do. It’s been what seems like forever since we have been able to have sex, though, and after only being able to enjoy him once I’m itching to have him again.

“You know, I’m beginning to feel like my old self again,” I hint. Hoping that he takes it.

“Oh yea?” He grins at me from across the room. “Well good, that makes me very happy.”

I smile at him and stick my tongue out playfully.

“Did you just stick your tongue out at me?!” he quips, as he treks towards me with a purpose. He holds my chin up and looks in my eyes. “No one sticks their tongue out at a Savage.”

“The last name may seem menacing, but you are anything but savage.” I grin.

“I’ll show you,” he growls and scoops me up carrying me into the bedroom.

Laying me on the bed, Tatum stops above me and stares at me. The bruises are fading, the stiches will be out soon, and I don’t hurt anymore. He looks at me with so much love and adoration that my heart starts to swell.

“God, Molly, you gave me a really good scare for a while. I thought I had lost you for good too many times to count in the last few weeks. Everything has happened so fast with us, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you.”

A single tear streaks down my cheek. “I love you too, Tatum.”

22

Tatum

This is it. The first time since the whole ordeal that we can be together and I’m so nervous I’m almost shaking. I don’t know why I feel like this. We have had sex before, but this is so much more. There is no danger now, there are no lies between us or hidden secrets. It is simply Molly and I together at last.

I slowly and agonizingly strip her of all her clothes, kissing each bruise and scrape on my way down her beautiful body. She’s breathing heavier and heavier as I reach her core. She smells beautiful and tastes it as well. I slide one, then two fingers inside her and curl them up as I flick my tongue just on the right spot to make her gasp and arch her back.

“That’s my girl, let go, Molly.” But she won’t. She’s holding back for some reason.

“I want you. I need you inside of me, Tatum.” she pleads, then she pulls away from me to start stripping my layers off. I’m so hard I’m not sure she will be able to get my jeans off without doing damage, but somehow she does so gracefully. She grabs me and starts sucking and stroking in a rhythm that almost sets me off right away. I want this to last too much to blow now, though, so I pull her up to kiss her. Then it hits me.

“Molly, we don’t have any condoms here.”

She stares at me for a moment and then smiles the saddest smile I’ve ever witnessed. “It’s ok, Tatum. I was told after the accident that if I ever wanted to get pregnant again it would be a long drawn out ordeal, and I trust you are clean.”

I smile at her. Those were the happiest and saddest words ever.

“You can’t have kids?” I ask, careful not to let her see my slight disappointment in the obvious.

“Not what I said. Just that it’s going to be… difficult,” she says, then trails away from me. The loss of physical contact is a punch to the gut. No, I wasn’t planning on having kids right now, but I can’t help the wonderful fleeting thoughts of tiny Molly’s running around.

“Stop,” I say. I don’t know if it’s to stop my thoughts or to stop her from leaving, but it works. She freezes and looks at me. Tears burning her eyes, she glances at me and I see it. “Molly, I love you. I will always love you. The fact that child bearing may be hard makes me want to try ten times harder to make it happen. People don’t tell me I can’t do something, especially when it comes to the woman I love.” Then I kiss her and she falls apart in my arms.

“Oh, Tatum, thank you. I was so afraid to tell you. I thought you wouldn’t want me anymore since I’m broken.” she cries.

“Hey,” I say, wiping a tear from her face. “We are both broken. It’s what makes us work.”

We make love. Multiple times. Fast, slow, even slower, and each time is better than the last. The woman is amazing. I am truly the luckiest man ever.