Walking Away (4 page)

“I′ve missed you, Peach.”

I felt every single wall I had built in the last ten months crumble like a house of cards. Without even making the decision to do so, I charged him.

I put every ounce of anger, betrayal, hurt, and strength I had into punching him in his perfect face, only I missed. I misjudged the fact that he saw me coming, and slammed my fist of fury into the side of his truck. I heard the bones snap, and I felt them break. With a howl made of pure pain, I sank to the cold ground, cradling my hand. Not one tear fell.

“God damn it, Cora! What the hell?” Blake yelled.

I didn′t say a word. I just sat there on the curb feeling the cold of the concrete seep into my legs, praying he would leave and let me suffer this latest humiliation alone.

“We′ve got to get you to the hospital. Jesus, Cor, I can′t believe you just did that.” Blake put his hand on my shoulder in an attempt to help me up, but I jerked away. In doing so, I jarred my broken hand and screamed in pain again.

“Cora, don′t be dumb. Let me get you to the hospital. Come on, Peach.”

“Don′t. Don′t you dare. Don′t touch me. Don′t call me that anymore. Don′t even come near me, Blake. You don′t get that right. You don′t get to do that.” I was surprised that I had managed to keep my voice level. I was even more surprised that I remained calm.

I heard him sigh in frustration behind me, and once again had to remind myself not to look at him, otherwise I′d likely break my other hand. I just sat on the curb, unmoving, still cradling my hand.

“Cora, get up. You can′t just sit there. It′s freezing. Your hand′s broken. Let′s get in the truck and I′ll drive you to the hospital. Just… Please… Come on, Coraline, for fuck′s sake,” He was extremely frustrated now, but I hoped that the longer I sat there, the sooner he′d just get into his truck and go. Luck, as it turns out, was not on my side.

Before I knew it, Blake stooped down behind me and scooped me up, trying not to jar my bad hand. I yelled and screamed for him to let me go, to put me down, but he was having none of it. He somehow managed to get the passenger door open, and deposited me into the seat, locking the door before slamming it closed.

“Don′t even try it, Cora!” he yelled through the window, “I′m coming around and I′m getting in. I′ll drive you to the hospital and we′ll get you checked out and taken care of. You can be pissed at me all you want, you don′t even have to say a word to me, but god damn it, you will see a doctor.”

“I′m perfectly capable of walking to the damned hospital! Let me out of this fucking truck, Blake! NOW!”

“Not happening, sweetness,” he told me as he made his way around the front of the truck. I knew that it wouldn′t do me any good at all to try to jump out his side, so I scooted as close to the door as I could and didn′t say a word the entire way to the hospital.

As soon as he unlocked the door, I threw the door open and ran for the ER entrance. I had toyed with the idea of telling the nurses and doctor that Blake had hit me first, but immediately dismissed it. As much as I wanted to hate him, I could never hurt him. Not like that. Besides, as an attorney, I′d taken an oath, and would be breaking all kinds of ethics codes and what have you. I didn′t even wait for Blake. I knew he would be right behind me.

When I approached the desk, the woman behind it looked up at me with a bored expression. “May I help you?” she droned.

“She needs a doctor. She′s broken her hand,” Blake told her before the words could even form on my tongue.

“And how did you break your hand, dear?” She asked me.

Once again, Blake answered for me. “She was upset. Tried to hit me and hit my truck instead.”

The nurse looked at me skeptically, and I nodded that he was telling her the truth.

“Can you speak, sweetie?” She tried asking me again.

I nodded once more but stayed silent, waiting for Blake to open his mouth. For once, he didn′t.

The nurse raised an eyebrow at me. “Yes, I can speak, I was just waiting for him to shut his mouth and give me a chance to give you an answer. Everything he said is true. I did try to hit him, and I would have landed my punch had he not stepped out of the way.”

The nurse nodded and motioned for me to follow her into triage.

When Blake tried to come along, she stopped him with a “don′t even try” look. He raised his hands in surrender and went to take a seat in the waiting room.

Score:

Blake–0

Nurse–1

Cora–A broken hand.

While in triage, the nurse asked the usual questions regarding my physical and general health, and then she of course had to ask if my broken hand was a result of a domestic dispute. I snorted a laugh.

“It would only be domestic if we were together, which we aren′t. He left me ten months ago without so much as a goodbye nor an explanation, so I felt justified in trying to hit him. It was never my intention to break my hand nor to hit his truck resulting in said injury. I simply wanted to make him hurt as much as he had hurt me.”

“Okay then.” She chuckled quietly to herself.

“Am I done?” I asked her.

“You are.”

“Could you ask him to leave? Tell him you′ll have him forcibly removed if he doesn′t go. I just don′t want to see him.”

“I′ll do what I can.”

“Thank you,” I told her gratefully.

Soon enough, she led me back into a room to wait for the doctor, and left me with the promise of trying to get Blake to leave. As the curtain closed behind her, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I did the best I could to get it out without moving my hand too much. Looking at it I noticed I had missed four texts, all from Charlie. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the button to bring up the messages.

Charlie– I really hope you′re still sleeping. I ran down to Rudy′s to grab breakfast, but it′s taking longer. Be back soon.

Charlie– Cora, where are you? The door′s locked.

Charlie– Cora, baby, I′m starting to worry. Where are you?

Charlie– CORALINE!!! This isn′t funny!

I quickly typed back a message as best I could with one hand.

Me– Charlie, I′m at the hospital. Broke my hand. Don′t ask, I′ll explain when you get here. Hurry. Please.

I knew then that I had been incredibly wrong. Maybe if I′d spoken to Blake after I broke my hand on his stupid truck instead of sitting there ignoring him, Charlie would have found us and he wouldn′t be freaking out right now.

You can be incredibly stupid, Cora!
This was all my own fault. I sank back onto the pillow behind me on the stretcher and continued to mentally beat myself up.

After what felt like hours, the doctor finally came in. He informed me that based on the x–ray that a person from radiology had come and taken me to do, my right hand was, in fact, broken.

Instead of saying
”No shit, Sherlock. Figure that out all by yourself, did you?”
I just sat there stoically. A nurse walked in with pain killers, which I happily drowned with half a bottle of water.

Once the meds kicked in, my hand was set and casted and Charlie came storming in, raving like a lunatic. I wanted to laugh and cry and throw myself into his big arms, but I couldn′t stop looking at him. He looked as though he′d aged five years in the few hours since we′d made love. The nurse he′d been yelling at pointed at me and Charlie spun around and ran to me.

“Cora! Oh God, Cora!” Without stopping, he scooped me up into his arms and then sat down on the stretcher placing me in his lap. “Cora, what the hell happened? I came back and you were gone. The house was locked up tight, and no one seemed to know where you went. Talk to me, love. How did you end up here?”

I knew that he was waiting for me to answer him. I knew that I needed to answer him, but I just wanted to take a minute and enjoy being in his arms. It felt safe, like nothing could hurt me. I belonged here, right here in Charlie′s arms. I inhaled his scent, that spicy cedar scent. Even though it had only been two months, I was irrevocably in love with the man holding me in this hospital.

Pulling back slightly, Charlie readjusted me in his arms, then set me slightly away from him and looked into me eyes. “Tell me what happened, Cora.”

So I did. I told him everything. How I′d woken up and thought he′d left me. How I′d gotten angry and overreacted and decided I was going to go to Rudy′s and talk to Dali. How I didn′t get halfway down the walkway before Blake stopped me.

I told him how I had every intention of just walking away, but then Blake had said he′d missed me, and I saw red. I told him how I′d charged Blake trying to hit him, but missed and hit the truck instead breaking my hand. I told him how I′d ended up in the hospital and everything that happened while he was trying to get to me. Then I asked him if Blake was still out in the waiting room.

“I have no idea,” Charlie said, “My only focus was getting back here to you. Then again, I have no clue what Blake looks like so I can′t confirm yes or no.”

“Speaking of getting to me,” I said, curiosity already beginning to eat at me. “ How did you get back here?”

“I told them the truth.”

“The truth? What truth is that?”

“That you are my one and my only, and that if I didn′t get back here to you immediately, I would see them all in court. I may have thrown Alex′s name into the mix at some point just to let them know I was serious, but that is neither here nor there,” he laughed.

“You didn′t really throw Mr. Randall′s name into this, did you?”

“I did,” he responded with the straightest face possible.

All I could do was shake my head at him in disbelief. This man was a piece of work, and I loved every bit of him.

Charlie pulled me back into his arms then and kissed my hair, “Let′s go home, love. Let me take care of you.”

***

A year after we′d had our first date, Charlie and I were sitting at Rudy′s waiting for his family to arrive. It was something we had started doing after Charlie had taken me home for New Year′s to introduce me to his mother.

She was a wonderful woman, and I absolutely loved her. It wasn′t long though when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We worked to move his parents to Colorado with us where his mother could receive care and be made comfortable until the end. We lost her only a few months later. Since then Charlie′s brothers, his father, and Charlie and I had started a tradition of meeting at Rudy′s twice a week for breakfast.

Colin, his brother, was the first to arrive, and he slid into the booth across from us not saying a word. Larkin showed up next, and also ignored us. By the time Mr. Cross arrived, I was thoroughly confused.

I couldn′t take it anymore. “What′s going on, guys? You never act like this. Has something happened?”

Colin looked at his brothers and father, and when Mr. Cross nodded to him, he spoke to me. “Don′t worry, Cor. It′s cool. Trust me.” He gave me a small smile and Dali soon arrived at the table to take our orders.

Having placed our orders, small talk ensued, but something was off. I knew it. I had been hanging out with Colin and Larkin for months now. They were all talking nonstop about nothing, clearly hiding something. I didn′t like it.

After we finished eating, I excused myself to go and talk to Dali. I found her sitting at the bar that stretched the length of the diner rolling silverware. Climbing up to sit on the stool beside her, I nudged her shoulder to get her attention.

She looked over at me and gave me a smile. “Hey, sweet pea. You okay?”

Sighing, I rested my arms on the counter and shrugged. “I don′t know, Dali, something′s off.”

Giving me a quizzical look, she asked, “What do you mean, baby?”

I shrugged again. I didn′t know how to explain it, exactly, but I needed to try. I motioned vaguely over my shoulder to where Charlie and his family was sitting conversing amongst themselves. “I just get the feeling that they aren′t telling me something.”

Dali smiled knowingly before she answered me. “Sweet pea, they aren′t keeping anything from you. You′ll see.”

“Way to be cryptic, Dali,” I muttered as I stood up.

Dali laughed merrily at me, a sound I didn′t think I would ever get tired of hearing. “Go on now, get the boy and get out of here. Come back and let me know what you find out.” She winked and disappeared into the kitchen with her newly rolled silverware in tow.

I headed back over to the table and told Charlie that I was ready whenever he was. He looked up at me with a smile, his brothers and father having already left.

On the way back to the apartment, Charlie detoured into the park.

“Charlie, it′s freezing. I want to go home.” I complained with a smile.

“Humor me, please. We′ll go home right after.”

Giving in, I followed him into the park. He led me toward the small duck pond; we′d always stop there to feed the ducks during our walks. We′d done it thousands of times.

It wasn′t until we got closer that I heard Colin strumming my favorite song on his guitar, and saw Larkin holding a sign, grinning like an idiot. Mr. Cross was standing near the bench holding a picture of Mrs. Cross, and I knew exactly what was happening. Bystanders were already gathering, and I was fighting to control the tears that wanted to spill from my eyes.

When we reached Mr. Cross, Charlie dropped to one knee in front of me. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small, black box covered in crushed velvet. Looking up at me, he smiled.

“Coraline Renfro, this ring once belonged to the one woman who ever meant anything to me, my mother. She would be honored to give it to you, but since she is no longer here, the honor falls to me. If you accept it, you have to promise to be my wife, for now and forever. You have to promise to put up with me for the rest of our days, however long they may be. You have to promise to love me relentlessly, without fail while I do the same for you. You have to promise to
just breathe
. I want you, I need you, I can′t do this without you, Coraline. Marry me. Please.”

Without hesitation, I threw myself onto the ground in front of him and showered him with kisses. “Of course. Yes. Yes! I promise!”