Without You (38 page)

I closed my eyes and opened them again before I walked around the bed, still not looking directly at Lex. When I got to the other side of her, I took a deep breath and looked at her. My heart slammed against my chest, and a feeling I’d never experienced before washed over my body. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I was afraid she could hear us. My heart had never beat so fast and so hard in my life.

I looked at her swollen face and swallowed hard. Her right eye was black and blue and three times the normal size. Her lips were busted open. The whole right side of her face was bruised. I put my hand up to my mouth and attempted to hold back the sobs wanting to come out.

Colt looked at me and shook his head. He turned and walked out of the room as I tried to regain some sort of composure.

Thirty seconds later, Libby walked in. She looked at Alex and started crying as she made her way over to me. She turned me to face her, and she wiped away her tears.

Taking in a deep breath, she whispered, “Be strong for her right now. Do you hear me, William Gregory Hayes?”

I quickly nodded my head. I somehow reached deep down inside me and pulled out the strength I needed to settle down. I would be here for Lex.

I’ll be the strength she needs right now.

Taking in a deep breath, I turned back to face Lex.

I took her hand in mine. “Lex, baby, I’m here now. I promise you, Lex, you’re safe. I love you so much. Please wake up for me, baby.”

I needed her to hear the love in my voice. I needed her to come back to me.

“Lex, I love you so much. It’s time to wake up now, baby.”

Will…

“Alex? Baby, please wake up now. Grace brought you Emma. Oh, Alex. Please, honey, wake up.”

Mom…

“Hey, baby girl. Daddy’s here now, Little Bear. You’re all right.”

Daddy…

My face hurt. My body hurt. I just wanted to sleep, but everyone was talking to me.

Will…

I need you, Will.

Someone took my hand.

“Lex, I’m right here.”

Will…

I forced my eyes to open, and the first things I saw were his beautiful blue eyes. I attempted to smile, but my entire face hurt like hell.

“Will…” I said in a raspy voice. “I hurt so bad.”

He nodded his head. “I know, baby. I know.” He leaned over and did something.

“Yes?” a voice answered from what sounded like an intercom right next to my ear.

“She’s awake,” Will said.

“Thank you, Mr. Hayes. I’ll let the doctor on duty and her parents know.”

I looked around.
Where am I? What happened?

“Where am I, Will? I just remember needing you. I was so scared, and I needed you.”

His eyes filled with tears. He looked away and then turned back to look at me. “You’re in the hospital, Lex, and I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”

The nurse came in, took all my vitals, and gave me some medicine.

“The doctor will be in shortly, Ms. Mathews.” She smiled sweetly at me before turning and leaving.

I was about to ask Will something when I heard a door open, and I slowly turned my head to see my mother and father walking in. They both had fake smiles on their faces to hide their fear.

“Oh, Alex…baby, I’m so glad you’re awake.” My mother walked to the side of the bed and took my hand in hers.

I looked over to my father, who was standing next to my mother. “Hey, Little Bear. There’s my girl. I love you, sweetheart, so very much.”

Something was terribly wrong. My father only called me Little Bear when something was wrong or when he was very emotional about something.

“What happened?” I looked at them and then back to Will.

Will peeked over at my father.

“Will?” I asked.

He kept his eyes on my father. Looking back at my father, I saw he was staring at Will. They both had looks of terror on their faces. I glanced over to look at my mother.

My mother swallowed and tried to smile. “Alex, honey, don’t worry. You’re okay. You’re just a little banged up, and they…well, you…” She turned away.

“Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Mathews?”

My parents turned to face a beautiful lady, probably in her mid-twenties, with shoulder-length blonde hair. She stood there, holding a file folder, and I noticed that I was having a hard time seeing. It was almost like I was looking out of only one eye. I reached up, touched my right eye, and let out an inner cry.

Holy shit. That hurts like hell.

“Hello, Janet.” My mother looked back at me. “Alex, Janet is here to talk to you, sweetheart.”

The blonde turned her attention to Will. “How are you doing this morning, Will?”

He smiled slightly and said, “I’m good.”

Janet cleared her throat and pointed to the police officer standing next her. “This is Officer Franks.”

My mother quickly nodded her head and took a step back. My father held her in his arms.

Why is a police officer here?

I attempted to smile as Janet walked closer to me. Something about her made me feel…safe and comfortable. It was like she recognized this strange feeling inside me.

“Alex, my name is Janet. I’m a counselor, and I work for the hospital. I’m here to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?”

“Hi, Janet. Um…sure,” I said.

She smiled back. “Alex, do you remember anything about last night? Anything at all?”

“Um…not really. I was at a party with Grace.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember.

Damn, maybe I drank too much. I must have fallen and hit my eye—

My eyes snapped open. I frantically looked around the room.

Oh God. Oh God. No…Blake.

“Blake,” I whispered.

A warm sensation filled my body as Janet touched my hand.

“Alex, you’re safe, sweetheart. He’s not here.”

I felt the tears burning my eyes, and my head began pounding. “He…he tried to…I think he gave me something…he…Oh God. He slapped me because I was fighting him back.”

Janet held my hand. “Alex, sweetheart, Officer Franks would like to ask you some questions.”

I nodded my head and looked back to where Will was standing.

Officer Franks cleared her throat and took a step closer to me. “Alex, I’m going to ask you some personal questions. If you prefer, I can ask everyone to leave the room.”

I shook my head and whispered, “No, they can stay.”

“I need to ask you something important,” Officer Franks said.

I looked back at Janet. I began crying harder as the memories of last night started to come together.

“O-okay,” I whispered.

“How much do you remember about last night? Specifically, about your time with Blake Turner?”

I closed my eyes.

Chrissie…

The room was spinning.

She told Blake she gave something to me.

I felt sick.

Blake carried me up the stairs.

Get Grace, Chrissie…

“I asked Chrissie to get Grace. Blake wasn’t acting right, and he said…he said…”

“It’s okay, Alex. Take your time,” the officer said.

I opened my eyes. “He was mad about me not passing out. He ripped my shorts open and put…”

I looked at Will. I slowly turned to my parents and then to Officer Franks. Then, I looked into Janet’s eyes.

“I can’t…” I shook my head.

Janet looked up at Will and then back at me. She nodded her head.

Officer Franks took my hand. “It’s okay, Alex. You did great. I want you to know that Blake has been arrested. Chrissie spoke to the police and confessed that she gave you a drug called Rohypnol. Blake had given it to her. You must not have had very much to drink because you were able to stay awake and fight him off.”

I took in a deep breath as I remembered that I’d dropped the beer Chrissie had given me. “I only took a few drinks of it. Someone bumped into me, and I dropped it.”

Janet turned around to look at my parents. I noticed my mom wiping a tear away.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I said as panic began to set in.

Janet walked up to my parents and said something to them. She then turned, moved next to Will, and whispered something to him. He nodded his head before turning and smiling at me.

“Lex, I’m going to go sit in the waiting room with your mom and dad.” He leaned down and gently kissed me on my lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

He smiled at me and walked toward my mom and dad.

My mother moved next to the bed. She leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, followed by my father.

“We love you, sweetheart. We’ll just be right outside,” my father said with a smile.

I tried to smile, but every time I moved, my face hurt.

The moment they walked out the door and shut it, I looked at Janet and began crying.

She sat down and took my hand. “Alex, it’s okay. It’s just us now, sweetheart. Whenever you’re ready…you tell us.”

I swallowed as I looked at Officer Franks. She smiled sweetly and nodded her head.

I took a deep breath. “Blake told Chrissie that I belonged to him, and then he told her to leave. I begged her to get Grace. Then, he put me on the bed, and he took his pants—” A sob escaped my mouth.

“Take your time, Alex. Just take in a deep breath,” Janet said in a soft voice.

Somehow, I pulled out my inner strength to tell Janet and Officer Franks what had happened to me in that bedroom last night. When Officer Franks told me that Blake had punched me right as Grace walked in, my sore face made sense.

“I don’t remember anything after that.”

I looked down and saw Emma—the doll Grams had made for me—lying next to me. I smiled as I picked her up and held her tightly.

“Alex, you might want to talk to someone once you’re out of the hospital,” Officer Franks said.

“What do you mean…talk to someone?” I asked.

“About what happened. Janet can help you with that.” Officer Franks looked at Janet. “Janet, I’ve got enough for now.” She looked back at me. “Alex, if we need any additional information, we will be in touch with you, okay? For now, I think we’ve gotten a good statement from you.”