A Second Chance at love The Rocker Girls Series (30 page)

She started crying, and breathed
through it to make sure she didn’t wake him. She must have lain
there for about five minutes, making sure he was out before she
moved out from under him carefully.

She picked up her bra and quickly put
it on, quietly making her way around the room where he threw her
clothing. She looked around for her shoes and was prepared to run
to get help without them, when she saw a pair of flip-flops. She
slid them on, then quietly opened the door to the room, planning on
running to the office.

When she got out on the balcony, she
knew why Jimmy was talking about the trip to Niagara Falls. This
was the Erie motel that he pulled into that day, and the place
where they indeed made love to each other all night long. It was a
place that once had such happy memories for them.

The motel was big then, she remembered,
and her brain couldn’t quite remember where the office was. She
stood for a minute deciding what direction to take. She looked
right, then left, running her hand through her hair. This could be
the only time to make her getaway.

She saw lights pulling into
the parking lot, and all her brain was screaming at her was
escape now
you
fool!
So she ran on the balcony, sliding
in the oversized flip-flops, making it to the other side of the
building. She heard her name being called and she panicked. Had
Jimmy already woken up, and was looking for her? In her panic she
ran, banging on doors, trying to open them as her name was called
again. Tears came freely, blurring her vision, and the adrenaline
was screaming in her ears.

A car door slammed. “Addison!” She
heard her name and in her panic she ran faster, thinking that it
might be Jimmy; maybe she didn’t give him enough and he was coming
after her.

“
Addison!”

She started to go down the stairs as
fast as she could, terrified the owner of the voice would catch
her. “Addison, stop!” he called again. She saw someone at the
bottom of the stairs, and turned to run up and away.

“
Angel, please!” Winston
called to her.

She turned around quickly, seeing it
wasn’t Jimmy but Winston at the bottom of the stairs. A hand took
her shoulder, and she screamed out, thinking it was Jimmy. As she
turned around she misplaced her foot in the oversized flip-flop,
and felt her ankle give as she lost her balance.

***

When Win pulled into the parking lot
and saw Addison running, every instinct was to just jump out of the
car and go get her. But if Nickels and Dax were right about her
ex-husband being out of his mind for her, he didn’t want to put her
at risk if Jimmy saw him.

When Dax called out her
name, he could see Addison’s shoulders tighten, and she turned tail
and ran like a scared little rabbit from the big bad wolf. As Dax
ran closer to her, she ran away from him, banging on doors trying
to get help. Win couldn’t just sit there any longer, seeing his
angel so distraught. All that kept running through his mind
was,
What the hell did that fucker do to
her?

Whether her husband came out or not
wasn’t his concern right now; all that mattered was he had to get
to her. His angel was scared out of her mind; she was running
everywhere to escape Dax and he saw the fear in her eyes as she ran
their way.

Win scrambled out of his door. “I’m
going to go see if I can catch her. I don’t think she knows who’s
calling her name,” he yelled to South, slamming the door and racing
away.

South jumped out too, calling her name,
hoping she’d recognize one of them. Dax went running at her as she
ran like hell down the stairs. When Win reached the bottom of the
stairs she was coming down, she saw him and blindly turned around
to run back up. “Angel, please!” Win begged her. Only then did she
stop and turn to him.

After that, everything was a blur. As
Dax touched her shoulder, the look of sheer terror that struck her
was overwhelming to watch. She turned sharply to whom she thought
was her attacker, and Win saw her misplace her foot, snapping
something.

She fell backwards, hitting her head on
the railing before he got to her, but he did catch her in time to
stop a tumble down the stairs. “Addison!” he called out to her,
hoping to wake her up. Once he had her in his arms he saw her face,
and his grip tightened. She didn’t move, and he wasn’t sure if
she’d hit her head hard or was out cold from the trauma of her
attack. “Call 911!” Win told Dax, who nodded, pulling out his
cell.

Nickels came running to them, looking
at Dax on the phone. “Tell them they’re going to need two
ambulances. I think Addie gave him something to make him pass out,”
he told him. Dax nodded, following Nickels to where Jimmy was,
while South came up to Win who was just sitting on the steps,
waiting for the ambulance.

When South took a look at her face, Win
thought for a moment he might break down… He could understand that
feeling completely. “Holy shit!” South whispered, sitting next to
his best friend. Win just held her, waiting for help.

“
I know.” It was the only
thing he could get out.

In the distance the sirens could be
heard coming their way, and Win didn’t move, afraid any movement
could hurt her further.

When they pulled in, Nickels directed
one crew to Addison and the others up to the motel room. An EMT
came up to him, and looked down on her face. “What happened?” he
asked, checking her pulse and the dilation of her eyes.

“
She was running, and she
fell down the stairs, hitting her head,” Win was able to get
out.

“
Did she sustain these
injuries to her face from the fall?”

Win couldn’t answer that, he just held
her. South looked up at the EMT. “No, she was beaten,” he told the
guy.

The man nodded as two other EMTs
brought a gurney to the bottom of the stairs, and Win picked her up
and placed her on it so they could take her to the hospital. Two of
them lifted her body up from his arms, strapping her in place,
before taking her to the ambulance.

The others came down with James
Richardson strapped to one as well, and it did seem like his angel
drugged him up to get him to pass out. A part of him wondered what
happened in that room. What exactly did she have to do to get him
drugged…but he knew he couldn’t go there…not ever.

They all jumped into their vehicles,
following the ambulances to the nearest hospital. Win and South ran
in after they parked, trying to get information about Addison. But
since her husband was in the other room, he couldn’t even lie to
get in and see her. He and South waited for what seemed like an
eternity for the doctors to come out. Nickels was the only one who
was able to go back and talk to the medical staff.

South had gone to get him a cup of
coffee. His nerves were shot and he picked at some fabric that was
unraveling from the old worn-out chair he was sitting in. Dax was
talking on his cell, standing two chairs away from him, when his
head snapped in his direction and he looked Win over. His hand went
to the back of his neck, and he heard him say, “Fuck!” Then he
whispered something, and nodded.

Dax’s hand fell to his side as he made
his way over to Win, sitting next to him. He looked him over, then
turned away, running his hands through his now flattened red hair.
“I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to give you some
advice…”

Win slouched forward with his arms
resting on his legs. “I’m not walking away from Addison for that
fucker! Not for anyone…ever!” he seethed.

Dax let out a deep long breath. “Look,
I wasn’t going to tell you to leave her. In fact I think it’s best
if she moves on, and so does Nickels. Jimmy’s really screwed
himself up, and for Addie to drug him like she did, I don’t even
want to know what the fuck was going through his head… I want to
give you some advice on this whole fucked-up situation,” Dax
began.

Win turned his head, glaring at Dax. “I
don’t need any advice from a fucker like…” he started to
growl.

Dax hit his hands on his thighs,
getting frustrated. “Yes, yes you do!” he yelled, as Win sat up
looking pissed, and others in the waiting room stared at them. Dax
then sighed. “Look, don’t ask her what happened in that room
tonight. It would hurt her, and it would hurt you.”

“
You know what happened?
What he did to her?” Win looked at the doors heading into the
examining rooms like he was going to jump out of his
seat.

Dax’s hands ran over his face. “No,
man, I don’t. And I don’t think anybody but Addie will know the
whole truth. That’s why I told you what I did. Now, what I’m going
to tell you is just the facts, man, and if you can live with it,
make a life with our chipmunk, you’re one lucky son of a bitch,” he
told Win.

Win didn’t say anything, and he didn’t
look at him. Deep down he blamed these men for letting his angel
get hurt. Maybe he’d listen to what this ass had to say, and go
knock the shit out of him when he was finished.

“
Okay, so here it goes,”
Dax said. “Jimmy will always love Addison. You’re going to hear a
song from us, and you’re going to know who it’s about, and it’s
going to be tough on you. There’s no stopping his love for her, it
just is. That’s the love of his life. Yes, he fucked it up beyond
repair, but that’s all there is to it. You’ll always be the one who
stole his wife from him. But he’s going to need a lot of work to be
the man he once was again, and it’s not going to be a year-long
run. I see it taking a long time.”

Win sat back in the seat, looking over
at Dax. “And what the hell does any of that have to do with me? I
won’t listen to your damn music. Why should I care if he thinks I
stole his wife? He fucking beat her!”

Dax leaned forward, no longer looking
at Win. “Hell, you don’t think I know that!” He rubbed both hands
over his face before he continued. “Now this is the part that’s
going to be hard for you to hear. Because even though Jimmy fucked
up, and he hurt Addie both mentally and physically…” Dax took a
breath. “She’s always going to love him, too.”

“
She’s going to love you
and if she told you she loves you, then it’s real. Because that
woman has never loved anybody but her Jimmy, and you’ve replaced
him. But don’t say anything bad about him, don’t bring up the bad
things that he’s done to her, because she’ll be working on not
thinking about him, and moving on. That will just bring him up in
her mind again.

“
You, my friend, are a part
of a tragic love story. But you’re the one who gets to keep his
true love. I know that sounds corny, and you know we music men know
how not to mince words and all that shit, but that’s it. You want
her? I’ll make sure Jimmy stays away. I really thought he would
have gotten himself together by now, but after seeing Addie’s face,
and body…” Win looked over to see tears coming from his eyes and he
wiped them away.

“
She’s like a little sister
to me. Her and Tia both. I just can’t let this happen anymore!” He
shook his head, looking at his hands. “Do you love her?” he
questioned Win.

“
Yeah, a crazy kind of
love!” Win told him honestly.

Dax nodded. “You have any problems with
the girls all staying together? Keeping Tia next to her sister any
way possible?”

“
No, in fact I just got a
place only two doors down from her sister so they could be
together.”

“
Good. That’s good,” Dax
mumbled, then stood, taking Win’s hand and shaking it. “I’m sorry
about you leaving your hometown, but the girls always talked about
Nashville. They loved watching the Grand Ole Opry and Hee-Haw
reruns, and giggling about Elvis…used to drive me and Jimmy crazy
with that shit.” He laughed, but then it fell from his face as the
reality of what was happening hit him once again.

“
Good luck, man. Take care
of our girl.” Then Dax walked away.

South walked up with the coffees in his
hands, and saw Dax leaving Win. “What the hell did he want?” he
growled to his back.

Win was sitting up now, processing what
the hell Dax had just said to him. “I think the band just gave me
permission to marry their little sister and take her away from
Jimmy,” he said, sitting back in the seat, amazed at what just
happened.

“
Are you fucking kidding?”
South said, turning back to Nickels and Dax as they talked to the
doctor, who nodded his head and came over to Win.

“
I was told that Mr.
Molloye is the soon-to-be husband of Mrs. Richardson,” the doctor
said. Win looked over at Nickels and Dax, who had their arms
crossed, looking at him.

He nodded to the doctor. “Um, yes we’re
getting married within the month. Just waiting on paperwork,” he
said, and Dax nodded his head. Then he and Nickels went off in the
other direction to where he assumed Jimmy was being
examined.

“
Well, I just wanted you to
know that Mrs. Richardson is awake and asking for you. She did
break her ankle, and in her condition we thought it best just
putting it in a cast. We would like a specialist to take a look
within the next week to make sure it’s healing properly,” he told
him.