Running Home (25 page)

“Alright
, Buddy, I have never needed you more than I do right now. We’ve got to find her, okay? Got that, Waylon?” I rubbed my hands all over his smooth soft head then clipped the long lead on his harness. Waylon sprang out of the car and gave me a look. I knew he understood what I said; this dog was beyond smart.

“
Suche!” I gave the command and Waylon took off, immediately pulling me into the woods.

Waylon was showing all the signs that he was on to something, his nose was to the ground and he was working. “Where are we at?” I asked Derek as he followed us on the grid.

“A little over a mile to the east of the lumber mill,” he responded. The brush was thick in this area, and at times I lost sight of Waylon as he forged deeper into the woods. Out of the blue, he started to whine and the lead gave way.

“Waylon!” I shouted
, as I tore through the thick bushes to see what was going on. A few yards ahead of us, tucked away between the trees and foliage was a small shack. Waylon was barking up a storm and pacing back and forth; he had found something. I ran over to the door and noticed it was sealed shut with a cheap metal lock.

“Derek!” I screamed as I pulled on the door.

“Back up, Mason,” he demanded while pulling his Glock, and fired a single shot into the metal. The lock shattered into pieces as I hurried to remove the remainder from the door, throwing it open, and peering inside the darkened room.

Waylon bolted into the room
, and immediately went for the dark back corner. A small body was lying crumpled on the floor in a heap; it was Carmen.

“Call for the medics
, Derek!” I screamed. Rushing over to the ground, I checked her breathing and noticed it was low and shallow. “Carmen baby, I’m right here,” I said, over and over again.

“Let me in;
move over Walker,” Derek demanded as he pushed me to the side.

“Fuck off Derek
, I’m not moving!” I shouted.

“Step back
, Walker, I need to assess the situation.”

I narrowed my eyes in the darkness and re
ached for her hand. “Oh baby,” I cried when I noticed all the blood and dirt that covered the towels wrapped around her arms. Waylon whined as Derek gave her a quick once over. The shed’s temperature started to rise with all the commotion, as the air got heavy and thick.

“
Let’s get her outside,” Derek stated as he went to lift her lifeless body off the cement floor.

“I’ve got it,” I barked, taking the still Carmen from his arms. Derek didn’t fight when I pulled her body from his
arms; he knew I needed to do this.

She was filthy from head to toe
, and her arms looked like they were beat to hell. Her skin was an ashy grey color, and no matter how hard I tried to get a response from her, she stayed silent. “I’ve got you, baby. It’s going to be okay now, Carmen. I promise to never let you go, ever again,” I whispered in her ears, as I clutched her firmly to my chest, waiting for the medics to arrive.

“My Best Friend
” Tim McGraw

Carmen

I felt like I had been on a binge for several days. The same familiar feeling had captured my body as I struggled to open my eyes. My whole body ached like I had been hit by a truck, a very large and powerful one. I could hear beeping and what sounded like voices talking in the background
, but my world was still a little fuzzy. Lifting my eyelids was like shopping on black Friday; almost impossible.

“Carmen
, baby, are you able to open your eyes?” I heard a soft familiar voice call out in the darkness.

“Walker?” I managed to croak out
, while lifting my heavy eyelids slightly. My vision was blurry, and I had no clue where I was, but I could make out Walker’s shape hovering over my body.

“Oh
, thank god, baby. Thank you for coming back to me,” Walker cried, as I tried to blink away the fuzziness that surrounded my body.

“Mom,
go get a nurse or something,” Walker yelled excitedly.
Nurse? Where in the hell am I?
I glanced down at my body and realize I’m lying flat in a bed. Wires and tubes were coming out of my limbs and my arms were wrapped up like a mummy. I started to struggle to sit up, but the weight of my body kept me down.

“Relax
, baby, you’re in the hospital,” Walker soothed to me, running his hand through my hair. I was so confused on how I got here. The last thing I remembered was……………….

“Am I dead?”

Walker laughed and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “No, sweet girl, you are most certainly not dead,” He responded. I let out a huge sigh, giving my mind space for the awful memories to make room. I tried to recall the last memory I had. I talked with Sheriff about my parole, went back to the shop, finished cleaning, got the keys to the apartment, and then……………………oh my gosh.

“How did you find me?” I cried out, remembering that Carson had come to collect money I owed his
boss.

“Don’t worry about it
now; we can talk about it when you are better.” Walker hushed my words, still gently stoking my hair.

“Is he gone?” I questioned. Walker’s eyes softened
, and his body wilted in the chair.

“They have
him, Carmen; he can’t hurt you ever again.” I forced a small smile and let my eyes fall closed again. I wasn’t scared of the outcome when I awoke; Walker was here to take care of me.

Detoxing the heroine that was forced into my body wasn’t as hard as the last time, but thankfully it wasn’t a large dose of the drug. I slept for the first couple days in the hospital, as they kept me hooked up to all sorts of monitors and IV lines to start the repair of my body. My arms took the worst of the damage. I had so many cuts from when the glass shattered that I should have received over one-hundred stitches. The problem was I had passed the window of opportunity to sew them up. The ER team cleaned my arms the best they could and wrapped them in sterile gauze. It wasn’t until the next day when my body was more stable did they take me into the OR and thoroughly clean out the wounds. I guess there was still tons of glass left in the cuts, and then mixed with the dirt from the shed basically set my arms up to be a breeding ground for infection. I had an IV line placed into the top of my foot to push fluids and a heavy dose of antibiotics for the next three days, as my body slowly started to recover from the trauma.

The third day of my
extended stay, Grams came in and helped wash my hair. As I was forced to stay put in the bed, and with my arms being out of commission I just wanted desperately to be able to wash my hair. After she finished, she carefully French braided my tender scalp so it wouldn’t rat up laying in the bed. That was also the day I got the first look at my arms. I almost passed out when they removed the dressings, but thankfully Walker was standing right beside my bed with his hand on my shoulder, providing me silent comfort during the ugly process. My wounds were flushed and cleaned, then recovered for another day.

Walker stayed by my side the entire
time, and Grams finally made him go home and shower on the third day. He was so hesitant to leave the hospital, but then no one ever really crosses that old woman. I wanted to hear the story from someone other than Walker, as I knew he would try and shield me from the ugly parts my mind was still foggy on. I cried the entire time Grams told me what happened, and sobbed when I heard how much it affected Walker. I always seemed to cause that man pain, even when I didn’t mean to.

“Carmen, I’ve never seen a man so distraught and hopeless as I did when Walker walked into the café. He looked broken down and beaten, like this whole world had crashed
, and the possibility of surviving the aftermath didn’t look so good. That man is amazing at his job, probably the brightest in the whole department, but all that disappeared when he’d realized he lost you. Carmen, you are the reason he continues to live now. Had we lost you, I’m pretty sure he would have been gone too. Don’t ever forget the kind of love he has for you; cherish it every day and hold on to it for your lifetime.”

The IV
line had been taken out this morning and I had to have my arms cleaned once more before they released me to head home. Walker had taken more time off to be able to be with me here in the hospital, and he never left except when someone forced him to head home and shower. I was dying to get out of here. I needed the freedom of the outside world never again would I be forced into staying somewhere I didn’t want to be.

“Knock knock,” Derek called from the doorway. A smile spread across my face as he wandered into the room. “How are you feeling
, Carmen?”

“Good. They have me o
n very minimal pain relievers at my request. I didn’t want to chance that with everything that has happened.” Derek offered a sweet smile and sat down in a chair by the window.

“Where is Mason?”

“I kicked him out to go get some food; that man needs to eat more than I do now.” I laughed. Everyone knew that Walker loved food, and being here with me all the time really had cut his appetite back.

“Well
, I took over your parole stuff since Mason is on family medical and called your PO a couple days ago,” Derek said with a weary smile. I was nervous for what happened. My biggest fear was with all this commotion and problems that were caused Mike would make me come back to LA.

“Okay,” I said softly, biting my lip to brace myself for what came next.

“And I would ask you to pee in a cup, but we know how that would turn out right now,” Derek smirked.

“You’re an ass
, Derek! I thought you were going to tell me I had to go back.” I giggled at Walker’s friend. He was an amazing guy, and I was so thankful to not only have him in Walker’s life, but mine now as well.

“We still have all the other paperwork and phone calls we will be making to do, but we got you a two week pass on the drug test. In talking with the doctors
, your system should be clean by then with the little amount of narcotics you are taking now.”

“Thank you
, Derek, for everything,” I praised. He was absolutely amazing.

“No
, thank you for not giving up, Carmen. I don’t know what Mason would have done without you.” Derek stood up and walked over to my bed. Placing a soft kiss to the top of my head, he waved and left the room. Everyone keeps telling me that Walker is lucky to have me, but I felt it was the exact opposite. I was the lucky one.

After going through the home care
instructions and all of my follow up appointments, Walker guided me out to the Bronco waiting in the parking lot. It felt A-MA-ZING to feel the sunshine back on my skin. The first thing I wanted to do when I got home was lay out and soak up the rays. I missed the brightness.

“I have a surprise for you,” Walker said as we got closer to the truck.

“Just tell me; you know I hate surprises!”

“Stop right there,” Walker directed me as he ran the last few yards and opened the back of the Bronco. A brown furry face came flying out the back and raced full speed to where I was standing. “Waylon,” I cried, dropping to the ground to hug the
fluffy dog. Tears rolled down my face as Waylon licked them up happily.

“Watch the arms
, Waylon,” Walker shouted sternly at the dog, who couldn’t have been more excited to see me than I was with him.

“Oh
, big boy, I’m so happy you are here. Thank you so much for finding me; you are my hero,” I managed to choke out between sobs.

“Okay
, mutt, back off and let her get up.” Waylon continued his assault of kisses, before Walker grabbed his collar and yanked him back.

“Hey
, he just wants to love me.” I laughed, carefully standing up from the ground.

“Well
, he can love on you when we get home,” Walker stated, picking the dog up and tossing him back into the Bronco.

“Home?” I question
with big eyes.

“Yes
, Carmen, home. Our home.”

I had to kick Walker out of the house two weeks later
, and force him to go back to work. He was so worried that something would happen, but I reminded him of my promise.

“I’m not running again
, Walker; I promise.”

Still
, it took Grams claiming she would come over and check on me, Derek whining about working with Magillis, Walker’s mom threating she would no longer cook for him, and Sheriff Ramsey threatening his job if he didn’t finally come back to work. An over the top security system was installed at the farm house while I was in the hospital, and I still had no clue how to work it properly. I set it off at least twice a day, and each time Walker would call frantically making sure everything was okay.

I never had to move into the apartment, and to say that was a bit of a relief was an understatement. Sheriff Ramsey had let up on the living arrangement terms with my parole
, and I didn’t leave the comforts of home. The only thing different was I didn’t go back to the spare bedroom; Walker’s king size bed fit us both just perfectly.

“Carmen
, I’m home,” Walker called from the kitchen as I heard the beeping sound of the keypad by the door. I placed my book on the coffee table, and braced myself for Waylon to make his assault. Sure enough, a big brown blur came racing over to the couch and barreled into my body.

“Oomph!” I let out as Waylon covered my face in kisses.

“Get off my woman, dog!” Walker yelled from the kitchen as a Beggin’ Strip whizzed to the opposite side of the room, and Waylon took off in its direction. I laughed at Walker’s tactic; he was a cleaver man. I quickly stood and sauntered over to the man waiting in the kitchen for me.

“Good day at work?” I asked, wrapping my arms loosely around his waist.

“Better, now that I’m home,” Walker whispered as he gazed into my eyes.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” I ask
ed casually.

“I’m going to quote you on this
, but, ‘stop talking and kiss me’, now!” Walker growled and crashed his lips into mine. I let out a laugh, but never broke the contact; I was one-hundred percent finally home.