Trish, Just Trish (20 page)

I dropped my arms because I couldn’t hold
them up any longer.

Then, I grabbed my bandaged wrists because I
couldn’t forget about them.

“Have you heard about Bobbie Jo?” I asked. I
was uncomfortable with how I felt about the woman who kidnapped me.
I hated her and I didn’t want to have sympathy for her, but after
the screams I’d heard from her when Zacharias had her, I did.

“She’s in the ICU, she’s still unconscious,
but they think she’ll make it.”

I nodded. If she made it, BJ was going to
have a nice long vacation in the woman’s correctional facility to
look forward to… and Tonya’s instead of Tony’s.

“Did they tell you when I could go home?” I
asked.

Lex shook her head. “No, you know how
hospitals are. I’m surprised you didn’t refuse to stay.”

I groaned when I realized that I should have
done that. “I can’t be here any longer, Lex. I’m tired and I want a
shower.” Plus, they just gave me some really good pain meds before
Lex walked in and I wanted to feel loopy at home, not here.

“Move outta my fuckin’ way!” I heard barked
outside the door. I stiffened when I heard the commotion that
followed.

“Why is he still here?” I asked Lex in a
whisper. I was surprised they hadn’t thrown his ass out yet. Every
five damn minutes he was fighting with someone.

“He refuses to leave until he sees you,” she
answered angrily. “Landyn and Adam are outside; they won’t let him
in.”

Well, that sounded good until the door was
thrown open and Tony came barreled through. Landyn and Adam chased
after him, but they both stopped dead in their tracks when they saw
me.

Tony didn’t stop until he stood right in
front of me and I turned my face away. I had to grab at the bandage
on my neck because the sudden movement hurt, but I didn’t miss the
bruises on his face, or the bag that he set neck to me on the
bed.

“Please look at me,” Tony said softly, his
tone tormented.

“Leave,” I begged.

A hand touched the bandage at my wrist and I
snatched it away and glared at him.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Tony, but there’s
still one more
bitch
left in the world,” I hissed at him, as
I threw his hateful words back in his face.

I panicked when tears pooled in his eyes and
fell down his face; not a rapid flow, but slow and steady. I’d only
seen him cry once before and it was heart-wrenching. I didn’t even
bother fighting back my own tears.

“I didn’t mean what I said,” he whispered. I
shook my head because I wasn’t going to let him do this to me
now.

“Yes, you did, Tony, but it doesn’t matter,”
I said softly and continued. “I don’t blame you for what happened
to me; it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t take me at gunpoint or
leave me handcuffed for hours and you didn’t nearly slit my throat.
So, you can leave here knowing that this had nothing to do with
you. I don’t blame you for not wanting me anymore,” I finished and
meant every word, but I had no idea where my strength came
from.

Tony’s glassy eyes never veered from mine
and his expression was haunted.

“Mi reina, you can’t really believe I didn’t
want you anymore. I know I fucked up… so many times I’ve fucked up
with you, but never this bad. If you only knew how much I regret
the last few years of my life. I love you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew that he
knew. He might feel guilty for what happened, but this was
something else altogether. He wouldn’t be here only out of guilt.
Earlier he’d even wished me dead.

“Someone told you, didn’t they? Was it Lex?”
I looked at the guilty party. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” I
asked softly. “You feel sorry for me now or sorry about my mother…
surely she told you I was almost raped as a child. Maybe you feel
like you owe me an apology for taking my virginity. This is exactly
why I didn’t tell you about my past. I wanted to know that you
trusted me and loved me without knowing any of that. It would have
been honest then. Now, you’re just saying these things out of
pity.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please just
leave,” I whispered and turned my face away before the sobs
struck.

I felt movement and a hand moved the hair
off my face to touch my cheek. Tony leaned into me and I felt his
mouth at my ear.

“I love you, Trish. I’ve never stopped
loving you. I understand why you didn’t tell me about your past,
but I admit, I wish you would have. I’d never have wasted two
fuckin’ years of our lives feeling sorry for myself because I
thought the only woman I ever loved ripped out my heart for a
little payback. You’re right though; I should have trusted you
without knowing anything about your past and I’m ashamed that I
didn’t… and I might not have trusted you, but I
did
love
you... I’ll always love you. I’ll live the rest of my life loving
only you,” he whispered and kissed my cheek.

He continued, “Come home with me... to our
home.”

“I don’t have a home,” I whispered through
my tears.

He pulled me into his embrace, but kept his
hold gentle.

“Your home is with me, Trish. My home is
with you.”

I shook my head against his chest. “I’m
going back Lex… to my apartment. We don’t belong together, Tony. We
don’t work.”

“We’ll work,” he said confidently. “I’ll do
all the work for the both of us.”

“No.” I tried to push him away, but I was
too sore. When Tony realized my intention, he backed up and I wiped
away my tears.

“Knock, knock!” Someone called out as they
also knocked on the half open door. I made eye contact with the
doctor. She glanced at everyone the room and asked, “Is it okay if
I come in?”

“Only if you’re releasing me; if not, I’d
run,” I said in a poor attempt at humor… scratch that, I was
serious.

She smiled.

“How are you feeling, Patricia?” the doctor
asked and me, Tony, Lex, Landyn, and Adam all said, “Just Trish,”
at the same time. I snorted a little when the doctor stiffened.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I feel good, I’m just
sore and my neck still hurts.”

“That will probably last a week. Have you
had any dizzy spells; headaches?”

I shook my head. “I’m just sore.”

“Well, I’ve already released you. I’m
surprised your fiancé didn’t tell you. He signed the paperwork
outside. He has your prescription for antibiotics and I want you to
take them to prevent infection. And remember to keep the stitches
clean. Detailed instructions are in your release paperwork, but
don’t forget to see your regular physician in a week to have them
removed.”

I didn’t hear anything she said after the
word “fiancé”.

“
My fiancé
?” I asked, shocked and
confused. The doctor glanced at Tony and then back at me.

“He came up to the nurses’ station and asked
if you could be released. He said he was your fiancé and that you
needed to be somewhere. He said it was a bit of an emergency.”

“You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” Adam
growled and hoofed it out of the room, more than likely to let off
some steam without hurting Tony in front of a witness.

“I’m sorry, I can call security--” the
doctor rushed as she looked between me and Tony.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you.”

I glared at Tony who refused to make eye
contact with me.

“Okay, I’ll have the nurse come in to change
your bandages and take your I.V. out before you leave.”

I nodded.

“What the fuck?” Lex hissed as soon as the
door shut.

I couldn’t even form a single thought.

“Lexi, baby, leave him alone.” Landyn said
sounding tired and I watched Lex turn to stone, the only things
that moved were her eyes when they widened and hit mine. Then, she
tilted her neck to the side, very, very slowly and said, “Excuse
me?”

“He fucked up, baby. He’s gonna make it
right,” Landyn responded. H paid absolutely no attention to the
cautionary tone in my best friend’s voice, but I wanted to know
what he meant.

It was my turn to ask, “Excuse me?” but I
didn’t get my answer. At that moment, the door swung open again and
the nurse walked in. She did her thing, cleaned up my wounds, took
out my I.V. and I moved to sit at the edge of the bed. Just as she
was leaving, a fuming Adam stormed through the door.

“You’re parents are at my house, Trish,”
Tony said and I faced him.

“What?” I asked. My voice was high-pitched.
I couldn’t have heard him right.

“Please tell me you didn’t call my parents…
my dad,” I begged.

“He and Gayle are at the house, Trish. I had
Larry pick them up from the airport. They wanted to come straight
here, but I told them we were already leaving.”

“I bet my dad is freaking out… and
Gayle
!
God
! She’s probably a mess!” I was panicked
and I stood on shaky legs, but Tony grabbed me.

“Calm down, mi amor. They know you’re all
right, they’re just anxious to see you,” he paused, grabbed the bag
I’d forgotten about off the bed and handed it to me.

“I bought you some clothes, but there wasn’t
much to choose from.” I snatched the bag from his hands and slowly
made my way to the bathroom because it hurt when I walked. We
needed to hurry before my parents had a heart attack.

I quickly changed into the white (
go
figure
) T-shirt and large gray sweats that Tony bought. Since I
refused to put my bra back on I walked out of the bathroom with an
arm covering my chest. I walked to the bag of dirty clothes I wore
yesterday and threw them in the trash.

I faced Lex and Landyn. “Will you take me to
his house to pick up my parents?”

Lex said, “Yes,” but Landyn shook his head
and said, “No, we need to get home to the girls. Ride with
Tony.”

My eyes grew huge and Lex gasped.

Did he really just say that
?

“You’re a dick,” Adam growled at his
brother. “I’ll take you,” he told me.

“Over my dead body,” Tony barked.

“I can arrange that,” Adam said as his voice
grew louder.

“Both of you… shut the hell up. You,” he
pointed to Adam. “Stay the fuck out of this. You’re not taking her
anywhere,” Landyn stated before facing Tony. “Ignore him. He gets
off on pissing people off.”

Then, Landyn turned to me and his expression
filled with tenderness. His next words were gentle, “I love you
like a sister, T, but I know what it’s like to screw up with
someone you love. For years I lived with that shit and it ate away
at my soul. Not a day went by that I didn’t think about the
mistakes I made with Lexi. You and I both know what that’s like;
we’ve had that conversation more than once. Don’t repeat the same
mistake Tony made years ago with you. If you do, you’ll both suffer
for it and it sounds to me like you’ve both suffered enough.”

I didn’t want to cry anymore, but I couldn’t
stop. It hurt to cry. I was so tired. I also didn’t want to admit
that Landyn was right, but he was. He was such a good guy… a jerk,
but still a good guy. That was exactly why Lex loved him so much.
And the way she gazed at him said exactly that. Landyn obviously
felt her stare because he faced to her, wrapped his arm around her
neck and pulled her body into his.

I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep
breath.

“Okay,” I caved quietly and faced my bully.
“I’ll go with you, but I’m not happy about it and I’m only staying
until my parents leave.”

Tony nodded and I narrowed my eyes on him
because he looked the exact opposite of being in agreement. He
still wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“You sure about this, Trish? You know I
don’t give a shit what my brother says. I’ll go with you if you
want me to,” Adam said.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

I hope.

“You can put me down now,” I said to Tony,
my tone filled with annoyance because he wouldn’t let me walk. He
held me cradled to his chest as he carried me out of the hospital
to the parking lot. I really had no choice but to hang onto his
shoulders.

“You’re not wearing shoes,” Tony informed
me.

“Gee, what’s the worst that could possibly
happen? I get my feet dirty?” My feet had hurt too much to put my
tennis shoes back on, but I rolled my eyes at the logic. I already
felt filthy. He ignored me completely.

When we made it to his truck, he lifted me
inside, but he didn’t move away. His eyes moved from my face, to
the bandage at my neck and he touched me there. His thumb stroked
me softly through the covering of my stitches. I desperately wanted
to feel the heat from his touch on my skin.

“I’m so sorry,” he said softly, anguished
and when I said nothing, his eyes hit mine. He lifted my bandaged
wrist and kissed me there. “I’m going to make this up to you. I’m
going fix us,” he vowed and kissed my wrist again.

He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my
face away.

“I’m not sure there’s anything to fix,” I
whispered. He rested his forehead on my shoulder.

“I won’t let you leave me,” he whispered in
my ear, lifted his head and kissed my neck, right above the
bandage.

Then he shut my door.

The ride to his house was a quiet one, and
before I knew it, I was out like a light.

I woke to the sound of a loud thump, and
when I opened my eyes, I immediately slammed them shut. I knew the
truck was stopped, but I couldn’t move. When I heard my door open I
peeked through my lashes and saw Tony standing there.

“Tony, I hurt all over,” I cried because
I’ve never been in so much pain in my life. He let out a string of
Spanglish as he lifted me into his arms.

“I hate feeling so helpless,” I whimpered
and he shushed me sweetly.

“I’m going to take care of you.”