Bruises of the Heart Page 15

  "Tori, are you okay? Do you need more pain medication?" Noah's voice came to me through the haze of pain.

  "Not… yet," I said, taking shallow breaths in between my words so it wouldn't hurt so much. "What time… is it?"

  "It's a little after three o'clock. Your mom took your grandparents home, then she'll be back. She didn't leave until everyone had assured her you'd be fine," he said, stroking my forehead.

  "How bad… do I look?" I asked.

  "Like you went a few rounds in the boxing ring without head gear," he said, chuckling. "Tori, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should've come down with you to the barn and then none of this would've happened."

  "You didn't… know I was… there. You shouldn't feel… guilty or anything. I went down there… to escape my mom for… a while."

  "The police are here again. If she's awake, they need to talk to her," I heard someone say.

  "Okay. I don't know if they are going to let me stay in here while they do this, but remember they are here to help you, so you need to tell them everything."

  "I know."

  "Victoria, my name is Sergeant Jones. We met about a month ago when you came in with your mother to file a report. Do you remember?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. Now this won't take long, and I'm going to ask your friend to step outside while we do this. It's department policy — nothing against you."

  "Okay. I'll be right outside, Tori," Noah said, brushing his lips against my forehead.

  "First things first. Do you know who did this to you?" Sgt. Jones asked.

  "Yes. It was… Will Prescott."

  "And do you know what time it was?"

  "No. I had fallen asleep in the barn and he woke me up. I know it was dark, but that's it."

  The questioning didn't last much longer, and I was relieved when it was over. One, because I didn't like having to relive those moments in the barn, and two, because the pain was becoming less than bearable.

  "How did it go?" Noah asked when he came back into the room.

  "It was fine. Where's… the nurse?"

  "I'll go get her and let her know that you're ready for some more pain medication."

  "Noah, wait."

  "What is it?"

  "Are we alone?"

  "Yeah."

  "I wanted to tell you earlier that…"

  "Are you ready for more pain meds?" the nurse asked from what I assumed was the doorway.

  "I was just going to come and get you," Noah told her.

  "Well, I came prepared this time." I felt the IV in my arm move slightly. I assumed she was injecting something. "The next time you wake up, you should be feeling a little bit better. I'm also going to bring in a cold pack to put on your eyes. It will help bring that swelling down so maybe you can see again soon."

  I felt the effect of the drugs sweeping across my body and I just wanted to scream. The only thing stopping me was the fact I wouldn't have time to explain why before they knocked me out completely.

  Noah held my hand and I tried to make my lips form the words I so wanted to say, but I just couldn't. This was getting ridiculous. I only wanted to say I loved Noah, but the universe seemed to keep conspiring against me.

  ****

  Over the next few days I started to feel better. It was still painful to breathe deeply, but my therapist made me so I wouldn't develop pneumonia. The nurses also had me up and walking around the floor I was on. I called it shuffling like an old lady, but whatever got me out of there quicker was all right by me.

  I was sent home on Saturday morning, and I was so happy to be back at the cabin I didn't even mind the flood of attention from my family. The swelling around my eyes had gone down so I could see again, but I hadn't had the nerve to look in a mirror yet. I knew I was still really bruised and swollen. Noah told me every day how much better I looked, but I didn't really consider him an objective observer.

  Tara visited, of course, but since it was the first day back from spring break, I found myself hoping she wouldn't come to see me. I knew everyone must know what had happened and I wasn't looking forward to hearing what everyone's opinions were.

  "Hey, Victoria, how're you?" Tara came through the screen door of the cabin. "I have so much to tell you."

  "I was actually hoping this whole incident would escape everyone's notice. I guess that was more than could be expected, though, especially since I wasn't in school today. All right, tell me everything so when I go back I won't be surprised," I said reluctantly.

  "Well, I didn't want to tell you earlier, but everyone knew about it way before today, so it wouldn't have mattered if you were there or not. Amanda Wall's mom works in the emergency room and she saw you come in, so there was no way everyone wasn't going to find out."

  If Tara was the biggest gossip in school, she only just beat out Amanda Wall. If they ever decided to team up and put their extensive abilities to work for good, there would never be another secret.

  "It isn't as bad as you're thinking, either. I was barraged with questions all day long and so was Noah. Everyone has the same opinion about Will, though, and that's that he's a complete jerk. There were a few underclassmen girls who were really jealous of you dating him who expressed the opinion that if you had been nicer to him, this wouldn't have happened, but I already took care of altering their opinions," Tara said with a smile.

  I groaned and tried to imagine how exactly she had altered their opinions without getting into trouble, but then I figured I would find out all about it soon enough.

  "Well, I'll be back day after tomorrow, so that should really start a wave of talk after everyone gets a look at my face," I grumbled.

  "What do you mean the day after tomorrow? I thought you were going to be out until next week?" Noah said, from the front door.

  "No, the doctor said I could go back on Wednesday," I told him.

  "But it hasn't even been a whole week. Do you feel well enough to go back?" he asked as he walked in and gently sat down at the other end of the couch.

  "Well, I have restrictions. No P.E., and I have to wait until after the change of class to go to my next one so no one bumps into me, but other than that it should be fine."

  "How are you going to carry all your books?"

  "I'm going to take her bag with me when the bell rings. It'll be there waiting for her," Tara chimed in.

  "And I'm only starting back for half a day this week then back to full days next week. It'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about." I smiled brightly.

  I wasn't feeling as confident as I made it all seem. The pain was still really intense at times, but I was able to work through it. And I always had the option of calling and going home early.

  "Well, if you feel well enough to go back, then I hope everything will be okay. Just do me a favor — and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but if you start to hurt or get tired, give it up for the day," said Noah tactfully.

  "I know that you mean well, and yes, I'm going to take it easy. Mom already lectured me at length about this."

  "You also should never be alone. Even in the halls at school. No one knows where he is or where he might show up, even if everyone at school is watching out for him. We all know that it's easy to slip in and out of school with no one really noticing." Noah looked at me meaningfully.

  I gave him a wry smile, remembering the times we had disappeared for part of the school day — driving around and talking, or sometimes not talking a whole lot.

  "Have either of you heard anything about where he might be?" I asked hesitantly. Noah and Tara looked at each other and I got the feeling that they didn't want to tell me something. "One of you needs to just spit it out. It's obvious that you found something out today."

  Tara took a deep breath, then said, "Amanda told me that she heard his parents had tried to put him on a plane to some relative in California, but because there is a warrant for his arrest, they couldn't get him on in time. No one's seen him since the warrant was issued. Everyone figures t
hat his parents are hiding him somewhere. It's just that no one knows where."

  I nodded my head. "That makes sense. His father's in real estate, so he probably has several houses where he can send him and no one would even notice. Do the police know that?"

  "Do the police know what?" Mom asked as she came into the cabin. "You may as well just tell me what you know. I'm not so old that I don't remember you guys are way better informed than I will ever be. You have that whole teen grapevine thing that I'm just out of at this point."

  "Tara told me that his parents tried to get him out of state, and I was just wondering if the police knew his father had a lot of properties that he could hide him on is all."

  "That explanation seems woefully short and I'm sure without a lot of details, but it will do for now. And to answer your question, the police do know that. They have been trying to get a list of properties from the father for a few days, but now they are waiting on a court order."

  The three of us stared at my mom with shocked expressions.

  "What? I can be well informed too, you know. I have my own sources," she said in response to our jaw dropping expressions.

  "Wow, those must be really good sources," Tara said, a little in awe.

  "Yeah, well, when you have friends from high school who work in the D.A.'s office, you'll be able to have really good information, too," I said, looking at my mom, who smiled at me.

  "By the way, your Auntie Bree says hello. She'll probably stop by sometime this week to see us," Mom said as she busied herself in the kitchen.

  "I've got to get going. My mom will be wondering where I am. Ever since what happened to you, she's been a little overprotective. I'll see you tomorrow," Tara said, then got up and walked out the door, waving as she went.

  "Will you be staying for dinner, Noah?" my mom asked from the kitchen.

  "If that's all right, I'd like to."

  "It's fine with me. Do your parents remember what you look like?"

  "Yeah, they do. But I won't be staying late tonight. I have to be home before dark," he answered. "Everyone's parents are a little uptight since they all learned about the attack on you — mine included," he said quietly to me.

  "I'm so sorry. It seems like I'm still messing everything up. First, I disappoint my family with everything that went on with him, then I scare the heck out of them because I got beaten up by him and look like this, and now everyone's parents are freaking out because of me. When is all of this going to end? I thought that by breaking off the relationship, everything would eventually get back to normal," I whined to Noah.

  "First, none of this is your fault and I think you know that. You're just feeling miserable right now, which I can also understand. Second, you need to stop blaming yourself and put the blame where it belongs — right between his eyes."

  "Why do I get the feeling that you would love to see your fist in his face? At the very least, that is?"

  "Probably because that is exactly where I would love to place my fist, or something slightly more lethal. Don't start worrying about me actually doing something like that. I'm too smart." He smiled at me before he gently leaned forward and kissed me on the lips.

  "Don't you people have homework to do?" Mom yelled from the kitchen.

  We both laughed, even though I tried to suppress mine because I knew it was going to hurt. Noah pulled out his books, started working on his homework, and filled me in on what had happened in class. I tried to do as much as I could, which wasn't much, but I had all day tomorrow to work on it. By the time Noah was ready to leave, I was exhausted and was asleep before he was off the porch.

  Chapter Nineteen

  By the next afternoon, I seriously doubted the doctor's assurance it would be fine for me to return to school the next day. I couldn't seem to get comfortable no matter where I was, and I knew the desks at school were much less forgiving than the couch.

  After finally getting comfortable enough to rest, it seemed only a few minutes before I felt soft, gentle lips brush across my forehead. I blinked my eyes open to see Noah looking tenderly at me.

  "How was today?" he asked.

  "A little more uncomfortable than I had hoped," I said.

  "Do you still think you're ready to go back tomorrow?"

  "I honestly can't say, but I have to go back sometime, and Mom can't afford to hire a tutor for me. The only other choice is to go back. If I hurt too much, I'll go to the nurse's office and call someone to come and get me. At least that way I'll know what I can take," I said.

  "I still think it's too early, but I'll help you in any way I can. You just have to ask. You'll have to actually open up your mouth and say the words, even though I know you don't like to do that. This time you have to."

  I just smiled at him. I didn't want to admit I might be asking for a lot of help, and I did hate asking for anything. I hadn't yet had the chance to tell him I loved him, either. It just never seemed to be the right time, which was very frustrating. Someone was always around, or I felt weird just coming out and saying it without it being the right moment.

  "You should also be ready to answer some questions about us when you get back. A couple people were asking what was going on between us or if there was anything going on," Noah told me.

  "What did you say?" I asked looking at my hands.

  "To be honest, I wasn't sure what to tell them. I just shrugged them off, but they will be lying in wait to ask you the same questions. What are you going to say?"

  "What do you want me to say?"

  He looked at me with an exasperated expression. "I would be thrilled if you told everyone that we were back together, but I'm not sure we are or that you're ready to be. I know you remember I said I would wait for as long as it took, and I will, but you might want to think of something that will get everyone off of your back."

  "What if I told you that I love you? That I never really stopped loving you? I just had to get back there on my own time." The stunned expression I received made me smile. "I guess I could have said that a different way. I've been trying to tell you for days, but there was always someone around, or it just didn't seem like the right time to announce I would be very content to spend the rest of my life with you right here in this impossibly small town. And if you ever try to make any big decisions without me again, I might just shoot you. I'm actually a pretty good shot."

  "Wait a minute. I'm still back on the 'I love you' part. You do love me? This isn't some kind of crazed joke brought on by the wrong mix of medication?"

  I just shook my head and smiled at him.

  "I can't believe you chose this moment to tell me. I can't pick you up and spin you around or squeeze the breath out of you," he said, looking happier than I had ever seen him.

  "Well, my lips aren't as bruised anymore, and the swelling is almost completely gone," I said, smiling at Noah.

  He almost pounced, but remembered at the last moment to be gentle. It was a soft, yet passionate kiss I would remember for the rest of my life.

  I don't know how long we kissed, but I became aware of someone clearing her throat behind us. The kiss ended rather quickly. Craning my neck around so I didn't hurt my ribs, I saw Mom standing by the door with one of her eyebrows raised and a half-smile on her face.

  "I don't mean to interrupt, but I was wondering if you wanted to try a walk down to the barn and see Lily's foal."

  "Yes!" Not being able to run down there the minute I had gotten home from the hospital had almost killed me. Now I was healing and better able to walk. I was chomping at the bit to get down there and see the new little foal that had been born while I'd lain on the barn floor bleeding that night.

  It took twice as long to walk down, but it was well worth it. She was the prettiest thing I had seen in a long time, black as midnight with a white blaze on her nose. She was already showing she was going to be high-spirited.

  "What did Grandma name her?" I asked, looking at her through the slats of the stall.

  "She didn't yet. I think s
he was waiting for you to help her with that."

  I stood and watched the foal for as long as I could, but too soon I had to leave and walk even more slowly back to the cabin. Once there, Noah helped me lie back down on the couch and Mom brought me a pain pill.

  "I'm not going to be conscious for much longer. You should go home," I told Noah.

  "No, I'm going to stay right here until your mom kicks me out. Now that I have you back officially, I have no desire to leave you ever again."

  "That might create some problems, you know. Your parents might like to see you again, and I'm quite sure my mom isn't going to let you move in."

  "Yeah, I doubt that would ever happen. Just rest, and if I'm not here when you wake up, I'll see you soon."

  I felt his lips brush my forehead as I drifted off to sleep. My last conscious thoughts were of him and how happy I was. I couldn't wait to get better so he could squeeze the breath out of me.

  ****

  The next day, after only three hours at school, I was in so much pain I could barely get out of the car when Mom brought me home. I was fairly certain I was going to die.

  "Just shoot me. It couldn't hurt any worse than this."

  "Maybe it was too soon to go back to school. You don't have to go back tomorrow if you don't want to," she said as she helped me to the couch and gave me my pain medication.

  "I'm going to miss too much if I don't go back."

  "You won't be able to concentrate and learn anything, either, if you are in so much pain. I really think you need to wait until Monday. I'm sure Tara and Noah will bring you whatever you need from school, and with Noah spending every moment he possibly can here, he can answer any questions you have as well."

  "Do you mind that he's here?"

  "No, I don't. I know you love each other and I remember what that's like. I just wish everything would resolve quickly so we can move on and stop looking over our shoulders. Now, get some rest and don't worry about school. You'll see. It will all work out."