The family laughter ran richly through the air and floated into her room. She turned up her radio as she tried to digest everything she had discovered yesterday. How could he expect her to believe any of the words he said to her when he admitted that he was still seeing the girl that tore them apart? Frustration began settling in, but she knew she couldn't go anywhere today. Her body was in demand of recovery from the therapy yesterday and she was confined to her bed.
Most of the time she would welcome the privacy, but now she felt trapped and needed fresh air. She flipped the channels looking for something, but the TV seemed to want to be her enemy of late. Frustrated, she threw her remote down and tried to catch some sleep. Sometimes she wished that Jared had finished the job so she wouldn't have to be dealing with things and this was that time. The door opened and she rolled away from it and the visitor.
She listened to the door closing and the footsteps crossing her floor until they stopped next to her bed. A silent moan escaped her just before a hand wrapped around her mouth. Then she was rolled onto her back and she froze. He looked crazy and all she could do is lie there. When he removed his hand, he jerked her to her feet and she felt her body retaliate.
"You are being rude by staying up here and not attending the party your mom threw for you."
Her eyes narrowed like cat's eyes and she growled "Remove your hand from me this instant."
He laughed and said I'm not afraid to punish you again."
His hand struck her jaw and she would have stumbled onto the floor if he didn't have an iron grasp on her. She scanned the room for some kind of weapon, but it was hopeless. Once again she was alone and stuck in his grasp with no way out. Then the phone rang and he quietly picked it up. When he answered it, she felt him tighten his grip on her and then he handed her the phone.
She took it from him, but only listened to whoever had the guts to interrupt him. When she heard Stef's voice, she felt a little relieved and she listened the girl's theory about yesterday. Then Jared snatched the phone and hung up before she could say a word. He then turned to her and she waited for his punishment to begin. A hit to her stomach made her crumble to the floor and she coughed in effort to recover her breath.
Her head was struck and she felt her body break onto the floor with his hand coming back for more. She tried to move, but her entire body was engulfed in pain. A tear started to slip down her face just before he knocked her back into her sanctuary. Once she became unresponsive, he straightened his back and walked to the door.
"Your dad was weak and so are you."
@#$
With the crickets chirping quietly outside, she cleaned up the remains of the party. Not once did the guest of honor come downstairs and she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. The door then flew open and when she looked up, she saw Stef racing upstairs. She dropped the plates into the trashcan and followed the girl into her daughter's room. When she entered, she saw Stef kneeling next to the broken body and shaking her ruthlessly.
Her knees were at the point of breaking when Stef called the EMS and asked them to come quick. Then she turned to Cheri and helped the woman back downstairs. When the woman was sitting on the couch, she ran back upstairs and tried once more to awaken her friend. She failed once more and she growled in frustration. The instant the phone had gone dead on her, she had known Jared was there and only one thing could happen.
The sirens brought her back from her thoughts and she raced downstairs to meet the men. They raced upstairs and in minutes, they were carrying her out into the ambulance. When she jumped into the back, the driver asked Cheri to come with them. She nodded and once she was in the passenger seat, they raced to the ER. When they reached the doors, the men rushed her into surgery and Stef led Cheri to the waiting room before she placed a call.
@#$
He pulled into the drive and quietly killed the engine before he stepped out of the vehicle. He walked up to the door and quietly knocked on the door. His eyes noticed that the lights were off, but that didn't mean no one was home. She was stuck home today and he had to talk to her. When no one had come to the door, he tried the knob and found it unlocked.
His eyes narrowed as he stepped into the house and when he saw the light on the answer machine flashing five messages he raced upstairs. When he found her room, he opened the door and stopped. The room was empty and DJ was lying on the middle of the bed growling at him. He ran back downstairs and checked the wreck room. When he found it empty, he went back to the hall and pressed the play button.
He listened to the first four messages that were for Cheri about payments of therapy, but the fifth one had him out the door. The engine screamed to life and he disappeared.
@#$
She sighed as her eyes watched the monitor flash the only sign of life across the screen. When she looked at the woman next to the bed, she felt sympathy and understanding on how frustrated she felt. The door opened and she instantly looked to see if it was him. Sun nodded to Cheri and silently sat next to Stef on the small couch. They looked at each other for a minute and then they let their gaze journey back to the monitor next to the bed.
The day slowly slipped away and when she looked out the window, she saw the sun practically gone and the moon almost to full light. She walked over the couch and gently shook Sun awake. He got to his feet and cleaned up the table of their lunches and dinners. Stef walked over to the chair and quietly woke Cheri up. When the woman stood, they turned the light off and quietly left the room for some sleep.
PGS