Pieces Of Us

by Pamela Ann

  Staring at the half-filled cigarette pack, I contemplated if I should have another one before going back inside. Edith had been extra clingy for the last month. Though her body seemed to be responding to this new way of body healing, she had been extremely emotional, demanding things that sometimes made me pause and wonder if I had done the right thing in marrying her. Our marriage was unconventional, and I only agreed to it since I wasn’t planning on getting married at all and she had a bucket list to fulfill.

  Groaning as I took out another cigarette, I heard my phone blasting its ringing sound. It was Jet. Should I get it or ignore the call?

  I bounced with my decision before I took it, hoping he’d called with an apology and an invitation for a party somewhere. “Yeah—”

  “My bad, man. I’ve been so wasted. Is she good? I heard it was bad… really bad.”

  It was either he was stoned or he was as high as a kite because this fucker didn’t make much sense to me. “Sleep it off. We’ll talk some other time.”

  I was about to hang up when he yelled into the phone, hurting my ear.

  “Fuck!”

  I was tired and didn’t have the patience to deal with this shit tonight. “Yeah, my point exactly.”

  “No one told you?” he sounded alarmed, for real this time.

  “What, that Olivia slept with the whole crew?” I asked half-heartedly. It wouldn’t surprise me, I thought wretchedly as I waited for him to say something.

  “You’re fucked in the head, you know that right?” He was angry, blood boiling mad. “No one’s talking, but she had to be flown in to Cedars Sinai and she’s in critical condition. Didn’t her mom or Brett tell you?”

  “Our parents are on vacation,” I murmured, feeling like someone had slit my throat and punched me in the gut.

  Critical condition… I didn’t need any more explaining of what that entailed.

  Chapter 29

  Grey

  One of my strict rules was not to race in regular traffic, only in the canyons. But tonight, I had broken that rule. It took me less than fifteen minutes to get to the hospital, speeding like a maniac on fire.

  Apparently, Josie and Gavin had been there since yesterday and I had just found out later than the rest. I could’ve thrown hell for that, but at this point, I needed to focus on Olivia. Josie was the one who got the call from the hospital, stating Olivia had been admitted through air transport and her Josie’s name was on her emergency list. Harassing her about not calling me wouldn’t do much good. She somehow hated me for marrying Edith and hadn’t spoken to me since. We were around each other, yet she’d ignored me whenever she could. I couldn’t fault her for that, but this particular situation was different. This was important.

  Like the rest of us, we hadn’t had any clue about how and why she got here. We hung out with the same crowd more or less and none of them seemed to have seen her as of late. They said that she declined a lot of invitations to hang out and always reasoned that she was “busy.”

  Busy doing what? If she hadn’t been out with our friends, then who had she been with? I wanted to pick through everyone’s thoughts, however I needed to see her. Fuck. I was dying to see her—make sure she was breathing… to make sure that she was alive. Because, fuck, this was my fault.

  Had I been gentler with her, this wouldn’t have happened. If I had made sure she wasn’t going to do anything stupid, or if I could’ve just swallowed my pride and called her because I couldn’t stop thinking about her, this wouldn’t have happened. She loved me, and I could’ve used that to my advantage, yet I had never imagined that she would do something like this. Olivia, she wasn’t like this. This sort of shit happened to me, not her.

  Since neither my father nor Laura were around, I wasn’t authorized to make decisions or be informed about her condition until I made a call to Olivia’s father. I hadn’t met him nor had I spoken to him before, but it was comforting to know he immediately knew me. He was out on location for his job and wouldn’t be back to Sydney for two weeks. He made me promise to give him updates, and if there was anything major to report, I needed his permission first before making anything official.

  When I was cleared to see her, I actually stood at the door, gathering courage, before I opened it because I wasn’t sure how I’d react when I saw her.

  Opening the door and seeing her for the first time against those starch white sheets made me growl in anger. Her face was bruised up in all shades of purple. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch the wall or cry next to her. Slowly walking towards the bed, my throat constricted as I stared into her face.

  Flashbacks of the first moment my heart stopped—when I had seen her for the first time—bombarded me. This was Olivia, the girl who’d brought me to my knees.

  “Where were you, Liv…?” I asked as I scanned her arms, which were in no better shape compared to her face.

  Pulling the chair to the side, I sat next to her, afraid to touch her as I checked to see if she was breathing every five minutes. And when the nurse came by to check her vitals, she was kind enough to give me the rundown of what the doctor had on the chart since I had no clue how to read his sloppy handwriting.

  What she told me made my blood boil, feeling hot and cold…

  +++

  Olivia didn’t wake up until the next afternoon, grumbling and groaning for the first thirty minutes before I got the nurse to check her out. She requested ice water the second she spoke, sounding scratchy and with no energy to speak of.

  She barely gave me eye contact as the nurses asked her questions about how she was feeling before they told her they were going to notify the doctor she was up and we should be expecting her visit very soon.

  She only glanced at me when they both left, seeming unsure what to say. I remained silent because I was so frustrated and angry, wondering what in God’s name had taken place before she got here. What messed me up more was that no one we knew had any idea about where she had been. I had made sure my crew went through everyone who threw parties the past few days, double-checking if they had seen her. It was all negative, making me even more suspicious.

  “What happened?” she croaked out with her eyes barely opened.

  “I’m not too sure…” My throat hurt by just speaking, pretending as if seeing her in a hospital bed didn’t faze me. “Do you remember anything?” I wanted to reach out and touch her cheek, her hand or even a finger, just to let her know I was here, however I wasn’t sure if she’d want that. Upsetting her in the state she was in would only hurt her more, so I had to fight the need to feel her warmth even just for a second.

  She paused, opening her eyes wider than the last time before she gave me a pained look—horrified eyes—and she shut down.

  “Liv? You don’t remember?” I pressured, needing to know something.

  She shook her head before whispering, “No.” Then she opened her eyes, frowning. “Where’s Rob and Patrick?”

  I tensed, hardening my body as I stared after her. “Who are they?”

  She made a dragging sigh before she closed her eyes again. “My friends. I was with them.”

  One. Breathe. Two. Breathe. Fucking Three.

  “You went out with two straight men?” I blew up, wanting to shake her for not looking out for herself.

  Her eyes remained closed, yet she was biting her lip. Seeing that made me feel like a heel. Fuck, I needed to calm my ass down before I put her in more stress than she was in already. My feelings—the jealousy—should be placed on the back burner.

  Pacing the room, I gave myself five minutes to truly breathe, bringing the air into my lungs deeply before I started speaking again. From time to time, I would glance over at her. I knew she was wide-awake even though she wasn’t opening her eyes to look at me. I wasn’t sure why, but it bothered me she wouldn’t even glance at me.

  “The nurse informed me earlier that they will need information from you before they notify the police,” I said in the calmest manner I could. “I decided to wait
before calling our parents until I had talked to you; it would make Laura panic less if she could speak to you herself.”

  “No—” She snapped her eyes in panic. “Please don’t do that. Mom needs this vacation. It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

  She’s got this? Was she pulling my balls? What the fuck? She was far from fine.

  Looking away, I had to rein my temper in again before I started speaking once more. “But she’s your mother; she has to know that you’re in the hospital at least.”

  She made a whimpering sound like the ones bratty girls did at the mall. “I won’t interrupt on her vacation, Grey. Please don’t make that call.”

  “That’s not right. She’s your mom.” Laura would flip, true, that was a given, but she shouldn’t be hiding this shit from her.

  “I know, but she’s been through so much… Let her be happy.”

  Damn. I cussed out loud. I knew Laura had been through a lot, but what else could I do? Without her here for a month, and with Olivia doing some questionable things, she had left me no choice.

  “If you’re not going to give me permission to call them, then you have to let me take care of you until you’re well.” Pausing, I looked over to her, wondering what had happened to her since I had seen her that Saturday. “They won’t be back for almost a month, that’s a long time. You have to follow all my orders.”

  “And you’ll keep your mouth shut?” She might look bruised up, however her attitude was alive and kicking. That was a good sign.

  “Yeah.”

  She nodded, agreeing to my conditions. “Fine. Fine.”

  Nothing was fine. Far from it.

  “Liv?” I wasn’t sure how to word my next question, so I was going to try to not make it come out in any way aggressive.

  “Yeah?” She glanced at me while my eyes grazed over her face, noting each mark as the feeling of being helpless inside crashed down on me.

  Slowly, I went over to her and carefully sat on the bed, facing her as I prepared myself for the outcome. “Could you please explain to me how you managed to have cocaine in your system?”

  “I’ve been taking it at parties—it’s nothing serious.”

  Wait—she wasn’t drugged? My thoughts went to a screeching halt as it dawned on me. She’d been using? For how long?

  “You being in the hospital doesn’t count as serious to you?” I threw at her, furious as to how reckless she’d been with her life. She could’ve gotten killed for fuck’s sake. “How could you be so stupid to be messing with that shit? More importantly, using it with people you don’t really know?”

  “Every time I took it, it made it easier for me to breathe. It also helped me cope from losing you.”

  I was sorry and beyond remorseful for all the wrongs I had done to have led her to this road, but I was going to help her out of it, no matter what. Hopefully, someday, she’d forgive me.

  “Liv… this isn’t right. You can’t do this anymore.”

  “I know—not after this, I won’t.” She reached out to touch my hand before my free hand covered hers, not wanting to let her go. She then looked far ahead, as if seeing something before her. “I remember someone holding me down as he covered my mouth. I remember feeling something hard hit the back of my head before passing out… then I wake up and I’m in the hospital. That’s a huge chunk of the puzzle I’m missing.”

  My hand shook as I listened to her speak about someone purposely hurting her. There had been a crime committed, and I wanted to know who the fuck would hurt a woman who was defenseless and couldn’t properly protect herself. She was so tiny and petite; she’d be the perfect target for twisted fuckers. I wanted to kill someone, yet I knew I had to do the most important thing first, and that was to tell the nurse to notify the cops.

  I didn’t trust myself to ask any more questions at the moment. Remaining strong in her eyes was vital. Crumbling down and acting like a maniac would only aggravate her further. She was in a delicate state, and I had to take note of that.

  When the police came to probe into her whereabouts and what had occurred during the time she was at the party, hearing her thoroughly describe her surroundings and the people she hung out with fueled my rage some more. I wasn’t sure how I survived listening to her recall the events without doing anything. I was basically like a frozen statue while my insides were waging war towards the bastard who had hurt her.

  And when the cop continued to speak, I was astounded to find out how messed up things had gotten for her. “Unfortunately, the guy named Rob isn’t really his true name. His real identity is Colin Caruthers and he’s been involved in a lot of prostitution and human trafficking.” He paused, giving Olivia a pitying, sorrowful look. “He apparently befriends men who are popular on campuses so he can gain access to pretty girls. Then, once he finds his target, he invites them to his partner’s house. We were having a hard time locating the place and it was just in San Diego, right on the border to Mexico.

  “Sean and Colin are both in custody as well as most of the guys that were involved at the house that night.” He shook his head, muttering about the fact they had searched through there for years without finding a trace. “In the past, all the women that attended those parties never came back out. Most all of them were sold as slaves in Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, just to name a few.”

  Olivia was shaking, tears freely rolling off her face as she listened to him. Needing to be with her, I softly moved towards the other side of the bed where I could easily see the cop’s face while I held her hand, wanting her to know I was here. I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Your friend Patrick was the one who called 911 when he saw what was going on, but he was shot, and by the time the paramedics got to him, it was too late. He died a few minutes later. He said there was an undercover that helped him get you out, but we have yet to know who that person is. You’re very lucky to be alive, and even luckier to have had Patrick looking out for you. Most of these women didn’t have Patricks to save them from being beaten and sold into slavery.”

  After he left, I went to her and carefully placed myself on the bed next to her, holding her as I listened to her weep for her loss and the close encounter that could’ve butchered her body and self-respect. I was hurting right along with her, yet I had to remain strong, knowing she needed my strength to recover. It was going to be a long road from here, however I wasn’t going anywhere. Wherever Olivia went, I would be there.

  No more separation, I vowed as I held her close. This woman was the most important thing in my life, and I would gain her trust again. One day at a time.

  Chapter 30

  A week later

  Liv

  My nightmares weren’t all that bad compared to how it was for me when I was awake. The voices and images only appeared when I was up and about in the apartment. Those times, Grey usually distracted me with movies, music and stand-up comedy shows on his iPad. He did everything to cheer me up, and he was doing a great job of it.

  My guilt ate me up every time I thought of Patrick, though. His burial took place last week, and I wished I had been there to say goodbye. If it weren’t for him, I would’ve been sold somewhere, and I probably would’ve killed myself because I wouldn’t allow that kind of torture to be done to me. Grey was kind enough to take care of sending something to his family since I was a crying mess most of the time.

  I knew it was eating Greyson up not to call Mom and Brett to report what had happened to me, yet I had made a promise that, when the time came that I was ready to talk about it, I’d openly tell her everything. The same thing had happened to my father; I told him a white lie about drinking too much beer and vowing not to drink crazy anymore.

  To me, it wasn’t about my well-being and the hospitalization that made me want to hide what had happened to me; it was the bigger picture that bothered me the most. It was Rob’s deceitfulness and evil intentions, the whole disgraceful scheme of bringing women to Sean’s house. All those women there… FUCK. Didn’t they feel any
guilt? And they had done all this harm for what, money? It felt like some dumb joke being played on me, and the days that hounded me more with guilt were the days I wanted to scream and break free from this life I had created for myself.

  The only times things became easy were when Greyson held me. And he did, whenever he could. He practically lived here, only excusing himself for an hour or two to go back to his apartment to get some clothes. I also thought he was utilizing this time to go see Edith.

  She called consistently even though he didn’t tell me it was her. I could tell from the way he spoke on the phone, using the soft voice that he only used with her. Jealousy ate at me, yet I felt comforted that Grey came home to me, not her. I knew he was doing this because he felt responsible without Mom here and also for thinking this was all his fault to begin with, but still, it felt great to have his full attention on me.

  Usually, he’d leave for an hour or so, but today, he was gone for more than that. In fact, it was already past nine at night and he’d been gone for about seven hours without me hearing from him. I tried to call but was sent to voicemail. Texting him a message gave me no response, either.

  So here I was, feeling like a basket case, all the while imagining him in all these scenarios about being pinned down with one of Sean’s men or something, or having sex with Edith, or with some other woman who would freely open her legs to him. I mean, I may be bruised and all, but I wasn’t incapable of thinking that he had needs, too. Besides, after a long week without any sex—assuming that he didn’t do shit with anyone in those two hour disappearances—he was bound to crave it. He slept next to me, so I knew he was horny all night long without complaining about it, nor did he try anything with me. All night he’d hold me close, yet he never did anything that would indicate anything sexual.

  So if he wasn’t getting it from me, he had to be getting it from someone else. He might’ve done this because he respected me enough and because of the crap my body had gone through in the past week. I appreciated his effort. Still, it stung to know he couldn’t hold himself back until the time came when I was ready to be with him in that sense.