Saving Grace

by J. M. Hill

  “Why are you here? What do you want!” I screamed at her.

  She tilted her head to the side and her voice was sugar-sweet. “I want what you have. You didn’t die, so I’m going to kill everyone you love.” She turned the knife around in her hand and started out the door.

  “NO!” I screamed. “Don’t you touch them!”

  I felt as if someone was punching me over and over in the stomach. The pain became more intense as I stumbled out of bed, unable to move quickly enough. My heart pounded like a bass drum and sweat dripped from my forehead as I tried to make it to the door. The light flipped on. Kate was there with Ava and Will, their eyes wide with fright.

  “Kate!” I cried.

  She ran to me and I fell into her, nearly knocking her over. Will was next to me quickly, his arms around my waist holding me upright. Ava stood quietly in the doorway, wiping her tears. My body trembled uncontrollably, and I couldn’t slow my breathing.

  Kate stroked my hair. “I’m here. I’m fine.”

  I leaned into Will as he helped me back to bed, and Ava disappeared into my bathroom, turning the water on.

  “Oh, Gracie.” Kate shook her head sadly.

  “I’m so sorry,” I cried, embarrassed.

  Ava came to the side of my bed and wiped my forehead with a cold washcloth. I winced from the pain in my stomach. Will walked quickly around to the nightstand that had my medications. He opened one of the bottles, shaking out the tablets and held them to me with the bottle of water. My hand continued to tremble as I took the pills and swallowed them down.

  “Gracie,” Kate said, “let me check your stitches.” I nodded and she lifted my pajamas. I felt her remove the bandage, and she shook her head. “There’s some bleeding. You may have pulled the stitches. We’ll need to call the doctor.”

  She pressed the bandage gently back into place.

  “I’m fine now,” I said, still feeling embarrassed.

  Kate shook her head. “Was it Nina again?”

  I nodded, and wiped at my eyes. “She said that since she didn’t kill me, she was going to kill everyone I love.” My heart ached more than my stomach just thinking about her words. “They haven’t caught her yet. What if she comes back?”

  Will crouched down beside my bed. “They’re going to catch Nina, but she’s too smart to come back here.”

  I shook my head adamantly. “That’s just it, Will. Nina is...she’s crazy. Smart has nothing to do with it. She did this to me in broad daylight with people around. She’s not afraid of anything. That’s what scares me. She’s not afraid.”

  He took my hand. “You may be right,” he said. “She may not be afraid, but we’re not afraid either. If you think my boys, or myself for that matter, are going to let her hurt any of you, you’re wrong. She’s never going to get the chance.”

  I couldn’t shake the feeling of fear. Nina would be back.

  My eyes got heavy from the medication, and I turned so I could lie down. Ava wiped my forehead once more and then kissed my cheek.

  “We’ll see you in the morning,” she said. “Garrett has requested biscuits and gravy. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds wonderful.” I tried to smile. “Thank you.”

  She nodded, and Will followed her out of the room. Kate stood to leave, but I grabbed her hand in panic. I didn’t want to be alone.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured me. “I’m just going to turn off the light.”

  She turned on my stereo. and Chopin’s Nocturne No. 21 in C Minor played softly. and I relaxed almost instantly. She turned off the light and climbed under the covers with me, holding me tightly.

  “How bad was it?”

  “Pretty bad. She was so scared.”

  I heard Michael heave a sigh, and imagined him running his hand through his hair, as he and Ava whispered outside my door.

  “Kate told me the same thing happened at the hospital,” Ava whispered.

  “The nurse said it was from the morphine, but she’s not taking that anymore. This isn’t from the medicine.”

  “Michael,” Ava said soothingly. “What happened to Grace was extremely traumatic. It’s going to take a while. We just have to be patient. She’s strong.”

  I didn’t feel strong at all. In fact, I was sure I wasn’t strong. I sat up slowly, feeling sore and groggy. I leaned against my bed for support as I tried to make my way to the bathroom.

  “Hey.” Michael was at my side in a moment. “What are you doing?” He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned into him as he called for Kate.

  “Morning, Gracie,” she chirped and I had to shake my head. I’d kept her up all night, and she still was in a good mood. “I’ve got her, Michael. You go eat. I’m sure Gracie wants a shower.”

  Michael nodded, brushing my cheek with his fingers. Kate didn’t mention what had happened while she helped me get dressed. She just chattered about different things, in her usual Kate-style.

  She led me to the kitchen where everyone was seated at the table, except for Ava who stood at the stove stirring a large pan of sausage gravy. Michael came to my side when he saw me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing the top of my head.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Starving.”

  Garrett left the table long enough to give me a gentle hug, and I received dimpled-Anderson-smiles from Will and Miles before Michael helped me to the sofa. He knelt down in front of me, and studied my face.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

  I shook my head as I traced around his eyes with my fingertips.

  “It’s so ridiculous, everyone’s saying how strong I am.” I dropped my hands to my lap, and stared down at them. “I don’t feel very strong at all. I’m scared to death because of a stupid nightmare. How strong is that?”

  Michael put his finger under my chin, lifting my face so I could meet his gaze.

  “And what’s worse, I’m selfish because I don’t want anyone to do anything but stay here with me.”

  “First of all,” he stroked my face with his thumb, “you are strong, Grace. You are. These nightmares have nothing to do with your strength. These nightmares have to do with the reality of something terrible that happened to you. These nightmares don’t mean you’re weak, they’re proof of your strength because you survived. Nina didn’t win. Even if they never find her, she didn’t win because here you are...here we are...together.

  “And as far as you being selfish...” he grinned, “if wanting all of us around you, all the time, makes you selfish then, we’re all selfish, Grace. Every one of us. Because all we want is to be with you and help you get better.”

  I rolled my eyes as tears came down my face, and I wiped my cheeks roughly with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. “Yeah. I’m strong.”

  “Crying doesn’t mean you’re weak. I know better than that.”

  I leaned toward him, and kissed him softly. “I love you.”

  He studied our hands, our fingers laced together. “I’ve asked myself if I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that.” He looked up at me. “And I’ve decided no. I’ll never tire of hearing you say that.”

  “Good,” I said. “Because I don’t feel like I can say it enough.”

  Every day that passed my strength returned, and I didn’t have to take any more pain medication. I went for my follow-up appointments with Dr. Murphy who said I was healing extremely well and though I wasn’t allowed to run yet, I could go for extended walks.

  Evan came to see me several times, and with each visit everyone realized what a genuinely good person Evan Taylor was. He showed up frequently for Ava’s cooking, and made us laugh with stories about crazy cases he’d see in the E.R..

  After two weeks Will and Ava returned home. I’d become so close to them, when they left it felt like my own parents leaving. Kate went back to the shop, but only on the days when Garrett or Michael could be with me.

  Michael wor
ked on the plans for two hotels in Florida. There were times I went with him to his house, sat in Garrett’s over-sized leather swivel chair while Michael focused intently on his drawings at the drafting table. He’d catch me staring and then we’d up doing a lot of kissing. After that, he said I couldn’t be at his house when he was trying to get work done because he had a difficult time concentrating.

  Though I hadn’t had any more nightmares, I wasn’t sleeping very well at all since the last one. Kate and Miles did some research on the computer and found I’d experienced ‘night terrors’. Similar to nightmares but much more frightening because the person believes he or she is awake. Just thinking about them made me nauseous and I wouldn’t sleep. Afraid of what I might see.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Michael and I were sitting on the sofa watching the evening news, everyone gone for the evening.

  “Maybe we should talk to the doctor about something to help you sleep.” Michael stroked the dark circles under my eyes with his thumb. “You’re so tired.”

  “Sleeping isn’t the problem,” I told him. “It’s what happens while I’m sleeping.”

  “There’s some meds that may help you sleep deep enough so you don’t dream,” he argued. “You need to sleep.”

  I knew he was right, but the thought of taking more medication when I’d just gotten off my pain meds didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t like feeling groggy all the time.

  “Grace.” He looked down at our hands. “I’m going out of town for a few days.”

  Crap.

  I felt a knot form in my stomach, and he lifted his hand to brush the side of my face.

  “I know the timing is terrible, but Miles and I have to go to Florida.”

  “The hotels?”

  He nodded. “We have to meet with our clients, and go over my drawings,” he said. “Make sure that we’re on the same page, so to speak.”

  “You’re brilliant. They’re going to love them.”

  His forehead creased with worry. “I can’t stand the thought of leaving you, but we’ve put it off as long as we can.”

  I resisted the urge to beg him to take me with him, or better yet, just not go at all. But I knew this wasn’t something he wanted to do, and I didn’t want to make it more difficult for him than it already was.

  I forced a smile, “It will only be for a few days right?”

  “Five. We’re leaving tomorrow morning, and we’ll be home Friday night.”

  That was so soon. I quickly tried to swallow the panic attempting to make its way into my voice.

  “Okay,” I said. “So, you probably need to pack and everything right?”

  “Already done. I wanted to make sure I had the whole evening with you.”

  “I’m going to miss you,” I said.

  He shook his head. “I can’t even tell you how much I’m going to miss you. You have no idea.”

  “Um, I have some idea.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up in a small grin and he leaned down to kiss me sweetly, gently brushing his lips with mine. My heart fluttered and a shiver went through me. He smiled against my lips. I pulled away, my face red, and he looked at me with an innocent expression.

  “What’s so funny?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Nothing. Nothing’s funny.”

  I grimaced. “Hm.”

  “I have something for you.” He turned to pull something from the pocket of his jacket draped over the back of the sofa. I recognized the Tiffany-blue color of the box immediately, and my breath caught.

  “We kind of missed our first Valentine’s Day,” he said placing the small box in my hand. “So I wanted to give this to you before I leave tomorrow.”

  “Valentine’s Day?” My mind tried to catch up with the date, and sure enough, Valentine’s Day had come and gone. I felt terrible.

  “Michael, I’m—”

  “If you even think of apologizing,” he interrupted angrily, “I’m taking your present back.”

  I sighed, feeling miserably disappointed. “But I missed our first Valentine’s Day, I missed it.” I felt tears coming, but I swallowed them away. He put his hands on both sides of my face.

  “We were together on Valentine’s Day.” He smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

  I was probably unconscious that day. He heaved an exasperated sigh.

  “Grace, if I had known it was going to upset you, I would’ve waited for your birthday. Please just open it.”

  I pulled the small white ribbon loose, lifting the lid from the small box, and opened the smaller velveteen jewel box. Inside was a delicate silver chain with a silver heart charm. I held it in my hand, admiring its simple beauty, the familiar ‘Tiffany & Co.’ stamp on one side.

  “It’s engraved.” He turned the charm over in my hand.

  There, in elegant script were the three words so familiar to me, but now, held so much more meaning than I ever dreamed possible. Forever Yours, Faithfully.

  I swallowed hard as I read the words to one of my favorite songs, by one of my favorite bands, feeling the tears come.

  “I thought it was fitting.” He shrugged. “It’s because of you I can truly understand what these words even mean.” He took the necklace and clasped it around my neck. “Not to mention,” a slight grin touched the corner of his mouth, “it’s because of you I heard this song in the first place.”

  I smiled, and wiped my eyes as I looked down at the beautiful token of his love.

  “Michael—” My lip quivered and my voice shook. “It’s the most beautiful necklace I’ve ever seen. Thank you. Thank you.” I jumped at him, throwing my arms around his neck, and planted kisses on his cheek making him chuckle. “Thank you for my present.”

  I continued to study the charm, rubbing it between my thumb and index finger, feeling the words engraved there, as we watched reruns of “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show”.

  Too soon, we stood by the front door, our arms around each other.

  “What time are you leaving?”

  “Early. We have to be in Denver by seven thirty.” He pressed his lips against the top of my head. “Grace,” he said quietly, “I don’t want you going or doing anything outside of this house while I’m gone okay? Garrett is going to be here. I’m going to be calling you. Please, please, keep your cell phone next to you, and you can call me, too.”

  “What if you’re in a meeting or something?” I said. “I don’t want to interrupt anything important.”

  He pulled away and leaned down so he was eye-level with me.

  “Nothing in my world is more important than you. Call whenever you want, okay?” I nodded and his eyebrows furrowed together. “I’d better go. The longer I stay, the more difficult it’s going to be for me to leave.”

  “You be safe,” I said leaning into him again. “I’ll see you on Friday.”

  “You’ll see me on Friday,” he repeated, “but you’ll be talking to me a lot in between now and then.”

  I nodded.

  “I love you, Grace Elizabeth.”

  He kissed me softly and then walked out the door. My arms felt empty, and tears welled in my eyes.

  I went to my room and sat in the chair by my window, staring at my heart charm, when I had an idea. I quickly went to my closet and pulled out my monogrammed stationery. I jotted down some quick letters to Michael, telling him how much I loved him, how much I missed him, and on a few I wrote lyrics to some of our favorite songs. He’d have one note for every day he was gone. I put the five letters in five separate envelopes and labeled them for each day he’d be gone.

  When I heard Miles and Kate come through the front door, I went to meet them in the kitchen.

  “Hey there, Grace,” Miles smiled. “What are you doing up so late?”

  I shrugged and smiled at him.

  “Hi, Gracie!” Kate said. “Sorry we took so long. We stopped at the shop to unload everything.”

  She noticed my necklace, and smiled her sparkly smile as she turn
ed it over in her hand.

  “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “Perfect.”

  We both smiled and Miles chuckled as Kate turned to face him.

  “They’re leaving.” Kate jutted her bottom lip out into a pout.

  Miles wound his arms around her waist. “Hey, I thought we agreed no pouty face.”

  She giggled and he kissed her forehead.

  “Miles?” I stepped close to his side. “I was wondering if you would do me a favor?”

  He let go of Kate and turned to face me. “Anything.”

  “Do you think you could put these in Michael’s suitcase?”

  He took the envelopes from me. “Of course I will.”

  “Thanks,” I told him. “You have a good trip.”

  He hugged me tightly.

  “I’m going to bed,” I told them. “Good night.”

  I went to my room and got ready for bed slowly, brushing my teeth and putting on my flannel pj’s. I dreaded going to bed at all. It was fairly tolerable when I knew I’d see Michael the next day, but he was going to be gone for five days. I climbed into bed, and turned on the television, looking for something to watch. I glanced at the cell phone resting on my nightstand.

  I picked it up and sent Michael a text: Is it Friday yet?

  Seconds later, there was a response:

  I wish

  I smiled and sent another: Just checking.

  I held the phone in my lap, waiting for a response, but there wasn’t one. Disappointed, I returned the phone to my nightstand and plugged it into the charger. I switched the channels on the TV, not finding anything worth watching. I put a DVD into the player and climbed back into bed. I watched the opening credits to “When Harry Met Sally” and my phone vibrated.

  I snatched it up quickly to read the message.

  What are you doing?

  I smiled as I typed: Watching a movie, what are you doing?

  I waited for his response.

  It’s late, you’re supposed to be sleeping.

  I shook my head. What about you? You have a plane to catch tomorrow.