My Savior Forever

by Vicki Green

  “Oh, no you don’t! You are my guest here and you are trying to heal so I will clean up. And obviously you’re tired,” he laughs. I put my finger to my chin like I am really thinking hard. “Ok, but here’s the deal. From what I understand we could be here for quite a while so as I am getting better I will start pitching in around here and if you cook, I will clean up. Deal?”

  “Deal,” he says with a smile and a wink.

  “Ok then. I am going to head up to bed. Thank you so much for a lovely dinner.” I walk over to him and kiss him lightly on his cheek. Even though I am still a bit nervous, I am starting to feel more comfortable around him. He is so caring, tender and of course so HOT! If I wasn’t so messed up, I could really fall for him.

  ~*~*~*~

  I sit up abruptly in bed screaming so loud it’s piercing my eardrums. I am sweating, breathing heavy and I have the comforter in a death grip in both of my hands. Jesse comes running into the room and quickly sits down next to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Cassie, Cassie. It’s ok,” he says calmly.

  I quiet down but I’m breathing heavy. “They, they won’t stop. They won’t go away,” I say stammering.

  “Who won’t go away honey?”

  I am sobbing. “Those men, they won’t leave my head. And, and what they did. I. I. I, they, they won’t leave my head!” He puts his arms around me. “Come here,” he says pulling me towards him. I put my arms around his neck and cry into his chest. I start hiccupping as I begin to calm down.

  “Do you want to take something to help you sleep baby? I have some meds that will help,” he asks me in a whisper. I pull back and nod. He leaves me for a short time returning with pills and a glass of water. I am relieved when he sits down next to me. I feel so much safer when he’s near.

  I take the pills and set the glass of water on the night stand. Jesse puts his hand on the side of my face and rubs my cheek with his thumb while rubbing my hair on the side of my face with his fingers. Oh, that is nice. Very relaxing.

  “Are you ok now to sleep?” I take a deep breath letting it out slowly. “I think so. Thank you.” He begins to stand and turns to leave but I grab his hand. “Can, can you stay with me until I fall asleep? Please?” I look at him with sad eyes as the tears begin to form again. He looks down at me and gives me a small smile. “Of course I will.”

  Chapter eight

  I awaken with the best feeling of being relaxed that I have had in a long time. I stretch my arms above my head and wince. Damn it! I keep forgetting I can’t do that right now. I reach my right hand over my left ribs and rub lightly. When I do that something catches my eye and I turn my head.

  There, still asleep, is Jesse. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for me to. Of course, he has to be exhausted. Taking care of me, making all the arrangements, sleeping in that horrible chair in the hospital not to mention all the time he spent sitting in his truck waiting to rescue me.

  Poor thing. I lay there watching him as he sleeps. He’s beautiful. He looks younger when he’s asleep. His beard scruff has grown. I sigh as I reach over with my right hand and lightly move his hair back from his forehead. He sighs in his sleep and has an ever so slight smile on his lips. I think I am falling for this beautiful man. But, how can I be? This is so fast but I can’t help the way I feel and how fast my heart is beating. He is my Savior Forever!

  Slowly, and carefully I slide out of bed and head downstairs. Even though I am in pain I decide to make him breakfast for all he has done for me.

  I look in the refrigerator and find eggs, butter and bacon and set them on the counter next to the stove. I look in the pantry cabinet and find bread. The cabinet next to the stove I find a skillet and begin making everything.

  I am almost done when Jesse comes into the kitchen. He coughs and I jump almost dropping the hot skillet. “Oh my god, Jesse! You scared the shit outta me!” I yell.

  I set the skillet down quickly and grab my ribs. “Cassie, are you ok? I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry,” he says as he jogs over to me. He puts his arms around me and I look up at him. He’s got to be about 5 inches taller than me.

  “I’m ok. Damn! When am I gonna learn not to stretch or make sudden movements?”

  Jesse chuckles, “Well I hope that you learn that soon before you hurt yourself more.”

  Over breakfast we talk about all kinds of things. We each take turns telling each other our favorite color, movie, book, things to do and so on.

  “So, your dad is surgeon for the rich and famous? Wow. How does one get to do that?” I laugh.

  Jesse gives a big sigh. “Well, once he became a surgeon in LA, he specialized in Orthopedics. He was working in the ER one night and a famous movie star came in. He ended up treating them and they told others and pretty soon others just started calling him. So he opened his own practice. The rest is history as they say,” he says chuckling.

  “That’s amazing. He must really be good. How can the son of a famous surgeon have a Safe House that no one knows about?”

  Jesse smirks at me. “A son that set it up under another name that is not associated with his. I call it my Safe House because it’s where my dad, my sister, or myself can come when we want to get away and not be bothered.” Huh, makes sense to me.

  “I will clean up this time since you cooked. Why don’t you go and get comfortable on the couch and we can watch a movie when I am done.” Jesse stands up and starts gathering our dishes.

  “Sounds great. I am just going to go upstairs and get dressed first. Be right back,” I say as I stand.

  I go upstairs and look through the enormous closet for something comfortable to wear. This whole thing is so surreal. I get kidnapped, raped and beaten then a beautiful man rescues me and brings me to his Safe House, which is gorgeous and is stocked full of food, new clothes and toiletries for me. Seriously, am I dreaming?

  After I find a really cute jogging top and pants, I quickly get dressed and go into the bathroom. I wash my face, brush my teeth and run a brush through my long hair that still needs trimming badly. Looking in the mirror, I lightly touch my left cheek. That bruise is gonna take a while to heal. At least my eye is opening up more. I look at myself and sigh.

  I go back downstairs and find Jesse going through DVD’s that are in a cabinet to the right of the couch. “So, what sounds good to watch? I have most of the newer movies that are out right now.”

  I make my way over to the left side of the couch and sit down pulling my legs under me. “Hmmm, I don’t care as long as it’s not a drama. I think I have had enough of that for a while. You pick,” I say smiling.

  Jesse grabs a DVD and puts the disc into the player. He comes over and sits on the right side of the couch, turns the TV on and pushes play on the DVD remote.

  I feel a little awkward and nervous in the silence as we wait for the movie to start. I look out from the corner of my eye at Jesse who seems to be feeling the same. Finally the movie starts and I laugh. It’s Ice Age. “I freaking love this movie!” I say laughing.

  “It’s one of my favorites when I need something light hearted,” Jesse says laughing.

  By the time the movie is coming to its end, I have fallen asleep. I am warm and the TV is turned off. I feel a hand rubbing my hair on the back of my head. Oh that feels so good. I look up and see Jesse watching me. Somehow I had laid down on the couch, my head in his lap. Oh my!

  “Sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you, Cassie? I have been trying really hard not to say anything that would make you uncomfortable. You’ve been through so much. But I have to tell you. You’re so beautiful,” he whispers. I lay there staring up at him and can’t help looking at his pouting lips. He leans down lightly brushing his lips to mine. He holds them there for a minute and pulls back. He looks at me with such caring and love? Nah, it can’t be love, lust maybe?

  I slowly sit up holding my side and turn to him. I can tell he is uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. I know it’s too soon. I shouldn’t have done that,” he says quickly loo
king down.

  I smile and sigh. “No, that was actually perfect. I know we don’t know each other very well yet but I do trust you. You make me feel protected.” I lean over and kiss his lips.

  He puts his left arm around me and his right hand to the side of the face and deepens our kiss. His tongue searches my lower lip until I open my mouth for him. Our tongues explore each other’s for what seemed to be hours even though I know it was only minutes. Wow, can he kiss! We are both breathing heavily now, and I am practically on his lap. When did that happen?

  Finally I pull back and look into his gorgeous eyes. “Wow! That was incredible,” I whisper. He has a huge smile on his face showing me those white perfect teeth and then his face turns serious. “Yes, you are,” he says looking deep into my eyes. I have just melted into a puddle on the couch.

  Things like this just don’t happen to me. I mean never. Nothing has gone right in my life. When I was kidnapped it just added the icing on the cake that is my life. Now, looking into my savior’s eyes, I feel that maybe my life is changing. Finally, something good is happening in my life. I am excited and scared at the same time. Scared that it could change, this could be taken from me. No, I am going to live in the now, for the moment, day by day. I am not going to let this feeling over take me. I am going to be happy and enjoy this as long as life lets me.

  Chapter nine

  “Come on. I have something you need to know about,” Jesse says as we make our way down the hall by his office. To the right just before his office door there is a wall with a built in bookcase.

  “Geez, you all must really like to read. You have bookcases filled with books everywhere,” I said looking at all the books in awe.

  Jesse chuckles, “Yes, well we do, but these aren’t real books. It’s just for appearances. Feel them.” I reach out and touch a book. It feels real to me. I tug on it, but it won’t budge. What the hell?

  “See, they look and feel real, right?” I nod. He then runs his right hand across the next to the highest shelf and stops on a book and pulls on it. I jump back as the bookcase moves to the right along the wall and a doorway appears. Ok that was kind of scary.

  Jesse grabs my left hand and intertwines our fingers. “It’s ok, it’s a safe area downstairs. It’s used in case of an Emergency. Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Jesse reaches over and flips a light switch on the wall to his left. In front of us is a spiral staircase. He guides me down the stairs with him in front of me and at the bottom he flips another light switch. I gasp as I stare into the huge room in front of me. It looks like it is as big as the upstairs.

  Looking around I see a rec room with a pool table, couches, and a bar to the right along the wall. As we walk through the room he shows me a large bathroom on the left and on the other side is an alcove.

  He takes me into the alcove. “If for some reason say the house is being broken into, you can come down here. On the inside of the wall is a hidden button. It’s very hard to see because it’s built into the wall.”

  He presses the button and a sliding door opens into the wall. It’s a small room, so small that only a few people would be able to fit in it comfortably. There is nothing really in there but walls and a security light.

  “It’s a safety room in case the downstairs is breached,” he says looking at me.

  “Wow, you have certainly thought of everything with this house,” I say smiling at Jesse. I am so impressed right now. He reaches up with his right hand and cups my cheek. “Anything to keep my family safe.” Wow! I think I just melted again.

  For the rest of that day we just lazied around, watching movies and snuggling on the couch. I could really go for this every day, especially the snuggling part. I find that I am losing myself to him. Surely, he can’t want someone like me. He will come to his senses when this is all over. But for now, I am going to enjoy it.

  When the last movie is over, Jesse clicks the remote and the TV turns off. He pulls away from our snuggling position, turning his body to mine and says, “Care to have a more serious discussion now?”

  I swallow hard and turn to him, mirroring his position and half smile. “Um, what kind of serious discussion?” I ask. He looks at me with those gleaming, caring blue eyes and clears his throat. “Well, in the car on the way here you mentioned something about a long story of your life. What happened to you once your parents died? Care to share now?”

  Wow, ok. I guess I can do this. No, I need to do this. I want to know everything about him, and I want him to know everything about me. I am falling so deep for him and am so comfortable with him now. I need him to know. Then if he decides I am not worth it, it can be over quick. Even though it will kill me for him to not want me, I will never ever find another man like him. I will try to live the rest of my life as best I can. I mean really, my life has not been a great one so far. I might as well continue it the same way.

  Shifting a little in my seat, out of nervousness, I begin.

  “Ok, um. I’m an only child and all my relatives were gone so it was just me then. Even though I was only seven, I was a fairly smart kid. I mean look how brilliant I am now.” I laugh and he smiles at me.

  “Anyway, the state put me in the foster care world. Let me just say, it’s not all cracked up to what it should be. I mean I think there are some great foster care families out there, but I never found one. I went from one foster family after another. There were so many I lost count at one point, but this was all out of survival instinct. Each one was worse than the other, yelling, verbal abuse, physical abuse.” I stop there and look over to him. He’s just staring at me with a scared look in his eyes and his mouth slightly open.

  “No one cared, really. No one showed any love. To answer the question in your mind, no, I had never been raped. But it’s not that some didn’t try. They did other things that I have pushed way far back in my mind because they are too horrible to remember. So I just kept running. I would be caught and placed, yet again, in another wonderful foster home.” I take a deep breath. The tears were forming in my eyes, but I refuse to let them drop. Not now!

  “This kept up until the great age of 18. It’s great because once you turn into the adult age the state simply kicks you out into the street, on your own, with whatever belongings you have at that time, which of course is not much. No money, no job, no way to fend for yourself. I mean, who does that to a poor, defenseless 18 year old? Seriously, I still wonder to this day how they can do that to someone.” I look at him as one single tear falls down my left cheek. Jesse reaches over and rubs it away with his thumb.

  “Cassie, if you want to stop, we can pick it up again some other time. Really,” he says to me as he’s wiping away my tear.

  “No, this is good. I want you to know.” I smile at him.

  Another deep breath and I continue. “Once I was out on the street, I was lucky to find a small café. I saw a ‘Need Help’ sign in the window. Of course, I didn’t know how to do anything but clean because most of the foster homes made me clean their houses. They never wanted to lift a finger, so I got really great at that. I really didn’t mind it too much. It’s not like it was that hard to do. So I went in an applied for the job.” I smile and get a faraway look in my eyes as I remember walking in the front door with my head held high. “The Sweet Café. It’s called that for the best homemade desserts they make.” Yum, I can smell them now. And as if on cue my stomach starts growling.

  Jesse laughs. “Um, do you want to grab a snack to munch on while we finish our discussion?”

  “Ha! Sure, sounds good to me,” I say as I get up from the couch and make my way to the kitchen. Jesse, still laughing, follows me and gets out some microwave popcorn and starts to make it. I go to the refrigerator and get out a diet coke for me and a regular one for him.

  “You know you don’t need to be having anything diet, Cassie. Seriously, you are a little on the skinny side. Not that you’re not the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he adds quickly.

  I just
stand there and stare at him, with the refrigerator door still open. I can’t believe he just said that. I am going to melt so much I won’t be here anymore. GAH!

  ~*~*~*~

  “Jesse, you’re so sweet. Thank you. But, um, actually I love the taste of Diet Coke. I am kind of a Diet Cokaholic.” I smile. Jesse starts laughing so hard he is bent over with his hands on his knees. He straightens back up, still laughing and chokes out, “Well the first step is admitting it, I guess.” I start laughing too as his laughter is so contagious.

  Once we get settled again on the couch, basically in the same positions facing each other as we were before, eating our popcorn and sipping on our drinks, I begin again.

  “I was so nervous going into the Café. I had never applied for a job before and other than cleaning I really had no other training of any kind. But they were so welcoming, said they would train me to be a waitress. They said I could start by bussing tables and helping clean the kitchen until I was more comfortable. It didn’t pay a lot but it was my first job. I was so excited!” I stopped and ate some popcorn and drank some of my drink.

  He looks at me and gives me that wonderful full smile. “It’s so great that they took you under their wing like that. Not many would do that. I am going to have to pay them a visit and thank them and of course try out some of their homemade desserts. I mean, I wouldn’t want to offend them,” he chuckles.

  I laugh. “Ha, yes we wouldn’t want that.” We sit there for a minute laughing then I resume. “Well, after cleaning and cleaning and more cleaning I finally tried waitressing and ya know what? It was easy. Geez, if I had only known that at the beginning. I started making more money between the raise I got and the tips were great! I became more at ease with people. I was really shy at first because I really didn’t trust anyone. After what I went through in my life, I didn’t think there could actually be nice people out there. Then I realized one day those that had been mean and abusive to me were a selected few out of many and not all people were like that. The manager who hired me and the other staff at the café helped to show me that.” I smile.