“Shit Lex. I’m sorry,” I said wanting to walk over to her and console her, but the damned security guard was holding onto me and wouldn’t let me move. “Get him out of here, he assaulted her, he put her in that bed,” I tried to explain to the security guard, but he looked like he didn’t believe me.
“Lexi, baby please tell them, I can’t have them take me away and leave you here with Luc,” I pleaded with her hoping she would understand because I would punch down the security guard too before I left her in a room with the French pyscho.
Her blue eyes gazed up to mine and I could sense her pain. “Yes, please take this man out,” she said with a shaky voice. My heart felt like it was being wrenched out of my chest hearing her cracking voice, but a part of me was thankful that she spoke.
“Dr. Priestley, I’m sorry but I will need to call the police and have you escorted to the station,” the same dark guard said. The other guard was shorter and he hadn’t said or done much this entire time, but I saw he had a taser in his hand if I decided not to cooperate. Which of course would not be the case.
“Okay,” I responded solemnly. Lex shouldn’t be alone after what happened. On the way down the elevator I called Ashley’s cell and told her to come support Lex. The guard waited with me by the front entrance to the hospital until the police car pulled up with blaring sirens. The flashing lights of the police car hit me like deja vu and I was brought back to the dreadful night I would never forget back at Harvard my first year of undergrad.
Chapter 8
Helpless
Lexi
The guard takes Dylan away and I want to get out of this bed and run after him and make sure he is okay. I’m too weak and in too much pain to move so I lie feeling helpless. He was going to get into a lot of trouble and it was because of me. Luc had only been in my room a few minutes before Dylan came barging through the door. I was scared and it was hard to focus on what he was saying. I think he said something to the effect that he had his people looking for me and that he didn’t know where I ran off too. He may have even asked me how I ended up in the hospital. I must have heard him wrong, it couldn’t be right. It didn’t make sense.
“Lex, honey are you okay?” Ash asked, walking through the door. She was in a pair of jogging pants and her light brown hair was tied in a bun on top of her head. “Dylan called and said you shouldn’t be alone, seriously Lex, I feel like you’re going to be the end of me,” she said holding up a hand to her heart. “What happened?”
I know I spoke to the guard to take Luc away, but speaking still doesn’t feel right. Looking into Ash’s pained blue eyes that mirror my own I will the words out remembering the tortured look she had on her face the first time Mom beat me. She was witness and victim to a painful life from a young age. I don’t want to cause her anymore grief.
“Luc came…” I began and her eyes went wide. "He said he’d been looking for me….water…” I pointed to the paper cup sitting beside my bed on a side table. Ash got up to get it for me and pointed the straw toward my mouth. Once the cool water soothed my dry vocal cords I continued. “He said he didn’t know what happened to me…he asked who did this to me…then Dylan came and beat him….the guards took him away….said they needed to call the police….he lost control Ash…I thought he was going to kill Luc.”
“Can you blame him Lex? Shit, I’m thankful Dylan came when he did,” Ash gasps loudly. “What will happen to Dylan?” she asked with a worried tone. My stomach dipped at the thought of him in a police station. “How did Luc get in here anyway?” Her eyes gaze over the room. I thought the same thing, the psych ward is supposed to be a high security area.
“I don’t know, I was…thinking the same thing…I thought I was safe in here.”
“Oh Lexi,” she reached over to give me a hug. “I will go by the nurse's station before I leave and tell them to keep an eye out and not to let him in again.”
I nodded. My eyes close a bit. “You’re tired,” she smiled fixing a loose strand of hair that had fallen on my face. I nodded again. I still felt so ashamed. I felt like I let her down and I didn’t know where to start, so I preferred to sleep.
“Are you okay Lex? You should get some rest it’s late.”
“I’m okay, you can…go back home now,” I tilted my chin down and she knew I wasn’t referring to my old apartment. I wanted her going back to school, in Montreal.
“Not yet,” she pouted.
“Please Ash, I’m talking I will get help…you go home.”
“We’ll see.” She grinned, probably happy that I spoke. She popped up from the seat beside my bed and leaned over giving my forehead a gentle kiss.
“Goodnight for now,” she said and walked out. I stared up to the white ceiling. Not having anything to do meant more time to think.
My mind drifts to prom night. I tried to remember everything that happened. It seemed light years ago, I tried to remember the way I felt that night. What was I thinking when I saw Elena Peters spread eagle on Dylan? He was my family, why didn’t I wait to hear what he had to say? If only I believed him things would be so different.
My mind then wonders to my father. I almost died and he never came to see me. Come to think of it there was no way for him to know if I was alive or dead. Did the fact that I grew up without a father affect my decisions on prom night? I may have made a string of bad decisions but I’d always been introspective about them. Maybe that’s why I had a hard time looking in the mirror with all the sexual hooking up I did. All those years I felt like I should’ve been living a different life, like I didn’t know the girl in the mirror. She was a stranger to the younger happier version of me.
Chapter 9
Looking Back
Lexi
Seven Years old
“Alexis, Ashley!” Mom hollered from downstairs. “Hurry up we are going to be late for the Priestley’s Canada Day barbeque.”
“Come on Ashley, we've got to go,” I said stopping by her room. She was busy playing with her doll.
“Not yet Lexi, Dora needs a bed,” she said working intently on building Dora a bed out of a cardboard box and blankets.
“If you use your blankets for Dora then you will be cold at night,” I explained being the older sister. “Besides don’t you want to go play with Riley and Noa? We can swim in their pool today.”
“Yeah, yeah, I want my princess bathing suit,” she said jumping up and down. I went over to her dresser knowing where she kept her bathing suits and gave her the one she wanted. Then I helped her get dressed. “This is my favorite,” she smiled rubbing her tummy.
“It is very cute, you little princess,” I tapped her little button nose and gave her a bathing suit cover up.
“Ashley, Alexis, let’s go,” Mother hollered again.
Ash and me charged down the stairs. “Let’s go tigers,” Dad said waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. He was all ready for the party in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, sunglasses and sunhat.
“Alexis get a hat for yourself and your sister,” Mom ordered.
“Okay Mom.”
Dad picked Ash up in his arms and she smiled at him brightly, “Let’s go kiddos.” Then he turned his head to the kitchen. “Rose are you bringing the cake? I have the girls.”
“Yes, I’m coming,” Mom said prancing out of the kitchen with her high heels, wearing a black bathing suit and a sheer black cover up.
I couldn’t wait to play with Dylan, his house was so much fun. They had the best toys and I loved to swim, although I was scared of the deep end.
We crossed the perfectly trimmed grass over to the Priestley’s backyard. All the guests had arrived already. They invited some of our neighbors and some family friends too.
“Hey Alexis, do you want to swim with me?” Dylan asked. He was all wet, it looked like he was just in the pool and hopped out. He was holding a ball in his hand. “A bunch of us are going to play Marco Polo,” he smiled. He was so cute.
“Sure.” I let go of my daddy’s h
and and followed Dylan toward the water and got in. Kids were scattered all over the swimming pool, even in the deep end. “I will stay in the shallow end,” I said quietly.
“Okay, but I can show you how to swim, it’s no big deal,” he said shrugging his shoulders.
“I know it isn’t a big deal. I never said it was.”
“Come here, let me show you. Lie on your back I will hold you up,” he said motioning for me to come closer.
“We did that last time, you already taught me how to float. Teach me something else,” I insisted.
Suddenly I heard my mother’s loud voice, she was yelling at Dad who was standing off to the side away from everybody else with a drink in his hand. Daddy always looked sad, he wasn’t home much and it always felt like he had better things to do. Mom reached out her hand to touch his shoulder and Daddy pushed her away. My parents weren’t like Dylan’s parents. When Dylan’s mom touched his dad, he smiled, he would hug her and even kiss her. He was the same with Dylan and his sisters. He even smiled to me too. I liked coming to Dylan’s house it was always more happy than mine.
Chapter 10
Deja-Vu
Dylan
The police come to pick me up and it’s like deja vu. Only I can’t call Darian to get me out of this mess. I fucked up all on my own. We got to the police station and an officer guides me to the constable’s office.
“Dr. Dylan Priestley, I’m Constable O’Brian,” he said flashing his badge. “I heard you caused a bit of a ruckus at the hospital tonight, do you mind telling me what that was about?"
“Are you charging me?” I asked getting to the point and wondering if I needed a lawyer, I have my medical degree standing on the line, I can’t afford to mess things up any more than they already are.
“Well that depends on the gentleman in the next room,” he explained eyeing me cautiously. What was that supposed to mean? I turned my head to see if I could see who was in the next room. I could only guess it was Blanchard.
“You want to tell me that you brought Blanchard in too?” I asked with a surprised tone. It seemed like that guy thought he could get away with murder, probably because of his last name.
“It’s protocol Dr. Priestley, and the patient seemed scared by him, so why don’t you tell me your side of things,” he grinned, leaning back in his chair and twiddling his thumbs like a son of a….
“That asshole in the next room beat the shit out of the patient who is a very old friend of mine, she lost her baby… my baby because of it.” As the words leave my mouth they are like a direct sting to my heart. My baby…my poor baby that never had a chance…and poor Lexi, the asshole broke her.
The Constable's grim expression falls and he stares back at me with remorse. “Blanchard never mentioned a baby, but he said that you might accuse him of hurting the girl.”
“Will she press charges?” he asked arching his right brow, it’s almost like he didn’t believe my story.
“I don’t know, things are complicated,” I try to explain but I can’t. The truth is I don’t know what Lexi wants to do about Blanchard, his family is dangerous and I don’t need them coming after her.
“I’m guessing it is, we know the name,” he nods to me like he understands my dilemma. Of course the cops would know who he is. His arrest made the six o’clock news. “Look kid...” he leans forward on his desk and lowers his voice. “You seem like a good guy, a young doctor. I believe you were protecting your friend, but if he wants, he can press assault charges. He’s got the blood on him to prove it. Plus there are witnesses that you jumped him. I’m sure a criminal record is not what you need considering your profession choice,” he points to my white coat and grins. Asshole.
“Yeah, I get all that. Is he pressing charges?” I asked, looking at the Constable.
The phone rings, he picks it up, “Yeah, so what will it be?” he asked with the same deep voice. “Eh, okay,” he closed the phone and I could tell by his expression that I was royally fucked.
“Sorry kid. He’s pressing charges. You can go in front of a Justice and see if you can cut bail,” he says with a frown. FUCK! That means I have to call my father and it means I will get that dammed disappointed look I got last time. “One phone call,” he says lifting his finger at me. I want to tell him that yeah I know the drill, but that won’t sound too good in this situation. My stomach drops and I feel like hot coils are wrapping their way through my insides. It took me seven years to come home, seven years for my father to admit he was wrong about that night and now with one mistake, my only intention to defend Lexi and I will be back in that dark place with my father looking down at me, passing judgment.
I leave the office and walk over to a payphone on the wall. I put the quarter in and with a feeling of dread, I dial my father’s cell. He’s probably asleep and the call will wake my mother.
“Hey Dad,” I said hesitantly, holding my breath. Why does this have to suck so bad?
“Yes, Dylan, it’s late everything okay?” he asked with a concerned tone.
“I need you to come downtown I’m at the police station…..”
“What did you do?” he barked out. Of course he would assume the worst right off the bat. I had played the role of model big brother for eighteen years. Good student, well behaved. None of it really mattered when I fucked up. He never said, ‘you know Dylan, when people are young they make mistakes. What’s important is that you learn from them.’ Or even better, ‘Dylan that was not your fault you had no way of knowing.’ Of course both options had been wishful thinking and were never the case. My father sat high and mighty in the Cardiology wing saving lives everyday, but he also liked to pass judgment. He was proud when I graduated medical school but even when he came for graduation, I could always sense the disappointment hanging off him like a dirty rag.
“Sorry I was charged with assault,” I said swallowing hard.
“What? Who the hell did you assault?” His voice was loud and angry.
“The guy that beat Lexi, the guy that killed my baby,” I answered sorrowfully.
“Oh,” it sounded like his anger deflated. I had told my dad the story about me and Lexi and the baby we lost, when he came to her room to visit her while she was still unconscious. “Okay I’m on the way,” he said and I heard him mumbling something quietly, probably to my mother.
I put the phone back on the receiver and turn around to come face to face with Blanchard. My simmering blood begins to boil again and I feel like I can take him out here in the station. He moves in close to me and I move in closer. “What is your angle Blanchard? You’re charging me with assault?”
“Listen asshole,” he begins with that choppy French accent. “Alexis is mine, you stay away from her. I married her, she belongs to me,” he said, his eyes narrowing on me. I could tell that he wanted me to lose my temper and maybe sock him one again. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, at least not in the police station.
“You’re fucking delusional if you believe that, and you may have married her but she was mine from the start,” I replied, not able to completely curb my anger. Suddenly, he lunges toward me and pins me to the cement wall, I could break lose but I’m hoping an officer sees what he’s doing.
“Listen Doc, you don’t know who I am, but you don’t want to mess with me. Alexis is mine and she will stay that way and if you are smart you will walk away. I’m sure they don’t allow doctors to have criminal records,” he grins devilishly.
It takes everything in me not to pound into him. An officer walks by and quickly acts to break the grip Luc has on me.
“You back away or he will be pressing assault charges against you,” the officer warns Luc.
“You see Doc, I have a list of charges against me, an extra assault charge won’t mean much at the end of the day, but for you it can end your career,” Luc bites out more of his trash talk but my anger is deflated. I can see that he is a sick fuck and I know deep down Lexi will never be his. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m onto his
game. He thinks Lexi will go back to him after what he’s done. He’s clearly delusional.
“Game on fucker, and just so you know Blanchard, where Lexi is concerned I will never lose,” I smirk at him causing his jaw to pulsate. He glares back at me with an intense gaze. Another officer walks past us, but he stops, eyes both of us and continues, I think giving a silent warning.
Then he turned to me, “You need to go in front of the Justice of the Peace,” he said and I followed him thinking how messed up things have become.
Chapter 11
No More Running
Lexi
Thoughts of Dylan and Luc fighting because of me intensifies my feelings of guilt and shame. The truth is I am more scared for Dylan than Luc. His family seems scary and after meeting his father I know they are not the type of people you want to mess with. I wish I knew this before I became entangled with Luc. The sky is dark but I can see the street lamps from University Avenue shining into my room.
I want to call Dylan and check on him, but I feel like if I do I will give him false hope that we have a future together. I thought I was damaged goods before Luc attacked me but after what I’ve been through I feel even more messed up. My bad decisions weigh heavily on me, I feel lost, like I can’t trust myself to make the right decisions. My eyes grow tired. My breathing slows and I drift off to sleep.
In the middle of the night I’m awoken by a dream. A part of me is thankful that it wasn’t my recurring dream of Luc beating me. It was an old memory of Dylan and I back in high school. I inwardly smile and my chest feels warm just thinking of our good times. Dylan was always like family. I think that is why I had such a hard time adjusting after we broke up on prom night, I didn’t only lose a boyfriend, I lost the only family member I could depend on.
That loss has become a part of me and I think I may have developed some trust issues over it. I don’t know if Dylan and I can go back to what we were to each other. I can’t trust so easily again. I open my eyes as my bladder screams with urgency. In the darkness I see a figure, causing me to flinch and gasp. I quickly search for my red button to call the nurse.
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