But the tears of joy were mixed with tears of sorrow, too. After all, even though Nick had come through for me again, it didn’t change the fact that he and I were completely over. Once we got back to New York, I didn’t want to have a thing to do with him. Which would mean that I would have to quit my internship. I also would have to make sure that I avoided taking any more classes from him.
I would have to cut my ties to him completely, and move on with my life. Which was a shame, because he obviously went through great lengths to save me from my living hell. That showed that he was a good guy. That wasn’t in question. Just because he continued with his man-whore ways didn’t mean that he was a completely shitty person.
It did mean, however, that I couldn’t trust him.
And, without trust, there could be no relationship.
Chapter 21
Nick
Mr. Lucas couldn’t tell, but I was sweating and terrified. I might have come off as cool as a cucumber with my bluff, but inside, I was a pool of Jell-O. I had no proof of anything. If he had thought about it for a few minutes, he probably would have realized this. After all, if there was some kind of proof that Scotty was being raped by him, Scotty herself would have given it to people so that they would have believed her all those years ago.
However, it was my threat about smearing him in all of his social circles that did it. That wasn’t a bluff at all. Because I would have done it. I would have found each one of his friends and told them, in great detail, just what kind of person he was. Yeah, he would have sued me for slander, and probably would have won, but who cares? I could have afforded any verdict that was lodged against me, and whatever I would have to pay for allegedly slandering him would be a small, small price, considering what I would be getting in exchange.
Scotty’s freedom.
That was priceless to me.
So, when Mr. Lucas told me that I could take her, my heart did somersaults with joy. I could feel the relief in every fiber of my being. Every nerve, every sinew, ever hair, felt the extreme relief and joy.
My Scotty was coming home, where she belonged!
I didn’t thank him for allowing Scotty to leave. I hated this man, with the white-hot passion of 10,000 suns. He destroyed Scotty, for years. And, quite possibly, he might have destroyed her again. I didn’t know the extent of the damage that he had done to her this time around.
What I did know was that I needed to help her make sure that she felt safe. She couldn’t possibly feel safe, knowing that, at any time, Mr. Lucas could just come and get her and do god-knows-what to her. So, I had to get to the bottom of how it was that the hospital allowed her to leave with him, and make sure that it never, ever, happened again.
If I had to get a team of lawyers on that hospital to sue them into the ground, I would do it. And, the hospital had informed me that Mr. Lucas was Scotty’s “legal guardian.” I would have to make sure that Mr. Lucas would no longer have any legal ties to her.
This scenario could not repeat itself, and that was the bottom line.
After Mr. Lucas told me that I could take Scotty home, I immediately turned on my heel and walked back into the yard. Scotty was there with Ryan, and both of them looked pissed at me.
Undeterred, I kneeled down so that I was eye-level with Scotty, and stroked her hair. She immediately started bawling, and threw her hands around my neck. She cried for what seemed like an eternity, and I just stroked her hair and comforted her the entire time.
“Shhhh, Scotty. I’m here. You’re safe. I’m going to help you get through your trauma. I love you, Scotty. I love you more than anything in this world. I’m sorry that I couldn’t prevent that monster from abducting you, but that will never happen again. I’ll make sure of that. I love you, Scotty. I love you.”
I looked up at Ryan, and he still had a pissed look on his face. He shook his head and looked away.
I was perplexed, to say the very least, about why Ryan was acting as if I had murdered his dogs, but that would have to wait. I was only thinking of Scotty, and how I wanted to get her out of there right at the very second.
“Now, Scotty,” I said. “I’m going to pick you up and carry you to the car we have waiting. Then, we’re going to get on Ryan’s plane and get you off of this island at once. I’ll call Charlie and arrange to have a wheelchair waiting for you when we touch down at La Guardia. And then, I’m going to take you back to my loft. I’m going to take care of you, Scotty. And I’m going to make sure that nobody ever hurts you again.”
Scotty shook her head, but said nothing. She did look desperately at Ryan, while the tears continued to cascade down her cheeks.
Again, Ryan gave me a dirty look and shook his head.
I took a deep breath. Something was going on, and I didn’t like it. But, first things first. Scotty would have to get into Ryan’s car, and we would have to head home.
I gently picked Scotty up. She was so light. I was alarmed when I felt her frail body, because she seemed smaller than ever. I didn’t think that was possible. But it seemed as if she hadn’t eaten in several days.
Mr. Lucas must have been starving her, on top of everything else.
For her part, she clung to my neck, and continued to sob uncontrollably. I kept stroking her hair, and talking quietly to her, and Ryan opened up the gate to the circular driveway. I walked to my rented Rolls and carefully laid her down in the back seat, with her broken leg propped up on the seat. Then I sat in the back seat with her, and gently put her broken leg on my lap.
“Drive carefully, Ryan. We don’t have our seatbelts on.”
As we drove along to catch the plane at the airplane hangar, I stroked Scotty’s leg and looked into her eyes. She had a hurt, pained, haunted look in those beautiful green eyes, and I felt my heart shatter. She refused to look directly at me, however. Rather, she looked past me and out the window.
“Scotty,” I said. “I need to know what to do to help you. You’re going to get through this, with me by your side. I’m going to help you heal not just your leg, but your heart and your soul. But you’re going to have to tell me what I need to do.”
She shook her head, but said nothing. More tears flooded out of her eyes. After a while, she managed to croak out “I don’t need your help. I want you to leave me alone.”
Her words struck me like a dagger. I had no idea why she would say such a thing, but I figured that she was still in shock and was grieving what had happened to her. She had no idea what she was saying, and I doubted that she really meant it.
I decided just to dismiss her words, believing that they were said in the heat of the moment, and that, when we got back to New York, she would feel completely differently.
“Now, Scotty, I can’t do that. You know that. You’re a part of me now. If you hurt, I hurt. If you’re happy, I’m happy. It’s my job to help you when you need help, and protect you when you need protection. I’m just so sorry that I couldn’t protect you at the hospital, but I came too late. I found out, too late, what had happened to you. But I’m going to make damned sure that what happened to you will never happen again.”
Scotty just continued to shake her head. “I don’t want you to protect me. I don’t want you in my life anymore.” And then she started to sob even more. “I love you, Nick, but I can’t be with you anymore. I’m sorry.”
I took a deep breath. Don’t panic, Nick. She’s just talking like that because she went through some terrible trauma. She probably feels that she can’t be close to you again, because of what she just went through. It will ease with time and patience. Have patience.
Ryan was glancing back at us through the rear-view mirror. I made a face at him that said “what’s going on?” and he just looked away and shook his head again.
I was going to have to talk to Ryan, and soon. He obviously knew something that I didn’t, and I had to know exactly what that was.
We finally got to Ryan’s plane, and I picked up Scotty and carried her on board. I strapped her into th
e leather lounger, and kneeled beside her. “Now, you try to get some sleep. You look exhausted. When we get back, you’re going to come and stay with me, and I’m going to make sure that you get plenty of rest and food. You look like you are in dire need of both things.” And she did. I was starting to notice that her cheeks were sunken, and there were enormous bags under her eyes. She was pale, so very pale, and paler than I had ever seen her. Also, her skin felt cold and clammy.
I also noticed that she had fresh bruises. I had a better chance to look at her, and she had contusions on her arms and legs. One of her arms looked like somebody had twisted it violently, and given her what I always referred to as an “Indian burn,” although I was quite sure that there was a more politically correct term for it now.
I bit my lip, and tried to contain my anger. It apparently wasn’t enough for that monster to sexually violate her. He also, apparently, felt the need to physically abuse her as well. I took a deep breath, and determined that I would go to the police about this. They would do a rape kit on her, and she had plenty of evidence that she had been beaten.
Perhaps Mr. Lucas, the sub-human pervert, would get his just desserts after all.
I smoothed her hair back a little bit, and I noticed that she was already asleep. I kissed her forehead. “That’s it, Scotty. Get some sleep. You’re going to need all the rest you can get.”
And then I walked over to the section where Ryan was. He was sitting in his chair, sipping a glass of scotch. When he saw me coming toward him, he looked away, but motioned to the seat next to him.
I sat down. I didn’t beat around the bush. “Ryan,” I said, as I poured myself a drink, “do you mind telling me why you’ve been giving me all of those dirty looks? I have no idea what I did, to be perfectly honest with you.”
Ryan just looked at me, and got up to check on Scotty. And then he came back. “Looks like she’s asleep. So, I need to talk to you, but let’s not raise our voices. We don’t want to wake her.”
I nodded. “Out with it.”
Ryan took a deep breath. “You, Nick. I don’t even know where to begin. How could you betray Scotty like that, when you knew how fragile she was? Why, why, why would you get involved with somebody like her if you were just going to continue to be a man-whore? You really need to stick with your classless bimbos from now on, because you obviously can’t keep it in your pants. You devastated that young girl in there.”
I just looked at him, my mouth open. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You and Portia. Scotty said that she went to Portia’s office and the two of you were naked on her couch.”
I blinked my eyes, rapidly. I looked down at the ground. What was he talking about? What…And then it dawned on me.
My hand flew up involuntarily to my mouth. “Oh, shit. Oh.my.god.”
Ryan said nothing, but just continued to look at me disapprovingly.
I shook my head. My heart was racing, faster and faster. And then I looked at Ryan. “Ryan, number one. You’ve known me how long? Since both of us were five years old? We’ve gone through a lot together. Now, have you ever known me to keep something like that from you? Don’t you think for one second that if that had actually happened that I would have told you about it up front?”
“Why would Scotty lie?”
“I’m quite sure that Scotty isn’t lying. Which brings me to point number two. When I tell you that I’m a changed man and that I know longer feel the need to stray, you gotta believe me. Again, I have always been up front about my sexual conquests and my attitudes about the women that I have dated. I have never, ever, told you that I was ready to settle down. Until Scotty. Am I right?”
Ryan looked chastened. “Well, true. If there’s one thing about you, you have always been unapologetic about your lifestyle. But, again, you haven’t answered the original question. Scotty told me what she saw, and I don’t think that she would lie. In fact, she said that was the reason why she was hit by the car in the first place. She was so upset by seeing you and Portia together that she ran into the street without looking.”
I took another deep breath. I could feel my blood boiling at this whole situation. “Ryan,” I began. “Do you remember the other day when I told you that I had the worst headache of my entire life?”
“Sure, but what does that have to do with what Scotty saw?”
“I’m getting to that. Now, do you remember me telling you that I thought that Portia had drugged me? That she was a Fatal Attraction, and that I had no idea why she would do that, but that I had a strong suspicion that she did?”
I looked at him, and Ryan had a look that said that he finally understood what I was getting at. “Oh. Oh, shit. You think-“
“Oh, yeah. I think. I think that I’m going to have to have a talk with Ms. Anson, and, after I get through with talking to her, I’m going to have to call an emergency meeting with the partners in the office. She won’t get away with this. And I’m going to find out, once and for all, who has more power in that office. Because I won’t work another day there if she’s there as well.”
“Oh my god,” he said. “What a psycho.”
“Ya think?” I shook my head. “Poor Scotty. I could just imagine how devastated she was when she walked in to see Portia and me. What happened to her – the broken leg, the abduction by Mr. Lucas – is all directly attributable to Portia’s original action in drugging me and making Scotty think that she and I had sex.”
“Oh, crap,” Ryan said. “I owe you an apology. I immediately assumed the worst.”
“You’re entitled. I haven’t exactly lived the life of a celibate monk. But I am perplexed on why you think that I would suddenly start withholding key pieces of information from you, when you and I have never had any secrets between us.”
“I did think that it was odd that you wouldn’t tell me, but I figured that you didn’t tell me because you thought that maybe I wouldn’t help you find Scotty if I knew the truth. Which is nonsense, by the way. I would’ve helped you find Scotty, regardless, because you’re my best friend and I knew that Scotty needed saving. Just as I did, all those years ago.”
“Of course. I knew that you would have helped me, even if, god forbid, I would have done something like that. That’s the kind of guy you are. And I’m lucky to have you as a friend. I mean that.”
We finished our drinks and then I told Ryan that I would be sitting on the same couch as Scotty. She was sleeping, but I felt the need to be close to her anyhow. Ryan nodded his head in understanding.
So, for the rest of the flight, I sat there and just watched Scotty sleep.
And it was the happiest I had felt in days.
Chapter 22
We landed in La Guardia after our four hour flight. Scotty was still fast asleep on the couch, so I gently nudged her. When she still didn’t wake up, I knew that she was extremely exhausted, so I just picked her up and put her into a wheelchair that I had called for while I was still on St. Croix.
Then I said my goodbyes to Ryan. We hugged each other and I said “Thanks, again, buddy. I don’t think that I could’ve done it without you.”
“I’m quite sure that you could’ve done it without me. You’ve always been a man of action. But I was still happy to help.”
“Even so, you helped me more than you could know. I mean, I would’ve eventually found her, but it might have taken considerably longer if you weren’t around. And who knows what would’ve happened.” I shuddered to think about that. “So, I owe you.”
“No. You saved my life more times than I can count. You owe me nothing.”
“Be that as it may, I still appreciate you.”
Then, with a smile, Ryan said. “Well, I better get going. My animal foundation and my family are waiting for me. But keep in touch, ok?”
“You know I will.”
And, at that, Ryan got on his plane, and I went into the airport so that I could push Scotty to meet Charlie, who was going to come and pick us up.
&nb
sp; Charlie came around, and I gently put Scotty into the seat and told him to take us home.
∞
Scotty didn’t wake up for the next few hours. When we arrived back at my loft, I laid her down on my bed and sat next to the bed, just watching her. I was watching her both because I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, that was how happy I was to have her safe and sound, and also because I was worried about her. I was worried about her bruises, her color, and the amount of weight that she had lost. I was probably going to have to take her to the hospital when she woke up, but I didn’t want to take her until she was conscious. I thought that if she woke up in the hospital, it might be a little bit disorienting for her, and it also might scare her, because of what happened the last time she woke up in the hospital.
So, I just sat there, watching her chest heave up and down. Truth be told, I also was thinking, while I watched her sleep. I was thinking about how I was going to confront Portia, and also how I was going to tell the partners that I was going to walk if she stayed at the firm. I was thinking about how it was that I was going to convince Scotty that what she saw was not accurate.
I also called Jack.
“Hello?” Jack said when I called him.
“Jack. Nick O’Hara.”
“Oh, hello handsome. What can I do you for?”
“Uh, I don’t know if you know this. But Scotty, uh, went missing for about 72 hours or so.”
“Oh, shit. I didn’t know that. I just figured that she was staying with you, like she usually does.”
“She’s staying with me now. But she probably will want to see you. You’re like a brother to her, and she’s pretty destroyed right now. I was wondering if you could come over and stay over here for a little while.”
“Sure,” he said. “Do you need me to bring an overnight bag?”
“Yeah. I mean, I hope that I’m not being presumptuous, but she’s been through some considerable trauma. She needs a support team, and that would definitely include you. So, yeah, if you could stay over here for a couple of days, or even longer, that would be fantastic.”
Saving Scotty Page 10
