If You Come Back

by Alexis Leia

  “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Selene, answer me, goddamn it!” Chris shouted, inspecting her body for injuries in a frenzy. Her legs looked alright, nothing broken or bruised. Her arms as well, even though her palms had a few scratches from the fall she endured. Her face wasn’t damaged in any way, but she looked disoriented.

  “I’m okay. I’m... What the hell was that? That car came out of nowhere. And why does my head hurt?” she began shooting out the questions, getting angrier by the second.

  And then he lifted his head up and saw blood running down her neck.

  “Holy shit, you’re bleeding. Let me see”, he said and took her chin gently to turn her head around to see a nasty scratch on the back of her head.

  “This needs stitches. Let’s get you to a hospital”, Chris said, put his arm under her knees, the other supporting her back, lifting her in his arms.

  He was worried sick about her, but she was going to survive. Head injuries always bled harder.

  “Who needs stitches?” she defiantly asked, but then she lifted her hand up and touched her neck, where a thin trail of blood formed.

  “Oh. I do. I need stitches”, she said before passing out right there in his arms.

  Sam stood there in front of the car, looking pale and terrified as he watched Selene’s limp body in Chris’s arms.

  “Sam, open the door!” Chris instructed, and the kid immediately obeyed. He then ran to the other side to sit in the back. Chris gently placed Selene on the back seat, making sure she was laid on her hip and her head was on Sam’s knees. He took off his shirt and put it in Sam’s hands.

  “Put pressure on the wound, but don’t press too hard. She’s going to be okay, Sam”, he said gently, not wanting to scare the kid any more than he already was, even though the fear Chris felt inside him was beyond words.

  “Just drive!” Sam yelled, and Chris complied immediately, ignoring the crowd of people that already gathered around the scene.

  While he drove like a maniac, there was only one thing on his mind. Even though he didn’t believe in God, he started praying.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Miss McClaran, take it easy for the next few days and watch out for the stitches. They should dissolve on their own in three weeks or so. Pay special attention to symptoms of a concussion. Should you feel dizzy, nauseous, or disoriented, please don’t hesitate to come again”, a young paramedic told her after he finished stitching her head, and walked out of the emergency room, leaving her alone with Chris.

  God bless whoever invented local anesthesia, because the cut on her head was now blissfully numb. Unfortunately, it would wear off soon and it was going to leave her with a crushing headache and itchiness from the stitches.

  Chris was still staring at her, standing with his arms crossed over his bare chest, and wearing that goddamn frown on his face. She would need ten hands to count how many times he frowned within an hour.

  “What?” she asked him, annoyed by his silence.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, his expression unchanged.

  “Amazing, like I spent a week on Hawaii.” Her sarcasm took over.

  “How were the beaches?”

  “Bloody hell”, she said, enjoying how his lips twitched in his attempt to hide amusement.

  “Emmet is here. He wants to talk to you”, Chris said, making her groan.

  “Why? I’m fine.”

  “He thinks this wasn’t an accident, and so do I”, he stated.

  She felt her blood run cold. Her mind immediately drifted to those anonymous phone calls that were becoming more frequent, and the creepy notes she kept on finding in her mailbox and in her office. Until the car fiasco, she truly believed that those were only some jerk’s pranks, but now... Her perspective changed.

  “Do you have something to tell me, Selene?” Chris asked, his voice dangerously calm.

  “Get Emmet inside”, she said with a sigh, knowing there would be hell to pay for this.

  Chris opened the door and Emmet passed through, but as soon as Chris started shutting the door, a small hand stopped it. Annie jumped up and down to see Selene behind Emmet’s back and she started threatening Chris like usual.

  “If you don’t let me in, I’ll steal every damn injection I can find and drug you with morphine. And you’ll be left at my mercy!” she angrily said, making Selene laugh, and Chris give up with a sigh.

  He opened the door to let Annie in, and the three of them stood above her bed in identical stances; their arms across their chest, their expressions serious and angry. It was almost funny. Almost. The only time her friends actually supported Chris was to grill her.

  “Well?” Emmet asked.

  “I still kind of think this was an accident, but when you’re all insisting so much, I’ll tell you what’s been going on. I’ve been receiving this weird phone calls and letters –”, she began, but they interrupted her, all three of them speaking at the same time.

  “Letters?” they said in unison.

  “Yes. I got the first one about a month ago. It was in a red envelope, and the note inside only said: time for you to disappear. It was printed out, and there was no signature, obviously. The next were the calls. A distorted voice, presumably male, saying the same damn thing: time for me to disappear, or simply calling and hanging up. There were a few more notes sent to my office or home, identical to the first one. I honestly thought it was just a prank. I can’t even think of somebody who would try to hurt me for real”, she explained, expecting all of them to start yelling or whatever.

  Emmet was expressionless, Annie obviously angry, but Selene knew she already forgave her, but Chris... there was no word to describe his expression of hurt and betrayal.

  “I’ll need your phone. We’ll try and trace the calls. There’s someone out there who wants you gone, Selene”, Emmet said in a voice that caused goosebumps jump all over her skin.

  But her gaze was fixed only on Chris, who still hadn’t spoken. They were having a staring contest, but she looked away first, for the first time feeling ashamed. She didn’t tell any of it to the most important people in her life, and she absolutely understood their anger, especially Chris’s, whom she had promised to tell if the phone calls continued.

  “And when did you plan on telling me this?” he asked, his voice deadly, words spoken through gritted teeth.

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal, I’m sor –”, she began justifying herself, but he simply turned his back on her, walked over to the door, and left without a word.

  Feeling panicked, she jumped off her bed, but Annie stopped her from running after Chris.

  “Leave him. He needs to cool off”, she said.

  Tears pooled in Selene’s eyes, the seriousness of the situation dawning on her.

  “I fucked up, didn’t I?” she asked and sniffed, her hands intertwined in her lap.

  “Yeah, but you’re not perfect or unmistakable. Just remember how many times I have fucked up in life, you’ll immediately feel better”, Annie joked, making Selene laugh weakly.

  “Here’s my phone. I’m sorry, guys”, she said and gave her phone to Emmet.

  “As a cop, I understand, because this is how most people perceive threatening phone calls and letters, and most of them are indeed harmless pranks. But as your best friend, Selene, I’m fucking livid right now”, Emmet said, putting her phone in his uniform pocket.

  “I already said I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?” she asked, starting to feel desperate.

  Emmet stared at her for a long time before sighing in defeat.

  “You can make it up to us by preparing a goddamn divine dinner for Thanksgiving. And I’m talking a table full of things I’ll stuff my face with and be sick later on”, he said and gave her a brotherly hug, which she returned with full force.

  “And you can make it up to me by helping me think of a prank for Chris. I still haven’t forgiven him for that plastic grenade thing”, Annie said, making Selene laugh.

  The day
after Selene had told Chris about Annie’s plans for creating a bomb with his name on it, he went to a toy store and bought a plastic grenade that looked like the real deal, with steam smoke coming out if it. He wrote his name on it with a marker and then sneaked inside her house, while unsuspecting Annie watched TV in the living room. He had already told Selene what was going to happen, of course, but nothing could prepare her for Annie’s reaction of screaming and jumping all over the furniture in order to get away from the fake bomb. Two minutes later, when the smoke cleared out, they found Chris rolling on the floor in the hallway, screaming in laughter. Annie then smacked the shit out of him. If the situation was any different, Selene would’ve laughed at the memory.

  “Deal”, she promised, and then peeked between Annie and Emmet when she heard a knock on the door.

  Her heart sped up, hoping it was Chris. But then a much smaller figure entered the room, looking pale and frightened.

  “Sam!” Selene exclaimed, feeling guilty at being disappointed a little because it wasn’t Chris. But when she saw Sam’s teary eyes, she immediately forgot about her sulky lover, and slowly opened her arms, inviting Sam for a hug.

  The kid stood still like a statue before running into her arms, giving her a tight hug, his face buried in her chest. Tears leaked down her face at Sam’s display of emotions he usually never permitted. Annie and Emmet quietly left the room, giving them some privacy, since this was a precedent.

  “I thought you were going to die”, he said, his little voice breaking.

  She patted his head in a soothing gesture, still very touched he cared about her so much that he hugged her on his own.

  “It’s okay, honey. I’m okay. It’s just a little cut. Wanna see?” she knew how boys liked seeing that nasty stuff.

  He lifted his head up and gave her a wide grin when she moved her hair to show him the stitched-up wound.

  “Cool”, he said and wiggled out of her embrace, sitting next to her on the bed.

  “Chris left, he told me to wait for Emmet and Annie to give me a ride home. He was very angry”, Sam said.

  “He left you alone in the waiting room?” Selene’s voice raised.

  “Geez, chillax. Wilson is here, too. He stayed with me”, Sam explained, making Selene groan.

  “Don’t tell me the entire town is in there.”

  “Almost. Are you going to make up with Chris?”

  She sighed and nodded.

  “I hope so. I kept a secret from everyone, which put me in danger, and he has every right to be mad”, Selene explained, unwilling to tell him the details, not wanting him to get even more scared.

  “Keeping secrets is not cool, especially not from your boyfriend.”

  “Are you going to make me feel even guiltier?” she asked him and tickled him under the ribs.

  He giggled, moving her hands away.

  “No, but you better make it right. I mean, he’s not perfect either, but still”, he ordered, sounding and looking much like Chris with his frown and pointed finger.

  “I’ll do my best”, she promised.

  ***

  Chris stood at the lake, staring at the frozen water that reflected the purple and orange sunset. He had to get away from that hospital, from Selene, who made him both incredibly angry and unbelievably hurt.

  He partially understood why she had kept it a secret; she thought it was a joke, a stupid prank by some asshole who had nothing better to do. But she had promised to tell him if something similar to that phone call happened again, and she broke the promise.

  If he was being completely honest to himself, the real reason behind his need to get away from that emergency room was because he’d spent too much time there when he was a kid. And watching Selene on that bed while doctors fussed around her only reminded him of his sister, who spent the majority of her short life in those damned hospitals, on those damn beds, looking as pale and lifeless as Selene looked today.

  That sight was almost too much to bear, but when she also admitted to keeping a secret from him, his mind completely closed off and he had to get away before trashing the emergency room.

  And now he stood alone in the place he always seemed to return to, no matter the time or circumstances. Or at least he thought he was alone.

  “I thought you might be here”, Selene whispered behind him.

  His lifeless heart quickened like always when she was around, but he didn’t turn around.

  “You came here alone?” he asked, his gaze still fixed on the setting sun

  “No. Emmet drove me, and stayed until I reached you. He said I shouldn’t go anywhere without protection.”

  “Good.”

  “Chris, I –”

  “I’d like to be alone.”

  “That’s a shame, because I’m staying. After all, you’re my ride home”, she said and stood right next to him.

  He glanced down at her, seeing she changed her clothes, relieved she wasn’t wearing that bloodied shirt.

  “None of those fifty people in the waiting room can give you a ride?”

  “They can, but I don’t want to go with them”, she gently said, putting a hand on his shoulder, and her touch pushed him over the edge.

  “Do you have any fucking idea how scared I was? Seeing you almost run over by a car, by some psycho who wants you gone? Then seeing you were hurt and bleeding, unconscious on that fucking hospital bed and knowing I couldn’t do anything to help you? And then, even better, finding out you put yourself in danger by not telling us what’s been going on!” he yelled, pacing around in circle with his hands on his hips.

  “I know”, she whispered, her voice full of repentance.

  “No, you don’t! You can’t know, because you haven’t experienced it! I almost fucking lost you and not the way I thought I would. If we break up, at least I’ll know you’re alive, breathing and safe with whoever might take my place someday, but seeing you almost die today... Jesus, do you even know how much you mean to me?” he said, took a few fast strides toward her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her a little.

  “I’m sorry, Chris. I’m so sorry”, she said, trying hard not to let tears run down her face.

  He groaned in frustration and desperation, and in the lack of a better reaction, he hugged her so hard, breath must’ve left her lungs. Even if it did, she didn’t show it, instead returning the embrace.

  He placed gentle kisses on top of her hair that she let loose, then proceeded kissing her forehead, nose, cheeks, and every surface of her face he could find.

  He leaned his forehead on hers and closed his eyes.

  “Promise me, but promise me for real, that you won’t keep anything from me. I can’t protect you if you do, and I can’t bear the thought of you not being safe”, he said, his voice hoarse.

  “I promise, Chris. I promise”, she agreed and he wasted no time in claiming her lips, reminding himself that she was here, she was okay, that she wasn’t badly harmed and injured.

  “Let’s get you home”, he said, much calmer.

  They drove in comfortable silence, their hands interlocked in her lap. Night descended on Mountainview as they slowly approached her house. Just when he was about to turn off the car, a shadowed figure ran in front of the house and towards the woods, making Selene gasp and Chris curse viciously. He was about to leave the car and start chasing the fucker who dared to hurt her, but she gripped both of his hands.

  “Please, don’t go. Don’t leave me alone”, she pleaded, and he gave up on chasing. Instead, he picked up his phone and dialed the airport.

  “You’re coming with me to Los Angeles”, he said in a voice that tolerated no objection.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  LAX could easily be a small city, as far as Selene was concerned. The airport in Denver was breathtaking, but this was a completely different universe. She tried to take it all in; thousands of passengers on their own way to some unknown places, all dressed in shorts and t-shirts due to warm L.A. weather. She felt Chris and she w
ere overdressed in their thick sweaters and jackets, but if you tried do defy the weather in Colorado during late fall, you’d only end up with hypothermia.

  Yesterday, when she and Chris saw a male figure running away from her house, Chris immediately booked them an early morning flight, called Emmet to tell him what happened and then made her enter the house to pack her stuff. Then he drove them to Denver, where they spent the night in a hotel. They didn’t sleep that night, but they also weren’t busy doing anything else. They just cuddled in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

  If she was being honest, Chris’s presence during those most recent events was very important to her, quite literally life-saving. He was the one that saved her from that speeding car, the one who took her to the hospital, and the one who was next to her when the intruder decided to snoop around her house. The mystery man – or woman – didn’t take anything, so it wasn’t about robbing. It was obviously them trying to see if she was home alone, and that was even scarier than the prospect of robbery.

  So there she was, in this famous city, her hand in Chris’s as they took a cab ride to his house. She didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her friends, because both Chris and Emmet insisted she left as soon as possible. She thought they might be slightly overreacting, but then she imagined the roles reversed, and concluded she’d have acted the same way.

  She did insist on saying goodbye to the kids in the foster home, and Chris had complied. She read them a book, like she normally did every time she visited, but she wasn’t permitted to tell them she was leaving. However, she explained everything to Sam, owing him honesty and trusting he would keep it to himself. The kid actually understood and encouraged her to leave Mountainview until all of it settled down. She absolutely adored that boy.

  Selene’s gaze was fixed through the cab window, where she stared at the twinkling lights of the megacity, mesmerized by its organized chaos. The palm trees, the beaches, the Hollywood sign – everything was there, just as Chris had described. However, even though she enjoyed the view, she would never trade it for her town, her mountain, and her people. A big city wasn’t where she belonged. She became sure of it when she finished college, and even more so in the current situation. Glancing at Chris, who looked anything but happy to be back, she wasn’t so sure this was his city either. Although, his surliness – more intense than usual – could be ascribed to his worry.