Chapter Thirty-Seven

Isaac

 

“You sure it’s a good idea to stay?” Elijah asked, his small travel bag in hand.

I’d spent the night at the hotel near Maddie’s apartment and I had no intention of leaving until I knew she was okay. “I’m sure,” I replied.

Elijah patted me on the shoulder before leaving the hotel room we’d shared the night before. I still wasn’t sure what Maddie told the police, or completely convinced I wouldn’t be arrested if I showed back up at her apartment. It was a chance I had to take.

Her phone was still turned off. I tried calling twice the night before and once already this morning. It went straight to voicemail.

With Elijah gone, the hotel room felt empty and lonely. I sat on the edge of the bed with my travel bag next to me. Maddie’s wallet was inside, the excuse I was going to use to see her, but there was also something else I’d bought for her, for her birthday. I wondered if she realized that I’d lied about that as well, if she knew, in fact, that today was her birthday.

I made so made mistakes, but I knew in my heart of hearts that I made them for the right reasons. I grabbed a clean outfit and moved into the bathroom. My arm was stiff and sore as I reached for the faucet in the shower. I undressed, climbed inside the small tub, and pulled the curtain closed as the water rushed over my aching body.

Images of Maddie on the floor with Rob atop her floated in my mind each time I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think of what he was about to do to her, what he would’ve done if I hadn’t gotten inside.

I lathered up the hotel washcloth with the tiny bar of soap and ran it over my body. There were bruises on my right arm, my ribs on the left side were sore and tender, and my back felt like it had been stretched beyond its capabilities. I quickly rinsed, shut off the water and grabbed the small towel hanging on the rack near the shower. I wasn’t sure I was ready to have Maddie turn me away. My heart ached at the thought of her hating me as I dried off and dressed.

What am I going to say? I had no idea.

My phone rang, causing me to flinch as it blasted into the silence of the room. I rushed towards it, hoping to see Maddie’s name on the screen, but it was Beth. She was calling to tell me ‘I told ya so’ no doubt.

“Hey, Beth,” I answered, ready for her lecture.

“Isaac, Elijah called and told me everything. Are you okay?” her voice was filled with concern.

My defense softened as her voice carried through the phone to my ear. “Yes, I’m fine,” I replied.

“I just want you to know, I’m proud of you,” her words shocked me. Proud of me?

“I know how much you love her, and I’ve seen she loves you too. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to her if you hadn’t stayed so close.”

My eyes were welling up with tears. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat to keep my emotions intact. “Thank you, Beth, but I really messed things up for us,” I choked out.

“Elijah told me you stayed behind; what are your plans?” she asked.

I didn’t have any. My pause was long, and I could hear Beth sigh on the other end of the phone as she waited for my response.

“You have to have a plan,” she said softly.

“I’m going to return her wallet,” I stated firmly without mentioning my plans to give her a birthday gift. “I can at least see if she hates me,” I added.

“She’s probably really confused, and yes, angry, but I doubt she hates you,” Beth advised. “Call me if you need anything,” she added, and then hung up once I agreed.

My stomach growled from hunger and fear. I have to do this before I lose my nerve. I grabbed the items I planned to give to Maddie and rushed out of the hotel room. The elevator was slow, as if trying to detain me from what I planned to do. The rental car still had Maddie’s address in the GPS, but I didn’t need it. I could find my way to her with my eyes closed. My heart would lead the way.

I parked in the same spot I’d been in the previous night. My little black rental car was right below her window. In the daylight, it was hard to tell if lights were on or not. There were no shadows in the window like before, and I feared the possibility that she’d left, found a friend to take her in, protect her, and not lie to her like I had.

The round man with thin black hair that had let me inside the night before walked out of the front doors. I climbed out of my car, quickly greeting him as I walked towards the apartments. “Thank you again for your help last night,” I extended my hand.

The man shook my hand, a smile smeared all over his face. “Maddie is a good girl; we are all just glad to see that monster out of her life,” he said.

So am I.

He strolled on down the sidewalk, to where, I had no idea. To me, the man was my savior, a saint, and the only reason Maddie didn’t end up raped, or worse at the hands of the man who proclaimed to love her.

I went inside the building and started up the three flights of stairs to Maddie’s apartment. No wonder she was in such great shape; it was a long, upward walk to her apartment door. I chuckled to myself at the thought of all the hamburgers I’d eaten over the last several weeks, and how Maddie warned me they would make me sluggish and weak.

I made it to her door. I stood there in front of it, my hands frozen to my sides, and my breathing starting to calm from the climb. What was I going to say to her? What if she took her wallet and closed the door in my face? Beth was right; I needed a plan. I didn’t have one.

My right arm lifted, and my knuckles beat on her door with the same rapid pace as my heart. I couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the door, just silence. I knocked again, this time a little harder.

After a couple seconds, I heard someone inside. The peephole slid over, scraping against the metal of the door as I assumed she was getting her first peek at who stood at her front door.

“I have your wallet,” I said, holding up the designer wallet for her to see.

Chains unlatched, deadbolts unlocked, and then the door opened. My heart raced as her angelic face appeared. She didn’t have an expression, no fear, no anger, no excitement to see me: nothing.

“I wanted to give this to you,” I mumbled, holding her wallet in front of me. Her hands were trembling as she took the accessory I’d lied about being lost. “Can we talk?” I choked.

Her eyes were dark and cold, but she widened the door and let me inside. The hairs on the back of my neck stood stiff from nerves rolling through my body. I handed her the wallet, which she immediately started going through. She pulled out her license, her credit cards, all with the name Maddie Stewart, not Maddie Grubbs. “I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you,” I mumbled.

Her eyes lifted to mine, so wide, so beautiful, even though darkened by sadness, confusion, and what I feared may be hate. “I changed your name, your birthdate, everything so the hospital or police wouldn’t be able to identify you to Rob,” I explained.

“You tricked me to get me into bed,” she snapped, her eyes starting to well with tears.

“Maddie, I never meant to trick you. I swear to you my only intention was to protect you. When you were in that hospital bed, all I could think about was losing you. I’ve loved you my entire life, and when you came to Miami, I thought it was my chance to prove to you that you deserved better, to show you how you should’ve been treated,” I pleaded.

Her eyes softened and started to brighten as she let one solitary tear fall from her left eye down her cheek. “You could’ve told me,” she hissed.

“I should’ve. I thought you might forget him, about how he’d treated you. You were so frightened, so scared when you arrived, you fell into my arms sobbing. I knew what that man had done, what he was capable of doing if he found you. When you finally opened your eyes, I’d been there the entire time, and my heart had never felt lighter than it did at that moment,” I reasoned.

“You were my friend,” she gasped.

“I am your friend. I didn’t trick you into falling in love with me; you did that on your own. I’ve always loved you,” I said, reaching into my pocket for the ring I’d bought her in Miami. “Here, I wanted you to have this on your birthday.” I extended the small velvet box to her.

She held it in her hand, tears falling down her face freely now. “Today’s my birthday,” she sobbed. I nodded, fighting back my own tears. How could I have hurt this woman? I love her with everything inside of me, everything I have.

Her eyes lit up as she opened the box. The beautiful tanzanite ring stared her in the face. “This is the ring I tried on,” she gasped.

“Yes. You loved it, and I wanted you to have a ring that was meant for you, so you could get rid of the one you were wearing,” I said, glancing towards her finger where Rob’s ring no longer occupied her finger.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“Nothing between us was a lie. Even though I did lie to you about some things, you and I were never a lie,” I said, hoping it was enough to soften the hate she must’ve had for me in my heart.

I started to leave, but my feet wouldn’t move. Her eyes were locked onto mine, and something inside of them told me the hate, if ever there was any, was gone. She reached for my hand, her skin so soft and smooth it made my entire body tingle from just that single touch. “I don’t like that you tricked me. But, I do appreciate you taking such good care of me, and…” her voice trailed off as she swallowed audibly. “I know my love for you is real,” she exhaled.

My heart jumped in my chest, and without planning, thinking, or any self-control, I pulled her into me, kissing her with the same passion I’d had the first time our lips ever met.