Amanda

 

It’s like a horrible nightmare has finally ended.

 

“We’re going to be together forever,” he kept saying, stroking my hair when he pulled me from the car. I’ll never forget how terrified I was. Looking at the tower, knowing what it meant that we were going there. Knowing he was going to kill me.

 

I wanted to vomit, just feeling his hand on me. I knew exactly what he meant. We would be together. Just not alive. He wanted to throw us both from that tower. We’d die together. Tragically.

 

When he pulled me from the trunk, all I could do was pray. Please let somebody save me. Please let me survive this. I don’t want to die. I want my mommy. I want Christopher. Please don’t let me die.

 

Now, I’m sitting in the hospital room. Christopher’s hospital room. He’s been sleeping for hours, ever since he got out of surgery. The nurse told me he probably wouldn’t wake up for a while.

 

It’s a nice hospital, and a private room. I made sure everyone in earshot knew they were taking care of a hero. “He saved my life,” I said over and over. “Please, take care of him. I would be dead if it weren’t for him.”

 

I sit looking at him. He’s peaceful, his face smooth. And now that he’s saved my life, more handsome to me than ever. I can’t believe he came all this way to find me. The fact that he put it all together in the first place is remarkable. I knew he had to be smart under all that bravado.

 

I’m pretty much okay, for the most part. I might need to see a doctor closer to home now that it’s all over. There are a lot of things I’m going to need to work out. Feeling safe again in my home, knowing I’m not in danger. Flashbacks of Lucas stuffing me in a trunk. I shiver just thinking about it. If seeing a doctor will help me get my life back on track, I’m more than willing to do so. I’ll take any steps to put this far behind me.

 

He stirs. I lean toward him, putting a hand over his. He rolls his head in my direction when he feels my touch. “You’re okay?” His first words after waking up. I didn’t think my heart could swell any bigger.

 

“I’m just fine, Christopher. Thanks to you.”

 

“Where are we?”

 

“In the hospital. You and Lucas were fighting over the gun. It went off, hitting you. Do you remember any of it?”

 

He closes his eyes, swallowing hard. I think he remembers. Instead of answering my question, he says, “Why am I not handcuffed?”

 

“Why would you be handcuffed?”

 

“Wasn’t I arrested? Or won’t I be, once I’m out of the hospital? I thought they’d want to keep me cuffed.”

 

“Christopher.” I touch his face, rough with stubble. “You weren’t arrested. Nobody is going to arrest you.”

 

“No?” His eyes are wide. He’s still somewhat foggy from the anesthesia, reminding me of a little boy.

 

“No. I told the police everything. Once they saw the wound on my head, it was pretty clear I wasn’t making anything up. And once they get a look at Lucas’s phone they’ll see the messages he sent me. You’re in the clear.”

 

He drifts back to sleep, a smile on his face. Now he can rest.

 

###

 

I wake up with a stiff neck, curled up in the chair at Christopher’s bedside. This time, he’s the one who’s been watching me.

 

“Good morning,” he whispers, smiling softly.

 

“Wow. Morning already?” I sit up, stretching.

 

“You slept through two visits from the nurse. They were going to bring a cot in for you, but didn’t want to wake you. You were out cold.”

 

“I guess I was.” I remember the hours I spent awake, cold, terrified. Yes. Sleep was what I needed. I take stock of him. He already looks better than he did when he first woke after being wheeled up from surgery. His color is better. He’s more alert.

 

“How’s your wound?” I ask, motioning toward his abdomen. When the EMTs said the bullet hit him in the stomach, I nearly fainted. I know how dangerous that can be, even if I’ve only seen it on TV.

 

“The nurse says it looks good. Stitches are holding fine.”

 

“The doctor told me you made it through surgery like a champ.”

 

“Would you expect any less?” He grins.

 

I lean down to kiss him softly. There’s no mistaking the way the beeping of his heart monitor speeds up. I laugh. “Guess we can’t be doing much of that for a little while. I wouldn’t want to tax your system while you’re healing.” I wink, and he groans.

 

Then he becomes serious. “I don’t remember anything after being shot.”

 

“I’m sure you don’t. You were barely conscious.”

 

“I hate to ask you this…but…did he…?”

 

“Rape me, you mean?” Christopher’s face hardens, but he nods. I shake my head, smiling. “No, nothing like that. He never even got close to it. I don’t think it was on his mind at all.”

 

“What did he say to you? Did you ever speak with him, besides when you got to campus?”

 

I nod. I’ll never forget that surreal breakfast. “We stopped at a diner. It’s where we first met. I had to sit there and force food down my throat. I had to pretend to be happy he’d finally come to get me. He talked the entire time. I’m sure even the waitress thought he was nuts. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight.” I leave out the part where he came to the bathroom with me. I don’t want to relive that humiliation just yet.

 

“I guess that’s how I was able to catch up to you.”

 

“I’m glad he got hungry.” I smile, but it’s a shaky smile. Soon I’m crying. I lay my head on the side of Christopher’s bed, letting it all out. I feel his hand stroke my hair, so different from Lucas’s rough touch.

 

I cry for a long time. Once it’s all over, I feel better. Not one hundred percent, but better. After splashing my face, I return to Christopher’s bedside.

 

“Where is he now?”

 

I don’t have to ask who he means. “Jail. They have him on a bunch of different charges.”

 

Christopher closes his eyes, relieved. “You said something when I first woke up,” he reminds me. “About telling the police everything.”

 

I nod. “Yeah, every bit of it. I can’t believe you thought they would arrest you for saving my life.”

 

A shrug. “I guess it’s a habit, assuming I’ll be blamed for things.”

 

“Believe me. Nobody could blame you for this. You’re the only reason I’m here right now. Sincerely.”

 

“And when we get home?”

 

“What about it?” I’m confused.

 

He tells me everything he went through, just trying to get the cops to pay attention to my kidnapping. I can’t pretend I have any faith in our police force if they were so quick to blame Christopher for my disappearance without listening to what he tried to tell them.

 

I smile, though. “I can’t wait to get back to town and throw it all in their faces. How wrong they were about you. By the time I finish, they’ll be throwing a parade in your honor.”

 

He chuckles, then winces in pain. “Don’t make me laugh,” he groans.

 

“I wasn’t trying to. I mean it. They’re going to eat their words, every one of them.”

 

“Wow.” He looks me up and down. “Who’s this assertive girl in my hospital room? Where did she come from?”

 

“She was always assertive. Remember how we butted heads when we first met? How crazy I drove you?”

 

He smiles. “Yeah, I do.”

 

“It wasn’t just you, though you did bring it out in me. You have a talent for that. I can be just as pigheaded with others, too. They’re all on my shit list until they apologize. I’ll take out a full-page ad just so the whole town knows what you did. You took a bullet for me, Christopher. They need to know.”

 

He shrugs. “Maybe they don’t need to know. Maybe they’ll always believe what they want to believe. What difference does it make in my life?”

 

Here I was thinking he wanted to be with me. Maybe he’s not ready for that yet.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

My face must give away my emotions. “Nothing.”

 

“Don’t say that. What is it?”

 

It’s time to be brave. If I can face down Lucas, I can do this, too. “Maybe you’re not ready for this yet. If you’re not, I completely understand. After everything you told me, I get why you wouldn’t be in this place. It’s just…I love you.” I say it all in one big breath. Now it’s out there. I can’t take it back.

 

“I love you, too,” A huge smile breaks over his face.

 

“You do?”

 

“You can’t be seriously asking me this! Amanda, why would I go through all this for you if I didn’t love you? If anything, I didn’t think you loved me. I couldn’t imagine why you would.”

 

“But you did it all? Not knowing how I felt?”

 

“Of course I did. That wouldn’t change how I felt for you. Just because I didn’t know how you felt. That’s crazy.” He reaches for me, taking my hands in his. “I love you. I want to be with you. If you’ll have me.”

 

I can’t say anything else. I have to kiss him. The heart monitor goes crazy again.