CHAPTER 14

Liam

I watched the end of a hockey game as I waited for Elena to text me that she was home. I didn’t want her to leave tonight and regret formed in my stomach that we couldn’t be a real couple right yet.

That made me wonder if we ever could be without the stigma of how we met in the first place. Would people look at Elena as though she was some whore that slept with her teacher?

I glanced at the TV to see that a half hour had passed by and frowned. It never took her this long late at night, and I reached for my phone beside me to send her a text. I waited a couple of minutes and dread filled me as my phone sat silently in my hand. Where the fuck is she?

I called, and the phone went to voice mail immediately. Something was wrong. I ran a hand through my hair and wondered momentarily if Elena was done with me. Maybe our talk had brought her down, and she didn’t want to do this anymore. I called her again, panic filling me as it did the same thing and went to voice mail.

I stood and slid my phone into my pocket, grabbing my keys as I looked around the room. I was going to see if she broke down since I knew her address well enough to map it out. I was just wearing some old jeans and a worn shirt, so I grabbed a sweatshirt and headed out to my car, the knot in my stomach growing and tightening.

The streets were fairly empty as I drove, following the robotic voice guiding me as I looked all around. I saw a few cop cars on one corner, but nothing else and I finally pulled up to her address.

Her car was not there. I looked around the questionable area to see if she might have parked somewhere further away, a thought that I hated. There was a bar a couple of short blocks away as well as a liquor store and a corner store. I noticed the other apartments and knew that I wanted her out of this place.

If only I could find her.

I drove around the corner and parked in front of her building, trying to pinpoint which place was hers. The windows were dark in every part of the building, and I hit my steering wheel angrily.

I didn’t know another number to find her at. I didn’t have any of her friend’s numbers because of our stupid, fucking secret relationship and I pressed my hand to my throbbing temple. Fuck. I had never been this worried before, and I considered driving around to every hospital in the area to see if she was there. I had no legal ties to Elena, and they might not tell me shit.

I drove around a little bit longer, but by now, it had been at least an hour. I knew that I couldn’t go home and just sit there alone, but what choice did I have? I looked at the clock in my car to see that it was coming up on two am and headed away from the house and across town. I felt myself tensing and the worry flooding me as I parked in front of Marie’s house and walked up the steps.

I only saw her car there, so it was safe to assume she was alone. I didn’t care if she wasn’t. I just wanted to be somewhere with someone else over my place that still smelled like Elena. I wasn’t going to wake my sister up or anything, not yet. I unlocked the front door and hit the code for the alarm system quickly before securing the house again. I walked into the living room to the kitchen where I knew she had beer in the fridge, popping one open and taking a long swig.

My quiet phone filled the air with its lack of noise as I paced and looked out of the window. I was getting frantic by this point, my mind racing with possibilities. Had Elena gone to a friend’s house instead of home, perhaps Ginger’s place?

I finished that beer and started on another as I thought about what I could do. I could find Ginger’s information at the University website as an instructor, but I couldn’t logically call her this time of night, nor for the reason that I was doing so.

Fucking rules.

I picked up my phone and got the number of the nearest hospital before calling. I was going to call every single one in the city if I had to, and find Elena. I wasn’t sure what happened, but if it were something like an accident, then she would be in an ER somewhere. That was assuming she’d made it through whatever happened to her.

I swallowed thickly. The idea of anything happening to Elena was more than I could deal with and nausea filled my stomach. I called the first one and was told that there was nobody by that name there before I tried the next one. I did get a confirmation that Elena was at Kindred Hospital but they wouldn’t give me any more information over the phone.

I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse. I knew where she was, but I couldn’t exactly go down there and pace the waiting room for information. How would I even know that she was there to begin with? I was her teacher and didn’t see her apart from class. In that context, I wouldn’t know that anything happened until the following week when she didn’t make it to class, if at all. If the injuries were severe enough, Elena might not come back to school.

I dropped my phone on the couch and pressed my hands to my face. I didn’t know what the fuck I should do now.

I was brought to reality when someone pressed my shoulder, making me blink as the dim light of morning filled the small living room. “Liam? What are you doing here?” Marie’s soft voice filled the air, and I ran a hand through my hair as the nightmare of last night played back through my head. “Liam?”

I reached for my phone, finding it dead beside me. “Where’s your charger?” I asked as she tilted her head worriedly at me. “Marie. Where the hell is it?”

Her eyes narrowed as she pointed towards the kitchen. “There’s one in there.” I stumbled when I tried to stand up, and she sighed. “Let me plug it in for you since I’m going to make coffee anyway.” I gave her the phone and watched as she headed into the kitchen before I rested my head in my hands. Coffee might straighten me out and get my mind thinking clearly.

I yawned and stood stiffly in my jeans, realizing that I was only wearing a wife beater under my sweatshirt. I fixed the zipper and headed into the kitchen to join Marie and fill her in. I told her how Elena left last night, late. I explained how I drove to her apartment and didn’t find her car there and that all I knew was that she was in the hospital.

Marie sipped her coffee with concern on her face as she listened to me. “Does she have family here?”

“I don’t know. I met a friend of hers one night that goes to school with Elena, but I only know her first name.” I stirred the coffee again, watching the cream mix with the liquid.

“What hospital?” She pressed, and I told her. “I have a friend that works there. She’s in labor and delivery, but she might be able to tell me something.” The look on her face was tragic. “You can’t go there at all.”

“I don’t need your shit right now,” I growled at her as she gasped. The look on her face was a mixture of fear and anger, and I blinked. “I’m sorry. I am just stressed out to hell. I don’t know what happened to her.”

“I know, Liam. Let me text Robin and see if she can tell me anything, okay?” The shock in her eyes said that she was surprised at my worry. She took another sip of coffee, and I offered to get her some of her favorite donuts while she did that to make up for my shitty mood. She smiled weakly, and I grabbed my keys before heading out to my car. It was the least that I could do, but I took a bit of extra time to drive past Elena’s apartment again out of curiosity.

Her car wasn’t there, and I felt a headache begin at my temples. I grabbed a bag of pastries for Marie at the bakery a few blocks away and made my way back to the house. I wanted to go to the hospital and demand that they tell me how Elena is doing but that shit wouldn’t get me anywhere.

Marie was sitting at the small kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee, staring outside. I checked my phone, turning it on to stare at the screen as it warmed up. “I found out that she was in a car accident. She is still there, but Robin hasn’t had a chance to pop in and see her. It’s been busy in delivery.”

“She’s going to see her?” I asked dumbly as I walked the bag over to Marie. I set it down with my coffee and joined her. Marie selected something chocolate from the bag, nibbling on it as she looked curiously at me.

“Robin is going to tell her to call you as soon as she can.” Her eyes were soft as I nodded slowly. “You’re messed up about this, Liam. This is serious, isn’t it?”

“We talked about letting the semester end before taking too many chances. She hasn’t been spending the night for fear of being caught,” I told her in a rough voice. That explained why the cashier at the shop gave me such a weird look. I’d been in zombie mode. “If I let her stay, she wouldn’t be in the hospital.”

“Liam, please don’t think like that. This is just a terrible accident.” Marie reached her hand across the table and held mine. “She’ll be okay.”

“I feel so helpless. I haven’t felt this way since Mom…” My voice broke as I pushed away the memories of my gaunt mother dying in her bed. “I can’t do it again.”

“Mom did everything that she could to fight the cancer. It was just too advanced, Liam. Please don’t blame yourself.” Marie soothed me as I felt the raw images wash over me. I’d held them in since Mom’s death; focused on work, friends, women, and anything else that might distract me.

Meeting Elena opened up emotions that I wanted to forget that I had. This accident opened pain that I didn’t want to revisit.

“It’s hard. I just wanted to fix everything for Mom. I want to fix everything for Elena. This is so hard after shutting myself down for these last few years.” I took a long sip of coffee and stared out of the window into the backyard. Mom loved it back there and was always planting new flowers or pulling weeds. It was like a sanctuary back there when she lived here, and while Marie tried to keep it going, she was busy with her life. My sister had her own way of distracting herself, and I knew that working was the main way.

We all had our demons, and I looked into Marie’s eyes, seeing her pain.

I ended up eating a couple of the pastries as I sipped coffee, jittery and worried. The minutes seemed like hours, and I remembered why I told myself to never get involved with a woman.

Marie’s phone chimed, and she reached for it as I stilled. Her brows furrowed as she read the message and I watched her bite her lip. “Robin said that she saw her. Elena has a few injuries, and she’ll be at the hospital for a few more days to be looked over. She is going to be okay, though. Robin told her to call you.”

I turned my head and stared at my phone. It hadn’t sounded at all, and I wondered when Robin saw her. Was Elena busy with doctors and nurses and just too busy to call? Was she done with me? “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”

“At least we know that she’ll be all right,” Marie assured me with a small smile. “She’ll call you. She might be in a lot of pain or tired…or something.”