Ethan

 

 

 

 

I PULL UP TO THE CURB AND IT takes me a few minutes to park the car. I get out and make my way to the trunk, grabbing multiple bags from the shopping spree I went overboard on today.

I picked out more than one outfit for the wedding and I got Cody just as many because of everything I saw that I wanted. I then imagined him in all the outfits, which then went to me imagining him taking all of them off, which led to us having sex.

So, in the end, I had to buy a lot of stuff.

I lean against the railing as I make my way up the stairs to our apartment. I’m guessing something happened with Nathan and that’s why he wants to talk to me so bad, but if it had been too serious, he would have called me.

I open the door and gently kick it open as I make my way in and set the bags down on the floor. I instantly look up as I hear a sound that seems like a muffled scream towards the living room and freeze.

Standing in front of me is Cody. He’s sitting in a chair and his hands are taped behind it with his legs taped at the bottom. I see little spots of blood on the floor as I look down and slowly make my way over to him. His mouth is taped shut as I make my way in front of him and his faced is bruised.

I instantly drop down to my knees and start undoing the tape when I hear the sliding-glass door to the balcony open up behind me. Before I can turn, a set of arms wraps around my neck and jerk me back.

“Miss me?” I hear him say and my heart starts racing as I realize that it’s Rick.

I attempt to get out of his grip, but he throws me to the side and my head slams against the sliding-glass door. My vision blurs as I try to get onto my knees, but he kicks me in the stomach and I fall onto my back.

“You broke my heart when you left me, Ethan,” he says, sitting down on the edge of the couch. “I was going to propose and give you everything you would ever need. Then one day, I come home and you’re just gone.” He snaps his fingers and says, “Just like that.”

I wrap my hand around my stomach as I try to catch my breath and lean on my knees. He practically jumps off the couch and kicks me again, sending me into the entertainment center. My head slams into a shelf and I wrap my hands around it as I morph myself into a ball.

“You were clever, too,” he says. “You changed everything except your name and, for awhile, I really didn’t think I was going to find you. I have a friend that works at one of the places you did some work for; this was during the summer. So, from there, I got the office number to where you work and made friends with a girl there, who I think is fired now, and then I eventually got your info and found out where you lived. I drove to your apartment one night and you were walking with this one over here. A couple of weeks later, I texted you and then I saw you at the restaurant with him and another guy. I decided to fuck with your boyfriend a little bit here. I didn’t think the fake interview thing would work as well as it did, but he wasn’t very smart.”

I unwrap myself and try to focus as the realization that I did see him that night starts to sink in and that I wasn’t crazy.

“You’re pathetic,” I say, leaning against the wall beside the entertainment center.

“No,” he says, getting up again and slowly walking over towards me, “you are. You were nothing when you were with me and you’re nothing now, Ethan. I wasted so many years on you, only to be betrayed in the end. You ruined everything we had and all of our plans. I would’ve given you the world, Ethan.”

“You mean more bruises and broken bones? You’re psychotic, Rick.”

He grabs me by the throat and drags me up the wall, bringing his face directly to mine.

“You’re going to pay for this, Ethan,” he says. He punches me in the stomach and throws me into the entertainment center again. I fall back down and think to myself, this is it. This is where I die. I look up as Rick makes his way over to Cody.

“Stop!” I plead. “You can do whatever you want to me, but don’t hurt him anymore.”

Rick pulls a knife out of his pocket and smiles as he runs it along Cody’s shoulder. Tears are falling from Cody’s eyes as Rick runs it up his neck and rests his hand on Cody’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to hurt him anymore, Ethan,” he says, bringing the knife up to Cody’s neck and poking into the skin. A small trail of blood runs down his neck as Cody closes his eyes and I attempt to crawl forward. “Just remember, Ethan, you did this.”

“No!” I yell as Rick edges his arm back. I close my eyes as tears start to flood my eyes, but I open them back open when I hear Rick yell.

I arch my head up and see Nathan’s hand wrapped around Rick’s neck. The knife falls out of Rick’s hand as Nathan slams his hand into the wall of the kitchen. Nathan grabs Rick’s head and slams it into the picture hanging up in the kitchen, and I crawl towards Cody’s feet. I get out of the way just in time as Nathan and Rick come into the living room and Rick slams Nathan into the entertainment center.

Nathan punches Rick directly in the nose and Rick leans his head back as blood starts to flow from it. His motions speed up as he starts to fall back outside towards the balcony. Nathan follows him out and punches him again as Rick pushes him back off.

I find the strength to make it to my knees and onto my feet. Rick has Nathan leaned up against the side of the railing and, before I can think, I storm out onto the balcony and shove into Rick. I gasp as Nathan falls down onto the floor and Rick goes flying over the balcony.

I hear a smack as I look over the railing and see Rick lying face down on the concrete below. Blood starts to protrude from his head, quickly flooding his whole body and the concrete with blood.

I collapse onto the floor and wrap my hands around my head as I realize what just happened.

I look up at Nathan, his eyes wide, and he says, “You OK?”

I nod my head from side to side and look into the apartment. My eyes dart to Cody who is still tied up and I start crying again. I instantly get off the floor and make my way towards him. I undo the tape around his mouth and then undo the tape that is holding his hands together.

He wraps his hands around me and sticks his hands in my hair as I fall into his shoulder and try to focus on what just happened.

 

***

 

 “Are you guys OK?” Carrie says, as she makes her way into our room at the hospital.

“No,” Cody says. He tightens his grip on my shoulder and lays his head on top of mine as I look emotionless down at the floor. “Have you seen my brother?”

“He’s fine,” she says. “He’s in the next room over.” She makes her way over to us and bends down close. “There are some cops outside. They want to talk to you two as soon as they can.”

“Okay,” Cody says. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back,” she says. “Going to go check on Nathan.”

I look up as she makes her way out of the room and watch as two cops walk into the room. One of them I recognize as a friend of Hadley’s and I quickly look back down at the floor as they make their way deeper into the room.

“How are you two doing?” the woman says.

“We’ve been better,” Cody says.

“We talked to the guy in the next room,” the guy next to her, that I don’t know, says. “He said he was your brother?”

“Mine,” Cody says, “yeah.”

“He told us he walked in and saw that the guy had a knife close to your throat. He looked down at the floor and saw him.” He points to me and continues. “Then he fought him out towards the balcony where he accidently fell over. He said he punched him in the nose and that’s when he fell backwards over the railing.”

“Is he going to be convicted of anything?”

“We still have some stuff to look into as far as what happened,” the woman says. She looks over at me and smiles as she says, “But as of right now, there’s no doubt we’re ruling it as an accident.”

“Besides,” the man says, “this guy who fell, he has multiple warrants out for his arrest and he’s wanted for a lot of stuff in Wisconsin, too.”

I close my eyes as I think about all of the things that Rick has probably done since I left him, and all of the people that he has probably hurt because of me. I start crying again and lean my face into Cody’s shoulder.

“We’ll leave you guys alone,” the woman says. “We’ll let you know if there’s anything else we need from you.”

“It’s OK,” Cody says, running his fingers through my hair. “Nothing can hurt you anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “This is all my fault. You’re hurt because of me. You’re brother is—“

“Ethan,” he says, “it’s over. Stop saying you’re sorry. You didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s OK. We’re all OK and that’s what matters.”

“Jesus,” I hear Hadley say as I look over to the doorway.

I lean off of Cody and make my way onto my feet as I jump towards her and fall into her arms.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” she says, tears running down her eyes. Her voice cracks as she starts to cry and she says, “It’s over now. You guys can stay with me until they’re done investigating the apartment.”

“I’m gonna go check on my brother,” Cody says. I hear the bed creek as he makes his way towards us and kisses me on top of my head.

“Hey,” Hadley says, letting go of me and looking me in the eyes, “you’re alright. Everything’s going to be OK.”

 

***

 

Rick’s death was ruled as an accident, but it didn’t matter. I know what really happened and it’s going to take me awhile to get over it. I don’t feel guilty for being the reason he died, but the shock that I killed someone hasn’t worn off yet.

We, finally, are allowed back into the apartment and I stand frozen in the kitchen when we make our way back. I look at the floor where the bloodstains still sit and I see the replacement glass for the door that was busted.

“What’s wrong?” Cody says, setting our bags down beside me.

“Nothing,” I say. “I just want to get this all cleaned and try to forget about it.”

I make my way out onto the balcony and look over the railing. There’s no sign of where Rick fell, but I can still picture it as I close my eyes and lean my head back. I look up at the sky as Cody wraps his hands around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder.

“I’ll get there,” I say.

“I know,” he says. “I have all the time in the world to help you heal.”

“What about you?” I say, turning around and looking up at him. “I was just kicked around. You’re the one that got the shit beat out of you and almost had your throat slit.”

“But,” he says, “I’m OK. That’s all that matters.”

“I don’t know how you can be so calm,” I say.

“I have to be,” he says, smiling. “We can’t both be a mess. It wouldn’t be very productive.”

“Why are you so amazing?” I ask him. “From the day that I met you, you’ve been exactly what I always thought I never deserved in my life.”

“It’s not hard to love you,” he says. “It was the easiest thing I ever did. I knew it from the moment you sat down in the hospital that day; I knew that you were someone worth caring for. Granted, I never expected for things like this to happen, but I’m, almost glad it did. You’ve let me in and granted me the ability to love someone more than I ever knew was possible.”

My mouth hangs open as I try to process how amazing the man standing in front of me is. I try to find the words, but they don’t come. I wrap my hands around his face and pull him into me as I kiss him as deeply as I can.

I slowly pull away as I feel the first snow of the winter drop onto my cheek.

“It’s beautiful,” Cody says, as I look up into the sky and watch the snow start to hammer down.

“You know what I just realized?”

“What?” he says, smiling.

“Christmas is in a few days.”

“Our first Christmas together,” he says.

“You know what else I just realized?”

“What?” he says, laughing.

“Elliot and Will’s wedding is going to be cold as fuck and probably have snow on the ground.”