CHAPTER FIVE

Almost a week later Chloe sat on the couch in Derek’s posh Manhattan apartment waiting for Jake to pick her up. They were headed up to Samantha and Trevor’s house. Samantha was making lunch and Chloe was looking forward to seeing Trevor. She hadn’t had a chance to see him yet since his discharge from the hospital. She asked them if she could bring Jake. Samantha was thrilled. She told Chloe that she loved Jake and looked forward to it.

Jake hadn’t let her out of his sight for the past week except for when she was at the secure apartment. His demeanor with her had gone from cold and suspicious to warmer and less suspicious. It was far from warm and fuzzy yet, but it was getting there. She found that ironic, since a few weeks ago if she had met him, she would have been the suspicious and untrusting one. They had been spending a lot of time together and Chloe got the impression that he was beginning to trust her more all the time. One day when he had dropped her off after the hospital and helped her carry up her groceries he found her looking around the room at all of the photos of Sarah and Derek.

“Do the pictures of him and Sarah bother you?”

Chloe looked around. She had honestly been so preoccupied with Derek that she had barely noticed much in the apartment at all. She looked at her sister’s smiling face. The sister she was cheated out of knowing and said, “No. I never got to know her; I would be sad if people who did know her kept her from me even now. Did you know her very well?”

Jake nodded. “She was one of those people that everyone loved. She was sweet and feminine and she just made everyone around her feel special. She made my brother happy and that was a big part of it for me. Dad says you do that for Derek now. It’s a big part of why I decided to give you a chance.”

Chloe nodded. “I understand,” she said. “But from what I know about Sarah, she and I are worlds apart in the personality department.”

He laughed, “I’ve noticed,” he said. It seemed to be another small turning point in their relationship.

Chloe had her journal out now and she was staring at the last entry she had made in it. It was the one she made right before she and Derek headed to New York to spend the weekend with her parents. That was only a little over a week ago. To Chloe, it felt like so much longer. So much had happened.

August 4th,

It’s been a while since I’ve written. It’s been a busy week. Last weekend started out as a celebration of family and ended tragically. Derek and Trevor were in an accident and I am certain that somehow Jesse caused it…more than that, I’m certain that he planned it. The police haven’t gotten back to us yet with the final report, but Derek’s father has been pushing them to investigate every possibility. It’s nice to have people with some kind of influence in your corner. I’m pretty sure that had I told them myself I thought Jesse was responsible without Kevin Stark’s back-up, I would have been met with a different reception.

I spoke to Samantha today and she told me that Trevor was healing nicely. I thank God every day that he only had minor injuries. I don’t know how I would have lived with the responsibility of Samantha losing another person close to her in her life. The two of them haven’t been up to see Derek yet. They’re waiting for him to get out of the ICU, I believe. Samantha didn’t come right out and say that, but she told me that they had both been left with the impossible task of shaking the image of what poor Sarah had looked like after the accident that caused her death. I believe they are reluctant to see Derek in a similar state and I can’t say that I blame them.

They call every day to see how he is and ask if I need anything. I’ve been well looked after by Kevin and Jake. I have to say that this being taken care of is so foreign to me that it’s taking me some time to get used to it. I also never realized what a huge responsibility it is to have people who love or care about you. Staying safe is suddenly no longer just about my survival…it is about the ones who love and care about me not being hurt as well. Samantha and Trevor have already been through the loss of both of their daughters. I think it’s only fair that I tell them what I am facing with Jesse. I’m on my way to do that today. I hate upsetting them. It’s going to make them worry, but when it finally all comes to a head…and it will, it won’t come as a complete shock.

I called Chantelle yesterday. She went to New Hampshire when she got out of the hospital to stay with her aunt while she heals. I’m not sure that she’ll ever come back to New York. She says that her wounds are mostly all healed but she doesn’t sound like her old, cheerful self anymore. Jesse did what he does best…he stole a piece of her when he beat her and left her for dead that night. I hope that someday there is something I can do for her to at least make up a little for what he took. She tells me that the pain and destruction that Jesse leaves in his path is not mine to own. I’ve been hearing that a lot lately and I’m trying to keep it in the forefront of my mind, but with people I care about hurting around me because of him, it’s difficult.

I have spent most of my week at the hospital with Derek. Jake picks me up every morning and we ride in together. After he has his visit, I go in for mine. I’ve started taking books I found in the apartment and reading to him. The staff at the hospital takes really good care of him, but I think they could see that the nervous energy was killing me so a few days ago they began teaching me how to help with his bed baths and dressing changes.

The physical therapist taught me how to do his range of motion exercises and while I do all of that, I talk to him. I don’t know if what they say is true and that a person with a coma can hear everything that is said…but just in case he can, I don’t want him just lying there with no stimulation. It helps me too. I feel like I’m still sharing things with him and it makes the time pass quicker. I want the time to pass because the doctor says that by Monday…which is only two days away, they will start trying to wake him up. I’m living for the day when I see those beautiful blue eyes open and look at me. Hopefully, soon I’ll have that entry to make.

Jake called up from the door when he got there. Chloe put her journal away and as she was walking out of the apartment, a picture of Sarah caught her eye. It seemed like her sister was looking at her in that one. Chloe smiled back at the photo and said, “Wish me luck.”

Chloe and Jake drove out to Albany in mostly silence. Jake seemed a little subdued, but Chloe didn’t want to pry into his thoughts. They weren’t that close yet. She just assumed he was thinking about Derek. He was what was always on her mind. Chloe did appreciate the time to get her thoughts in order and the moral support that Jake was providing by going with her. When they drove into the driveway of the home, Jake turned off the car and looked at her.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She forced a smile. “Yeah, I think so.”

“You want to know something?”

“What?”

“I’m proud of my little brother.”

Chloe was confused. She knew that. She smiled again and said, “Yeah, me too.”

“I mean, I’m proud of him for having what I would have to say is really good judgment when it comes to women. I’m impressed with you, Chloe. I’m sorry if I was kind of a dick to you at first. It’s a protective mechanism that you’re just automatically instilled with when you become an older sibling. You’ve been to hell and back more than once and you’ve come out the other side of it stronger and more capable than most people are on any given day. Derek is lucky to have you and I’m proud to call you a part of our family.”

Chloe had tears in her eyes. “Thank you. I think you have that wrong though. I’m the one who is lucky. I’m lucky to have him, and lucky to have you all.”

“Let’s leave it at we’re lucky to have each other,” he said.

Chloe looked up then and saw Samantha and Trevor waiting for them at the door. She smiled at Jake once more and they both stepped out of the car. She took about three steps and stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. She had that feeling of being watched again. She glanced around and saw nothing but the beautiful, green grounds and flowers that surrounded the house. Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe she was just feeling spooked because she hadn’t been back here since the night of the accident.

Maybe, Jesse was watching.

“You okay?” Jake asked when he realized she stopped. Chloe saw Samantha coming towards them. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her even more. She was sure when she left, Jesse would too. She had no doubts he had been following her all along.

“I’m good,” she said.

Suddenly she was in the arms of her mother and then her father. She couldn’t believe how good it felt considering she had never been an overly affectionate person.

“It’s so good to see you,” Trevor told her, “How are you holding up?”

Chloe laughed. “I keep telling you that’s my line. You were the one in an accident.”

He waved a palm at her. “I’m a tough old bird,” he said, and then he turned to Jake. “Jake, how about you? How are you and your father holding up?” Trevor’s eyes held genuine concern.

“We’re all hanging in there, Trevor,” Jake told him. “None of us have any doubt that Derek can pull through this though. He’s tough.”

Samantha hooked her arms through one of Jake’s and one of Chloe’s and walked them towards the house. “We don’t have any doubts either,” she said. “Now come on inside, both of you.

Once they were inside Samantha ushered them into the dining room where she had a spread of homemade soup and freshly baked bread, pasta salad, green salad, cold cuts and cheeses and all of the trimmings.

“Wow, you’ve out done yourself again, Samantha,” Chloe told her.

She smiled happily. “It’s only soup and sandwiches, Chloe. If I had known you were both coming sooner, I would have made you a decent meal.”

“Samantha, I think the last time I had a meal as decent as this was the last time I was here,” Jake said.

Chloe had been thinking the same thing…except for the last time, she had been here had been that awful day Derek and Trevor were in the accident.

Samantha smiled again. “Thank you, Jake. You always were a sweet-talker.” She finally took her seat at the table and as they ate, they talked about Derek.

“So Samantha tells me you said they’re going to try and wake Derek up this coming week?”

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Chloe said. “Barring any set-backs, that’s the plan.”

“The healing must be going well then?”

“Yes. They say his vital signs are all strong and the swelling has gone down considerably, so they’re really optimistic. His brain waves look good on the EEG too.”

“I’m so happy,” Samantha said. Chloe saw her shiver. “We’ve been so worried.”

“I’m happy too,” Trevor said. “It was so hard waking up in that hospital and remembering the accident and not being able to see Derek.”

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through that, Trevor,” Chloe said.

He reached over and took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s not your fault dear. I’m so sorry that you have to go through this so soon in your relationship.”

Chloe was about to begin telling them about Jesse and that it was her fault when Jake said, “Trevor, what exactly do you remember about the accident? If you don’t mind talking about it.”

“It comes to me in pieces. I remember seeing lights coming at us on our side of the road. Derek was calm and I think he was looking for a turn-out when all of a sudden he said that the brakes wouldn’t work. That was when I could tell that he was suddenly afraid. We were going downhill. There was nothing he could do. I looked down and he had his foot on the brake, holding it all the way down. It wasn’t even slowing us down. He even tried the emergency brake, but to no avail either.” Poor Trevor looked like just thinking about it again was causing him a lot of anxiety. Chloe hated seeing him relive it.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Chloe told him.

He reached over and patted her hand softly. He was so gentle with her, such a contrast to what she was used to.

“It’s okay. I spoke to the police about it yesterday and the insurance company the day before,” he said. “I want to make sure that everyone knows this wasn’t Derek’s fault. He was driving at or below the speed limit. There was something not right with the brakes. He did all he could to keep from hitting that other car and hurting someone else.”

Jake and Chloe looked at each other.

“What?” Samantha said, noticing the look.

“When we finish with lunch, there’s something I have to talk to you both about,” Chloe told her.

Samantha looked worried, but before she said anything else, Trevor said, “This soup is delicious.” Samantha smiled at her husband and the rest of the meal was spent in silence. Jake looked almost distraught. Chloe thought it was likely that he was re-living the terror his brother must have felt. That was what was in her heart too. How frightening it had to be for him and Trevor both. It made her sick to her stomach to imagine it. She couldn’t eat any more. She suddenly felt nauseous and that old familiar anger at Jesse was once again settling in her core. It burnt like hot coals in her chest and sometimes she thought herself capable of killing him with her bare hands for all he had done.

They went out on the back patio after lunch on Samantha’s suggestion, to talk. It was a beautiful day and Chloe hated ruining it by talking about Jesse, but it was necessary. She inhaled the air that smelled like Jasmine and let it out slowly. Then she said began speaking.

“Derek and I planned on talking to you about this over the weekend before the accident happened. It’s really hard for me to talk about, so forgive me in advance if I’m not saying it right.”

“Chloe you don’t have to feel obligated to tell us anything,” Trevor said.

She smiled at him. They were both such wonderful people that her needs were already more important to them than their own.

“I need to tell you this, Trevor. I hope that you will still feel the same about me after I do…”

“Oh now you’re just talking crazy,” Samantha said. “Chloe we have loved you since the day you were born and you weren’t even here with us. Nothing you can say will change that, even a little bit.”

Chloe felt the tears coming again. This was a whole new world to her. She took a deep breath and said, “When I graduated from high school I got a scholarship to N.Y.U. It was supposed to be my ticket out of the house of horrors I was living in. It paid for school, books, supplies, things like that. There wasn’t enough to pay for housing though, so I was living at home the first year and working and trying to save some money. During that time, I met a young man. He was a law student and he was handsome and personable and he pursued me as I had never been pursued before. He took me places and brought me flowers. He just did everything right. He told me he loved me and wanted me out of that house, so I moved in with him. The first six months were like a dream.”

Trevor and Samantha listened quietly. Their faces reflected the horror they felt as Chloe talked. About the time Chloe got to the part just before Jesse tried to kill her, Samantha had a silent tear rolling down her face. Chloe felt physical pain in her heart for making her mother cry. Trevor’s face quickly shifted from pain to naked rage when Chloe began describing the night that had almost ended her life. Jake sat silently as well. Chloe couldn’t see his face because he sat behind her, but she could hear the sound of him breathing more quickly the more she talked. Jake knew the basics of what happened between her and Jesse, but this was the first time that he had heard the whole story.

“He was madder than I had ever seen him that night. He was really drunk and the beating was different even more violent than usual. When he started telling me that he was going to kill me, I could see in his eyes that it wasn’t just a scare tactic. He had told me that before, but that night he actually planned on killing me. I never really figured out how he thought he was going to get away with it. Maybe he was just too far gone in his head at that point to care, or maybe he had a plan for that too. The fact that he was so drunk may have played a factor in me still being alive. His motor skills were greatly affected and at one point when he had a hold of my hair…”

Samantha winced. Chloe once again felt like she had been kicked in the stomach. “He was trying to reach for a knife and he wasn’t able to hold onto my hair as tightly. I pulled out of his grasp and I ran into the bathroom. I had my phone in my pocket. I called my friend Chantelle and asked her to call the police. Jesse broke the door open and pulled me out. He grabbed the knife and as we were struggling, I picked up a nail file and stabbed him in the arm with it. All that did was enrage him further. He was crazy strong when he was angry. That's when he cut me with the knife.”

That was when Jake spoke up. “He did more than cut her. I’ve seen the trial transcripts.” Chloe looked at him curiously. He hadn’t told her that he had looked at the transcripts. “He also stabbed her and made that cut with every intention of killing her. If the police hadn’t gotten there when they did, she would be dead.”

Chloe looked at the tortured faces of her parents and the ache in her chest began to throb. They were such a shining example of what parents were supposed to be and it was still very surreal to her. She hated being the source of their heartache. It was as if a black mist settled down over them all and the bright day was suddenly dark and foreboding.

No one said anything for several minutes and then suddenly Samantha got up and went to Chloe. She knelt down next to the chair where Chloe sat and took her into her arms without saying a word. They just sat there like that for a long time, holding each other. Chloe was the first to pull away. She reached out and wiped a tear off of her mother’s face.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“Please don’t be sorry. That makes it so much worse. The thought of you feeling like you have to apologize for that—”

“Monster,” Trevor finished for her.

“Thank you for being so understanding and compassionate about everything. There’s more though.” This was the part that Chloe hated to admit…that inadvertently she was responsible for the accident.

Trevor looked like he might be sick. Chloe started thinking that maybe it was too much for them to absorb all at once, but Samantha pulled back and said, “Go on, honey.”

She glanced at Jake again. He looked almost as nauseated as Trevor did. “Jesse got two years in prison…”

“For attempted murder? What the hell kind of justice is that?” Trevor’s voice rose in tempo and he slammed his hand down on the table next to him.

Jake took that one. “Jesse’s last name is Donovan.”

Trevor didn’t look like he got it at first, but all of a sudden the realization crossed his face. “Oh my God! Is he Vince Donovan’s son? The District Attorney of New York city?”

“Yes.”

Trevor’s rage turned into something even more dangerous looking as he stood up out of his seat. He began pacing the room with his fists opening and closing and the vein in his neck pulsing visibly. “So because he is the son of the D.A. he was given a lighter sentence? How long ago was this?”

“He was sentenced two years ago,” Chloe said. “He got out last month.”

“Oh my God!” Samantha covered her mouth with her hand. She was beginning to piece it together at least some of it. “Has he bothered you, Chloe?”

“He is stalking her,” Jake said, not waiting for Chloe to answer. “That’s why she’s never alone. Derek was having security watch her around the clock before the accident— everywhere except when they came here. He felt safe here but what Chloe is trying to tell you and having a hard time doing is that we think he may be responsible for tampering with Derek’s car.”

Silence fell across the room and all Chloe could hear was the ticking of the grandfather clock and the rush of blood through her own ears. Trevor suddenly turned towards Chloe and said, “You thought that we would blame you for this?”

“I feel so bad for bringing him into your lives…all of your lives,” she said. She felt her own tears roll down her cheeks now. She hated bringing so much drama into the lives of these wonderful people.

Trevor came over and took her hands. He lifted her up and pulled her into his warm chest. She could feel the beat of his heart and the steady rise and fall of his breath against the side of her face. She felt so close to him already. There really must be some kind of magnetic draw when it came to genetics. He lifted his hand and stroked it down her hair and said, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that no one ever hurts you again.”