The nurse had questioned me about Rock. They knew someone had done this to me, and their immediate response was to question the boyfriend. But I had sworn to them it wasn’t him. He had saved me.
The fact that he didn’t have a scratch on him helped.
Then they had started asking me who had done it. I had told them I’d fallen down the stairs outside my house and landed on a brick. It was the best I had been able to come up with. They didn’t believe me. I kept swearing that that was what had happened, and I could see they were frustrated but they eventually backed off.
The nurse walked into the room with a kind smile. “We can’t get your mother on the phone. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here until we can get her to sign the paperwork to release you. Do you know where she may be?”
Yes, at a bar somewhere. “No. My younger brother was staying the night at a friend’s, and Mom went out on a date. Since my plan was to stay home tonight, she wouldn’t think there would be any sort of emergency.”
The nurse still didn’t seem to be buying it, but she nodded. “Okay. Well, we have two very anxious boys outside waiting on you. Is it okay if I let them inside? One is your brother. I think the guy who brought you called him and he got a ride here.”
Oh crap. What had Krit been saying in the waiting room for everyone to hear?
“Sure, yeah,” I replied, with a smile I didn’t feel.
She looked at me one last time with sadness in her eyes. I didn’t need her to help me. She’d ruin everything. I wasn’t being separated from Krit. I had less than two years before I was eighteen. I could save us both then.
Krit walked in first, with relief and worry both etched on his face. “You were walking! Seriously, Trisha. Walking? What if Rock hadn’t driven by? You could have died out there. God! I’m never trusting you again. I won’t leave next time.”
“I couldn’t let anyone know about this,” I whispered, glancing behind him to see that it was Rock who was standing just inside the door, not the nurse.
Krit ran his hand through his shaggy hair, which he was refusing to cut. “You scare the shit out of me. I hate this. I hate living there. I hate her. I wish she wasn’t my mother.”
I hated seeing him like this. Knowing he hadn’t been given a chance to be a kid. He had been trying to protect me all his life, even though it was really me who was protecting him. Even when we were little, he had held my hand after Fandora had beaten me, and promised he would keep me safe and that everything would be okay. I loved him. He was the only person I had ever loved and who had ever loved me. I would do anything for him. Didn’t he get that?
“It won’t happen again. I’m not going to let it.” Rock’s voice filled the room, with a determination I almost believed.
Krit glanced back at him. “You can’t stop it. This shit has been happening all our lives.”
Rock walked over to stand at the foot of my bed. He kept his gaze locked on me. “Yeah, I can. Even if you don’t want me to, I’m going to protect you, Trisha. I don’t care what excuses you throw at me. I don’t care if you ignore me. I will be there every damn time you need me.”
Krit let out a hard laugh. “That’s bullshit. You got a football career ahead of you. Don’t make her promises you can’t keep.”
I was worried Krit was being too hard on Rock. I agreed with Krit, but he didn’t have to throw angry words at Rock for trying to be nice.
“I’ll gain your trust,” Rock said. “Both of you.”
Krit scowled, but behind his anger I could see the little boy who had hope. He wanted to trust in someone. He trusted me, but he needed more. We both did.
“What you did tonight was enough. Thank you,” I told him before Krit could say any more.
Rock held my gaze, and he looked like he was about to say something when a commotion outside the door stopped him. I recognized the voice immediately.
Rock
“Where are they? Did she hurt my baby?” a woman asked in a high-pitched voice as if she were panicked. “She always hurts him. I can’t control her,” she continued.
“No f**king way,” Krit growled as he stalked past me toward the door.
He looked furious. I glanced back at Trisha. I didn’t know if I should go after him.
“It’s her. Our mother,” she said softly.
“There’s my baby! Are you okay? Did she hurt you again? Did y’all check him out?!”
Was this woman serious?
“That’s enough, Mom. Trisha is beat to shit in there. No one believes your farce. She’s too damn nice to hurt anyone. Even you,” Krit roared over his mother’s voice.