Translation of Love - By Alice Montalvo-Tribue Page 0,85
my ground. I won’t give him the satisfaction of running away. “What? You think you’re better than me? Too good to go slumming with someone like me now, Elle? Now that you’ve had lover boy? Well, we saw how that ended, huh? You’ll never be good enough for someone like that. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”
“You’re the one who’ll never be good enough for me. You’re right about one thing, though. I did go slumming when I was with you. I scraped the bottom of the barrel and you nearly destroyed my life.”
The sheer force of his hand slapping me across the face sends me crashing down to the ground. I hold my cheek and apply pressure, trying to minimize the stinging sensation. “Old habits die hard, huh Brian?” I don’t know why I can’t just shut my mouth. I’m only making it worse for myself but I’m not gonna let him hurt me and keep my mouth shut.
“Oh, what? A few months with the rich and famous and you’re big and tough now? Or better yet, you think he’s gonna come save you? Honey, right now your lover boy is shacked up with a hotter piece of ass. He’s not coming for you.”
“Maybe not,” I say, picking myself up off the floor. “But you’ll never have me. I’d rather be alone forever than to ever go back to you.”
He grabs me by the collar of my shirt. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to like that?” There’s nothing but venom in his voice as his fist connects with my face. I hit the ground hard, it takes me a minute to recover but I try to crawl away, remembering my phone is in my purse, not too far away. I don’t get very far before he attacks again, pulling me by my hair and tossing me on my back. I can hear him cursing at me as he starts to kick me over and over again. The pain is gone, my body is just numb. I roll onto my stomach and try to get on all fours but he kicks me again. I hear a loud thud as my head hits the floor, then darkness.
My eyes flutter open. There are bright lights above me and I have to shut my eyes to allow them to adjust to the brightness of the room. My whole body is sore and I’m not sure if I can move even if I tried. I open my eyes again, trying to assess the situation. I hear a constant beeping sound coming from behind my bed. Slowly, I turn my neck and see that it’s a heart rate monitor. There’s a needle in my arm, that’s hooked up to an IV. I’m in a hospital room, but I don’t know how I got here. The last thing I remember is arguing with Brian. It was just like the last time. He was angry at me because I refused to get back together with him. The next thing I knew, he was hitting and kicking me. I tried to get away but I couldn’t and now I’m here. I attempt movement but a sharp pain slices through me. I shut my eyes tight and try to breathe through the pain. I turn my head to the right and gasp when I see Victor sitting in a chair with his head down, resting on his arms on my hospital bed. How did he get here? Why is he even here? Seeing him now hurts more than the bruises all over my body. My first thought is to get him the hell out of here. The sooner I get rid of him, the sooner I can move on with my life and try to forget that the last few months ever happened.
I shove Victor’s shoulder. My touch startles him and his head shoots up. His eyes are wide, he looks surprised to see me. I can tell he’s been here a while. His eyes are bloodshot and he looks disheveled. Seeing me awake brings a genuine smile to his face. It makes my heart skip a beat. I hate that I can’t just turn off my emotions.
“Hey, Babe, how are you feeling?” he asks, cautiously.
“Like I just got the shit beat out of me.” He flinches at my words. “What are you even doing here?” I try to sound annoyed, like his mere presence is nothing but an inconvenience.