Rescue Me(48)

Tears start to stream down my face and I turn my face away from Adam. I can’t even conceive what I must look like right now. I hate for him to see me this way.

“Don’t look away from me, Erin. I need to look into your stunning blue eyes.”

His fingers graze across my face ever so lightly and when I turn and look at him, I don’t see pity, I see nothing but pure raw and emotional love looking back at me.

“I love you so much, Erin. Please stay with me. You don’t have to be strong anymore, baby. If you need to cry and let it all out or if you feel like you need space to think, I will give you anything you want. But please don’t shut me out. Together you and I can tough anything out because that is how strong I believe our love is.”

I feel as if my world is crashing down right now, but this man sitting next to me has a way of making me believe in myself and in our love. So I cry. Even though I feel like a part of me is dying inside, I cry and he lets me.

Not much later, the doctor knocks and walks into the room. He is an older man with a thick head of gray hair and he is wearing an old pair of wire-rimmed glasses. On any other given day I would probably laugh at those glasses because they remind me so much of the ones that my grandpa used to wear.

“Hi, Erin. I’m Dr. Hutchins,” he says gravely.

He grabs my chart from the end of the bed then pulls up a chair alongside me and takes a seat.

“Your vitals all look great. Julie says that you’re in some pain?”

“I am,” I answer simply.

“First of all, let me tell you that you do not have any internal injuries or any broken bones. May I check out some of these external injuries you have here?” he asks as he stands up and puts the chart down on the chair. I nod.

“I know this is going to hurt a little Erin, but I need to do this,” he says politely as he softly feels around on the left side of my face where all the bruising seems to be. “Let me take a look at your neck too and then we can talk a little more, okay?”

As he feels all along my neck I hear Adam’s breathing pick up and when I look up at him he is staring at my neck. Oh, God. What do I look like?

Suddenly, I recoil into the bed as the doctor’s hands slip around to the sides of my neck. He notices and quickly stops and a look of understanding passes between the two of us.

“Sorry,” I say.

“Erin, you have nothing to be sorry for, my dear. That was a perfectly common reaction.”

Even though I love this doctor’s bedside manner, I am still nervous and scared about this entire situation. I reach up and grab Adam’s hand. And when he squeezes it back I turn my gaze back to the doctor.

“You’re going to be in some pain for several days, and it is going to take some time for all of the bruising to heal. It appears to me you’re going to be in very good hands, so I am going to keep you here tonight for observation and if everything goes as I think it will, I will release you in the morning. Sound okay?”

“Yes, sir.” I whisper.

“Your voice will be back to normal in no time, too. Just take it easy at home and try not to overdo it.”

I nod.

“There is one more thing I would like to talk to you about if you’re up for it. It will only take a minute and then I will have Julie come in and give you something for your pain and to help you sleep.”

“Okay.”

“You’re a survivor, Erin, and I believe you know this. I also want you to know that unfortunately there are many women who have walked in your shoes and there are programs out there for domestic abuse survivors. I am going to leave some pamphlets with your discharge papers tomorrow and I encourage you to take advantage of one or all of them.”

I squeeze Adam’s hand and close my eyes to try to keep the tears that want to fall at bay. When the doctor gets up to leave he lightly shakes Adam’s hand then stands at the foot of my bed, gently placing his hands onto my feet as if to comfort me.

“Always remember, Erin. You survived,” he says before exiting the room just as the nurse comes bustling back in.

“I am not even going to tell you to leave Mr. Payne because I know you’re not going to, but I am going to ask you to let her rest,” Julie tells Adam as she inserts the pain medication into my IV.

“I appreciate that, Julie.” Adam tempts to sweet talk her.

“Yeah, I bet you do,” she says. “Take care of yourself, dear.”

Julie attempts to hide her smile as she starts towards the door. After she leaves, I turn toward Adam as the pain meds start to kick in. As I close my eyes, I feel him slip in bed next to me... or at least I dream that he does.





Chapter Seventeen