"I know you have to. I wouldn't respect you if you didn't."
He wouldn't respect me if he knew the real me.
"But Tabitha, I can't get you out of my mind. I'm transfixed by you. I can't stop thinking about you, no matter what I do. No matter how far I walk or how hard I try not to, all I do is hear you in my head. It's like you've imprinted on me, and I can't erase you. I don't even want to. I just want you. All of you."
This.
This is what I've been waiting my whole life to hear. Someone who wants me for me and that's it.
This time, it's my turn to bring my mouth to his. I find it easily, and his eagerness matches my own. Our bodies press together, hungry for each other. Starved from being apart so long. A longing I didn't know I was capable of possessing rises up. If he doesn't take me right here, right now, I may die.
That tingling and zipping sensation spreads everywhere, including to my legs. Except what I'm feelingthereisn't exactly what's going on with my lower limbs.
"Ouch."Ouch ouch ouch. What in the hell? I slap at the stinging just below my knee. And on my ankle. And my other foot. And my thigh. I slap at my leg. Henderson's doing the same.
"Bloody mozzies. We must be near some water. This is almost as bad as in Australia. Nasty bloodsuckers." Henderson's waving his arms, trying to dissipate the swarm that's descending upon us. "Let's go." He takes my hand and pulls me along, walking fast at first before breaking into a jog. While I enjoy a good run as much as the next person, my Tory Burch sandals are not up for the task.
"Can we slow down? I'm not sure we can outrun a cloud of vicious mosquitoes anyway."
He slows his pace, not letting go of me.
"Let's head back to my place," I suggest.
"There's lots of people at your place."
"There's lots of rooms there too. The house is like over five-thousand square feet for just Maria, Paisley, and me. Then, there's a carriage house. I'm sure we can find a nook in which to hide away."
He laughs. "I guess considering my room is a single dormer with a twin bed, you win."
But as we approach the long driveway leading up to my rental house, we're greeted by flashing red lights breaking up the dark summer night.
My first thought is Paisley. Shoes be damned, I break out in a run to close the distance between the ambulance and me. I reach the back of the vehicle to see Jasmine sitting there, holding her hand amidst a pile of bloody bandages. My knees go weak with relief that it's not my daughter, but I know I won't be satisfied until I see her with my own eyes.
I continue running into the house and up the stairs until I reach her door. Quietly, I open it, the creak barely audible. I scan the room to find Paisley sitting straight up in bed, staring at me.
My heart seizes, as it sort of reminds me of something you'd see in a horror movie. I only allow myself a moment before I move across the room to her, taking her in my arms.
"What's wrong, baby?"
"It's so loud. It hurts my ears. I don't want it to be here."
"I think someone hurt their hand. It looks like she's going to be okay though."
Paisley's eyes are still wide. "Are they going to take me to the hospital? I don't want to go."
"No, you're not going to the hospital." I don't know why she would think such a thing.
"Are they going to take you away? I don't want you to go away and never see you again. I never get to see Daddy since the ambulance took him away. I think he's dead, but you just didn't want to tell me. I don't want you to be dead too. But if you were dead, I'd want to know."
That's a lot to digest.
"Baby, Daddy's not dead. He was hurt, like you were hurt. You're still alive."
She tilts her head to the side. "So he broke his leg too? What color cast did he get?"
"No, baby, he didn't break his leg. He broke … his head." I don't know how else to put it. Also, it never occurred to me to tell her before now. It's not like I have too many other details myself.
"He wouldn't talk to me. His eyes were funny and there was a lot of blood."
