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Eric had bought that yellow cocktail ring for a reason, and it pissed him off that her ex had damaged it. Yellow crystals or stones were to symbolize a new beginning, a sense of belonging, and represented a renewed sense of purpose, along with feelings of euphoria at a fresh start.
He wanted something to have meaning between them, a show of his commitment to her and how much it meant to him to start another chapter of his life. He never imagined having a wife, nor a child, and had the opportunity to be a part of something greater than himself… with someone he genuinely got along with.
He wasn’t a fool. This wasn’t love, but he genuinely cared and respected her. Heck, he didn’t even know if love was a real thing or not, but he could see her at his side, sharing a moment, a hug, years and years from now – and that vision had been priceless.
“Morrison?”
“What?!” he roared, hitting the bag again.
“Look man, whatever is going through your head? Stop for a second,” Peña ordered silently. “Your knuckles are busted and you’re getting blood on the bag…”
Eric stopped for a second as the adrenaline and rage faded slowly, his muscles burning and aching painfully. He stared at his red and bleeding knuckles… and turned to look at his friend helplessly.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” Peña asked softly, holding up his hands in surrender as he gingerly handed him a towel. “What’s going on in your brain? Even Trigger is staying far back from you…”
Eric looked to see Trigger lying on the concrete flooring in the distance with her head cocked to the side in question, obviously not understanding why her ‘daddy’ and caretaker was so upset.
“Someone hurt my wife,” Eric said hoarsely.
“Oh man,” Peña uttered. “I am so sorry. Is she okay?”
“Her ex ripped my ring off of her finger and I think he nearly de-gloved it. I don’t know. I do know she has stitches and is pressing charges against him, but…”
“… And you can’t help her from here.”
“No.”
“Helplessness is not a good feeling.”
“Neither is the urge to put someone in the hospital.”
“No,” Peña chuckled in awareness, taking a step closer to him. “But it was probably good to get it out of your system and talk it through. I get it, the bag was him, but you’re one scary dude when angry.”
“Let’s hope her ex-husband thinks that.”
“Your wife should never see you like this – or you’ll scare her.”
Eric sagged openly, realizing the other man was right. He wasn’t a person prone to temper tantrums, but imagining Madison hurt, scared, calling out for help or in pain, was doing things to his head.
“Hey… let’s get you to the clinic, get those knuckles looked at, and then maybe you could do something else a little less threatening… eh?” Peña smirked, looking at him. “Hit the mess hall and eat until you puke or something.”
“Have you had our food?” Eric quipped, grateful for the other man’s friendship and understanding.
“Yeah. Yeah, I have buddy. C’mon.”
He nodded and called Trigger to join him. Thankfully the wary animal immediately could tell that he was ‘back’ and bounded to his side, tongue lolling, and wagging her tail.
* * *
A day later,Eric borrowed a few minutes of Peña’s assigned time on the computer to try to email Madison back, but he couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t come out as angry or hostile.
He tried again the following afternoon when Collins was assigned to the computer, sat down and began typing… only to re-read it and hit delete after calling her ex-husband several foul words, realizing that wasn’t going to work either and sounded like an attack.
It was almost four days before he was able to respond without spewing acid and openly put his heart into it, putting himself out there for her, and hoping she understood just how devastated he was.
He didn’t want to lose her – nor did he want her frightened or searching elsewhere for comfort. He wanted her to turn to him, look to him, be his partner and friend… and he was frightened that she was retreating once more. He didn’t care about the ring getting damaged because it could always be replaced, but her?
Madison was irreplaceable… and meant everything to him.
