Payback

She hugs me lightly and leaves the room quickly; I can hear her heaving in the hallway. Jett comes back over and sits on the stool.

“I work in labor and delivery here,” I say in a garbled voice. Jett sits there looking at me like he wants to say something, but never does. I close my eyes and focus on breathing. A slight click on the door startles me and my eyes pop open. I find myself all alone. I feel useless, like a failure. All I want to do now is lie down and give up, let the darkness take over. Closing my eyes again, I feel tears start to trickle down my cheeks to the pillow, and eventually, sleep finds me.

The dim light in the room begins to become brighter as the door slowly creaks open. I open my eyes slowly, squinting and trying to make out the face in the dark. His feet slide across the linoleum quietly, and I almost get a good look at the man when I catch a whiff of his cologne. I freeze, like a deer in the headlights. It's Ty, it has to be. I open my mouth to scream, but he must sense it and places his hand over my mouth. I try to reach the nurses’ button but the pain in my chest and side limit my movement.

“Don't scream, ok?” he says in a whisper. I nod lightly. “If you're going to scream I'll just leave my hand where it is, and I'm sure it hurts you. I don’t want to hurt you, baby.” I nod again as my eyes begin to flood with tears. “Listen to me, Cami, I'm sorry. I went crazy when you wouldn't listen to me,” he says, his voice dripping with guilt.

When I dare to look up again, Ty turns his head so that the dim light filtering through the blinds hit his face; he's unshaven and still in the same clothes. His bloodshot eyes are swollen and he looks terrible. The smell of whiskey and cigarettes is so potent I want to gag. I lay there unable to move, even more afraid to speak, because know If I open my mouth, I will scream.

Ty looks down at me. “Cami, damn it, I love you.” I draw in a deep breath when he begins to move his hand.

“Why?” I sob. “Why would you do this to me? You were the one in the wrong.”

“Fuck!” he screams, rearing his hand back to slap me. Unable to move without crying out in pain, all I can do is bring my arms up to protect my face. Ty catches himself only inches from me. “We'll talk when you get out of here,” he says, stumbling to the door.

Staring at the window as he creeps by, I inhale deeply and shift to reach the call button. I hold my finger just over it and contemplate whether I should or not. He is clearly dangerous and I don't want anyone else caught in the crosshairs of his rage, so I place it back down on the bed and sit there in the darkness.

Every sound makes me jumpy and I can feel the medicine wearing off. My phone begins to ring so I reach over and look at it. The picture is one of the best memories I have. It's the picture of Ty and me when we moved into our house a little over a year ago. I hit ignore on the screen and power off my phone. I close my eyes to keep the tears from falling, but the door opens and I immediately panic.

“Cami?” Jett asks as he flips on the light.

“Yeah?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like crap,” I reply.

He frowns. “I'm sorry to hear that, but on the bright side, you are alive.”

“I'd actually welcome death right now,” I murmur to myself. He looks at me with shock on his face.

“I would have thought you to be much stronger than that,” he says, coming over to sit on the stool beside the bed.

“I am, really. I'm just… afraid of the person who did this,” I reply, unable to look at him.

“You don’t need to be, I told you, I’ll take care of it.”

“Yes, but he came back.”

“What?!” The rage in his voice is definitive. I know what he’ll do to Ty when he finds him.

“He came in here last night. He…” I begin to fall apart, my words giving way to sobs.

Jett shakes his head and pulls out his phone. “I need round the clock watch on my girl.” I notice how he says the final part of the sentence. I’m his girl now.

Thing is, I always was.

“That fucker came back. He does it again and he’s mine.”

He ends the call and looks at me. “It’s taken care of. He won’t come back here to bother you during your recovery.” We sit there just staring at each other when the door swings open, startling me yet again.

“So how's my patient doing this morning?” Dr. Bennett asks, his voice carrying across the room.

He stops, looking back and forth between Jett and me as a huge smile crosses his face. Jett nods at Dr. Bennett and quickly turns to me. “I'll be back later to check on you,” he says as he walks out the door. I wonder where he’s going. If there will be blood on his hands when he gets back.

“My dear, you seem in better spirits today,” the doctor says as he begins to examine my face.

“I am, Jett has kept me company this morning,” I reply, trying not to smile.