“Can we get out of here?” I asked softly, as the pain was beginning to be too much.
“I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a smile, then he helped me through the house and out to his truck.
Once we got to his truck, he gently lifted me in and then rushed around and climbed into the driver’s seat. This time, I didn’t protest when he reached across and buckled me in. I was ready for another pain pill.
“Where should we go?” he asked, as he put his arm around me and pulled me in close.
“You know where.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, come on. Please? But first, can we stop by my house? I’m in so much pain.”
“Yep. Let’s go,” he said as he put the truck in drive.
Pulling out of the parking spot, he slid his hand across the console to reach for mine. I looked down at his tan hand that was eager to lace his fingertips with mine, and he sucked in a breath at my touch. When I looked up at him, he smiled as he exhaled in relief of knowing that I was by his side. Once we got to my house, he helped me inside and up to my room.
“I’ll just be a second,” I told him, as I went into my room to get the pain pills, then met him back in the hallway. “Okay, let’s go,” I said, as I took his hand and he helped me down the back stairs.
We walked down to the three board fence that led to the air strip until we got to the gap between the pines, and I stopped.
“There’s something you need to know,” I said, as I nervously placed one hand on his chest and pulled out my journal from inside my coat.
“Okay,” he said, looking worried.
As I opened my journal and turned to my most recent entry, my stomach filled with nerves, unsure of how he would take the dark news. I decided that he deserved to know the truth so that he could make up his own mind about whether he really wanted to carry the burden of someone as broken as me. I cautiously handed him my journal.
I watched as he read the five-sentence entry, then he dropped my journal to the ground in disbelief and looked at me as his eyes welled up with tears.
“Oh my God,” he whispered, then he pulled me in to a hug. I winced through the pain but let him hold me.
“If James hadn’t found me out here that night, I would be dead.”
“Allie, I couldn’t live without you.”
“You wanted nothing to do with me,” I replied.
“Yes, I did! I was lost without you, too. I just didn’t know what to do or how to process what was happening. I’m so sorry that I abandoned you. I can’t believe I let you get to that point. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault. You’re my everything,” he said through sobs. “I’ll never let you go again. I’m grateful to James for saving your life!” I had never seen him cry. His eyes were now a bright shade of green.
“How can I believe you this time?” I asked.
“I won’t ask you to trust me, baby, but I hope in time you will let me prove it,” he pleaded as he squeezed me tighter. I yelped in pain.
“Sorry, baby, I’m so sorry. I know you’re in pain,” he said, as he placed his hands on my shoulder, his eyes still filled with tears.
“Come on,” I said, changing the subject, as I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the loose gravel slope of the railroad tracks.
“This again?” he asked, as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. I didn’t reply; I just tugged at his hand harder.
“You’re not going to make me struggle up this hill in pain alone, are you?” I said, then he carefully scooped me up and carried me until we got to the top and he set me down gently.
Once we were on the tracks, I pulled out the flattened penny from my coat pocket that we had crushed the last time we had been together. He glanced down at it, smiled, then pulled one from his pocket too, and my eyes lit up.
“You still have it?” I asked with surprise.
“Of course I do, I carry it with me everywhere,” he said, then he squatted down beside me, and I smiled at the thought that he had been carrying me with him all this time. I handed him a fresh penny and we set them down side by side.
“Let’s get down off these tracks,” I said, as I felt the familiar rattle. The light was far enough in the distance that we had time, but I didn’t want to risk it, so he scooped me back up and carried me down the hill. I led him back behind the same large tree trunk, and I leaned up against it for support to ease the pain. My back was really throbbing, and Chris could tell, so he came in close and pressed himself up against me.
