"You will always be pretty," he promised just as the car stopped and the door by my head opened. Then Cy looked up. "No obvious signs of a spinal injury; he has been given morphine. I can give an update as we get him comfortable."
"EMT?" someone outside of my field of vision asked.
"Psychiatrist," Cy replied. "I'm a general practitioner as well, and his boyfriend. He was lying in a ditch in cold water for anywhere up to thirty minutes. Temperature may be depressed, he has multiple contusions and lacerations, and he will not like it when you move him."
"Cy, I think you're sexy when you're being a doctor," I said - and then tried not to scream as they pulled me out of the back seat.
Because that was not okay. The drugs helped, but I knew that as soon as they wore off, I was going to be hating life. I was also going to make sure that someone paid for this.
Chapter Seventy-One
Surprisingly, the doctor said that Ash had nothing broken. Granted, almost every inch of him was bruised, cut, or raw. He had some minor internal bleeding, and the doctors got that under control quickly, but were keeping him for observation. After that, it was just a waiting game.
Emily brought the kids up to the hospital that evening. My daughter was nearly inconsolable, and I couldn't say that I was much better. None of us were, really. Violet had actually cried on the ride over. The moment Dan had gotten far enough ahead of me that we could no longer see the lights of his car, the first sob slipped out. She'd tried her hardest to hold it back, but when I told her she deserved to cry and that it only meant she loved him, that had been all it took.
She didn't cry in front of Ash, though. I wasn't about to mention that the streaks of mascara told on her, and no one else commented on it either. Dan stayed just long enough to make sure that we were okay, then said he had to get back. He promised to take an official report once Ash was back home, though.
But "back home" wasn't going to be a quick thing. The doctors were talking about keeping Ash for up to a week, so I convinced Faith that she should go to her mom's house early. When Emily took the kids home that evening, I made a call to Meredith, asking her if that was going to be a problem.
"And why exactly do you want to let me have Faith early?" she asked.
"Because Ash was attacked today, and they are keeping him in the hospital for observation," I told her. "Faith is pretty upset about it. I know you hate him, but she actually likes the guy. Meredith, it's okay if you have other plans. Emily already said that she can keep an eye on Faith, but I just think it would be better for her to be away from all of this right now."
"Ash?" Meredith asked. "My God, what the hell happened?"
"Well, all those people saying that they hate fags? Someone decided to do something about it," I told her.
"I can pick her up whenever you want," Meredith promised. "Luke, I honestly hope he's going to be okay. I mean, I don't like the guy, but that doesn't mean I want anything bad to happen to him. Not like this."
I wasn't sure I believed her, but I didn't honestly think she had been involved in this either. Still, even if my ex was innocent this time, Ash's injuries meant that our entire Thanksgiving holiday was ruined. Ash spent most of it sleeping and recovering. We spent the time sitting around his bed, waiting for the few moments where he opened his eyes and reassured us that he was really okay.
The whole time, Emily took care of Southwind. Zeke stepped up to care for all the animals. Surprisingly, Scott did his best to help where he could. At one point, Violet and I headed over to the building surplus supply store to make sure we had a working account there. When she explained why Ash wasn't doing it, the manager apologized profusely and then offered a discount. Violet didn't even bat an eye as she accepted. With that out of the way, Scott was able to purchase the windows and other supplies he needed so that when Ash was finally allowed to go home, there wouldn't be any painful reminders on our property.
He was finally released on Friday afternoon. It was raining that day. Fall in Texas was either misty, drizzly, or flat out raining. At least that was how it felt. We could go months in the summer without a drop of rain, but it all came back right around this time of year. Since Ash was still hurting, we put him up in his own room, and the sound of the rain on the windows made sure that he kept falling asleep - and healing. Every night, one of us crashed in there with him, but we kept it to one, and there was nothing sexy about it.
Then, on Sunday, Meredith offered to drop Faith off at Southwind after church. Considering that in the thirteen years our daughter had been alive, she'd never done anything like this, I kept waiting for the catch. Instead, my ex-girlfriend showed up with a vase of flowers for Ash. There was even a get-well card. Meredith made it clear that they were from Faith for her 'stepdad.'
I told Faith to take those up to Ash, then tried to stammer out something that sounded appreciative. "We're not, I mean, but..." I sighed. "Thanks. I have no idea why you're doing this, but I'm not going to complain."
Meredith just bit her lips together for a little too long, then nodded twice. "Ash made Faith's clothes. Her designs, I mean," she tried to explain. "I go to sleep every night in those unicorn pajamas, Luke. Jodi said they're ugly. April said that she could do better, but she's not a thirteen-year-old girl! Who lets a little girl design clothes that are sold by a real company like that? I mean, he has to care about her a little, right?"
"He loves her," I admitted. "He says she reminds him of what Violet was like at that age. He also thinks she's brilliant, beautiful, and going places. The kinds of places that we never could, Meredith. He's started a college fund for her - and no, neither of us can touch it. He made sure of that. The profits from that entire line of clothing means Faith will get a degree from any college she wants."
"Yeah," Meredith mumbled. "And Faith told me that you love him. And Cy, and Violet. I..." She screwed up her face, stopping herself, then tried again. "I don't understand it. I don't think this is the sort of thing you should be teaching her is ok. I - "
I lifted a hand, begging for a chance to reply. "We're teaching her that she gets to decide what kind of relationship she wants," I explained. "And not having one is an option too. We're making it clear that just because 'a guy wants her to' isn't enough of a reason to do anything. I want my little girl to grow up and tell horny boys like me to fuck off. I want her to be confident enough to let us know when she needs birth control. I am trying, Meredith, to make her be the one in charge of her own life - because we never got that chance."
"So I'm trying too," she replied. "I'm not going to lie and say that I agree with you. I still hate that... woman. I also know that my daughter doesn't. When you said that about your parents? About how you don't have them in your life anymore? Well, that was when Faith started telling me that she didn't need me in hers. I realized that my daughter is growing up, and one day she will be old enough to go away and never call me again. If buying her flowers to give to Ash is what it takes, then I will pretend that I'm not pissed at you."
"For what?" I asked.
"For ruining my marriage," she said. "For getting to be happy when I don't. For getting me pregnant, then making me the laughingstock because you wouldn't marry me. For ruining my life, Luke - and I don't mean Faith. I mean the rest of it. You couldn't just be like the other guys. You couldn't just pay the child support and leave us alone, could you? You wanted to keep pushing until I lost my daughter!"
"No, until I got mine," I corrected. "We were both there that night. We both made that decision, and you never loved me either."
"What does that have to do with anything?" she demanded.
"Everything," I told her, "and until you figure that out, Meredith, you will never be happy. It's the first step. The happily ever after can't come until you are actually happy. You can't fake your way through it, and you shouldn't expect Faith to either."
