Her tears cease, and she suddenly stiffens and pulls awkwardly away from me. "Sorry," she murmurs, swiping her tissue across her eyes again with an ashamed look on her face.
Sitting once more, I lean back in my seat and look away with a scowl, wishing I would have just went ahead and drowned the sorry excuse for a man. Surely going to jail would have been worth the rage that just bubbled up in me, hotter than anything I've ever felt before. It's a disconcerting feeling.
A feeling admittedly and uncomfortably worse than my anger at Tyler, who's busy screwing and bar fighting his way through Spain.
The anger I swallow is hotter than the rage I feel at Hannah, who never seems to take ownership of anything. Always delegating the hard stuff to me and not wanting to be a mother to her own son. Alienating me from my own family with her antics.
Christopher comes back in and slings an arm around Jerome's shoulders and says something quietly in his ear. They distract me just enough for me to take a deep breath. Getting a grip, my eyes flick slowly back to Sarah as she seems to struggle to breathe for a moment. I feel myself melt even more. She's so beautiful, even in her melancholy state.
She looks at me suddenly, pinning me with her beautiful dark, almond shaped eyes. “Thank you, Dr. Rich-Rich—”
Sarah's words are cut off, muffled by her hands.
Christopher wraps her up in a hug and rocks her; his hands band around her head so as to not disturb the raw skin of her back.
“Aww, you called me rich. That makes me feel very good,” I tease in an effort to lighten this screwed-up night and her truly unsettled mood.
I lean forward as the men chuckle and run my hand down her soft arm and then squeeze her hand gently, comforting this woman who is technically still a stranger to me. I ignore her friends looking at me curiously and focus on how good her skin feels against mine. So warm and fragrant.
Sarah looks over at me, gasping through her nervous laughter and tears, and my eyes soften as an emotion swells inside me. Something I can't explain, because I've never felt it before.
Chapter fourteen
A Lesson in Sadness
Ilookupasa night change nurse enters the room, animated and boisterous.
“Okay, okay! Let’s aalllll back awaayyy. I have a change of clothes for the beautiful woman. Missy, I gotta say, in all my years I haveneverseen an abuser admit what that man just did and walk up out of here voluntarily wi’ handcuffs. But there’s always a first time for ever’thin’, isn’t there?”
The southern woman picks her way around Jerome and Christopher and gently hands Sarah a bundle of clothes. I can't help but fight her trying to remove her hand from mine, and I grip until I feel her nails scrape my fingertips.
The nurse throws me a curious look that I return unashamedly. Her blond hair is in a high bun with streaks of grey running through, giving her a warm, matronly look. I clock her blue eyes, just like mine, and like her instantly. Wishing people would see warmth when they looked at my eyes like I see in hers.
Sarah gives her a tentative, shaky smile. "Hi," she says shyly, probably still shaken up after all the back and forth of staff and police officers, and then, of course, my altercation with Brandon.
“Hi, beautiful! I found these in the lost and found. I guessed your size the best I could. I know how hard it is to hold the girls in!” the nurse says with a laugh, her chest jiggling as if to reinforce what she just said.
That does it.
Sarah holds a hand to her mouth and lets out a hilarious laugh through tears that understandably never seem to end. She nods her head slightly in agreement, wiping them away even as she giggles.
It makes me smile, though she can't see it. God, the sound of her laughter is intoxicating. As a matter of fact, her voice is adorable, too. Soft and slightly sensual. Unassuming. Calming.
Soothing.
There we go; the alphabet's coming back.
Spreading my legs, I settle deeper into my seat and rub the back of my neck, feeling a tiny bit more in control. The nurse begins to fuss over Sarah, sweeping her hand down her hair, plumping up her pillow, laying the clothes across her lap and showing her what she’d found.
Her friends and I look at each other, amused and maybe even slightly embarrassed.
“Well, uhm, I think Jerome and I can go to a little waiting room and wait for you to get dressed. We’ll be back in around twenty minutes. Care to join us, Dr. Richardson?” Christopher says confidently, jerking his head toward the door. I tighten my lips, and heave a small sigh.
Shit. Here we go.
The nurse gasps theatrically, putting a hand to her breast as her head snaps quickly to me, making me wince. My lips twist with a little half-smile. I already know what's was coming and really don’t want to take any attention for myself. Tonight isn’t about me.
"AlexanderRichardson?" she says in a high-pitched tone.
