Page 30 of Screw Christmas
“A surprise? What kind of surprise?”
“Well, let’s just say that I don’t expect you to eat hospital food when I can easily bring you something from your favorite pasta place.”
My stomach grumbled at the thought of lasagna from Tony Ambrose Pizza and Pasta. But the feeling of hunger was overridden, by a sudden wave of vertigo and tiredness. “I can’t wait.” Closing my eyes, I waited for the world to stop turning.
“Good.” His footsteps retreated from the bed. “Hey Maya.”
“Yes.”
“I love you, baby.” A part of me felt warmth at his words. I loved hearing those three magical words more than anything else, but there was a hint of something. Something that I couldn’t explain that screamed at me telling me something was off about this whole situation.
“Love you too,” I murmured, though the words tumbling past my lips didn’t feel quite right as sleep overtook me and my consciousness was plunged back into darkness.
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Chapter 15
Dylan
“This is absolute horseshit, and you know it!” If I could get my hands around that motherfucker’s neck I’d strangled him until he was dead. Deader than dead. What in the hell did Maya ever see in that chump was beyond me?
Her ex who was currently in uniform sneering at me from the other side of the bars of the cell I was being held in simply shrugged. “It’s the holidays and you’ve got a warrant for your arrest back in Washington. Sorry, bud but you’ll be stuck here for a while. With it being New Year’s weekend there’s no judge to see your case until after the weekend. That’s not even getting into the issue that you assaulted an officer.”
I did take a slight satisfaction in the fact his face around the sinus area was black and blue. Mind you, every time I attempted to take a drink, my lip hurt like a bitch. Physically, neither one of us came out the winner from our little rumble.
“The warrant is for unpaid speeding tickets, hardly something to hold me in here for. Give me the fucking bill and I’ll pay it now. How’s Maya? I want to see her.” I’d attempted to call her when I was given the opportunity for a phone call, but all I got was her answering machine. I was worried out of my mind over her. She had no family and no one in New York to be at her side, she needed me right now, but instead I was stuck here dealing with this prick.
Aaron leaned a shoulder against the pillar next to him, the stupid smirk remaining on his lips. “You think she’ll want to see you after you put her in the hospital?”
“You know damned well it wasn’t me who hit her. It was an accident.”
He chuckled. “Well, who do you think she’s going to believe? The judge is going to read the report. The report says that you barged in on Maya. She asked you to leave and when you refused, demanding she give you money, she called me. I came to the rescue. You continued to refuse to leave her home and became violent. A fight occurred, which led to sending both of us to the hospital—me with a broken nose and Maya with a concussion. Forget the warrant you have outstanding; you’ll be lucky to get away with not serving jail time after this. Good thing you’re unemployed because you wouldn’t be making it in to work for a very long time. Won’t have to worry about being broke, we’ll feed you three squares a day.”
The anger within me was taking every ounce of willpower for me to contain. Just thinking that he was willing to lie to get what he wanted had me seeing red. I was so angry I nearly missed the part where he’d said Maya had a concussion. Immediately the anger subsided enough to make concern my primary emotion once more.
“What did you say? She has a concussion? Which hospital is she in?” There were so many thoughts racing through my mind I could barely focus on one thing, let alone all the information he was throwing at me. None of it good. Who was I to win against him in front of a judge? I had a criminal record, nothing serious, mostly childish bar fights due to my hot-headedness when I was in my early twenties, but that still showed a history of violence in the eyes of the judge.
And I had a callback to get to. I had a chance at my first role and a permanent one to boot. Here I’d be in jail, missing what could be my only opportunity. My eyes narrowed as I glared at Aaron. Somehow, I’d pay him back for this. Not sure how, but his time was coming one way or another.
“She’s still in the hospital, no way in hell I’m telling you which one. She has a nasty case of amnesia by the way.” He laughed. “Has no fucking clue that you two were fucking. As far as she knows she still hates you with every fiber of her being, and I’m going to milk that big time. I pick her up from the hospital tomorrow, like a dutiful boyfriend. By the time you’re out of here she won’t give a shit that you two had some sort of twisted fling.”
“And when she gets her memory back? What then?”
“If she does. That’s a big if. All she remembers currently is that we never broke up and that we were a happy couple.”
“She’ll find out though.” The man was insane. How did he figure this would work at all? I asked myself for the millionth time what she ever saw in this asshat.
“By the time she finds out, she’ll be in love with me again. I had her in love with me once, I can make it happen again. I know what she likes and doesn’t like. I know how to make her feel like the most incredible woman in the world. I won’t need much time to win her back, so when she does get her memory back you won’t matter either way.”
~*~ TT ~*~
Maya
When I woke up the second time, I was alone in the room. The consistent beep of the heart monitor was gone. A part of me was relieved I was alone. Aaron’s presence had left me with an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach and a niggling in the back of my head. It was an itch in the recesses of my mind that I was dying to scratch but couldn’t. This situation just didn’t feel right.
I needed a phone. My mother would have some information, surely she would. Did she even know I was in here? How long had I been here? He said a couple of days, didn’t he? So many questions, I just needed a little time to find the answers.
Sitting up, I attempted to slide from the bed, but the moment my feet hit the floor, I could feel the weakness. Not wanting to test my legs with my full weight quite yet, I pulled myself back onto the bed fully and located the nurse call button. Pressing the button, I waited patiently for the bubbly red-headed nurse who appeared to be fresh out of nursing school to come rushing in.
