Page 4 of The Book of Wrath

“I’ll stay until the visiting hours end if you’re okay with it. Murdoch is good, but he is lazy and hits on anything with a pulse. I guarantee in about ten minutes he is going to be at the nurses station hitting on one or several of the nurses,” Max said from the chair through gritted teeth.

“Why do I feel like you’re in trouble for being in here,” I noted. He looked over at me and I noticed his fingers have finally let go of the arms of the chair. He seems more relaxed now.

“Oh, I am. I was told to stay far away from you. Mainly because of the trial that’s going to come from this. I was the one who found you. I was the one who got you help. That alone makes me a witness. I told them all to get fucked honestly. I wanted to check in on you because you were in bad shape. I wanted to make sure you’re safe,” he said. I looked around the room. I couldn’t look at him, he saw me at the worst moment of my life. I couldn’t imagine what he saw when he looked at me the first time. “Are you hungry still?”

“No. I honestly just want to go to sleep. Would you be okay if I just go to sleep?” I pulled the blanket up around my neck and rolled away from him. I just want this day to end.

“Don’t stay awake because of me. This is your room, feel free to kick me out whenever,” he shrugged as he got up from the chair. “If you’re okay with it, I’ll stop by until the day they let you out. Then, I’ll be there at your side at the trial. You do not need to be alone,” he says, no arrogance in his voice. He wasn’t bad to look at. I nodded.

“That’s fine.” I say, letting the numbness drift me off to sleep.

Chapter 4

Max

Her eyes drifted shut before I even reached the door. The sight of her from our first meeting flashed into my eyes. No one told me there was a bail hearing. I should’ve gotten the call to be there. I wonder who his lawyer was. Public defender or a well-paid lawyer. I did my research; he was well off. His family owned a small chain of hotels in the area. They had just branched into Maryland.

She looked so weak in that hospital bed. The night I first met her, she was stumbling, covered in blood. Cuts and bruises all over her face and body. Her auburn hair was matted to her skull from the blood dripping down her hair. I called the ambulance shortly after she collapsed into my arms. Lydia came running out seconds later, she sat with her until EMS arrived. I recognized Megan from the area. I saw her walking around the neighborhood with him multiple times. I never saw him strike her before. She also never seemed scared of him. I never saw bruises on her. Not all damage is done physically though. We are trained to look for signs of mental manipulation.

I knew that I was in the wrong. I was told to stand down, despite my anger toward the situation. I told Rick that I knew where she lived because I lived behind them, three houses down. I had always thought she was beautiful. I never spoke to her though. Once I found out she had a boyfriend, my confidence deflated like someone push a pin into me. Rick told me that I had to stay away from her for her safety and mine. The Paxley family was loaded and would do anything to keep this under wraps. I’m going to get a phone call later.

Sandra was still outside the room when I left. Great, more bullshit. Never date inside the workplace. Shit never ends well if you end up breaking up. I stalked past her; I didn’t want to look at her and she sure as shit didn’t have the right to look at me like I was the one caught with my dick in someone. No, she was the one caught with someone else’s dick in her. Rick did his best to keep us away from each other after that.

“Hey, can we talk?” She ran up behind me and grabbed my arm. I pulled out of her reach and kept walking toward the elevator. “You can’t ignore me forever. You know that.” I paused, turning around, and looking down at the woman I thought I loved. She was so wrong about me not being able to ignore her. Six months later and I’ve been doing a damn good job at avoiding her despite her trying to talk to me every chance she got.

“I don’t want to talk to you. I won’t hash it out. I don’t want you back. I will go on forever acting as if you do not exist. So, stop harassing me. I’ve put it in writing multiple times not to text me, call me or speak to me at work. Thirty-seven texts a day falls under harassment you know,” I replied, turning back away from her, and heading back to the elevator.

“You need to let it go, I already apologized,” my blood started to boil, and I was ready to lose my shit. She really didn’t know what she was doing. Well, actually she did. The elevator dinged as I pressed the button. I got on and turned around and looked at her.

“Yes, you apologized for getting caught. Not for fucking your partner in our bed. Stop trying to talk to me or I’m going to HR. I mean it.” I said as the doors to the elevator began to close. Shock rippled across Murdoch and Felton’s faces. Fucking priceless. I put my sunglasses on and smiled to myself. That was oddly satisfying.

Chapter 5

Megan

It was Friday. Three days after getting the news that he was out of jail and free. Well despite the ankle monitor, I knew he could get out of it. I knew better to assume I would be safe outside of the hospital. Max had come to visit the last few days. He talked to me about random things. Random tv shows, our favorite foods, we talked about our jobs. I found out that day that he lived in my neighborhood. I wonder if he ever saw Ryan and I walking in the neighborhood.

“So, do you ever think about getting out of here?” He asked me, pulling my focus back to him and away from the movie that was playing on the tv.

“Out of the hospital or out of state?” I asked him. I turned my gaze from the screen to him. His eyes, glistening like the ocean, locked with mine. He was supposed to go back on duty yesterday, but he said something about talking to his boss for a few more days. I was surprised he was able to get the extra time.

“You get out of here,” he gestured to the room, “today. I mean getting out of state. I highly doubt you want to stay here for the rest of your life.” He smiled at me. He was easy to talk to. I didn’t know why I enjoyed his company. I looked down at my hands, noticing for the first time in a long time, my engagement ring is gone. I can’t remember if I put it on that day or not.

“I want to get far away from here. I have a question, that night you found me in the parking lot, was I wearing my engagement ring?” I asked, breaking eye contact with my hands.

“Not that I saw, if you had it on you the hospital staff would’ve put it in the bag with the rest of your belongings,” he replied. I looked over at the plastic bag with my things inside. The torn blue jeans that had larger tears thanks to the fight, my white tank top still covered in my blood. That’s never going to come out now. My sneakers were on the floor next to the chair across the room. My purse and keys and phone were all over sitting on the table. I didn’t have a charger, so I was completely unplugged. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I didn’t want to see what was done or said online. I could just imagine what he put online before leaving.

My heart sunk at the realization that I don’t know what condition the house is in now. I don’t know what he broke or if my blood soaked into the carpet. Would it have soaked through the carpet and into the hardwood? Could there be a puddle of dried-up blood on the basement floor? I knew I was going to have a lot to clean up when I get there. This is gonna suck.

A knock came at the door before it opened and Dr. Caden came into the room. He was wearing nicely pressed khaki pants and a white button up dress shirt today. He always looked so nicely put together when he came in. I was slightly jealous because I could never look that put together even if I tried.

“How are you feeling today?” he asked, looking over my chart and the notes the nurses made during their shift visits. I tried not to call for assistance during my time here. I never wanted to be an inconvenience to anyone. They have more pressing patients to deal with.

“With my fingers,” I retorted jokingly. Max almost spit his water out trying to stifle a laugh. Arthur chuckled a bit at my response, so the joke was a success. I knew I had to act like everything was fine and I was on the mend if I wanted to go home without mandatory therapy. Arthur set down my chart on the little ledge that I wouldn’t assume would be a table, but the way the doctors and nurses here us it like such; it must be.

“That is good to hear. In all seriousness, pain level, scale of one to ten. Where would you place your pain?” he asked, giving me a little stare as if to say no joking. I was hoping to make one more joke.

“Eight, seven and a half maybe. Depends on the day and what I’m allowed to do. If I’m up moving it’s about an eight. If I’m stuck sitting in this bed for hours a day it’s about a seven and a half because I’m not using my body. If I could move about more freely, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,” I replied dryly. I looked Arthur in the eyes, almost challenging him to keep me here. I want to be out and free from this place. I want to go for walks again, I want to go hiking. Hell, I even miss working! I almost guarantee Melissa is losing her shit at me not being there. Luckily for me Ally works with me and has been keeping Melissa in the loop of bullshit.

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