Page 5 of With Love

“Listen to me. All of that means nothing if Finch gets to her while she’s in here. I would never force her to leave with me, but I don’t have any problem forcing you to let us go.”

“Do not threaten me, Trent. I am responsible for the health and safety of every single patient in this facility. I know how much you love that girl in there, but I am not going to let you take her out of here where she will receive proper care.”

“Tell me what I need at home. Machines? Supplies? I’ll buy it all. Everything I need, let me know and I’ll have it delivered to my house tonight. Let me know who your top nurse is. I’ll hire her to take care of Adrienne until she is 110% better. No amount of money is too much! I’m taking my wife home with me, tonight!”

The door swings open all of a sudden and I close my eyes as quickly as possible. I don’t want him knowing that I’m awake just yet.

Peeking out between my lids just slightly, I see Marshall tip-toeing over the floor toward me. He comes to the chair next to my bed and takes a seat. He is just out of sight of my peripheral vision so I open my eyes slightly and turn my head toward him. His head is hanging down, cradled in his hands.

I lay there staring at the top of his head. The chocolate strands look soft and rich, even in the awful glow of this horrible fluorescent lighting. For a moment I want to reach out and touch them. I may have if he hadn’t lifted his head at that moment and stared straight into my eyes.

“Hey,” he says, startled that I am looking right at him, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answer. And I am fine. Not physically and not emotionally, but with my eyes locked into the pull of his emerald stare, I feel a calm come over me.

“Can I get you anything?” he asks.

I wait for several moments. I feel a lot of different emotions pass between us. I can’t pinpoint anything but my mind is reeling trying to pull any of them in. The first one that it latches onto is hope. Why hope? What has hope ever done for me before? I’ve hoped for a lot of good in the past, but all I received was evil. The difference here, I think, is that hope actually feels believable looking into Marshall’s eyes. I don’t like it and I am not sure that I believe it yet, but leaving here with him, staying in his home, it surely can’t be anywhere near as horrifying as it was being held captive in Lock’s estate.

With tears in my eyes threatening to spill over, I say to him, “Can you get me out of here?”

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