Page 52 of Confined Space

CORAL

It's been over three weeks since I moved in with Rowdy. In that time, the CPS visits have stopped, but now we have an adoption caseworker to deal with. At least she’s pleasant and helpful. Melissa was fired, and we've filed defamation papers against her and her mother. They used Ramona's job to make my life miserable. I hate that they could do that to me, and I'm going to make them admit it so it doesn’t happen to someone else. That's all I want from them. I've heard that Ramona is on suspension with the possibility of losing her job too.

Davis made bail within a couple of days, and I haven't heard from him either. He must have changed his mind about making me suffer. With Rowdy adopting Archer, no one will ever know who Archer's biological father is.

I've struggled every night that Rowdy's made love to me to tell him I love him. Because I do. I just can't say the words. I tell him in other ways. With sweet kisses and long looks. I know he can see it because he tells me all the time he knows I love him.

The words are trapped behind a wall in my heart. One more wall that he hasn't been able to blast through. He's destroyed every other wall but this one. He tells me all the time he loves me. He takes care of me and Archer all the time.

Just like I do every night when I get off work, I dial his number.

"Hello, my little Mouse." His voice is groggy with sleep. He makes my heart flutter every time he calls me that.

"Hey, honey." I smile. "I'm on my way home. I'll see you soon."

"Drive carefully. I love you, Mouse."

"I—" I choke on the words again, and I'm about to get frustrated.

"Baby, it's okay. I know," he says softly.

"But, Rowdy, I—"

I’m grabbed from behind. A cloth with a sickly-sweet smell is pressed against my face. I fight. My cell phone falls from my hand as everything goes black and then nothing.

* * *

I come to and a coldness like I've never felt overtakes my body. I shiver and blink my eyes. There’s a nasty taste in my mouth, and I swallow several times to make it go away. There is nothing but darkness surrounding me. I blink again, thinking I'm dreaming, but still nothing. No sounds. No light. Nothing. Is the power out? I reach to my side to touch Rowdy and my hand hits something hard.

That's when the memories flood my brain. I was walking to my car. I was on the phone with Rowdy. I was trying to tell him I love him. I finally had the nerve to tell him. I move my hand around me and everywhere I touch feels like hard wood.

"Help me," I scream as I realize I'm in a box. I don't know where or how, but I'm in a box or crate. I hit above me over and over and that's when I hear what sounds like the trickling of sand and dirt falling along the side of me. Some lands in my face, and I spit to get it out of my mouth.

"I'm buried alive in a box," I say out loud, making sure I’m truly alone.

I don't know how much oxygen I have left. I don't know how long I was unconscious. I try to calm myself because I need to conserve my energy. Rowdy was on the phone with me. Please let him have heard something. Please let him know where I am. I need to get back to him and our son. I need to be held in his arms as I cuddle Archer like we do in the evenings when we aren't working.

"Shallow breaths, Coral. You will die down there." A tinny voice comes from a speaker behind me. I feel around until I make out a small box in the corner.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" I beg him to tell me.

"Because I can't have anyone know about you. I'm going after your baby next,” he says, and I scream. "Remember your oxygen, Coral. You don't want to die fast."

"Please no," I cry out again. I'm not above begging for my son or even for myself.

"Goodbye, Coral." The speaker clicks, and I know he's gone.

"Davis, please don't do this. Please don't kill us. We won't tell anyone," I yell into the silence, scared I'll never see Archer or Rowdy again. That I'll never get to see any of the new family I have. The family I took for granted by not giving them all of me like they deserved. I beg the god that had forsaken me once when my own parents abandoned me.

I cry for hours as I try to think of a way to tell my family that I do love them. That I'll miss them. That I'll always watch over them. But I don't know how to do that.

I drift off, shivering from the cold as my life slowly fades away from me.

"I love you, Rowdy. I love you, Archer. I love all of you, and I'm sorry," I whisper into the darkness.

* * *

Rowdy

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