36. DANIELLE
I watched my brother hit the floor, and it felt like my life was over.
I had told myself over and over again that if anything happened to either one of them, I would lose myself; I would have no reason to stay alive anymore.
Watching him lie on the floor in a pool of blood, I knew there was no hope left for me or Cody anymore.
He was standing there helpless with no weapon, not knowing what to do.
Landon had us at this point.
Any move either of us made would get us both killed.
I wished I could just tell Cody everything I needed to; that I was sorry, that this was my fault and not his, that I had never felt love like I had the past few months, that I needed him.
I needed to come up with something to save Cody, even if it meant sacrificing myself, so before Cody could react or do anything, I whispered I love you to him and swung my body hard left until I fell to the ground.
After that, everything was a blur.
I had smacked my head on the hardwood floor, and I couldn’t see in the direction of Cody and Landon.
I was still tied tight to the chair, and the pain in my arm where Landon had stabbed me was becoming as unbearable as the two blows to my skull.
Just as I was trying to free myself, I heard a gun go off.
I froze in panic as I tried to stretch my neck out enough to see who had shot. Finally, I was able to see Cody standing over Landon with Alex’s gun in his hand. The relief that took over was indescribable.
Cody was alive, but was Alex okay? I couldn’t see him, and I couldn’t hear him either. I tried my best to look around the chair, hoping to see what he was talking about.
Every shred of decency in me begged for Landon to be dead.
Still, part of me couldn’t help but feel upset.
The rational side of me knew that Landon was always a bad person, just really good at hiding it.
But even after everything, there was a part of me that mourned the loss of that part of my life.
Regardless of every horrid thing he ever did to me, he was the first person I ever loved, or at least thought I loved.
But he was also the first person to ever hit me, the first person to ever lie to me, and the first person to show me how I didn’t deserve to be treated.
If it wasn’t for him, I might not have been capable of appreciating Cody as much as I do, but maybe I would have been capable of loving Cody better.
I was losing too much blood.
Everything around me was getting blurry and dark.
Trying to hold on as long as I could, all I wanted to do was tell Cody I was sorry. EMTs rushed over to me and untied my arms and legs and caught me before I fell the rest of the way to the ground. I was safe, and that was all I needed to know.
-
A bright light interrupted my sleep as I began to regain consciousness.
Before I could even open my eyes, I knew I was in the hospital; stiff sheets, beeping sounds, and I could feel an IV in my arm.
It was all too familiar, as if I had just been here days prior.
I was sore all over, and I could feel where my nose had broken.
Part of me just wasn’t ready to open my eyes and face the reality of what kind of shape I was in for the second time.
Resigning myself to put it off a little longer, a relaxed, deep sleep had almost taken over when I remembered Alex.
The last thing I remembered was him hitting the ground, and I had no idea if he was dead or alive.
I jumped up in my bed but regretted it as soon as the sharp pains in my side and arm halted my progress.
“Alex!” I shouted as my chest heaved in panic and relief.
A hand reached out to my arm to calm me down.
“Whoa, slow down there.” Cody’s recognizable, comforting voice brought me back down to Earth.
He looked at me like he hadn’t seen me in a week, or like he was relieved that I was awake, or like maybe he thought I might not wake up again.
I took a deep breath to relax, “Where’s Alex?”
I scanned the room, but he was nowhere to be found. There’s no way he would have left me alone, would he?
“Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.”
A familiar, welcome voice came from behind the curtain separating my bed from the bed closest to the door.
The feeling of relief as Alex slung the curtain back just enough to get through suddenly made everything better.
He was holding a coffee in the hand that was sticking out of a sling as he smiled at me, and, in an instant, I felt whole again.
“What happened to you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Alex chuckled. I guess it was a little amusing that, given my condition, I was concerned about his arm being in a sling.
“I’m fine. Landon has a shit shot. Got me in the shoulder.
A few weeks and I’ll be back to good. You, on the other hand…
” He motioned to me with his head, and I looked down at myself.
This was the last time I would ever have to face this reality of what was done to me, and I had to face it.
There was gauze on my arm covering what looked like more stitches than I cared to count, and tons of bruising.
“The doctor said your stitches can come out in another week,” Cody explained with care, aware of how little time had passed since I had been in a hospital, “but your ribs will take a few more weeks to heal, and you have a concussion. Oh, and, obviously, the nose.”
Well, that explained why my side hurt so badly.
“How long has it been?”
“Two days,” Cody answered. “You lost a lot of blood.”
While he was talking, I looked down at his arm and noticed the cotton ball and medical tape.
“Cody, did you—”
“I was a match, and you needed it faster than they could get it.”
I felt grateful and ashamed. After I yelled at him, left him stranded, ran off, and nearly got us all killed, he still did everything he could to save me.
“Cody, I am so, so sorry.”
Alex took a loud slurp of his coffee, as if to purposely interrupt.
“And on that note, I’m out of here.” And Alex disappeared behind the curtain.
“Danielle, the only person who needs to apologize is me. I shouldn’t have hidden the money from you. I just didn’t want you to feel like you were some kind of job to me.”
I couldn’t believe he was trying to apologize for this.
“I had no right to question you about the money. It was none of my business.”
“No, but it was, Danielle. At first, sure, not your business. But there was a point where it became your business, and to hide it from you, I could see why you would think you meant nothing to me.”
“Cody,” I paused, unsure of what to say.
I could see the hurt in his face, and it made me hurt. The fact that all this time he thought that he made me feel like nothing, he would never know how untrue that was. Before I could finish my thoughts or say anything reassuring, he interrupted me.
“You should know why I kept taking the money, I mean, aside from the fact that Alex wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. I owe you an answer to that.”
“Cody, you don’t owe me anything.”
“Just shut up and let him do it!” I heard Alex yell, not even trying to hide his eavesdropping from the hallway. I couldn’t help but laugh. He never could stay out of my business.
Cody didn’t say another word but rather stood up and went over to the curtain that divided the room. When he pulled it back, I couldn’t believe what I saw; dozens upon dozens of roses covered the second half of the room.
My face must have lit up because he smirked like he always did in all those little moments when he knew he had done something right.
He came back over towards my bed, and as I was about to say something, instead of sitting back in the chair next to my bed, he got down on one knee, and I froze as he pulled a small box from his pocket.
He opened it, revealing a gorgeous ring, the most beautiful I could have ever dreamed of. Black and white—like a penguin.
“I um…” He could barely get any words out without choking up, “I never thought I’d get the chance to give this to you, but I’ve had it since the day at the zoo. And even after you left, there was never a shadow of doubt in my mind that you had my whole heart for the rest of my life.”
I wanted to say something so bad, but for once in my life, there were no words to explain how I was feeling. Everything made sense now; the money, the secrecy, the zoo trip, and yet I still couldn’t help but feel horrible about how I accused Cody of having any kind of malicious intent.
“I love you more than I ever thought I could love anybody ever again. I can’t lose you a second time. So, Danielle Traser, would you do me the honor of spending your life with me?”
I barely let him finish the question before responding with an overwhelming yes, and tried my hardest to lean over to kiss him.
“Thank god, now that the mushy stuff is over, I can tell you the even better news!” Alex had already barged back into the room, and before I even noticed him, he was already standing behind Cody.
“There’s no way that there is any better news than this,” I said, wondering what Alex could possibly have up his sleeve.
“Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. Yesterday, lover boy here put in an offer on the house next door to me… neighbor.”
No. Way.
I looked at Cody, who was smiling ear to ear and nodding his head. Alex was right, this was almost, almost better than marrying the man of my dreams; having a man of my dreams who loved me, loved my brother like his own, and who did what he could to keep us close.
This was how it was supposed to be.
“Yeah, so now you’re stuck with both of us,” Cody said, taking my hand in his, “and you’ll always have both of us there to keep you safe.”
“There’s no other way I’d rather have it.”
Two days later, I left the hospital. Not in a disguise, not out the back door, not off to some remote location with someone hired to protect me, but out the front door with the two greatest people in my life.
I went home to a house where I felt safe and loved, where there was trust, and I never needed to question Cody’s motives or his love for me.
It was a home where I didn’t need to schedule monthly dinners to see my brother, or hide bruises from him, because let’s face it, he was over for dinner almost every night.
This was where I belonged, where I felt safe.