7. Chapter 7
Now that Jake seems to have processed Ray’s story, I get to tell him my story from the accident.
I arrive just after school on Friday. There’s no basketball tonight, so I wanted to get it over with.
Seb is staying with me at the house since Zander is away in Savannah and will return Saturday evening.
Letting myself in, I wave to everyone. Jake's in the lift chair in the living room today. Will is sitting on the couch beside him, and Ray's in the kitchen. After Ray gives Jake his daily smoothie, he and Will excuse themselves.
I kiss Jake’s cheek and then take Will’s seat. “Ready for this, handsome?”
“I’m so excited, can’t you tell?” That dry sarcasm always makes me smile, considering I never thought I’d hear it again.
Chuckling, I shake my head at him. “How’s the new smoothie?”
He takes a sip through the straw. “Tasty, better than the last one.”
I found a few new plants to add recently, but they altered the flavor profile too much. With E’s help, we found a better mixture to mask the taste. Seems like it worked. Teamwork for the win.
“Okay, let’s get on with it.” Taking a deep breath, I prepare to once again relive the worst weeks of my life.
“I don’t remember much from the first bit after the accident.
I was told about Mom and Lily bee and I remember you were in a coma.
I don’t remember Belinda being in the hospital at all, but I do remember coming in and out of consciousness and CPS telling me I was going into foster care. ”
“What injuries did you have, Sum?” Jake catalogs my body as he asks, looking for evidence of the crash.
“A broken leg, bruises and cuts, a concussion, brain swelling, and internal bleeding. My heart stopped twice. Now, I have three scars: one on my thigh where they repaired my leg, one on my stomach from the surgery, and one on my chin.”
Jake stops sipping his smoothie, his mouth falling open as his body stills.
“So anyway, I know Ray handled a lot. I knew about the funeral and the lawsuit. The weeks leading up to my being able to move around are like snapshots in time. Just glimpses of moments here and there. Whether it was the painkillers or my mind protecting me, it wasn’t cohesive.
When I started physiotherapy, your dad wheeled my bed into your room.
Erin freaked out when she saw me, and there was yelling and blame.
Security asked Ray to take me back to my room. ”
“Sum, I’m…” Jake starts, but I hold my hand up to silence him. I need to get through this quickly.
“Ray sneaked me in to see you when she wasn’t there. After I was finally released, they put me in foster care. The first couple were nice enough, but I had a lot of anger and nightmares. I skipped school all the time and was with you or at the gravesite, so they returned me.
“The next couple had lots of kids and only cared about the paycheck. The dad was a creep, and something happened one afternoon.” This memory still gives me chills.
I try to focus my thoughts to get through it quicker, rubbing my hands nervously on my jeans.
“I woke up to the dad naked, leaning over me, trying to pull my pants and underwear down, so I ran to the police. They placed me in a halfway house that night, and the couple quickly lost their fostering license. Several girls experienced sexual abuse. Before you ask,” I say, holding up my hand again, “I wasn't raped, but it was too close.
“That’s when I met Sue.” A small smile at the memory of meeting her graces my face.
“She asked to foster me on the condition that I go to therapy. Life became bearable. I visited you twice a week and had therapy at least two times a week. I still struggled, but I improved. The nightmares became less frequent, but I had absolutely no interest in anything. Not running, plants, tv, nothing. I was in survival mode. I almost failed 11th grade, and the bullying was horrendous.”
“Who bullied you?” Jake tilts his head to the side, confused about who could’ve hurt me. He was popular and friends with practically everyone at school.
“You know who, and she gained quite a few followers. The hockey team stepped away pretty fast, too. I didn’t have anyone.
” Wiping my damp eyes, I continue. “CPS found Zander last spring. I really didn’t want to move away from you, but I had no choice.
It turned out to be what I needed to live again.
Mal and I set up a phone like you have here, and I video called you twice a week.
I met my friends, and things were good. That’s the cliff notes version. ”
“I…I have no words, Sum.” Jake shakes his head, smoothie forgotten. “It’s…horrible. How did you survive? Please come over here. I need you close.”
Getting up, I walk over and sit across his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck. “It was awful, but I’m in a good place now. Zander's amazing. I have fantastic friends, and you’re back.”
“There’s more bad, isn’t there?” I look up to meet his eyes. “You still look spooked. What happened after you got here?”
“You know me so well.” Giving him a faint smile, I lean my head on his shoulder, unable to watch his reaction to my next story.
“Someone kidnapped me last year. Long story short, Jessica’s cousin, Ben, was here at my new school, and she asked him to bully me, but he found out about my settlement money and decided he deserved some of it.
Ben sexually assaulted me, but didn't rape me.
My friend Nick tracked us down, and Zander and my friends saved me.
“Then last summer, Ben’s dad claimed to be Lily bee’s father.
A DNA test proved it, so there was a trial.
He wanted my settlement money, too. It was awful having to relive everything.
Zander and the guys found out all the gory details, and I saw pictures of my body after the accident for the first time.
No words can describe that horror,” I tell him, my body trembling a little from the trauma.
“Ray flew down here and testified for me. Ben’s dad lost the case, but the experience re-traumatized me. ”
I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself as I wipe the tears from my cheeks.
Just one more story. “Just before your trial last fall, Nick’s father claimed he was actually Lily’s sperm donor and set up the trial to get my money.
He’s a criminal, who Nick helped put away when he was just a kid.
He was into drugs, guns, and sex trafficking.
Since he lost out on the money, he started stalking the guys and me through pictures.
Well, mostly me, and threatened my safety.
I was preparing to go into WITSEC when Nick left to go back to him to save me. He’s still there right now.”
“Sum,” Jake whispers, wetness falling gently onto my hair.
We’re both crying now. I let my tears fall onto his chest, although I don’t have many.
Each time I have to relive my past, fewer tears fall.
I kiss him briefly on the cheek before retaking my seat.
Me sitting on his lap isn’t great for his circulation right now, so I don’t want to stay long and cause issues.
“Zander put feelers out shortly after he met you in Virginia, to some medical groups he knew, and it led to the research trial. You know the rest.”
“Thanks for telling me. It’s gonna take time to process all that. I’m sorry you were alone, Sum, and I’m pissed all over again at my parents for not adopting you. Well, Dad… I don’t want you anywhere near Mom. What’s with our school friends too? Bastards, all of them.”
Will comes out, needing to move Jake back to his bed. The time he spends out of bed grows longer by the week, but he still tires easily. Once he’s settled, his eyes begin to droop. Telling him I’ll visit tomorrow, I leave, both lighter and heavier from our talk.
Seb is waiting at home with a hug and pizza. He fills the bathtub for me after dinner with some herbs, and we take a relaxing soak together. “You look exhausted, Sunshine.” Seb rubs my damp shoulders with his strong fingers, trying to release my tense muscles. “Was it as bad as you thought?”
“No, actually, but it was hard. I’m worried he’s going to crack with all the crap he’s dealing with.”
“Jake's strong. He’ll get through it,” he replies confidently.
“Even I broke after the accident, Hurry.”
“True, but you were alone. Jake's had support from day one, and you're spreading out the stories, so he has time to process. Besides, he knows everything now. It’s over.”
“It’s not. I still have to tell him about us. I wouldn’t count his mom out yet, either. She’s been too quiet. How was your visit with Beth?”
“She moved into a halfway house last week and has a job as a server now. She told me she doesn’t want to see me again.”
Another problem created by Nick’s father, Patrick; getting Seb’s mom hooked on drugs after being clean for five years, as some twisted revenge on Nick. “Sorry, Hurry,” I reply, squeezing his arm in support. “Did she say why?”
“I’m a reminder of the time and place of her relapse. She thinks if I’m around, she’ll fall again. I was told not to come back.”
Turning in the warm water, I get on my knees, legs together between his, and hug him. It’s an awkward angle, but I make do. “Would it be horrible to say I hope Nick kills him?”
“Nope. I want that too. I’ve lost her again, Sunshine,” his voice wobbles against my shoulder.
My poor golden retriever. Pulling him tighter against me, my knees slip on the bottom of the tub.
Flailing, I try to balance myself, my legs acting like hockey skates on smooth ice.
Seb tries to grab my waist to steady me, but I’m already falling backwards.
My back submerges, legs flying up into a V in the air, body sliding forward until my butt meets his groin.
I gape and cough, wiping water from my face. The splash drenched Seb’s head, causing his dark hair to plaster across his forehead, and it dumped water on the floor. As our eyes met, his head tilts back, and he bursts into joyful laughter, his shoulders shaking, and I can’t help but giggle.
When the laughter settles, and our eyes meet, we burst out laughing again. We must spend ten minutes going round after round before we finish. “I needed that,” Seb exclaims. “But if you wanted sex, all you had to do was ask Sunshine,” his wiggles his eyebrows.
Chuckling, he helps me upright before we get out and dressed, drying up the water. As we snuggle in bed with the tv on, I fall asleep quickly, mentally and emotionally wrung out, but more settled after the laughter.