Chapter 38 Julie
Thirty-Eight
Julie
“I’m fine. Really.” I said, exasperated as the paramedic continued to examine the bruises that were already forming on my throat from where Joel had tried to strangle me.
“You need to go to the hospital to get checked out,” he said, giving me a pointed look after I had declined the first three times.
“You could have internal bleeding, and I’m pretty sure you have a few cracked—if not broken—ribs.
It’s hard to tell anything without a CT scan.
I would feel better if you had a proper assessment at the hospital. ”
“I need to see my daughter first and make sure she’s okay,” I said, not wanting to deny medical treatment, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything until I knew Daisy was okay.
While I had seen her for a few minutes when I got to the cabin, I hadn’t been able to check on her and had no idea what had happened while she was with Joel.
“Should we take Daisy to get checked out... just in case...” Gage asked, his words trailing off as the paramedic looked between us.
“I don’t think it would be a bad idea,” I agreed. It had been weighing on my mind for a little while now.
“Where is she?” the paramedic asked after he finished writing his notes down.
“At the inn a few miles down the road. It’s on the way to the main road into town,” Gage answered.
“We can stop and pick her up on the way to the hospital,” the paramedic said. “I’ll go let them know. We’ll leave in a few minutes.”
Once he had walked off, I turned my attention to Gage.
“I don’t know if there will be room in the ambulance for all of us,” I said softly, not wanting him to feel like he wasn’t wanted. “Would you be able to meet us at the hospital? I would really love to have you there with us if you—”
“Absolutely. I’ll let Patrick know what’s going on and see if he wants to ride over with me.”
He walked off, holding the phone to his ear as he let my brother know what was going on.
I breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful for the support we had.
He came back a few minutes later and smiled warmly at me. “It’s all taken care of.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you,” I said with a smile as I stared at the man I loved.
“That’s something we’ll never have to worry about.”
He squeezed my hand gently, making a silent promise that only our hearts understood.
**********************************
It was super late by the time we got home from the hospital.
Thankfully, everything with Daisy was fine, and they didn’t find anything of concern.
She told the doctor that Joel had given her a pill to put under her tongue, which made her go to sleep.
The doctor assured us that since her vitals were within normal ranges, he felt confident that whatever had been given to her was out of her system.
We would continue to monitor her, and if anything out of the ordinary came up, we promised to take her back in.
I, on the other hand, had two cracked ribs and several bruises that hurt like a bitch.
But there wasn’t any internal bleeding or signs of distress that we needed to worry about.
The doctor did suggest that I have someone monitor me during the night, just to be on the safe side, since I’d hit my head so hard on the floor when I fell.
My dad offered to sleep in one of the other rooms so I could sleep in the room with my mom and Daisy.
She had been shaken up, and rightfully so, given what happened, so she wanted to be as close to me as possible.
While I was in a lot of pain and struggled to get comfortable, we both fell asleep quickly with her tucked in next to me.
By the time I woke up the next morning, my mom and Daisy were already up and in the living room.
I climbed out of bed and pulled on a hoodie, a shiver running through me as I looked at the fresh-fallen snow outside.
I opened the bedroom door and smiled as I walked down the hall and heard laughter.
When I walked into the living room, everyone stopped what they were doing in the living room and stared.
Daisy jumped up and came running over, wrapping her arms around my stomach so tightly that she almost knocked me over.
I didn’t want to let on to how much pain I was in because her hugs were worth it.
I fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around her as I cried.
While everything was technically alright, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about everything that had happened.
“I’m so sorry, mommy,” she sobbed. “I shouldn’t have gone with him at the store. You got hurt because of me.”
My heart broke hearing the sadness and worry in her voice.
We had talked last night, but it was late, and I didn’t want her to stress over everything that happened, so I ended the conversation early.
I knew we still needed to talk, but there wasn’t a need to rush through it.
I wanted to go slow and take things at whatever speed she wanted to move at.
“It’s okay, baby. Everything is fine now. It’s not your fault. But in the future, please don’t do that again.”
“I won’t. I’m never leaving you ever again.”
I hugged her tighter, never wanting to let go.
“Do you think we can let your mommy up so I can fix her some breakfast?” my mom asked Daisy, rubbing her back and smiling at me. “I can’t remember the last time your mommy ate a full meal, and we know how important that is.”
I started to cry again, feeling the weight of everything as my mom hugged both of us. I was thankful to have my family with me because their support meant more to me than I had ever realized.
“You should eat breakfast,” Daisy said, pulling away and wiping my tears for me. “I already ate, so can I keep building my puzzle?”
“Sure,” I replied with a soft laugh and a sniffle. “Wait—where did you get a puzzle?”
“About that...” Patrick said, pulling his mouth tight like he always did when he was hiding something. “I might have given her a few things that we picked up at the store yesterday.”
“Yeah, me too,” Gage replied with an easy laugh.
“We didn’t go to the store, but we had stuff we brought as well,” my dad said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I said with a laugh as I stood up and looked around the room, seeing just how many people loved my daughter.
**********************
After I finished eating, I sat at the kitchen table and watched as Daisy played a round of Uno with my parents and Patrick in the living room.
She knew the rules but had no problem changing them when it came to trying to defeat Uncle Pat.
They were having so much fun that I hated the thought that someday soon, this would all end.
My parents would go back to Florida. Patrick would return to his busy life in New York.
And Daisy and me? I had no clue what we would do or where we would go, which was a bit unsettling.
“How are you doing?” Gage asked as he came and sat beside me, brushing his thumb over my knee as I had them pulled up to my chest.
“I’m okay, I think?” I looked at him and then rested my head on his shoulder to keep him from seeing my tears. “I killed someone.”
“I know, baby,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around me. The warmth of his embrace was so soothing that it calmed me in a way nothing else could. “But you did what you had to. If you didn’t, he wouldn’t have stopped until you were dead.”
“I know,” I said, my voice trembling. “But I still can’t wrap my head around it.”
“What I can’t wrap my head around is where you got a gun to begin with.”
I pulled away slightly and looked at him with a grin.
“I... umm... Well, it turns out that your grandma liked more than shotguns. I found it when I was putting stuff away when Daisy and I first got here. It was in the closet on one of the shelves. I hope you don’t mind that I took it.”
“That makes sense. That was the bedroom she always stayed in after my grandpa died. I didn’t know she had anything other than the shotgun. But I’m glad it came in handy.”
“Me too. Your grandma saved the day once again.”
“When did she save it the first time?”
“When she opened the inn and created a magical place that made me feel safe.” I smiled, the warm memories washing over me.
“I’m glad you came here.”
“Me too.”
“There’s only one problem that we still have to deal with,” Gage said, his tone serious.
I shifted slightly so I could see him better. My heart raced as I tried to brace myself for whatever bad news he was about to deliver.
“What’s that?”
“I like it here. Coming back, I realized that I don’t want to sell it. I want to clean it up and renovate it so I can open it as an inn again. But there’s one thing that’s keeping me from being able to do that.”
My heart fluttered in my chest from the way he was looking at me. I was ready to pretend I was pain-free if it meant getting him alone so he could continue looking at me like that while doing sinful things to my body.
“I don’t want to be here and do this if you’re not here with me.
I want to wake up with you in my arms every morning and go to sleep with you in my bed every night.
I want Daisy to binge-watch movies with me while we eat popcorn and she paints my nails.
I want a life with you and Daisy more than anything this world has to offer.
Would you consider staying here and running the inn with me? ”
I gasped as I smiled, my heart filled with more love for this man than I knew what to do with.
“I need to talk to Daisy first,” I said, pausing when I saw her head lift as she paused their game to look at us.
“Yes! My answer is yes!” she called, giggling as my mom’s head popped up above hers. “But only if Duke gets to sleep in my room.”
“Deal,” Gage said loudly, smiling as Daisy smiled back at him.
She pulled her arm down in victory while hissing Yes!
“Well, I guess that’s settled then,” I replied with a laugh. “Our answer is, yes. We would love to stay and help you run the inn.”