Suddenly, I’m no longer standing in the Emergency Room. I’m back to that place. I’m standing on the beach. I can feel the sand and hear Emma’s voice screaming for help. I can smell the salt in the air.
Karly’s face is bruised with a matching busted lip and a pretty cut-up hand from obviously hitting something. My eyes search her first but then search the room.
“Where is he?” I demand. I’m aggravated when she doesn’t speak. “Where the fuck is he?” I growl.
My attention is stolen by the sound of a bag of chips opening behind me. Ashton enters the room. I take a split second to look at Karly, and we exchange a glance.
She doesn’t have to say anything at all for me to know what happened and to know she’s scared. The temperature in the room skyrockets, and my vision is clouded, almost like wearing polarized glasses.
I swipe the bag of chips from his hand, the Cheetos hitting the floor in slow motion. My blood is boiling. He tilts his dark eyes to mine, and his shoulders tense. “What the fuck, man!”
“What. The. Fuck. Did. You. Do?” I growl, making sure to enunciate each word, so the dumbass understands.
“Eric…” Karly’s soft voice squeaks, and Ashton turns to her. Then back to me and sports a nice scowl.
“Oh, I see what’s going on here,” he smirks, “You thought that she….” He begins to laugh, and that in itself pisses me off. He turns to Karly directing his words in her direction, “Damn, what did you do to this guy? We break up for five fucking minutes and he thinks he stands a chance. Go back to work and stop acting like a little pussy whipped bitch.”
I step closer to him, “You beat on women, and you think I’m a little bitch? Let’s see you try and hit me.”
“Eric… Don’t,” Karly warns, “It’s not worth it.”
Her voice causes Ashton to turn in her direction.
“Don’t look at her. Look at me,” I demand. “You wanna hurt somebody? You try and hurt me.”
He scoffs, “You don’t know anything. I didn’t touch her.”
“I knoweverything,” I inform him. “I know exactly who you are. A fucking coward who doesn’t deserve to breathe the same fucking air as her.”
By now, there is a crowd of nurses and bystanders that have decided to post up in the hallway.
“You know what?” He whispers. “I got what I came here for. She’s all yours. You obviously need that whore more than I do.”
I don’t think.
I only react.
My fist connects with his jaw, then his nose and the room quickly becomes a cloud of security guards and people. There are hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me off of him, but I can’t stop. Both of my hands are numb and throbbing. It’s almost like I’m standing on the other side of the room, watching myself.
I could swear I heard Hanna’s voice somewhere in the crowd.
“Eric!” Karly screams, “Eric, stop!”
I’m tackled off of him. Instinctively I swing again, and finally, a pain radiates in my face, and I taste blood.
Finally, I realize it’s not Ashton because he’s next to me, bleeding on the floor. Jameson is on top of me with his forearm against my throat, his lip bleeding.
“You have to stop,” He warns. “The cops are coming in here.”
I nod and squirm into a sitting position. I glance around the room, familiar faces all staring at me in shock, most of them whispering.
A police offer appears. I’m placed in handcuffs and ushered out of the room. The reality of what was happening crashed quickly into me like a ton of bricks.
She needed me, and now I can’t be there for her.
She’s never seen that side of me. The one that loses control. I’m definitely losing my job over this. Hell, I was just placed on probation two hours ago. I’m not even upset about that, not the way I’m afraid she’ll never look at me the same way she used to. That is what scares me the most.
CHAPTER 33