Love Survives (29 page)

Before walking through the door, I turned back to look at him. It was obvious he was hurting. I wanted to feel bad for the man, but I couldn’t. He’d crossed a line; one I’d never be able to forgive.

Once the door was shut behind me, I pulled her close to me, holding her at the shoulders. “How long has he been doing this to you? Is this because of me?” I was so angry, and above all concerned for them.

Kat sat down on the couch and started to cry. “No. It’s not you. It happened before. That’s why we separated. He got help, and I didn’t let him come back until after he had his accident. Things were better for a long time, but now he’s so jealous and I don’t know how to make him believe that there’s nothing going on between us. He thinks I’ve been sleeping with you.”

I stood there clenching my jaw while B ran over and clung to my legs. I picked her up to make sure she was okay. “Has he ever touched her?”

Kat shook her head but avoided eye contact with me. “No. Never. I don’t know that he would. Bobby only takes out his anger on me.”

I pointed right at her, making sure she was paying attention “He won’t lay a damn hand on you again, Kat. I can guarantee you that.”

“You can’t get involved, Brooks. It makes things worse.”

I kneeled down in front of her, with our daughter still attached to my lap. “Don’t you get it? I’m already involved. You might be married to him on paper, but that doesn’t make you his.”

“He said if I ran to you he’d hurt me.”

I stood up. “Pack a bag for each of you. You’re coming with me tonight and we’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”

Kat just sat there. “I can’t do that. This is my mess.”

“She’s my daughter, Kat. I might not have been around her that much, but she’s my responsibility. I will kill him if he tries to hurt either one of you again.”

She finally got off the couch. “That’s exactly why I don’t want you helping. I can’t let you put yourself on the line for me. I’ve done enough harm to you. My marriage problems are something I have to deal with on my own. I shouldn’t have even called you.”

“But you did. You called me because you knew I’d show up. Pack a damn bag now. I’m not leaving here without you. Bobby knows a lot of people in this town. He’ll be released in a few hours and where do you think he’ll come looking first. Is this the first time you’ve had him arrested?”

She began crying even harder than before. “Yes.”

“Then he’s going to be more pissed.” I peered down at my daughter, noticing she was paying close attention to my actions. “Tell Mama that she needs to listen to me.”

“Yisten, Mama.”

Kat couldn’t argue. She knew I wasn’t giving her another choice. We were leaving, and they weren’t coming back until he was out of the picture.

Chapter 33

The whole time
she was packing bags I kept watching out the window, making sure Bobby hadn’t gotten a chance to call one of his friends to come intervene. It wouldn’t have mattered. They wouldn’t get past me, nor would they be able to talk Kat out of this decision. She was running on autopilot, because like it or not, she knew this was the end result. No man should ever lay a hand on a woman. Even if her mind wasn’t made up, she knew I’d never let her live under such conditions. Before I’d been content to accept that she was married and committed to another man. It was difficult, but I had values. Now things had changed. No longer did I care about that legal binding document. He lost that privilege the moment he put his hands on her. There was going to be no forgiveness, or take backs.

After helping her switch over the car seat, and tossing their bags in the back, we were off to find them a safe place to sleep for the night. I had duty in the morning, so it was important to be close to base, since I didn’t plan on leaving them alone for the rest of the night.

Kat was pretty quiet in the truck, and I didn’t want to overstep anymore than I already had. She obviously needed time to let it all sink in. I had to consider that she’d spent the past two years with this guy. She had feelings for him. They’d shared a bed together.

As much as the thought made me cringe, it was reality. I hadn’t been a saint myself. She did what she thought was right at the time. I could have let it eat me up inside or accept that it was in the past. After everything I’d been through, all I wanted was to be a part of my girl’s lives.

The closest hotel to the base was one of the big chain names. Kat seemed shocked that I was taking her to such a nice hotel. I needed them to be comfortable. There was no telling how long she’d have to stay there. The cost wasn’t even as bad as I expected since I got a military discount.

Once inside of the room, I watched her looking around outside. We turned on cartoons for little B. “Is this your favorite, baby?”

“I yike bunny.” She pointed to the screen as a man in a rabbit costume hopped around. I rolled me eyes but acted just as excited when I turned to face her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kat. She was a nervous wreck. When she went into the bathroom I worried that she was getting sick.

“Brooks, can you come in here for a minute?”

I rushed in the bathroom, worried she felt dizzy or something worse.

I found her holding the back of her head. “What’s wrong?”

“Look at my head and tell me how bad it is.”

I looked down and moved her fingers to the side to get a better idea of the extent of the injury. Anger filled me when I imagined it all playing out. “Did he do this to you?”

She looked at me in the mirror reflection with tear-filled eyes. “Yes.”

I wet a rag and started cleaning the area to get a better idea of how deep the gash was. “You’re going to need at least one stitch. I can run on base and get a kit if you’d rather me do it here.”

She turned around to face me, and right away I could tell she was embarrassed. “I’m so sorry I got you into this.”

I winced and shook my head. “Just stop with the apologies. We’ve both got shit that we wish we could take back. I don’t care what you’ve done. All I care about is giving our daughter a good life. Whether we’re together or not, we’re still a team. We’re always going to be a team, from now on. Do you understand?”

She twisted to lean her weight on the vanity. “I hear you loud and clear.”

“Good. I’m going to run over to the base. I’ll be back in a half hour to get that head of yours cleaned up. Do you need me to pick up anything? How about milk for B? Will she need anything special?”

B was still sitting perfectly on the bed, completely absorbed in the children’s program. “Hey, sweetie. Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry?”

“Can you find her a can of fruit or something like that at your commissary?”

He smiled. “Does she like bananas and apples? We’ve got plenty of them.”

“Yeah. She loves them.”

“I’ll get some milk and fruit and bring it back with me. Sit tight. I’ll be back soon.”

I was only in a hurry because I wanted to get back to them. Leaving them alone was never the plan. They were my responsibility now whether the law stated it or not.

Kat caught me before I could leave. “Brooks, wait!”

“Thanks for this.” I wish she knew that she didn’t need to thank me. This was my purpose in life. Taking care of her was one thing I knew how to do right.

“I’ll be back. Take a nice bath and get that wound cleaned. I don’t want any bacteria in it when I stitch it up.”

When the elevator doors closed I saw her watching me. As soon as I got outside I lost it. I beat my hand on my steering wheel while driving the short distance to base. I wanted to kill him for hurting her. Seeing her wound, the blood, and the way she cringed when I touched it, only gave me more reason to seek him out and get retribution. He was the enemy now, and I’d been trained to take care of that type of person.

It was obvious that I was losing my composure. When I reached my room I took one look at my friend and knew it was important to calm down. “What’s up with you?” He asked.

“I don’t have time to explain. Toss me that bag. I’m going to be staying somewhere else tonight.”

“Did something happen, Brooks? Are you in trouble?”

I shook my head while packing the bag with my kit and then some clothes. “I’m fine. It’s my daughter and her mother. Her husband used her as a punching bag. Apparently it’s been going on for while. This time I put a stop to it.”

“Jesus, is she okay?”

“She’s got a nice sized gash in her head. I’m going to do my best to stitch it myself. She doesn’t want to leave the hotel to go to a hospital.”

“If you need anything you’ve got my number. It sounds like you’re knee deep in drama. Didn’t you just find out about this kid the other day?”

I turned to face him, nodding at the same time. “Yeah. It’s a long story; one too long to explain tonight. All you need to know is that Kat and I have a long history. We grew up together, under the same roof actually. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect her. I need to jet. I’ll check back in the morning. I’ve got duty.”

“Alright, man. See you then.”

I was able to grab everything that B would need if she were to get hungry or want a drink before heading back to the hotel. In all honesty it felt so good to be on my way to spend the night with them. I wasn’t thinking about it on some sexual level. This was about spending time with my girls, keeping them safe, and reminding them that I’d never let anything bad happen.

When I entered the room again, I saw B on the bed. She’d fallen asleep to her show and was still in the same position as when I left her. I stood there for a second taking in how cute she was. Cuddling up next to her was something I’d cherish. I still couldn’t believe we’d made something so perfect.

I could hear Kat sniffling in the bathroom. The sound of water splashing let me know she’d taken my advice and gotten a hot bath. I cracked open the door and heard her adjusting. “It’s just me.”

She’d tried to put rags over herself to prevent me from looking at her naked body. I found it cute.

“Do you mind?” She asked.

“No, I don’t mind at all. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” That was the truth. I’d memorized every inch of her a long time ago.

She threw a wet rag at my face. I caught it in the air. “Go away, you perv!”

I left the room laughing at her. At least she seemed in better spirits.

While Kat got herself out of the tub, I crawled on the bed next to my daughter and watched her sleeping so peaceful, as if she had nothing in the world to worry about. I wanted her whole life to be like this; innocent and sweet. I stared at her blonde hair and those long eyelashes. Her cheeks were so full, and I could see a hint of a dimple even as her face seemed relaxed. It was amazing to me how two people could make something so perfect. She had my heart from the first moment, but now I knew she had a lot more than that. I loved Kat. It was real and true. It always had been, but this child, she owned me. In such a short amount of time she’d become my whole world. When I woke up in the morning her face was the first I saw. Kat had been right to keep the truth from me because I would have attempted to swim across the ocean to be with them. Nothing would have stopped me.

When Kat walked out of the bathroom in only a towel, she immediately caught my attention. I tried so hard to only stare at her face, but it was quite impossible, given the situation.

“Did you rob the base?” She asked while pointing to my bags.

I kept staring, like a peeping Tom. “I needed to be able to change in the morning before my shift.”

“You’re staying?” Did she really just ask me that?

She ducked down and started rummaging through her luggage for something to put on. A part of me wanted to tell her clothes weren’t important, but there was a time and a place and this wasn’t one of them. I fetched a shirt out of my bag since I knew it was the last thing I’d stuck in there. “Here, just put this on. I don’t sleep with it on anyway.”

I think I saw her smile, just a for second. “Thanks.”

Kat went into the bathroom to change, leaving me on the bed wondering why she couldn’t just do it front of me. I mean, she had nothing to hide. We’d bathe together when we were little, and since then I’d seen everything she had to offer.

While she was in the bathroom she spoke. “So, are you sure you know how to stitch?”

“Yeah, I learned it in basic. I need you to get under the light and let me look at it. I may need to clip a piece of hair to be able to get a clean stitch.” I grabbed my kit and some whiskey out of my bag and watched her look down at me. “You’re probably going to want to drink this.”

“Seriously? I’ll get drunk.” It was extremely difficult to focus on anything but her in that t-shirt.

“I’ll keep you from stripping and handing out your number to strangers. Just take a few swigs and lay on your stomach.”

I could tell when I first touched her with the needle that she was in pain. I hate being the one to hurt her, but this was necessary. She needed to get sewn up to prevent infection.

When I was finished I rolled her over and kissed her forehead. “All fixed.”