Chapter 86

After several minutes of silence, I sit up and say, “Are you ok?”

He says, “Yeah, I think so.”

He sits up beside me and I say, “Can you hand me your shirt?”

He laughs and says, “My shirt?”

I say, “Yeah, we need to clean up and get ready to go see Rochelle. There’s no point in dressing just to take a bath, right?”

He kisses my cheek and says, “You don’t need my shirt either.”

I lay my head on his shoulder and say, “Humor me, would you? I can’t help it if I’m self-conscious about being carried through the house naked.”

He stands and grabs his shirt and underwear. I put on his shirt while he puts on his underwear. He gathers the rest of our clothes and hands them to me before scooping me up. As he heads through the house, I say, “Are you tired of carrying me around yet?”

He says, “Nope. That would only happen if I stopped loving you and we know when that will happen, don’t we?”

I laugh and put my head against his cheek. “I love you too, Nicky,” I whisper.

After our bath, we get dressed and Nick asks if I’m hungry. I say, “No, not really. Maybe we can have dinner with AJ after we see Rochelle. Did AJ tell you what she wanted?”

Nick says, “No, not really. Just that she wanted to talk to us.”

We sit together on the couch, snuggling until AJ shows up. Once my wheelchair is loaded into his car and we’re on our way, he says, “Rochelle seems like a different person.”

I say, “Really? How?”

He says, “She seems calmer. More at peace.”

I look at AJ and say, “Kind of like you, huh?”

He laughs and says, “I don’t know if I’m calmer, but I think I have made peace with the past.”

I smile and say, “I’m proud of you AJ. You’ve come a long way in 2 years.”

Nick says, “I have to agree, Bone, you’re a different person. We’re all proud of you, you know that, right?”

AJ says, “I appreciate it. If it weren’t for you two, Brian, Howie and Chelle I’d probably be dead by now.”

I say, “AJ, don’t say that. You were ready to get help, even if we had never met. It was just time.”

He says, “No, I don’t think so. I was on a collision course with disaster. You opened my eyes and got me back on track. I just hope Chelle…”

I say, “AJ, she’ll be fine. She’s got you. You are strong enough now to be her rock as she starts over.”

He parks at the rehab center and says, “I hope you’re right.”

After we go in and are searched, we place all our belongings in a little lock box with AJ’s name on it then we go in. AJ says, “I’m going to hang back and let her talk to you guys first. I’ll be in soon.”

I hug him and say, “It’s ok, AJ. She has you and all of us too.”

When we walk into the reception room, Rochelle is sitting at a table waiting for us. Nick pushes me over to the table and he sits down beside me. He says, “Hey Rochelle, how are you?”

She looks at Nick then at me and she says, “I’m doing ok.” Focusing on me, she says, “How are you?”

I say, “I’m fine. I started physical therapy today. I should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.”

Tears fill her eyes and she says, “I’m so glad. I asked AJ to have you come because I wanted to…I need to apologize.”

I reach out and take her hand and say, “Rochelle, I forgave you the day you walked into this place asking for help. You don’t have to apologize.”

She says, “But I do. You need to know, you both do, if you hadn’t come to me at the jail, I never would have agreed to this. I was ready to tell AJ we were through and go to jail. Then I saw what I did to you.”

Nick says, “Rochelle, we both understand you weren’t yourself. You came here and took the steps you needed to take to get well. We’re all here for you, and for AJ. Anytime you need us, you know you can count on us.”

She says, “I know that Nick. And I appreciate it.” Tears fall from her eyes when she says, “I wanted to tell you, now that I’m sober, I understand what I did. I understand the pain I caused.” Looking at me, she says, “You could have died because I couldn’t control myself. I’ll never forget that. I don’t know why you forgive me.”

Tears are falling from my eyes too when I say, “Rochelle, I forgive you because you deserve to be forgiven. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone stumbles and falls. Now that you’re back on your feet, it’s your turn to help someone else. You have to pay it forward. AJ did. He helped you. Now it’s your turn.”

She scoots closer to me and falls into my arms. Nick sits back and watches as she and I cry together, not really sure what he should do. He looks up when AJ comes in. AJ sees Rochelle and I and he looks at Nick, motioning him away from the table.

When Rochelle pulls back from me. Grabbing my hands, she says, “You didn’t even know me. Why did you do this?”

I say, “Rochelle, I didn’t do this for you. I did it for AJ. He’s a friend. A good friend of mine and Nick’s. And he loves you beyond reason. Don’t ever forget you are the most important thing in his life.”

She says, “I don’t deserve his love.”

I say, “Yes you do. Look at how far you’ve come in the past few weeks. You’re a strong woman and AJ’s a lucky guy.”

Smiling at me, she says, “I wanted to ask you if, well, can we be friends?”

I smile and say, “Of course we can. Anytime you need me, you can call. Never doubt that.”

I turn and motion Nick and AJ over. Once they are sitting with us, AJ says, “Everything cool?”

I say, “Yeah, it’s all great.”

We spend another hour with Rochelle and she really opens up in front of Nick and I. By the time we leave with AJ, everyone is smiling and laughing and happy. Once we’re all outside, AJ says, “Thank you both. I don’t know what she said or what you said, but that’s the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time.”

Nick lifts me up and puts me in the car, then kisses my cheek. Turning to AJ, he says, “It was all Elaine.”

AJ gets into the car and looks at me. I smile at him and he says, “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

Thankful for the darkness to cover my blushing, I say, “Would you two stop it? Listen, I need to go by Eva’s and check on her house, then can we have dinner? I’m starving.”

AJ agrees and takes off. When we’re at Eva’s, I check all her messages, writing down what she may need to respond to when she gets back, while Nick and AJ check the rest of the house.

As I sit at her desk, I feel like someone is watching me. I glance up at the window across from me, but don’t I see anything so I finish going through her messages.

Outside, hidden behind a tree, Donovan Archer can’t believe his luck. Looking into the window, he says, “So, sister Elaine is here. And in a wheelchair too. I always wondered what it would be like…now I’m gonna find out.” Staring in the window, he says to the darkness, “Soon, very soon, I’ll have my revenge. If I can’t have Eva, I’ll have her sister. Fuck, that would be even better.”

Turning away from the house, he jogs back to the car he left 3 blocks away. He waits and when AJ pulls away from Eva’s, he follows, waiting outside the restaurant, then follows him back to Nick‘s. All the while, sick thoughts of his revenge floating in his mind.

As AJ leaves, Donovan sinks down in his car to wait for his moment. The moment when he can have his revenge. He chuckles to himself and says, “Soon. Soon, I’ll get even with that bitch.”