Chapter 2
Leah
My fingers trembled at the sound of Noah's rough voice from the entrance. After everything he had done, he had the nerve to come here and look for me.
“Don't make me repeat myself one more time, Joshua,” Noah warned. “Step aside; I want to see my wife.”
Joshua didn't budge. “I'm not going anywhere.”
The next thing I knew, I heard loud grunting sounds. Standing on my feet, I rushed towards the entrance, trying to break up Noah and Joshua's fight.
“Stop it, Noah! You're hurting him!” I screamed, pushing Noah off Joshua, but in the process, he grabbed my wrist.
“Let's go home. We need to talk,” he said.
Noah's handsome face had a cut on his lower lip. His eyes were puffy and swollen as if he had been crying before coming here. For a second, I almost wanted to reach out and hug Noah until I saw Pearl behind him.
“Noah, is everything alright?” she asked.
My face twisted into a disapproving scowl, unable to hide my disgust. Even in the midst of everything, he had come here with her.
A disbelieving scoff escaped my lips. “You came here with her?”
What a fool I had been, thinking Noah left her for me.
“You've got the wrong idea, Leah. I was planning on taking Pearl home after getting you first.” Panting heavily, Noah raked a hand through his hair. “I wasn't thinking clearly back at the house, and I'm sorry, okay? I had too much to drink. By the time I came to my senses and realized how much I had messed up, I knew I had to find you, so let's go home together. Give me a chance to make things right. Today is still our anniversary.”
Joshua snorted derisively. “How delightful for you to finally remember that after slapping her!”
I flinched instinctively, recalling Noah's hands against my cheeks.
Noah's jaw muscles clenched. “Like I said earlier, I was under the influence of alcohol, so stay out of this, Joshua. I'm talking to my wife!”
Turning to me, he added, “I'm sorry for hitting you, Leah. I will never do it again, I swear.”
I pulled my wrist out of Noah's grip. “Go home without me, Noah. I'm staying here tonight.”
“Leah, I—”
“Respect her decision and stay away, Noah,” Joshua cut in, slamming the door shut in his face. Noah kept banging on it like a madman, without a care that he was disturbing the neighbors.
“Open the door, Joshua. I need to talk with my wife!” he said.
For a second, I worried Noah would break down the door before Joshua's neighbors could report him to the police for disturbing the peace.
Helping Joshua to the living room couch, I asked, “Do you have a band-aid kit? Your lips are bleeding.”
“It will go down; don't worry.”
I averted my gaze from him, embarrassed that a mutual friend had witnessed my messy marriage.
“I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. I had no one else to turn to,” I said.
“I'm glad you came to me, Leah. You made the right decision. And I meant it when I said you could stay here for as long as you'd like.”
The corners of my lips tilted up in a smile. “Thank you, Josh.”
Joshua's phone buzzed. Pulling it out, he cursed softly under his breath.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I was expecting a delivery, but it could have been taken to the wrong location, and now I have to be down there in person for them to rectify it. What perfect timing.”
From Joshua's tone, I could tell he didn't want to leave me all by myself, but Noah wasn't here anymore. I could take care of myself.
“Go,” I said. “You won't be gone long, right?”
Joshua hesitated. “What if Noah comes back?”
“I can handle it. Trust me, okay?”
“Okay.” Rising to his feet, Joshua pulled his jacket off the door hook. “The food I ordered for you should be here in the next ten minutes. If you're bored, you can watch something on the TV. I'll be back before you notice I'm gone.”
Walking him to the door entrance, I waved him off. “Take your time. I'll still be here.”
After one tight hug, Joshua climbed into his car, pulled out of the driveway, and drove off. As I was about to shut the door, I felt a pair of strong hands get in the way.
It was Noah's.
Covering my mouth with one hand, he pulled me forcefully by the wrist, dragging me out of Joshua's house with the entrance door ajar.
I tried to scream, but my sounds came out muffled.
“It wouldn't have come to this in the first place if you had just come with me quietly from the start!” he said, pulling me over to the back of Joshua's house where Noah had hidden his car.
If I got inside that car, Noah would force me to live a lie, and I didn't want that. No, I had to escape!
Biting his hand covering my mouth, a sharp cry escaped Noah's lips as his grip on my wrist suddenly loosened. Taking this opportunity, I made a run for it, going as fast as my legs could carry me without looking back.
All I wanted was to get as far away from Noah as possible.
“Leah, stop running!” he shouted, chasing after me heavily on my heels.
I looked over my shoulders briefly and saw Noah was gaining on me. Looking ahead, I realized that I had run into the busy street.
Before I could react, an incoming car ran me over.
Coughing out blood, I felt a warm pool of blood spread out beneath me as people gathered around, chattering over each other.
Pain shot through every inch of my body.
Noah's face came into view. With tears running down his cheeks, he picked up my head and placed it on his lap.
“Just breathe, Leah. You're going to be fine.” His voice cracked, fingers trembling. “Somebody please call an ambulance!”
I could hear the loud sound of an ambulance pulling over. The paramedics helped me onto the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance.
Noah, who never left my side, kept squeezing my hands tightly. “You're going to be fine, Leah. We'll reach the hospital soon.”
“Noah, I...”
A sharp pain cut off the rest of my words.
He cut in, “You don't have to say anything. Save your strength for later when we see each other again after you've gotten better. Then, we can have all the conversations in the world, okay?”
I nodded.
When the ambulance came to a stop, the nurses pulled my stretcher out of the ambulance and onto the hospital bed.
“Talk to me,” I heard the doctor say to one of the nurses beside me.
“Twenty-six-year-old female. She was involved in a car accident. Sustained internal bleeding. Blood pressure 90/60, pulse 128,” she replied.
“Move her to the bed.”
I felt my body being lifted off the stretcher and into the hospital bed. The monitor beeped loudly against my ears.
“Doctor, the patient's blood pressure keeps dropping. I think we're losing her!”
With no strength left in me to keep fighting, I gave in to the darkness.