Pacing

I couldn’t stop my leg from shaking and I couldn't hold a cup of water to save my life either. Ludo and Fernando have both been admitted into the hospital and I have been informed that Fernando is stable… It's Ludo that I’m concerned about. She is the first female I’ve cared about since my last relationship crashed and burned and I don’t think that I could mentally handle another death of a love interest. To be honest, I have more than enough reason to never trust Nando again, never mind the fact that he was already on thin ice before he chose to hurt Ludo in all the ways he has, and at this point, he’s not my friend. If she dies… I will make sure he regrets it for the rest of his fucking life like he fucking deserves.

I took four shaky breaths and continued to panic internally, nothing could calm my nerves except for good news about Ludo. 

God, please… I know I don’t talk to you as often as I should but please… help her. Please. I promise to protect her and make her happy. Please, please don’t take another person away from me. Please, I'm begging you.

The waiting room quieted down leaving me and one other woman in the silence. She was silently crying so I walked over to her and kneeled in front of her, sadness and worry obvious in my eyes and expression.

“Are you okay?”

“My husband… He... he fell off a ladder and wouldn’t open his eyes. He’s my best friend and he means the world to me. I don’t know what I would do if I lose him so I’m trying to think positive.”

“Well that is always good, he probably needs all the love and support he can get.”

“Why are you here?”

“My loved one is hurt too and I don’t know if she is stable… I'm scared.”

“Will you pray with me? Please?”

“Sure. Let’s pray.” and with that, she grabbed my hands and started to silently pray so I started to pray too.

I know you just heard from me but can you do me a gigantic favor please help this woman's husband too?

When we finished we looked at each other and weakly smiled. A doctor came out and pulled her to the back so I took a seat on the nearest chair and worried alone. It was about 5 minutes before she came back out and crashed into me crying hard. I instantly hugged her back and worried.

“He's alive! Oh god, he's okay! You must be an angel. Thank you, thank you so much.”

“I assure you I had nothing to do with his recovery, it was all your love… and your prayers.” The doctor who told me about Nandos condition came over to where I was and stopped cold in her tracks and chose to remain silent until we finished our hug. The woman pulled away from me and saw the doctor, she then chose to grab and squeeze my hand, I nervously smiled at her and shakily squeezed her hand back before looking at the doctor… I meant to say I was ready but fear gripped my throat and no words came out. 

The female doctor looked at me and smiled, softly giggling.

“She’s stable and awake now so if you want to you can come to see her.” The second she said that I deeply inhaled, I guess I was holding my breath. I've never been so nervous. But I'm glad the wait was finally over. The woman hugged me hard and let me go. 

“I'm happy she's okay. Now go.” she then softly pushed me towards the doctor with a genuine smile. “Go see her. Go on, don’t keep her waiting.”

I smiled and meekly waved at her before following the doctor.

“She’s in here. Now admittedly there will be a lot of police and doctors coming to question her and possibly you as well so please be aware of that okay?”

“I understand.” She then opened the door for me and allowed me to enter the room. The room door opened and the scent hit me hard. The room smelled heavily of rubbing alcohol and disinfectants. But I wasn't concerned about that, I entered the room and noticed her munching on cookies and sipping orange juice while hooked up to an IV.

My heart leaped out of my chest to see her up and functioning, and then I saw the bandages covering her neck, right cheek, and right eyebrow.

She took a moment to reach up to her bandages and smiled weakly. 

“It's not as bad as it looks. The bandages are here to cover the stitches but I'm fine. They also transferred me from a blood drip to an IV bag so that must mean I'm better… The doctor said that once the questions start she’ll hang a new bag and when it's all done I'll be allowed to leave the hospital, until saturday. That's when the stitches will have to come out.”

Do you have any idea where you will be staying?

“I mean I made reservations for a hotel room before I came.”

“Does nando know the room you’ll be staying in?”

“Yeah sadly.”

“No! You can stay with me at my house. I promise it's fine and if you honestly don't like it… then I'll pay for a new hotel room for the remainder of your stay.” she shot me a very skeptical look and I expected her to say no and sadly after a few moments she did.

“No thank you. I appreciate it, I do, but it’s already paid for. ” I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, nodding my head and taking a seat right beside her.

I grabbed her hand and started stroking circles on the back of it. I was lost in thought… Well technically I wasn’t thinking of anything but I wasn't paying attention either. She took full advantage of this by poking my lips and cheeks with her cookies and when I came too she just laughed while I swiped away at the cookie crumbs clinging to my face. We were sitting so close to each other but I couldn't kiss her, not even on her cheek due to me being on her right side. 

“Did I get it all?”

“Nope… you have chocolate on your cheek.” she only giggled and pointed at me like a child. She was enjoying herself and I couldn't be happier that she was making light of her situation.

“Where is it?” She then took my chin and brought me closer and kissed my cheek then let me go.

“Right there. Don't worry I got it.” she then licked her lips mockingly and my face burst into flames. I don't know why she chose to tease me right now but I couldn't look her in the face or think for that matter. So I excused myself to the bathroom to gather my thoughts in private. That was the first time she openly flirted with me. This was earth-shattering and I was struggling to keep my composure. 

Thank you, god. Thank you for helping her. I'll protect her, I swear.

I turned on the water and tried to cool my face. When I was calm I turned off the water and looked at my still slightly pink face, how embarrassing. I turned to leave the bathroom and overheard a conversation on the other side of the door.

“… out! I mean it, I don't want you in here!”

“This is all your fault.” 

I didn't have to hear any more to know who was out there so I swung the door open just in time to see Nando was about to hit Ludo and caught his hand.

I then hooked my arm around to grab his throat and threw his body weight to the left. He lost his footing and slid out of the room just enough for a nurse to notice him.

“There he is! He’s in her room!” seconds later two police officers scooped him up and started screaming at him for answers.

“What were you trying to do?”

They went without an answer as they dragged him to what I can only assume was the cruiser. A third separate cop entered the room and told me it was alright to take a seat, so I did.

He firstly asked Ludo what happened to her and that's how I learned he actually tried to sexually assault her while they were down on the beach. She also explained how he sliced her neck while cutting her choker off with his pocket knife as well as going out of his way to slice her eyebrow and then throw the knife into the water.

The officer asked where and she told him under the overhanging rock formation but when he asked what beach she didn't know so I spoke up and told him. She then quickly explained why he showed up at the hospital knocked out with an ashamed look on her face. The doctor told her that she was alright. He then looked at me and started asking me questions. I then quickly recounted the events before I was told to stay with the car and lost sight of the pair. But I felt ashamed when he asked why I didn't call for help. I fell silent, I didn't know how to answer that question. I guess I was just hoping that it would end better than it did, that it would fix itself. All I know is that I didn't want to make it worse by interrupting. I was sick with worry the entire time I waited for them, but never once did I think to call for help… I didn't know why. I meekly apologized to both of them and fell silent. 

With my apology, we reached the end of the questioning. He then turned to Ludo and asked if she wanted to apply for a restraining order or to sue him. She then agreed to the restraining order and only the restraining order. The officer asked for the necessary information and then left. Confused, I asked her why she made the decision she made.

“Him being in the military only complicates things so if I tried to sue it might not go well, on top of that I don't live here so suing him here would not only take too long but it might be a bit hectic. I just want to enjoy my vacation and go back home.”

“But the restraining order would only be valid here. It also will take a little more than a week to get the restraining order to begin with.”

“I know that… the only question is does he know that? The police will surely inform him that I agreed to the restraining order and didn't choose to sue him.”

“I see, so you’re banking on his ignorance.”

“Yep. Besides the new space that this will create for me gives me time to get to know you more… new friends are kind of in order now.”

“You don’t have friends at home?”

“No, not really, I have co-workers and I’m not that social with everyone, they tend to be hectic and shady, a mixture I don’t appreciate.”

“Hmm.” I nodded in understanding, then fell silent. I could feel the curiosity building up so I decided to finally ask what is your profession? 

“Oh, I work as a bartender.”

“Really?” I already knew that I don’t know why I decided to ask but then she continued… 

“Yeah! I work behind the counter of Crystal Water Brewery.” That's when the realization hit me. I stayed silent.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a C.E.O. and creator of an alcohol company.”

“Really? This is gonna make me sound really nosy but… what alcohol and what company?”

“The beer company Novocaine.”

“Oh! We sell your brand. It’s really popular and mixes really well with other things. Did you really create it?” I just nodded and waited for the really awkward question that follows.

“So… What are you the C.E.O. of?”

“I have just opened up a bar and an office building over here in Puerto Rico.” she obviously wasn’t connecting the dots so I don’t think all of the branches have heard about it. She just nodded and looked at me expectantly. So I continued. 

“I am the C.E.O. of Crystal Water Brewery.”

“What? No way, we don’t have a branch over here.”

“Hence the whole opened up a new bar and an office building part.”

“Is that why you’re here? I’m so sorry for not realizing sir.”

“Cut that sir stuff out. We were trying to be friends just now… you already giving up?”

“But sir it would be a conflict of interest, what would the company think?”

“...” she was right but I didn’t want to admit that.

“I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.” I was staring at the bed smirking and deep in thought until I randomly decided to look her in the eyes. She was tearing up and on the verge of crying. I felt my heart drop, I didn’t know what I should do so I immediately jumped to comfort her. 

“Look first of all I am the boss so as long as I don’t embezzle money it doesn’t matter what I do. Secondly, it’s not like I’m improving your position or offering you higher pay so there is no conflict of interest. Trust me you’re fine, in more ways than one.” I ended that sentence with a smile which made her smile a look I much rather see on her face.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” We heard a small knock on the sliding door of our room and I sank in my seat.

“Can’t a guy flirt in peace?” I whispered which made her giggle.

“Come in.”

The nurse from earlier entered and told us that the police had left and that the iv was empty enough to send her home. We all smiled while she pulled the iv out and changed the bandages one last time. When we finished all the necessary paperwork and learned it was well into the day. We chose to walk to the nearest burger king and grab some lunch then strolled to the beach together but she didn’t seem to be into it anymore so we waited in the parking lot for my assistant to arrive. During the wait, the conversation took a turn neither of us were prepared for. I looked over at Ludo and noticed she was crying while staring at the ocean.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” she stayed silent for a moment before taking a shaky breath and answering.

“Am I a bad person? Because I can’t help but feel… like I deserved everything that happened today.”

“What!? No!” I accidentally spoke too loud, making her jump and shoot me a worried look.

“He was cheating on you, to begin with… hell he was cheating on you, way before you even thought about this vacation. Every time he mentioned his “girlfriend” he would describe her as red-haired and not from the area. I know the woman he is cheating on you with she's been up here for almost two months… which is as long as I’ve been hearing about her. So tell me… how long have you two been dating?”

“Almost two years now… two more months and we would have hit two years. But he wouldn’t do that to me.” 

“Even now you’re defending him? I have proof from as old as two months ago and as recent as this morning.”

“No. There was no way he was serious.” her face broadcasted her pain clearly as she shook her head.

“Yes… Look!” I showed her random texts from two months ago and ended the whole shit show with the proof from this morning. Every time he mentioned his girlfriend he described her the way I said earlier.

The proof I gave her clearly broke her heart. She stood in place holding back tears and choking back her sadness. I know there was nothing that I could do or say to soothe the pain in her heart but I stood there ready to hug her if she decided that she needed it. It took a while but eventually, she allowed me to hold her but just like everything good in this world it didn’t last. 

The familiar wretched growl of a dying car screeched to a halt just out of my peripheral at the same time my assistant parked beside us. 

“Look at that a slut! Taking the first chance to get rid of me and move on with my best friend.” Ludo mumbled something not even I heard.

“What was that bitch!” I shot him a poisonous look when he attempted to march closer. He stopped but he didn’t back up any further than the passenger door of my car. During this time Ludo’s heart callused over.

“I said! Is that before or after you cheated on me!” Ludo pulled away from me and continued. “Who’s the real slut here, huh? You have the audacity to shame me for something I never did but you can do it for YEARS and just because I didn’t catch you, you decide to be a hypocrite?”

Years? What did I miss?

“How fucking dare you!”

“Oh so now you believe me after your new boyfriend shows you all the proof you need.”

“… I’m done… whatever chance you had to redeem yourself is fucking gone.”

“Ludo come on let’s go.”

“You’re not gonna just steal her, we're having a conversation!”

“Not anymore.” with that Ludo slid into the back seat and locked the door. My assistant was already in the passenger seat after Fernando followed us around to the other side of the car. I tried to get in and he decided to block the door and slam it shut each time I opened it screaming at Ludo to get out of the car. 

I lost my temper after the third time of him choosing to keep me from driving off and after he slammed the door I punched him in the face making him stagger backward for long enough to get in and start the engine. But now he was in front of the car blocking the exit with the unfortunate placement of his car and standing in the middle of the remainder of the space.

I was trying to think of a peaceful way to get out of the parking lot but Fernando had other ideas. He found the biggest rock he could and chucked it at my car. Cracking the front window. This is my favorite car, my pride and joy and… He. Just. Damaged. It.

My grip on the steering wheel tightened with annoyance, But my self-control instantly vanished as soon as he bent to get another rock to throw at my black and red Lamborghini. He was lucky that I didn’t hurt him the first time but a second time…? I hope he believes in some type of afterlife. I hammered on the gas and the car launched forward bumping him hard enough to knock him over. The only thing that stopped me from making him a human ramp was Ludo who grabbed my arm from the back seat. I got out of the drivers’ seat before I chose to run him over and took the long way around… I shot a look of disgust at him as I noticed he had pissed himself… 

Fucking pathetic.

I slipped into the back passenger seat and sat to the right of Ludo, my assistant took over driving. Fernando then scrambled to his feet and tried to yell at me through my closed window… something about almost killing him? I don’t know.

I closed my eyes and the car lurched forward but then Ludo screamed for my assistant to wait and leaned over me. I damn near shat out my heart.

Calm down. What the hell, why are you panicking? Keep your cool. She was just leaning over.

She then slowly rolled down the window and spoke. I swear her voice dripped poison.

“A little bitch like you doesn’t deserve my time or his.” I watched her eyes scan him up and down. “Did you piss yourself? Heh, A macho man like you afraid of a bumper? Fucking pathetic.”

She then slowly rolled up the window leaving him dumbstruck and silent as we pulled off. Shit, I stayed silent. I never would have expected her to say or do something like that. He hurt her badly and now she’s cold. 

Damn. 

I waited a minute before attempting to speak to her and honestly, I got blindsided once again.

“Well, that went we- wait why are you crying?” she just shrunk in her seat and began crying harder shielding her face from me. I didn’t understand what happened at first but then I got it… she used all the remaining anger and pointed at him but now… she’s just empty and sad, I know that feeling all too well.

“Come here.” I pulled her close to me and got ready near the door. “ Julian.”

“Yes sir?”

“Pull over here please.”

“Yes sir.”