68Sorry for taking so long to sort this out. It wasn't that I spent that much time on this (though quite a bit), it was just that I haven't had much free time lately and I just haven't been in the right frame of mind for this story. Well, pretty much any story - I have written a lot less that I would've liked.
I have decided to completely rewrite the prologue. Soon, I promise.
Anyway, thanks to all those of you who reviewed (I would write individually, but I am pushed for time). You are all great. I like my stats page, and I like hearing what people think. :0) I'm still not sure about the ending of this chapter...tell me what you think?
So, this goes out to all those of you who reviewed chapter 22, and to Reeni, for bringing Rhett to justice.
Happy Valentine's Day. :0)
Because Rain Drops Always Fall
By Tanya (Rains)
Chapter 23: Fixated
James told the doctors not to phone his relatives – as he is legally an adult, he can stop them knowing anything about his condition if he so wishes. I guess it was a bit mean really, considering how worried they all were, but one of them would probably be back soon enough anyway, so it wouldn't make too much of a difference to them.
Excepting the fact that James hadn't wanted to let them know straight away. I knew and they didn't – and they could read as much into that as they bloody well liked.
It also meant precious time alone for us. I was so glad that James had opened his eyes; so glad that he was going to be okay.
He was all stiff. Let me rephrase that – his body was all stiff where he'd been still for so long. He told me that he was stiff, though, and from the grin on his face, I knew what he was thinking. Honestly, the guy has sex on the brain.
"I think you're too fragile for us to have sex at the moment." I told him, gently.
He winked at me and then asked, in a serious tone, "Can I have a hug instead then?"
His voice was rough and gravelly from where he hadn't used it for a couple of weeks.
"Sure."
I bent down to hug him and ended up kicking off my shoes (luckily, they didn't smash through any of the windows or destroy any equipment) and lying down next to him on the bed. He turned onto his side and we held each other tight. At first, James winced with the pain of me touching his injuries, but he said he was okay, and we clung to each other again. Just us – nothing else. The rest of the world didn't matter.
"I was so scared I was going to lose you." I whispered.
"I told you we'd cope." James replied, adding, "You can be my nurse."
"They wouldn't let me come in here – someone was always here with you, so I sat outside until today. Everyone just left and I couldn't quite believe it."
Now that James was okay, the sleepless nights and days spent hanging around the hospital were catching up with me. I felt tired – so tired.
"You gave me the kiss of life." James said, testing the words, "And it was the pleasantest thing to wake up to."
I blushed. "It wasn't like that."
It made me embarrassed. I mean, seriously – it was like I was Prince Charming or something. Apart from that, it sounded like I was so desperate that I had to kiss a guy that was in a coma. Thinking about it, it's true really – I was desperate for him to wake up.
"I wouldn't mind waking up to that every morning." James decided, his tone serious and his eyes loving.
"The last few weeks have been hell – I just wanted to give you a hug, but then I started to cry and one of the tears landed on you, because I was stroking your hair, so I kissed it away."
I was so aware of every inch of James – his heartbeat, his breathing and his skin against my clothes. He moved slightly, awkwardly, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.
"I'm sorry." I told him.
For a moment or two he looked confused.
"It's not your fault." He eventually said. "I said I could take it, and I did."
I still felt guilty. "We gave them all a chance."
We had decided to give them all a chance, but they hadn't wanted it. They couldn't accept us.
"We tried." James agreed, his voice still rough. "And maybe- maybe they'll come around in the future."
Exhaustion overwhelmed me, taking over as I listened to James' voice, melodic and reassuring to my ears.
"You definitely don't owe me any more."
I'm not sure how long I slept for. James was awake and I finally felt that I could sleep without worrying too much. The doctors had said that he could make a full recovery and my mind was at rest.
I awoke to the grating sounds of one of the Miltons. James' dad to be precise. James was still holding me close, his arms around me, but I could tell that he was awake. His father was lecturing to him.
"She's using you James, don't you see that?"
James didn't reply.
"She led you on, made you believe things that weren't true and bailed when it got to the end. That's the only reason she's here now – not because she loves you. She came here because she has some sort of conscience in that she didn't want you to die."
James had gone completely stiff against me. "She has a name."
"She was out to hurt you – she played with your emotions and then almost got you murdered, James."
My eyes felt heavy and I could feel myself drifting back to sleep.
"I love Ruby." James told his father, "And she loves me. I don't know why you find that so hard to believe, but that's how it is. We knew what would happen if we came out and Ruby held back from it because she didn't want me to get hurt."
"She was playing you." His father insisted.
So me puking my guts out in the men's loos was because I felt guilty? Me hanging around despite being glared out and constantly told where to go was because of guilt?
"No, she wasn't. She isn't." James replied and I could feel his body heating up with anger.
"She-"
"Ruby and I are together and we're going to stay together – it doesn't matter what you think."
His father's voice went cold. "You know what the consequences are."
The police found could find no evidence and were faced with the same frustrating problems that they faced every time anything illegal happened involving our two families.
Rhett and Johnny both had false alibis. There was no proof that the alibis were false, such is the advantage of having so much 'close' family. Other family members who had joined them were also in that position. Comfortable and gloating.
No CCTV, no witnesses; I knew that they had done it, but that was no use to the police – I hadn't actually witnessed the scene, so my word was useless.
Alice broke up with Rhett, disgusted by his actions. He couldn't lie to her about it and she couldn't forgive him. She walked away from their relationship and I felt that he had at least got some sort of comeuppance.
Our families shunned us. We were apparently unworthy of them both.
We both had trust funds that we had gained access to on our 18th birthdays and it was too late for either of our families to do anything about that. We had plenty of money to get ourselves through University and be comfortable.
James' recovery took a while and I had to help him out a lot. He leant on me for support just like I had done to him when he carried me though that nightmarish night.
Despite ejecting James from the family, the Miltons still wanted to avenge his near death incident. At the time of the incident he had still been one of them, I suppose. They didn't take the usual tack of 'getting' Rhett in the way that he had 'got' James; they took a cleverer path.
They hired detectives; detectives who found evidence against Rhett. A witness who had seen Rhett at the scene of crime, amongst other things. The bottom line is that they had enough to warrant the arrest and conviction of Rhett.
To his credit, Rhett said nothing about Johnny's involvement – from what Alice told me, I was pretty sure that Johnny hadn't meant to hurt James so badly and that he had tried to persuade the others to stop. James could remember him throwing a few punches, but then he vaguely remembered someone trying to pull Rhett back and telling them all to stop.
Rhett hadn't stopped. James and I were at the court when he got found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and got sentenced to five years imprisonment.
He deserved it. I hated the look on his face when he saw me with James in that court room. I hated that he could hate someone that he didn't even know. I hated that judgement based on only a surname.
My parents weren't talking to me – like it was my fault that Rhett had got sent down. It was his own fault, I knew that, but it got to me sometimes. It hurt that they couldn't accept James and it hurt that they weren't there for me anymore.
James' family weren't talking to him either. Since trying to persuade him that I was just out to hurt him they had completely cut off contact with him. Just like my family, James had had to choose.
All that we knew was that almost the worst possible had happened. Our families had ejected us, James had been beaten up so badly that he had nearly died and I had dealt with the threats and taunts of his family.
They all still put in their best efforts to split us up, but none of them worked. Malicious lies about us floated around – James cheating on me or me cheating on him; none of their lies were original and they just made us laugh. We trusted each other and some of the rumours were so unbelievably stupid that they were barely even possible. What they didn't realise was that each rumour made us stronger.
We spent that long summer before University travelling and enjoying each other. We found our way through the world together, discovering new things about each other and the whole wide world all the time and trying as many new things as we could. We didn't have our families holding us back or telling us about their experiences of things before we got to try them ourselves.
James nuzzled my neck and I felt the gloriousness of the whole situation; the cozy white sheets, the thick blue quilt that kept in our body heat, that happy feeling, and slight amazement that I felt happy sharing everything with someone. I feel content.
"James?"
"Mmmm?" His warm breath ticked my neck and sent tingles all the way down my spine.
"I love you."
He opened his eyes. I never thought anyone could have such gorgeous bleary eyes. Grey as they were, they could never be dull – not to me.
"I love you more." He replied, murmering it against my neck, so I could practically feel the vibrations of his voice box.
I shifted onto my side and down the bed slightly, gazing right into those magnificent eyes of his.
"Prove it." I challenged.
And his eyes sparkled.
"Gladly."
I know that he loves me and he knows that I love him, but that's not a reason to forget to say it. And, as his lips meet mine, I know this 'argument' will happen a billion times more. I'm smiling, inside and out, and so is my James.
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