Two Steps Behind

Part 27

 "What the fuck am I doing here?" David growled through clenched teeth, turning his icy stare on Eddie. "I'm her goddamn husband! I'm the one who should be here! I should be asking what the fuck you're doing here!"

"Me?" Eddie yelled, jumping up, rage coursing through his body so hard it felt as if his blood was boiling under his skin. "I've been in her life since we were kids. I'm her best friend!"

"What a joke! You two haven't spoken for years! Yeah, that's why you're here, because you're friends," David laughed. "It has nothing to do with your inability to handle that you lost. She chose me. She looked at her choices and knew who could provide her with a good life. You're only here because you're trying to steal my wife from me."

"I didn't have to try to steal anything," Eddie sneered, stepping into him. "Trust me, she came willingly."

"Eddie," Debi said, a hint of warning in her voice. He knew she was just trying to look out for him but it only pissed him off more. If anyone needed a warning, it was this prick standing in front of him.

"You need to leave," Eddie told him, fists clenched at his sides as he struggled to control himself. As much as he wanted to pummel this guy until he was in even worse shape than Elizabeth was, he knew it wouldn't help.

"You are not in charge here. You don't get to tell me what to do. I'm not going anywhere. I have every right to be at my wife's side while she is in the hospital."

"You have no right you son of a bitch! You're the one who put her here!" screamed Eddie.

"Really, and who saw that, huh?" David challenged, crossing his arms over his chest, legs spread wide in a display of dominance. "Did you see me touch her? Did anyone see me touch her? Clearly, if she'd spread her legs for you, she's fairly loose with her affections. So, maybe it was another boyfriend who got tired of her shit. I have to say, if I'd have known what a whore she was, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble."

"You sick prick! Don't you talk about her like that," growled Eddie through clenched teeth, his nails digging into his flesh, the urge to destroy him only growing stronger with each word he uttered. "I am going to kill you."

David laughed, "Yeah, I'm terrified."

"What is going on here?"

They all turned to see a police officer approaching. Clearly, one of the nurses had made a call when she saw the tension building in the room. She probably figured it was only a matter of time before fists were thrown and she probably wasn't wrong. Eddie was quickly losing any ounce of self restraint he had. The cops probably hadn't been far as they had been waiting to see if Elizabeth would be able to talk to them after she woke up.

"I am just here trying to see my wife," David explained, his voice condescending as he held his hands up in front of him. "She was brought in after being attacked in an alley behind a bar and she is in surgery. I am her husband and I just want to be with her. This guy is the one who is deciding to start shit."

"He's the reason she's here!" screamed Eddie. "Don't let him near her!"

"What are you talking about sir?" asked the officer.

"He was the one who attacked her!"

David chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Oh, please."

"Did you witness him attack Mrs. Harris?" the officer questioned Eddie.

"No. I only saw her after...after what he did, but there was a guy in the alley. He came running in to tell us that somebody had been attacked," Eddie insisted, grasping at any straw he could to get this guy locked up and away from Elizabeth. "He had to have seen something!"