Harvest of Love

Chapter 14

                     On Friday night, we decided to head into town for hot chocolate. I leave Rebecca sitting at an outdoor table while I go place our order. Tonight, it is slightly warmer without the bite of a winter wind. It was Rebecca's idea to make a run to Eddie's, a local diner, for the famous mug of cocoa. The night was too perfect to go to waste. We plan to sit outside and star gaze for a while. As I walk out of the diner with our drinks warm in my hands, I see a group of guys around Rebecca, three to be exact. They look to be the football jock type; wide necks, and broad shoulders filling out their jackets. Must be some old high school classmates, I think, as I continue my way towards them. The closer I get, I can see Rebecca looks uncomfortable, especially with the guy that is sitting right next to her.

"I said no, Tommy!" Rebecca states forcefully and shoves at his hand that I hadn't noticed until now was traveling up her inner thigh.

"Hey!" I yell as anger inflames me. "Get your hands off of her!"

Rebecca jerks her head to look at me, and I do see the relief on her face before my attention is brought back to the three guys now, all standing up, ready for a challenge.

"Why? Are you going to do something about it?" Tommy, who appears to be the ring leader, says as he steps toward me.

"If I have to, I will," I answer with my gaze unwavering from his.

"Come on, let's just go." Rebecca tugs on my arm, and I start to do as she suggests when I hear,

"That's right, walk away. She's not worth it. Believe me, I know all too well," Tommy sneers, making his friends chuckle.

            In a rage, I drop the drinks and charge at him full force, tackling him to the ground before he even finishes laughing at his lued comment. I get in two good punches at his face. In the background, I hear Rebecca yelling to please stop, but before it can fully register, a sharp crushing pain explodes in my right rib. I am knocked to the ground, unable to take a deep breath. The other two guys are quick to pounce on me. They are kicking and punching me in such rapid succession that all I can do is curl into a ball.

"STOP! You're going to kill him!" Rebecca screams. It is the last thing I hear clearly before a kick to my head causes a high pitch frequency ringing in my ears and then nothing but black silence.

           I remember moments, little snippets like a movie, starting in one place but fading away to only pick up somewhere else. Rebecca crying hysterically . . . Sirens and bright flashing lights . . . A middle-aged man poking and prodding me . . . The smell of a strong antiseptic . . . Then, the face of an angel hovering over me. She says in a soft, comforting voice,

"There now, that should make you feel better. Go on, close your eyes. I'm going to take good care of you, sugar." I have no choice but to do as she says.

          I awoke sometime later in a white washed room with machines steadily beeping beside me. A glance at my surroundings tells me I am in a hospital room. The puzzle pieces fall into place, and I remember why I am here. The machine beeping in time to my heart beat picks up speed as I immediately start to worry about what happened to Rebecca. I try to sit up, but a wave of dizziness over takes me, and I fall back onto my pillow. I raise a hand to my pounding head and feel the dressing wrapped around. I hurt everywhere. Just breathing is painful. I catch a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. Slowly, I turn my head in that direction, and I see her. She's curled up in a chair sleeping. A blanket is draped across her, and a line of worry still creases her brow even in sleep. As if sensing my stare, she starts to stir. Her eyes flutter open, and the moment it clicks that I am looking back at her, she jumps to her feet and runs to my side.