Burning Ember

Chapter 30-Hale

Never in my life had I been more scared than I was when mom called. I knew it was bad from the tone of her voice and all I kept thinking was, please, not Ember too. I couldn't bear it if Gabriel had hurt her or killed her. I didn't think I could handle living without her, and there was nothing I could even do, just stuck here in this damned cell.

Mom said she was in the hospital, and I cried. Something I hadn't done since I lost Scilla. She didn't have any other details, as the police were still doing their investigations, so I was just left in a constant state of worry and panic until she could tell me more.

I begged the guards to let me out, and I shook the bars hoping I could tear them down. It was useless but I couldn't just sit here knowing she was in the hospital hurt and possibly fighting for her life. All I wanted was to be at her side. She was all I wanted. I was already worried because I hadn't heard from her, and she hadn't visited me. Constant intrusive thoughts plagued my mind as I sat with nothing else to do.

Had Gabriel been keeping her captive? Had he done what he set out to do? Had she met someone else? There was nothing that could settle me until I was able to see her. Then I found out about what happened. When mom came to visit next, she brought along the county paper with her. There was an article on the front page that read:

"Woman on the Run Shoots Estranged Husband in Home Invasion

In the late evening hours shortly after arriving home, Ember Harding was attacked by her former husband Gabriel Harding. Investigators believe that she fought her attacker off and fled up the stairs to retrieve her gun from her bedroom where she fatally shot Gabriel as he pulled them both over the balcony. The bullet struck his heart, and it is believed that he died quickly. Ember was subsequently released from the hospital after spending a week recovering from a traumatic head wound, but sources say she is doing well despite it. No charges were filed against her as self-defense was evident."

"She's okay?" I asked, feeling both relieved and still riddled with worry.

Mom gave me half a smile as she nodded. "Yes, she's going to be fine." I dropped my head into my hands as tears filled them. I had spent days feeling like I couldn't breathe. The anxiety was like a vice around my chest, and it hadn't let up the slightest, not until I knew she was going to be okay. She was going to be okay.

"I need to see her, mom. I gotta get out of here."

Mom reached out toward the plexiglass window like she wanted to hold my hand, to comfort me. "I know, you will soon enough. Just a few more months baby."

"She hasn't come to see me, and I wasn't there for her . . ." I couldn't mask the hurt on my face, my desperation, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe she hadn't come to see me because she didn't want to. Maybe she had found out about what I did somehow, and only I was to blame for that, but I couldn't let her go. Not without fighting for her. She stayed on my mind every day. The only thing that kept me pushing forward.

As the months passed, I kept to myself, doing nothing but working out and minding my business. I was not trying to get caught up in any extra charges for fighting and have my time extended. Every movement I made was to get back to her. Workout, eat, sleep, and do it all again. My mind solely focused on her face, her eyes, the way her body felt against my hands. What I would give just to be able to touch her. The bodies I would drop if they stood in my way. But I was the only standing in my way now.

The day was approaching though. My final hearing before my release. I couldn't lie and say I wasn't afraid that they would extend my sentence, or just throw me in prison with my track record. But I had been good, kept my head down, and vowed to myself to never do anything again that would keep me from her. My court appointed lawyer led me into the chamber where I waited silently before the judge. My heart was pounding out of my chest, but I was trying to conceal it as best as I could.

Then the judge spoke. "Given the extensive nature of this case, and considering the one's revolving it, the court hereby deems you fit for release. No subsequent probation as time as been served."

The air I had been holding expelled from my lungs with force as I turned to my mom and hugged her. After several hours of processing, I was finally released. Mom drove me straight home so I could shower and change before going to see her. My body was vibrating with anticipation as I walked through the door.

Then my eyes fell to the open drawer at my desk. Rushing over, I saw her ring sitting on top, and I knew she had been here. She had found out. She was done with me. A swirl of anger washed over me like a riptide. I kicked the coffee table over, hands tangled in my hair, my voice breaking as I yelled "Fuck." Her ring was clutched in my hand. Turning it over and over, I knew it was my fault. I wasn't mad at her. How could I ever be mad at her? I knew what I had done, I just hoped that she could see why I did it. That I did it for her. That I would do anything for her.

I knew what I needed to do, and I wouldn't rest until I won her back.

After I showered and cleaned up the beard I had grown while being locked up, I dressed nicely and headed to Ember's. Hopeful anticipation filled me as I pulled into her driveway. How long I had waited just to be right here, to see her. I tried to keep the nervous tremble from my hands as I knocked. I waited, and waited but she wasn't answering. She either didn't want to see me or she wasn't home. So, I drove to town, and went to Maple Leaf Diner. Olivia was on shift, but Ember wasn't there. She told me that she had therapy on Tuesdays and had left for her appointment an hour ago.

Driving straight there, I parked just out front of the office building and leaned against my truck as I waited for her. Then the door opened, and Ember walked out. Casting a smile over her shoulder as she waved to someone inside. Her black hair cascading in waves over her shoulder. She was glowing. Radiant, and thriving, she looked healthy and happy, and my heart swelled seeing her. All I wanted to do was run to her, but I stayed still.

She turned, pausing mid-stride as she walked to the driver door of a black car. Her eyes locked on mine as her lips I had longed for parted in surprise. I could see the war within her, but she resumed her steps and rushed to the door, unlocking it with the key fob in her hand. "Ember, wait." She stilled with her hand on the handle as I cut around the truck to her.

"Please," I said as I reached to brush her hair from her face. She flinched back, and my heart broke.

"I can't—" Shaking her head, unable to meet my eyes, she said, "I can't do this. You hurt me, Hale." Her voice was trembling, and all I wanted to do was kiss her, make it better, drop to my knees and beg her. But she got in her car and drove away, leaving me standing there with my heart in my hands.