Preachers Daughter, Charlie Mayhew.

²⁰ Charlie Mayhew

Charlie Mayhew ━━ 𝒗ol II.
xx. ✧ chapter twenty

Charles Mayhew had never passed the speed limit while driving. He barely drove at all in fact. The white mustang sat in the parking lot most days, occasionally going out to the diner or any place in town he had to go.

But today was different. Very. He had been leaning on the edge of his desk repeatedly calling Adelaide Chambers once he heard her phone drop and the line go dead until he finally threw his cell on the desk and left the room to take a shower to ease all of his racing thoughts. When he came back around twenty minutes later he had multiple missed calls from her number.

Charlie had called back immediately and expected to hear Addie's soft voice fill the speakers and calm his nerves. But instead the raspy strained voice of Lois Tryon rang in his ears instead. He had been confused until her words registered.

"Addie." "Shot." "Unresponsive."

He had only needed to understand three of them and the location they were going to before he threw himself in the driver seat of his Mustang and sped out of town to where ever in God's name they were.

It had taken him an hour to get there, quicker than it had taken Addie, Lois, and Megan. They were not doubling the speed limit and putting everyone on the line to get there. Charlie was.

He busted into the hospital room the nurses told him she was in after a screaming match in the lobby. His heart dropped at the sight of Addie laying lifelessly in a bed with Det. Tryon sitting next to her.

Charlie rushed to her side and reached out to grab one of her hands. He frowned when her usually warm skin was cold against his own. The last time he saw Addie was when she was sleeping peacefully in his bed, her pale skin glowing like porcelain and warmth filling his soul.

Now in this bed, her skin was just cold. There was no Addie behind it. Her touch was soft, it was welcoming. Instead now it was distant and nothing came from it.

Charlie ran his other hand through his hair, letting strands fall in front of his face. He still did not let go of her, no matter what it was still Adelaide. The girl who single-handedly pulled her out of his darkness in such a short time.

He had noticed her for years of course, her presence shining against the other church members in the pews. She never missed a day. So every time he preached, he got to see her smiling. Even without a word exchanged he felt her fill the whole room.

When he finally got a chance to speak to her, he took it and ran. Since then, he kept Addie close. Even when he pushed her away in fear. Charlie pressed the back of her hand to his lips. He softly pressed a kiss into it.

Selfishly, he hoped it would bring her back. Just so he could take her away and keep her safe forever.

Lois, who had sat silently back in her chair for the whole time finally spoke up.

"They took her into surgery about an hour ago." She said, lighting a cigarette.

Lois took a long drag and stared at Addie's body. She had a liking for the kid, a sense of protection over her. And she couldn't help but feel guilty for the state she was in currently.

"What does that mean." Charlie said, his voice strained and laced with frustration. He too slightly blamed Lois for what happened to Adelaide.

"They were able to remove the bullet and the fragments around it. It didn't pierce her heart...Or any organs."

Charlie exhaled deeply, closing his eyes in relief. That meant Addie would be okay, after she healed it would be okay. His Addie would come back, and he'd never let her go again.

"But she's still unresponsive." Lois finished.

That made all of his relief vanish the moment it entered his lungs. He opened his eyes and stared at Lois with anger twitching in his face before moving his attention to Addie.

His eyes softened when he met her face. The usual pink had been replaced by a pale beige in her lips.

Two days ago Adelaide Chambers was a vibrant and happy girl. Even if she was going through internal turmoil and grieving the impending loss of her religion, she was still a light in the dim life of Charlie Mayhew.

She deserved to live life to the fullest with him by her side through every step of it. Not to die in a hospital room hours away from her home in a place she did not know. He knew she would hate that, it would make her so sad.

He did not hope that she woke up. He did not plan on going home and lacing his fingers together to beg God to bring her back to the living. In fact he demanded that she woke up. Charlie was not asking, he was not praying or pleading.

The world without Adelaide Chambers was a world no one wanted to know. Especially if it was left in the hands of Charles Mayhew.

Author's Note.

oh he doesn't play about his girl