Ecie & Esme II: Another Day Like This

Five

'Why didn't you tell me?' Esme said crying, sitting by Ecie's side and stroking her hand. 'All that stuff you had to go through all by yourself.'

Ecie lay with her eyes closed and her ventilator bleeping for every heartbeat.

'You should have said something,' Esme sobbed. 'We could have sorted this out together. This should never have happened.'

'How is she?' Taylor asked walking into the room.

'There's no change,' Denis replied quietly watching Ecie.

'Where did Jonathon and Ross go?'

'They went to talk to the police,' Denis replied. 'I told them all the stuff that I knew.'

'That sick bastard,' Taylor said crossing his arms. 'What did he say to you when you walked in?'

'You know Ellis,' Denis replied. 'He doesn't apologize for anything, ever. He thinks he's a god, he thinks he's above everything and everyone.'

'Did he say anything though?'

'He just stood there while I picked her up,' Denis said. 'He stood there calling her a slut.'

Esme turned to look at Denis with tearstained eyes. 'Denis.'

Denis looked at Esme.

'Thank you,' she whispered. 'Thank you for getting my sister.'

'It's okay,' Denis replied. 'It's the least I could do after everything.'

Esme turned back to her sister and kissed her hand. 'Please get better E. Please wake up. I want to talk to you again.'

'How long do you suppose it was going on for?' Taylor asked Denis. 'I mean I know Ellis so I know that this wasn't the first time it happened.'

'Who knows,' Denis replied. 'It could have been going on for months.'

'He could have killed her tonight,' Taylor said. 'Did you give the police his address?'

Denis nodded. 'I had to.'

Ross walked into the room and went to Ecie.

'Where's dad?' Esme asked looking up at Ross.

'He's talking to the insurance company,' Ross replied. 'Did you try mom again?'

Esme nodded. 'She's flying out.'

'I tried calling my mom but I couldn't get through,' Ross replied. 'I'm going to try her again in a couple of hours.'

Esme nodded and turned back to Ecie. 'This is my fault.'

'What do you mean?' Ross asked. 'This had nothing to do with you.'

'The signs were all there,' Esme started crying again. 'I just chose to ignore them because Ecie gets annoyed when you keep pressing her about things.'

'What are you talking about?'

'She had a massive bruise on her back a few months ago,' Esme replied. 'She told me that she hurt herself during a kick-boxing class.'

'You weren't to know,' Ross said. 'You weren't to know that her psycho boyfriend was beating the crap out of her.'

'Do you think that he broke her wrist and sprained her ankle?' Esme asked. 'I don't like thinking he did that to her.'

'He broke two of her ribs,' Ross replied. 'I wouldn't put anything else past him.'

'Taylor and I found bruises on her arm,' Esme said. 'She was screaming like she was being attacked by someone.'

'When was this?' Ross asked.

'A couple nights ago,' Esme replied. 'Taylor asked Denis to follow her. I wanted to make sure she was okay.'

'You do realize then that you guys saved her,' Ross said smiling kindly at his younger sister. 'You guys saved her life. You shouldn't beat yourself up about what happened to her, you should be happy that Denis found her when he did and that you listened to your gut.'

Esme nodded with tears in her eyes.

'It's okay,' Ross said holding Esme's hand. 'It's okay.'

Jonathon walked into the room and stared at his daughter who lay in the hospital bed looking like an Egyptian mummy.

'Denis,' Jonathon said. 'Thank you for getting her. You saved her life.'

Denis nodded at Jonathon.

'You kids should go to the cafeteria and get yourselves something to eat,' Jonathon said. 'You must be hungry.'

'Come on Es,' Taylor said. 'Let's get some food...'

'I can't leave her,' Esme replied holding onto Ecie's hand. 'I don't want to leave her again. She can't be alone.'

'Esme,' Jonathon said. 'I'll be here. It's okay.'

Esme shook her head. 'I'm not hungry.'

'Es...'

'I'm not hungry.'

'Leave her,' Jonathon said quietly to Taylor. 'I'll stay here with both of them.'

Ross got up and left the room with Taylor and Denis.

Jonathon sat down in Ross' seat and looked at Esme.

'She must have been so scared,' Esme said. 'She must have been so scared and terrified.'

'You used to worry so much about Ecie when you girls were growing up,' Jonathon said. 'I can remember this one time when she was going to the park with your mom and you wanted to follow her. You would say that because you were born after her, you were her guardian angel.'

'I didn't do a very good job of protecting her.'

'That's how I feel,' Jonathon said looking at Ecie sadly. 'She needed me, she needed her daddy and I wasn't there for her. No one was.'

Esme looked up at her dad and touched his hand with her free one. 'We can be there for her now.'

Jonathon nodded and smiled at Esme with tears in his eyes. 'Yes we can.'