Fifty Reasons to Stay (Book Three)

Chapter Nine-Bruise

June 5th, 2025
Please come back....
-Donnie

The pictures turned out even more beautiful than I could ever imagine. I would cherish them forever, and ever and ever and ever and-
Sorry.
It's just that Leo had never done something like this for me before and it meant the world.

It was so romantic, the way we slow danced under the stars..
But I had to go and ruin it and say he didn't love me. He was like, "of course I do! Don't even think that! Is this why you're cutting yourself?" And of course I insisted that wasn't it and asked to go home, for him to just forget I said anything.

It was the day after our wedding anniversary when things took a sharp turn off a cliff.

We were lying in bed in a romantic hotel room asleep. Well, at least he was. My head was pounding.
Mikey and Raph watched the kids for us that night in exchange for us doing the same for them.

But I don't know, once it was just me and Leo in that hotel room, the steamy moment we had seemed rushed. Like oh-I-have-somewhere-else-to-be-lovemaking, if you can believe that.

I looked at him for awhile in the bed, and longed for him to say something romantic to me but he didn't. I wanted him to hold me afterwards.. but he didn't. He just kept staring at our pictures from the photo booth with a blank expression.
I woke up at five in the morning with a terrible stomach ache- like I was starting to wonder if someone put something in my drink the night before, as I didn't remember anything from the time we left the boardwalk to when we were in bed. It was a blur.
Anyway, I was a sick and hugging the toilet, hoping this was just a bad hangover. I only had two, and it takes at least five to get me slightly drunk.

Next thing I knew, Leo was knocking on the door. "Are you alright?"
I had fallen asleep on the floor, and sat up. "Mm.. not really. I don't feel well.." I felt overheated and saw my skin- looked like it'd been burnt to a crisp. Soon enough it'd be peeling.

"Can I come in?"
There was no use in answering as I already was throwing up again. He opened the door with a washrag in his hand, laying it over the back of my neck. "Must've drank too much.. I'll get you back to the beach house when you feel a little better."
"Ugh.." I whined, trembling a bit. "I'm aching everywhere.."
Leo picked me up and carried me back to bed. "Rest. I'm going for a run. I'll bring back some medicine and breakfast. Okay?"
"Don't leave..." I mumbled, clinging onto him.
I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, but he didn't come back.
~~
At around nine fifteen- after I made it back to the beach house- Mikey brought my kids upstairs to show off a craft they'd made the day before. He looked behind me, then at my expression. "What.. sexy time went wrong?"

I rolled my eyes, adjusting my baggy teeshirt he'd put me in the night before. "No.. He's not even here at the moment and I feel like shit."

"Where'd he go then? Cause that doesn't sound like him. I gave you guys an entire night of alone time and he didn't even touch you and it was your anniversary?"
"Oh, he touched me alright." I said in a sarcastic tone. "Everywhere- but it didn't feel like him."

"Disappointment island! I'm sorry, Dee. I'm sure he'll come back and tackle you, demanding a rematch."

I nudged him. "Thanks for the input, Mikey. But that never happens, and besides I'm not in great shape at the moment."

I closed the door and turned to Andrew. "What's up?"

He picked up one of the pictures we'd all taken two days back. "What happened to Dad?"
"He went for a run. I'm sure he'll be back soon." He went for a run three hours ago.
"Is he seeing a doctor right now?" He looked bothered by something, but refused to say.
"No, he went to take a walk. Why? Did you see him?"
He nodded. "Yeah."