Always

Chapter 28

I ran to his door and yanked it open, wedging myself between it and his car, mind and body in full-fledged panic.  My jaw dropped open at the closer sight of him.  His face was covered in blood, clearly pouring from the deep cuts present on his lower lip and eyebrow.  Dark purple bruises were already forming on his handsome face along his sharp jaw, cheekbones, and eye sockets on both sides of his face.  His hair was matted with blood he must have smeared off his face, clumping together around his temple. 

My eyes searched his face, completely at a loss for words as he stared with a hollow expression at his windshield, jaw slack, fingers dangling loosely around the steering wheel.  I felt bile rising in the back of my throat, panic in my stomach becoming unbearable as my chest tightened painfully. 

“Harry, what happened?” I finally managed to choke out, my voice sounding feeble in shock.  He didn’t say anything and continued his dead stare straight ahead, blinking only once, not acknowledging me.  I gave him a few more seconds to decide to answer me before I repeated myself. 

“Harry, babe, what happened?” I felt my throat tightening up and tears springing to my eyes as I choked back a sob.  No reaction.  Tears spilled over my lids as I let out a strange choking sound.  “Harry, please look at me.”

Hearing me sob seemed to jolt Harry out of whatever trance he had been in.  Blinking twice, he turned slowly to look at me, eyes burning a bluish-green color I hadn’t seen before, a result of the contrasting red of the blood surrounding his eyes.  Air whooshed out of me as I exhaled forcefully and my hands clutched at his arm resting on his leg, grateful he had finally responded.  His eyes focused intently on mine, squinting slightly, eyebrows furrowed.

“Joey,” was all he said.  His voice was gravelly, different from the usual roughness it held after he slept.  This tone sent a chill down to my bones; this was a tone empty, hollow.  It was the tone of defeat. 

I desperately wanted to reach up and touch him, but I stopped myself, leaving my hands floating in the air in front of us; he had to be sore from whatever had happened to him and the last thing I wanted to do was cause him more pain.  I prayed it wasn’t what I was thinking.  If it was, I would never be able to forgive myself.  Angry with myself for crying when he was clearly the one in need, I hastily wiped the tears from my eyes before grabbing his hand again.

“Harry, please, let’s go inside and fix you up,” I begged, desperate for some reason to get him inside.  Just to get him to move, really.  His eyes continued to dart back and forth between mine, intense expression still laden on his face. 

“Come on, babe, please,” I said again, massaging his fingers between my hands as I held his eye contact, refusing to let the tears return.  I could feel dry blood crusted across his knuckles.  Finally, finally, he nodded slowly before turning back to face the front of the car, leaning forward and pulling the keys from the ignition.  He was unable to hide his wince as he did so, though he tried valiantly.  Leaning back, he cautiously swung his legs to dangle out of his SUV, jaw tightening in his attempts to hide his discomfort. 

He still held onto my hands, but I was afraid to touch him anywhere else, not sure where he was all hurt.  Taking a deep breath, he heaved himself off the seat, landing harshly with a sharp exhale through his nose, nostrils flaring and jaw clenching again.  He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, gathering himself before he spoke.

“Joey, could you help me, please?” he said, trying his best to sound calm and not alarm me any further.  He looked at me, smoothing the expressions of pain and anger from his features as he gingerly lifted his arm.  I quickly nodded and stepped forward to fill the space as he rest his arm across my shoulders, leaning on me slightly.  Gingerly, I wrapped my around his waist, setting it down as softly as possible so as not to jostle him.