Stella and the Boxer

Chapter 30

“I was planning to come inside and help you, I even brought you a change of clothes!”

As Charlie settles into the passenger side, I gesture towards the back seat of my car, where I’ve neatly folded one of his flannel shirts and a pair of jeans. I’d called his phone upon arriving to the hospital, thinking that I would park and accompany Charlie as he left. Instead, he emerged from the glass doors as soon as he answered my call, smiling and waving as my car approached.

“That was nice of you, but you didn’t need to do that. And I didn’t need any help, I’m all good to go.”

He buckles his seatbelt and smiles at me. I see that he is once again wearing the oddly fitting black shirt that I still suspect to be Mark’s, and his jeans from yesterday.

I lean over to kiss him, thankful that he is in my car, safe, and coming home with me. Seconds after our lips meet, I feel my car beginning to move.

“Woah, Stella, brakes!” Charlie pulls away from me quickly and looks down towards my foot, which I’ve involuntarily removed from the brake petal.

“Sorry,” I regain my control. “I forgot I didn’t have it in park.”

My cheeks redden as I look back to Charlie with a small, innocent smile.

He laughs, “How did you even make it through last night alone?”

With a humored shake of his head, he remembers, “I guess you had Casey and Mason, huh? Are they still at the house? I’m sorry for calling you so early, by the way. I just didn’t want to stay any longer, and I missed you.”

“It’s alright. I’ve been up for a while. I woke up earlier than I’d planned, so I made them breakfast. Mason was about to take a shower when I left, but Casey said that they would probably be gone by the time we’re back – he has school, and she is going back to their house to repack before going to her sister’s house. She said that Mark still has your keys, and is bringing your car over, too.”

Charlie just nods, frowning towards the road ahead of us as I pull out from the hospital parking lot.

“You made them breakfast?”

He suddenly recalls the small, evidently amusing detail and turns towards me with a smirk.

“I did,” I assert, “I’m not as much of invalid as you seem to think I am.”

He huffs a laugh, and turns back towards the front windshield. There is silence, and I wonder if he is wordlessly boasting that I won’t be cooking for him in the near future. I almost consider defending myself against my own assumption of his thoughts by noting that they both complimented my breakfast, but I decide to move on to something more important, instead.

“So what exactly happened last night? It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it; but Casey only told me a very short version of what happened.”

Mostly because I wouldn’t stop crying long enough to get more than a synopsis.

“It was bad –“ Charlie starts and pauses. I glance over to see him pursing his lips and squinting towards the passenger side window before continuing.

“I mean, when I got there, Mark was on the ground, against the wall. One of the men stood over him, guarding him while the others were searching the house, trying to find compensation. Mason was there. He was hiding with his mom, but still, I hate that he’s been through something like this twice. He’s just a kid. Casey –I know she tried to help him, to keep the men from beating him. She put herself in danger. But everything is fine now. They’ll go to prison. None of us were hurt. As long as Mark doesn’t decide to put everyone through this shit again –“