Lost Souls (Completed)

Lost Souls - Chapter Nine

     It had been 24 hours since I’d found Casey half-conscious on her living room floor until I was allowed to see her. Nathan had been arrested and was being held at the police station until Casey had finished giving her statement. The police had already told me that they were going to have to let him out on bail soon if they didn’t get enough evidence. It was looking quite bleak for Casey, but they’d also told me that they’d be able to put an injunction on him coming anywhere near her if she didn’t feel safe enough. 

      “I don’t know what to do, Dylan” she cried into my shoulder. I couldn’t understand why she was so confused. He’d beaten her up and left her there to die. Luckily she’d only suffered concussion and some minor cuts and bruises, but it was enough. She shouldn’t want to be anywhere near him.

     “Shush, come on, Princess, there’s no need to think about it right now. They’re holding him for another 12 hours before they have to let him go. Get some sleep and we’ll think about this in the morning.”

     “Mmm” she mumbled and snuggled into me. I could feel the tears falling until she finally managed to fall asleep half an hour later.  I reluctantly pulled myself away from her and climbed off the bed, before kissing her on her head and walking out of the room where her parents were sat waiting for me.

     “So, now that we know Casey’s going to be fine, are you going to tell us what you’re doing back here, Dylan?” Lindsay asked sternly. She looked through the window to her sleeping daughter and sighed. “You left her all alone and now you’ve come back and expect nothing to have changed? She’s fragile now. She’s not the tough nut you were in love with before; she’s been through a lot, Dylan. She spent 2 weeks in her room after you left and never stepped foot out of the house until Benny had had enough and dragged her out onto the front lawn. She was an emotional wreck. You can’t expect to just walk back into her life and it smell of roses!” she let out a sigh of relief. She’d obviously been holding that in for such a long time. And I had a feeling that she wasn’t quite finished, but I thought I’d at least try and stand up for myself. 

      “I have no-“ Yep, she wasn’t finished. 

      “Then when you come back, the first thing that happens is Nathan puts her in hospital. Was he jealous of you? Did he have reason to be? And has she told you about Lola?” Her words stung. I had to get my point across this time.

     “I love Casey,” Lindsay tried to interrupt again, so I spoke up. “BUT I would never try and end her relationship with someone else, just because I wanted her. I would wait for as long as she wanted me to. Come on, Mrs Nichols, you know me. I’m Dylan Price. I’m the same Dylan Price you lived next door to for 12 years. You can trust me.”

     My voice was getting louder, so I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down before speaking again. Lindsay looked at me with a smug look on her face. Bitch. 

     “I have no excuses for my behaviour that day. And I’ve regretted it ever since. But you can honestly trust me with Casey. I won’t force her into anything. I’ll wait for her.” I said, honestly.  “And no, she hasn’t told me anything about Lola. I’ve kind of figured it out myself that she’s Casey’s daughter?” It was more a question than a statement as I didn’t even know if I was right yet.

     Lindsay’s face said it all. She didn’t trust me as far as she could throw me. She was pretty certain that all of the shit to happen to Casey in the last 8 years was caused by me. Maybe it was. Maybe when I left, I caused her to go off the rails. Maybe it was my fault. But I was here to put it right. And I couldn’t do that if her parents didn’t trust me. They’d be taking her back to their place for a while until she got back on her feet. She couldn’t come live with me at Nana and Granddad’s. They liked her nearly as much as I did and if they could, they would let her stay, but their house was just too small. If I couldn’t get through Lindsay and Mark’s front door, how was I going to be able to make it up to Casey?