One Autumn Day

Chapter Five

    I woke up the next morning, to the smell of coffee. I went downstairs and found that Autumn made some coffee. "Good morning, mi otra mitad."
"Good morning, mein stern." I walked over to her and gave her a kiss. Then I poured myself some coffee and then I went and sat down.
    "How is your ankle?"
"It feels alot better, now."
"Good." She limped over to me and sat down in the chair next to me. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the doctor to get it checked out?"
"No. I'm fine."
She got up to go get the creamer and she was limping.
"Autumn you're not fine. I am taking you to the doctor after we get dressed."
She looked down at her coffee cup because she knew that she would not win this argument.
So I carried her upstairs and we both got dressed. Then I ran outside, started the car, and opened her door. I ran upstairs and carried her to the car. Once we were settled in the car, I took a drink of my coffee then I drove us to the doctors office. She wouldn't let me carry her inside so I helped her walk inside.
"You should really let me carry you."
"But I don't want you to carry me. It makes me feel like a little kid."
"I understand that but it will keep you from hurting yourself even more."
"Fine you can carry me. Just hurry up and get me inside, it's cold out here."
I smiled, picked her up,and ran inside. Then I put her down and hugged her tight. "Are you warm now?"
She hugged me back and said, "Yes I am."
I smiled then we went and got her checked out. Once we were in the car I looked over and gave her an, I told you so, smile.
Then I said, "See I told you it was a good idea to go to the doctor."
"Yeah, yeah. You were right I was wrong."
"I knew you would end up having a sprained ankle. And the doctor just proved that for me."
"You were right okay."
"Well that feels good."
"What does?"
"Being right. It's never happened to me before."
She looks at me and then rolls her eyes, then we both burst into laughter.
"This is really random but, do you want to go see a movie this weekend?"
"What movie?"
"You will have to wait and see."
"Oh great, another surprise."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Well. It's just that... well, I don't know." We both laugh again and then I turn on the radio. We sing along to songs as I drive us home.
Once we were home, she went and sat down at the piano. She began to play as the phone started to ring.
"I'll get it. You just continue playing."
"Okay." I grab the phone and answer it.
"Hello?" Through the phone I could hear loud heavy breathing.
"Who is this?"
"..."
"Hello?" This is a little creepy.
"Who is this?!?!"
"I'm coming for you..."
"Who the heck is this!?"
They didn't respond after that, all they did was hang up.
"What the heck!" I put the phone down and go in the other room.
"What's wrong?"
I just acknowledged she was in the room. I didn't want to make her worried so, I lied and said, "It was just a salesman that I told to stop calling me, a while ago."
"Oh. Well that explains why you sounded angry and anxious."
"Yeah, I'm just sick of him calling."
Who could that have been? I didn't recognize the voice, wait a second. Was that... no it couldn't have been. He doesn't have my number.
I pause for a moment and then I answered Autumn's phone. Oh crap! That was him. That was Chassen and he's coming after Autumn. What the heck am I going to do now!?
I don't know what I am going to do but I do know that I can't tell Autumn about this. I don't want her to worry. I also don't want her heart to be troubled.
I walked over and gave her a kiss. Then I went and grabbed some music sheets and handed them to her. "Play these for me, please."
"Okay."
She played it as I listened. She plays so beautifully.
When she finished I just sat there in awe. Then I smiled as she came over and kissed me on the cheek.
"I know another song. Do you want me to play it for you?"
"Sure." She sat down and began to play "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz. Then she started to sing along as she played.
She sounds like an angel. How did I ever get lucky enough to end up with her in my arms? She finished and I couldn't even say anything. I just sat there as tears of joy rolled down my cheeks.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. It's just that, that was beautiful."
"So why are you crying?"
"They're tears of joy."
"Oh. That makes sense."
I got up and pulled her forward until she was pressed against me. I know she wants me to kiss her because she is biting her lip.
So I kiss her slowly and gently. But when I go to pull away she wraps her arms around me and pulls me closer to her. So instead of pulling away I embrace her and kiss her more roughly.
Then I pulled away as the phone began to ring. "I should probably get that."
"Yeah you probably should."
I kissed her one last time and then I grabbed my phone. "Hello?"
"Yes, hello. I would like to speak to Nathan Drake."
"Yes, this is Nathan Drake. May I ask what this phone call regards?"
"It's about your reservations."
"Yeah. What about them?"
"I was just calling to make sure you were still coming tonight."
"Yes we are."
"Okay. See you then."
"Alright. Bye."
"Bye."
I hung up and then checked my text messages. When I looked up from my phone I realized she was on hers. It took me a few seconds, but I noticed that she looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Autumn, what's wrong?"
"..."
"Autumn?"
"..."
I walked over to her and looked at her phone. Oh crap! Chassen texted her.
"Autumn? Are you okay?"
"..." I pick her up and rock her in my arms as she cries. I start to shed a few tears, but we just sit on the couch with her on my lap, in my arms. And with her head buried in my chest.
"H-h-he's c-c-coming f-f-for m-m-me." I stopped crying and held her tighter.
"H-he i-is s-still m-mad a-at m-me." I looked down at her as she tightened her grip  around me.
"H-he is g-going to k-kill me."
"I won't let anyone hurt you." Every time she spoke she would choke on her words.
I wanted to keep it from her for this exact reason. I didn't want her to get all worked up. I didn't want her to be scared.
She held onto me as I carried her into the kitchen. I set her down on the chair and started to make us some lunch.
She continued to cry as her lips began to quiver. "Autumn. Honey, look at me Everything is going to be okay. I will protect you."
"But you don't know what else he is capable of."
"What do you mean?"
"There was something else he did to me..."
"What did he do?" At first she hesitated to say anything but then she told me what he did. "Oh Autumn. That is just terrible. I'm so sorry that, that happened to you."
"Yeah me too."
"I am still going to protect you as best I can."
"Oh Nathan. You're so good to me. What did I ever do to deserve you?"
I smiled and walked over to her. She wrapped her arms around me as I said, "Well you make it easy for me."
She giggled and then I kissed her gently and playfully. Then she pulled me closer and kissed me more passionately.
I was dreading the end of the kiss, but all good things must come to an end. Well that's what people tell me.
So the kiss was over but I was still hugging her tight. "I love you so much, mein stern. I want you to feel safe with me."
"I love you so much more than you could ever imagine. And I want to feel safe with you too."
I let go of her so I could finish our lunch.
"What are you making?"
"Chicken noodle soup. Can you do me a favor?"
"Yum. Yeah,sure what is it?"
"Can you turn on the tv and go on 'The Voice'?"
"You watch 'The Voice'?"
"Yes I do."
"I am obsessed with that show. So yes I will definitely turn it on."
She turned on the tv as I finished making our lunch. We sat down on the couch and watched "The Voice" while eating our chicken noodle soup.
After we finished eating I took the dishes and went to clean up, while she sat at the piano and played "Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright.
As she played I got lost in the music and couldn't help but sing along. When I started to sing she joined in. With her angelic voice and my husky voice we sounded awesome.
We were interrupted by a knock on the door. I go open the door and say, "Yes, hello. Who are you?"
"I can't tell you who I am, I just need to know if Autumn is here."
"Babe, who is it?"
Gosh darn it. I was going to tell him, no that Autumn isn't here. But then she walked over to the door and he saw her.
"Autumn?!"
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"I need to talk to you,..." he looked at me then back at her, "alone."
"No. Who are you and how do you know my name?"
"Please just let me talk to you without him being here."
She said, "No", and she slammed the door shut.
I wrapped my arms around her and said, "Did you recognize him?"
"No." We went and sat down on the couch.
"Oh yeah. I almost forgot. We have to get ready."
"For what?"
"I made dinner reservations."
"Okay." We go upstairs, get dressed and then head to dinner.
"So what is the name of the restaurant?"
"Watermark Restaurant."
"Oh, sounds expensive and fancy." I smiled at her and then continued driving.
A few minutes later she turns on the radio. Then bursts out singing the lyrics to "Sucker For Pain" by Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and Imagine Dragons. She was getting all into the song and she forgot where she was. She threw her hands up in the air and began to dance along to the song.
When the song ended she opened her eyes, looked at me and froze. I laughed as I noticed that she realized what she just did.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Can you pretend you didn't see that?"
"I mean I will if you want me to. But you should know that your dance was adorable."
She blushed and then turned away so I couldn't see her face. I laughed and then went back to focusing on the road.
"Is that one of your favorite songs?"
"Actually yes it is. It's a great song."
"I can agree to that."
As I continued to drive, she continued singing along to songs. Finally we reached the restaurant. I parked the car and helped her get out. We went inside and were seated right away. We ordered our food and drinks.
After dinner I drive us home. And as I am sitting in the car I realize the feeling I've been confused about. Autumn is the only person who can make me truly happy. I think I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I don't want to rush things, so I will wait until later.
Once we reached the house I parked the car and we went inside. I locked the door and found her waiting for a kiss. So I grab her by the waist and I pull her close to me. I gently brush a strand of hair away from her eyes. Then I slowly lean in and kiss her.
After the kiss we go upstairs and get ready for bed. Once we are in our pajamas we lay down and I kiss her goodnight. Then we both fall asleep.
In the middle of the night I wake up to the sound of kitchen drawers opening and closing. I look at the other side of the bed and notice that Autumn is gone.
So I get up and run downstairs. I sneak into the kitchen and I flip out when my eyes adjust to the light. Autumn is sitting on the floor with a knife on one side of her, on the floor, and her phone on the floor on the other side of her. That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was she had a small puddle of blood around her arm. She was cutting herself!
I ran over to her and said, "Autumn are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said this faintly.
"Why did you do this?"
Her head landed on her shoulder pointing towards her phone. I looked at her phone and saw that Chassen sent her our address. Oh crap he knows where we live.
I look back at Autumn, she is losing a lot of blood. I grab her phone and call 911. The ambulance is on the way. I grab a washcloth and put pressure on her wound to stop the blood from coming out as much.
Once the ambulance arrives they take us to the emergency room. I explain to the paramedics in the ambulance how I found her. They have a breathing mask on her face.
"Is she going to be okay?"
The paramedic looks at me and says, "Honestly she will be fine but she is very unstable so she will have to be watched at all times. And if you want to take her home I suggest you lock all of the sharp objects away."
I look at him and nod my head okay. The fact that he thinks it may happen again scares me. What am I going to do? What if she tries to hang herself? What if the next time she does this I'm too late?
By the time we reached the hospital her heartbeat was dropping. Oh no! I'm going to lose her! They rush her inside and start getting the doctors to help her as I sit in the waiting room, because they wouldn't let me come with them, and cried.
Finally about an hour later the doctor came out.
"Well, Mr. Drake, Autumn is in recovery. We had to do surgery on her because she cut three veins. She is sleeping now and it's best she spends the night here."
"Okay. Than I will stay as well. Please take me to her room."
"Okay."
He took me to her room and I slept in a ball on the chair as I held her hand. When I woke up she was shaking from a nightmare. I kissed her forehead and talked to her, to calm her down. She opened her eyes and started to cry.
"I am so sorry Nathan. It was the only thing I could think of."
"It's okay just don't do it again."
"Okay. But did you see the text?"
"Yes I did and I am going to figure that out later today. Right now I need to focus on you. How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Good. You need to go back to sleep and rest a little while longer."
"Okay."
I kiss her forehead as she closes her eyes to fall back asleep.
As soon as she fell asleep the nurse came in, "Can I get you anything?"
"Umm. Can you bring back two coffees?"
"Yes I can. Will that be all?"
"For the time being, yes."
"Okay."
The nurse left and then about ten minutes later came back with the coffees. I took the coffees and the nurse left. I set one of the coffees on the table beside the bed and I slowly sipped my coffee.
I was thinking about getting some more sleep, when I heard a faint knock on the door. I got up and went to see who it was. When I opened the door I saw the same guy, who appeared earlier last night, was standing there.
"What do you want? Who are you? Why won't you leave us alone?"
"I'm Jonathan, but I go by Johnny. Autumn is my sister. Our parents sent me away when i was five. I kept going back hoping I could find out why they sent me away. That was when I found out that our mom was pregnant with Autumn. So I followed Autumn everywhere she went. I felt and still feel that I need to protect her. I'm glad she found you because I have never seen her this happy. How is she and what happened? Did Chassen d this?"
"You're her brother! She's doing better. She cut through three veins in her arm trying to commit suicide. It was all because Chassen sent her our address. How do you know about him?"
"I told you I followed her. I was always close enough to protect her."
"Oh. Well my name is Nathan Drake."
He shook my hand and said, "Well thank you for hearing me out. Also thank you for being there for my little sister."
"It's my pleasure to be there for her. She is an angel And I love her."
"Can I come in and see her?"
"I guess since you're family, yes."
I let him in and as soon as I did, he went straight to her.
"You can be in here but please don't wake her up. She just went back to sleep about a half hour ago."
"Okay. That's a deal. Did she wake up from a nightmare?"
"Yes but how did you know that?"
"She has always done that."
    "Oh."