“Ah,” I breathed out. “I’m already feeling better, thanks so much. I’m really sleepy now though, do you think you can go back with Roy and be a good boy for me?” He nodded his head in answer and gave me a small wave before Chase carried him out of the room. “I’ll be right back, baby. Go to sleep though, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
My eyes instantly closed as soon as the door swung shut. I thought I would have trouble falling asleep in the hospital with the almost constant noise but my eyes grew heavy right away. I was safe and my family was here to surround me with support. Even though I could still feel the pain, the happiness overrode that and made me feel like life was finally starting to look up.
Chapter 30
Leah
It had been almost a month since I had gotten out of the hospital. Other than my wrapped wrist, you could hardly tell that someone had tried to kill me. Luckily, Mary had went to work pretty quickly as soon as the police had cleared our house and by the time I came home from the hospital, everything was back into perfect order, even more so than before Shelia had wreaked havoc in it.
Ally had helped too, by doing her favorite thing, shopping. Almost every single one of Caleb’s toys and stuffed animals had been replaced before he came home, so he never had to see the damage that had been done and he was just excited to have everything new.
Shelia still remained in jail, waiting for a trial that was soon to come. Our lawyer assured us that she would get plenty of time, whether in prison or a mental institution, and I guess that was all we could ask for. As long as she got some kind of punishment for what she had done, we would be happy. Other than that, we had completely pushed that situation out of our minds, wanting to move on with our lives.
The weekend had come and it was the first one that we were letting Caleb spend at Roy’s again. I knew none of this had been Roy’s fault and I knew how guilty he felt, but I was nervous to let Caleb out of my sight for even longer than a second.
Roy had completely understood why I felt that way and I had finally worked up to the point where I thought it would be okay for Caleb to go. I know how much he loved his dad and I wasn’t going to stop their relationship from growing just because of my fears.
“You about ready, baby? Mom said dinner should be ready around six, so I think we should be heading out.” I glanced over at the clock after pulling my sundress over my head and rolled my eyes.
It was only four-thirty and we had at the most a twenty minute drive. “Okay, I’m coming. What’s the hurry anyway? We have oodles of time.” I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck where he was patiently waiting for me on the living room couch, but he abruptly stood up and lowered my feet to the ground.
“No time for that woman. We need to get out of here.” He shoved his hands into his jeans that hung low on his hips and I followed closely behind, enjoying the view, even if he was rushing me for no reason.
He looked extremely yummy today with a form fitting black shirt on that hugged his back and a black hat pulled on backwards. I loved when he wore them like that, his green eyes were more visible and I could stare into them for hours. Ah, that was a little cheesy, wasn’t it? Oh, well I guess I could be cheesy if I wanted to. I earned it.
He held the truck door open for me, gripping my hips through the thin material of my dress before boosting me inside. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look in that dress? Absolutely amazing,” he stated as he slid behind the steering wheel and flung an arm over the seat to back out of the driveway.
“Why thank you, kind sir,” I replied in a southern drawl. “You look pretty amazing yourself.”
“I try. Mom’s dying to see us; we haven’t had a family dinner in a while.”
“I know, I wish Caleb would have been home to go with us. I guess there’s always next time. I know he was excited about going to Roy’s house, especially since I reassured him about a hundred times that Shelia would most definitely not be there.”
“It’s okay, baby. Just like you said, there’s always next time. Now that everything has finally settled down, I’m sure Mom will have them every week again. We have one stop to make before starting the trip over there.” I looked at him questioningly as he drove but his lips were pursed tightly and I knew he wouldn’t budge and tell me where we were going, no matter how much I bothered him. I sighed and leaned against the headrest, closing my eyes for what only felt like a few minutes before I felt the truck come to a stop.
“Where exactly are we?” I felt his hand cover my eyes as he pulled me out of the truck. “No peeking.” Grass tickled my feet through my platform sandals and then finally we stopped.