Page 80 of Beaten

“Mrs. Taylor, I’m so sorry.” On impulse, I pulled out a pink rose and handed it to her.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Jamie. It was our fault, we left the backdoor unlocked.”I didn’t know that.Not that it changed anything, none of this was their fault. “We never thought…” her voice cracked as she fought back tears.

“It’s not your fault. Is it Jamie?” Chris asked.

I didn’t need his prompting, the responsibility was mine and I wouldn’t hide from it. “No, it isn’t.” I paused to gather the strength to tell her it was my failure for not posting someone at the back.

But Chris said, “Emily wants to see you,” and I forgot about everything else.

“I’ll check on you and Mr. Taylor in a few minutes, okay?”

“Take all the time you need with Emily.” She patted me on the arm.

I heard Meg tell Chris as I walked to her door. “John will be here as soon-” Her voice faded as I made eye contact with Emily from the doorway.

Now that she’d been cleaned up I could see the extend of her injuries. She was in bad shape; her left eye was so swollen she could barely open it and her left cheek was a nasty shade of purple. There were cuts on the left side of her swollen mouth. He’d hit her hard, and often. I clenched my teeth as any regret I might've had about Craig dying on scene vanished.

“Jamie?” Her voice, small and scared, broke me out of my trance.

“Emily, I’m so sorry.” I closed the distance to the right side of herbed.

She shook her head. “Not your fault.” She was lisping a little because of the swelling. And they’d probably given her a pain killer or muscle relaxant.

“If I had-”

She cut me off. “No. I didn’t think he was a threat anymore. I even told my parents I didn’t need protection anymore.” She winced a little as she reached for a tissue. I grabbed the box and held it where she could easily reach it. She wiped her eyes, flinching when she put too much pressure on the bruised one. “I was wrong. I should have let you put a camera at the back door. I should have taken the threat seriously. If I had...” She closed her eyes.

It was killing me to hear her blaming herself. None of this was her fault. She didn’t make him drink or get violent, and she couldn’t have known the lengths he’d go to to get revenge.

“Emily, stop. Please. None of this is your fault, nor is it your parent’s fault. The only person at fault is Craig.” I looked at the IV in her arm and the bruises on her face. “And me, for not insisting on better coverage.”

“It’s not your fault either. You couldn’t have known.”

“But I did. I knew better than to leave the backdoor unguarded.”

“Maybe, but you tried to tell me and I didn’t listen.”

I sighed. “Can we both stop blaming ourselves for a minute?” I was still holding the roses. “I want to apologize for-”

“I thought we weren’t blaming ourselves.” Her battered smirk let me know she was kidding.

I laughed. “That’s not why I’m apologizing.” I handed her the roses. “I came to the house earlier because I wanted to apologize for being a fool, and thinking I could stay better focused if we weren’t dating.”

She took the flowers and sniffed them. They must have tickled her nose because she sneezed, then cried out, “Ow, God, that hurt my whole body.”

“Should I call the nurse?” I still didn’t know how bad her internal injuries were.

“No. I’m okay now.” She handed the roses back to me. “They’re beautiful. Can you put them on the table for me?”

I did, then took her hands. “Emily, can you ever forgive me for being a stupid stubborn ass?”

Despite the swollen cut lip and the purple bruises, her smile lit up her face. “I already have. I was going to call after I got home from shopping with Ashley to tell you I was being stupid.” She laughed, then clamped her jaw to bite back the pain. “I’m sorry too.”

“Forgiven.” I didn’t think she needed to apologize, but it wouldn’t get us anywhere to go around the ‘it’s not your fault loop’ again. “What a pair we make, huh?” I kissed her hand. “Too stubborn for our own good?”

She laughed as she patted the edge of the bed. I sat down as gently as I could and asked her about her injuries; grateful when she told me they were mostly superficial. Though the doctor wanted to keep her overnight for observation, because of the kicks to her head. I clenched my back teeth when I pictured him hitting and kicking her. Then I reminded myself; he’s gone; it’s over.

The only other injury of note was her bruised ribs; which I knew from experience would bother her for a while.

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