The Scars That Define Us Read online

  “I know I’m late,” I say, noticing only a couple little girls are in attendance instead of the usual group.

  “Did the parents get tired of waiting?” I ask, pointing to the girls stretching.

  “A lot called in. Seems the flu is going around,” Mila says, sticking her tongue out in distaste.

  “Yeah. I haven’t been feeling too well myself,” I admit, grabbing my leotard from my bag.

  “Well, I’m going to work on the books and then I’ll be out of your hair,” she tells me, grabbing a book with ‘Monthly Tuition’ etched on it in black marker.

  “Okay,” I respond, heading to the changing room.

  “Okay, girls, let’s practice the five basic positions of ballet, starting with the first position,” I command, clapping my hands, hoping the loud noise will motivated the girls.

  “Miss Lexington?”

  “Yes?” I respond to one of the little girls, noticing her complexion is a little pale.

  She opens her mouth to speak but vomit spills out, chunks of food and liquid splatter onto the floor, followed by a foul odor. I have to look away and swallow slowly or I’ll puke myself.

  The other girls start gagging and ewwing. This is going to be a long day.

  After calling Hayden’s parents and cleaning up the mess, I decide to call the other girls’ parents and inform them a bug is going around and to come pick their kids up. I don’t want to clean up anymore puke, and I’m not feeling well myself, so it’s a short night of work.

  “Hey, I’m going to head out,” Mila says.

  “Okay, I’ll be outta here, too, when the parents come pick up my last fairy,” I tell her, pointing to the last little girl twirling in a circle.

  Mila laughs. “Okay, have a good night.”

  Finally, after the last kid is picked up, I decide to text Shadow and let him know I’m off work early. I turn all the lights off and go to grab my paycheck only to find Mila forgot to set it out.

  “Damn,” I mutter.

  I leave the dance studio and start to walk where Shadow has been parking lately.

  I kick a stray rock as I make my way across the side of the lot and notice a bright beam of lights flare behind me.

  I turn and am blinded, so I shield my eyes with my arm, trying to look under the bright lights making it hard to see anything. The car starts and tires screech with sudden speed. The hairs stand on my neck and my heart begins to race as the car flies toward me. I turn around and sprint, not knowing what else to do. My heart is pounding with fear as my mouth lets out a scared whimper. I look over my shoulder and notice the car is catching up. I drop my bag trying to lighten my load and give myself speed. The car speeds up and drives right next to me, I clench my eyes shut for a second, urging myself to try and run faster. When I open them, the car door suddenly opens and slams into me. The asphalt bites into my knees, tearing at my flesh unforgivingly as I’m hurled forward. I hear the car tires scream to a halt, making my heart skip a beat. I crawl on my hands and knees and let out a strangled cry at the raw flesh digging into the ground. I look behind me for the car to find a bunch of men climbing out. I look for my bag to grab my gun but remember I dropped it, so I push myself to stand but one of the guys kicks me back down, making me fall on my back painfully.

  “This is for Darin!” one of the guy yells as a wooden bat flashes in front of me. The name Darin hits me like a bolt of lightning: the guy me and the girls beat to a bloody pulp and left for dead.

  I shield my face and curl into the fetal position, knowing this is going to hurt. The bat slams into my arm hard. I scream as an earth-shattering pain riddles deep into my bone. My lungs run out of air to scream, leaving me gasping for more.

  “Fucking punta!” one yells as the bat slams back into the same arm. If it wasn’t broken before, it is now. My ears ring as my vision blurs from the pain and I bit my cheek to try to keep from screaming again. The only thing I want is to pass out, but it’s no use; I can’t help but scream in pain.

  My head is jerked back with a sudden kick to the face. I feel my eyebrow split when the rubber sole makes contact. I close my eyes as blood begins to pool into them. My entire body aches, unbearable pain pulsing from one end to the other.

  “Shut the hell up!” another yells as I continue to scream in pain.

  They all begin to kick and slam their feet into me. All feeling starts to fade slowly, and I can sense myself becoming numb with the amount of pain my body is consuming.

  “Hey, get the fuck away from her!” I hear a voice yell. “I’ve called the cops. They’re on their way!” I try to open my eyes to see who is yelling but can’t.

  “Let’s go,” one of the guys yells. I hear footsteps fade, along with everything.

  SHADOW

  “Royal Flush, boys,” I laugh, laying my cards out for all of them to see.

  “Fucking cheater,” Locks says, slamming his cards down. I raise my eyebrow, wondering why I’m even listening to Bull’s orders. Locks should be dead by now.

  “He is a cheater,” Bobby agrees, tossing his cards along the table. Bobby always thinks I cheat when I win; he has since we were kids.

  My phone rings in my pocket, breaking my laughter. I straighten my legs so I can pull it out. It shows I missed a text from Dani as it continues to ring, and the caller ID reads the hospital.

  “Hello?”

  “Is this Adrian Kingsmen?” the lady asks.

  Bobby laughs and Bull yells, making it hard to hear.

  “Maybe, who’s this?” I question her, turning my head to hear better.

  “There has been an accident, and I was told by the doctor to contact you at this number,” the lady replies calmly.

  “What accident?” I ask.

  “It’s regarding patient, Danielle Lexington.”

  I jump from my seat, panic rising in my chest.

  “What’s wrong? Is she okay?” I’m moving frantically, my heart speeding up to a level consistent with doing cocaine.

  “It’s best if you just come in. Then we can give you more details, sir,” she replies sweetly.

  Hesitant, I hang up. Danielle’s photo of her sleeping as my phone background catches my attention. My finger slides across the screen of my phone. I don’t pray—never did any good before—but I find myself praying right now. Can the Devil pray? Or does it get cast to the side with the rest of the sinners, gambling on a second chance?

  “Everything okay, son?” Bull stares my way, snapping me from my silent prayer, my hope there’s a God and he’s listening to me.

  “Dani’s in the hospital, some kind of accident,” I answer him, taking my eyes off my phone’s screen.

  “What?” Bobby says, standing in panic.

  “Let’s go,” Bull orders, throwing his cards on the table.

  ***

  I race toward the hospital, Bobby and Bull trying to keep up, but my bike is faster.

  I park in the unloading zone, not giving a fuck about the law right now, and rush inside. I run toward the front desk and slap the counter to get the receptionist’s attention.

  “A lady called me, said Danielle Lexington had been in an accident.”

  The lady starts typing into her computer—slowly, I might add.

  “Yes, she’s in the emergency room down the hall.”

  Without any more details, I take off down the hall like a bat out of Hell.

  Around the corner, I spot Mila in the waiting room, sitting in a chair crying.

  “Mila, what the fuck happened?” I demand, walking toward her.

  “I came back to the studio because I forgot Dani’s check,” she says, sobbing.

  “What happened?” I repeat, urging her to get past the petty information.

  “There was this car full of men, and they chased Dani with their car, so I called the police. When I came back out, they were beating the hell out of her with a bat,” she cries, her words hard to understand.

  “Holy shit,” Bobby whispers from behind me.

 
“We’ve been targeted,” Bull says gravely. This confirms Babs’ hit was not some drunk. This was personal.

  I look into each room, trying to find Dani.

  “Sir?” A nurse calls after me after I’ve looked into the fifth room. I ignore her.

  “Sir?” she calls again, her voice louder than before. I still ignore her.

  I open the last door at the end of the hall and see Dani. Tears immediately fill my eyes, and I have to take a step back before I can go forward. Her face is matted with blood and there is a deep gash in her eyebrow.

  “Sir, you can’t be in here,” the nurse says, standing in my view of Dani.

  “Christ,” I whisper in disbelief as tears tumble from my eyes. I will kill the person who did this to her.

  “He’s fine, Sandy.” I turn and see Doc standing in the doorway, ushering the nurse to leave me alone.

  “Is she okay?” I ask frantically.

  “She’s in a lot of pain. I gave her a low dose of pain reliever until I can run some tests,” she tells me, tucking Dani in with a sheet.

  “Her arm is broken, so we’ll have to cast it, and she also needs stitches in her eyebrow. She needs more tests done to make sure there are no internal injuries as well,” she informs, brushing the hair from her face.

  “I haven’t seen her in a while. How’s she been?” Doc asks, adjusting Dani’s pillow.

  I run my hands through my hair, frantically. “She’s been feeling sick and not eating much. But she’s been doing all right,” I respond.

  Doc furrows her eyebrows at me. “She get a fever at all?”

  “No, not that I know of,” I state, my eyes never leaving Dani’s face.

  “Has she been taking the pills I gave her?” Doc asks.

  “What pills?” I ask, confused. I didn’t know Dani was taking any pills.

  “Right. Well, I’m going to do another blood test before continuing.” Doc grabs the clipboard hanging on the wall and exits the room, leaving me with more questions than I arrived with.

  Two guys in white lab coats come in carrying a container full of needles and tubes. They put a rubber band around Dani’s arm and push a needle into the crook of her elbow, then pull a cap off and push a tube onto it, making blood squirt into the tube.

  “What are these tests for?” I question, pointing toward the needles.

  They ignore me, wrap her arm up with colored tape, and leave the room. I’m getting no answers, and it’s starting to piss me off.

  I look over at Bobby and Bull. “What the fuck?”

  I sit down next to Dani and grab her good hand—the one that’s not broken—and give it a light squeeze. I bring her limp hand to my mouth and give it a kiss. Whoever did this to her, they will pay.

  She moans and shifts in her bed. I sit up, hoping she wakes.

  “Dani?” I ask in a shaky voice.

  “Shadow?” Her voice cracks.

  “I’m here,” I tell her, standing up and looking over her. I’ve never been more wrecked in my entire life than I am right now, worried that God might punish me for the life I’ve lived by taking Dani from me.

  “Where am I?” she asks, looking around her room.

  “You’re in the hospital, doll,” Bull informs her, stepping up to the bedside.

  She blinks her eyes a couple times. “Oh, yeah,” she says, in a whisper.

  “Do you remember anything that happened?” Bobby asks.

  She licks her dry lips and looks up at me. “Just that—” She pauses as a commotion outside the door grabs her attention.

  “I’ll look.” I step away from her bed and look into the hall to see two police officers at the front desk.

  “If she is awake, we would like to ask her some questions,” one of the officers says to a nurse.

  “She’s just been through a traumatic experience; can’t this wait?” Doc says, stepping up to the desk.

  “I’m afraid not,” one of the cops responds.

  I step back into the room and go to Dani’s side.

  “The police are here. You tell them nothing. Do you understand?” I ask, trying to mask my harsh tone with as much force as I can.

  She looks up at me in confusion.

  “We take care of this our way. I’ll kill the person who did this to you. That’s a promise,” I inform her, my tone not to be messed with. “Trust me,” I whisper, hoping she knows I will take care of this.

  She nods in agreement.

  A knock sounds at the door, interrupting us.

  “I’m sorry dear, but some gentlemen are here to ask you some questions,” Doc says, walking into the room, the police following her.

  “We need to speak to her alone,” one of them says, pulling out a notepad as the other eyes me accusingly. By the look on his face, he probably thinks I did this to her. In a way, I did. I wasn’t there to protect her.

  Dani

  “So, you don’t remember what happened?” a police officer asks me with a raised eyebrow; he doesn’t believe me. I have never been any good at lying. I try not to stare at the two of them, but they are an odd pair, one bald and fat with glasses, the other tall and skinny with freckles.

  “No, I don’t remember anything,” I say, fiddling with the hospital bracelet around my wrist.

  “Let’s go through this one more time,” the fat officer sighs, flipping his notepad over to a fresh sheet of paper.

  “You left work and…?” he asks, twirling his hand and encouraging me to keep going where he left off.

  “I woke up here,” I lie.

  The skinny officer moans in irritation. “Right, well, we can’t help you or anyone else if you can’t help us, Miss Lexington.”

  “You don’t have any idea who might want to hurt you?” the one with a potbelly asks on a groan.

  I look at them, irritated. “I told you what I know. Now, please leave!” I yell.

  “I think questioning time is over, gentlemen. I can’t have you getting her upset,” Doc declares, entering the room quickly. She must have been just outside the door.

  “All right then,” the skinny one says, tucking his notepad in his shirt pocket.

  They all head out as the boys enter.

  “You did well, kid,” my dad states, giving me a light kiss on the forehead.

  “Dani, I took some test while you were under and would like to discuss something with you in private, if I may?” Doc asks, looking at the boys in question.

  I look at Shadow and notice he’s not pleased with Doc’s request.

  “No, it’s okay. You can speak in front of everyone,” I say, trying to sit up but wincing from the pain.

  “I advise you to reconsider,” she pushes, looking at the paper in her hands.

  “Jessica,” Bobby warns, using Doc’s real name.

  Doc glares at Bobby. “Fine. I took a pregnancy test in question of you taking your birth control or not,” she tells me, looking at the paper.

  “Birth control?” Shadow asks in shock.

  “And?” I ask, fear pooling in my heart of what she’s about to say.

  “It came back positive.” She hands me the paper with information printed on it which I can’t understand.

  “You’re pregnant.”

  “Oh, fuck,” Shadow gasps as he fumbles for a chair to sit in.

  “Hot damn!” my dad shouts in excitement.

  “Pregnant?” I question, still in shock.

  “Yes, by a few weeks, from the levels of your hormones,” she says, pointing at the sheet.

  “How far along is she exactly?” Shadow asks, with concern.

  “I’m not sure. I’ll make a call and get her up to the OB floor, get an ultrasound and make sure the baby hasn’t sustained any injuries,” she promises before giving my arm a pat.

  “Pregnant?” I repeat

  “Pregnant,” Doc confirms with a smile. The realization of the situation hits, making my head ache more than it already does. How could I be so naïve to think I wouldn’t get pregnant? I got lucky not getting
pregnant before, and I took advantage of that luck.

  I sigh and let the paper fall from my hands. How stupid am I? How did I not think this would happen?

  “Holy shit,” Shadows mutters as he grabs my hand from the side of the bed.

  ***

  I am wheeled into a dark room on the third floor of the hospital moments later. The room is dimmed and on the yellow-painted wall is a medium-sized, flat-screen TV. In the corner of the small room there are a couple of chairs and on the other side of the bed the ultrasound machine.

  A nurse with curly, short black hair places a white blanket around my waist and pulls the hospital gown up a little.

  “I’m going to try this first, so I’ll need you pull your knees up,” the nurse warns as she grabs a long wand and puts a condom on it. I look at Shadow who is sitting right next to me. He’s focused on the TV, his face lined with worry. My father and Bobby look towards the wall giving me privacy. I take a big gulp and pull my knees up. She darts the long wand through my open knees and slides it inside me.

  I look at the screen, but all I see is black and white spots. She angles the wand and presses firmly. The nurse starts to click and push buttons as lines form across the spots on the screen.

  “The baby looks good,” the nurse says with a smile. I watch as she zooms in on a little black and white oval.

  “That’s the baby,” she chirps, and the sight makes me suck in a breath.

  “Well, I’ll be,” my dad comments with a big smile.

  I glance at Shadow; his face is tight and staring intently at the screen. His eyebrows are furrowed and they’re causing a little wrinkle right between his eyes.

  “Looking at the measurements, you’re a month along,” she says, pulling the wand out of me. I instantly pull my knees together and pull the blanket down. The lady hands me a black and white picture of our baby. “Congratulations. I’ll have someone take you back to your room in just a moment.” She stands up and walks out.

  “Holy shit,” Shadow says again, his voice laced with shock and disbelief.

  I look at him; his eyes are closed and his arm is brought up, rubbing the back of his neck.

  My eyes begin to fill with tears.

  “Fuck,” Bobby says, staring at my stomach like something is going to jump out at him.