Chapter 9: Assaulter

Have you ever had the scare that you lost someone permanently? Then you get told that the person is alive? If you have, you would know the degree of relief that I felt when my daughter told me that she had saved my wife. The air rushed out of my lungs, and with tears brimming in my eyes, I got up and hugged Hailey. Then I started sobbing.

As soon as I started crying, Hailey started comforting me. She patted my back soothingly and kept saying, “She’s alive. She’s okay.” It continued like that for a couple of minutes until she said, “Uh, dad? You’re uh, acting a lot less manly than usual right now.” I laughed and dried my tears. I was really lucky to have a daughter like Hailey.

I glanced towards the doors that my wife was behind. I was filled with many emotions. I wanted to run in there and hug her as though my life depended on it and tell her how much I loved and appreciated her, but would it be enough? Should I go to a nearby store and buy her a little something? Maybe her favorite food? Can she even eat right now?

I looked over at Hailey and she was looking at me questioningly. I shook my head and walked over to the doors and gently pushed them open, trying hard not to awake her if she was asleep. It was a good thing I did because she was, in fact, doing just that. I sat at the bed by her side and gently took her hand. I looked to her face, covered in little scratches with little spots of bruising. The guilt I felt was tremendous.

As I was studying her and stewing in my self hate, her eyelids started to flutter and slowly, they opened to look at me. In the second that our eyes met, it was as though all the memories from over the years with her flooded through my head. Just a single look from her made me fall in love all over again. She was and is the love of my life.

We spent that night-and several nights following-together. Not saying a word, but holding hands and finding comfort in that alone. No words we could say would help right now, but physically we were connected. I willed my energy to flow to her to help her recover. If I could have this one thing, I’d be satisfied with it. I’d be fulfilled.

It took a little bit, but eventually, she became well enough to come home. The doctors thought that she would need to have a wheelchair, but because my wife is so strong willed, she excelled in physical therapy and was soon walking all by herself. It was as if my prayers were answered. I vowed to be a better person from then on and I did just that.

I loved my wife and daughter fiercely and even though we fell through a little bit financially because of the hospital bills, we never failed to find the positives. We stuck together, each of us working as hard as we could in our jobs and eventually-we did it. I didn’t know happiness could feel this good. I got a new job at the courthouse doing some janitorial work. It didn’t seem like much, but it was a job, and I got paid.

I was coming home one day when I noticed a young man walking down the steps with a woman passed out in his arms. It was a red flag for me. In the time that I was using to better myself, I read about things that people should look out for in public and this was one of them. You don’t just let men carry passed out girls to who knows where because you never know what they may try.

I ran to the man and called out to him, but that only caused him to run away from me. When he finally stopped, I was out of breath. I was taught in these self-teach books that you’re supposed to offer them some form of help and then if they take the bait, immediately drive to the police station. It sounded dumb, but if it worked for other people, it had to work for me, right?

So I tried, but this guy was very defensive. However, I like to think that I’m pretty great at communicating with people now so I got him to get in. I told him my name and asked what theirs were. He told me and then gave me an address to take him to, to which I promptly dropped him off. Now, you may be wondering, why did I take him to the place he said to go to? Why didn’t I go to the police station like I planned? Well, one part of it was that the girl actually “woke up” and gave verbal consent that I couldn’t really ignore.

Even at that point though, I wasn’t completely sold on letting this guy go to his house with her. She still wasn’t completely.. Awake? I have no idea what was wrong with the girl. However, what made me realize that he wouldn’t hurt her was the interactions I observed while we were in the car.

First off, he didn’t just throw her in the back and go sit up front. Most people or more specifically: kidnappers, do that because they don’t want to watch over the person that’s out of it. Second, whenever I would take a sharp turn, he’d brace her so that she didn’t hit the window. Third, I had the AC blasting because I tend to run hot, and even more so after that little chase. He noticed that she was shivering so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her, and continued to suffer himself without a word.

Clearly she was special to him. Anyone could see that. I helped him get her inside and after doing so, I gave him my business card. This girl makes him happy and I could only hope it was the other way around too. He was a good kid though. So I told him to take good care of her and the look of determination in his eyes made me feel so proud. My generation likes to think that the younger ones are stupid and don’t know anything about morals, but boy, how we are wrong.

I left him alone, hoping that things turned out well for him in the end. It seemed like it was a one sided love right now, but maybe one day, the girl will realize how hard he’ll fight to keep her protected. I drove home to my family after that and because I was in such a good and cheerful mood, I decided to take my wife and daughter out to dinner. Hailey was over at the house to help my wife with things that she still had trouble with. They both worked really hard and I was proud of them.

“Dad, are you sure you can afford it? Do you even have the money for this month’s rent?” Hailey questioned, hesitant to accept the offer.

“Honey, I’m sure your dad wouldn’t invite us out if we didn’t have enough money for this month’s rent.” She looked at me with a bright smile. “Right?”

Truth be told, I wasn’t all too sure. I had been busy working recently so I hadn’t had the chance to look at our hospital bills and see how much we had to pay this month. However, I had such faith in God, seeing as he helped us out before. I figured that God would want us to be happy and share a family meal out since we hadn’t done that in months. So, I smiled at the both of them and said, “Of course. So let’s go! I’m hungry!”

I noticed that Hailey was still hesitant. It looked like she knew something that I didn’t and even though it bothered me a little, I figured she would tell me at some point. Hailey wasn’t someone who could be pushed to tell you something. Even if I wanted to ask Hailey what was wrong, I couldn’t because my wife pushed us out the door in a hurry, as if she was afraid I would change my mind. To ease whatever problem Hailey had, I decided to walk to the cheapest restaurant near us, to save money on gas and on food.

On the way there, we walked by a hospital that was surrounded by gates and had security cameras posted everywhere. On the gate was a sign that read: “PRIVATE HOSPITAL. NO TRESPASSING” I looked at it in wonder. I didn’t think we had such a thing as a private hospital here. I was curious to see what it looked like. So, I walked up to the gate and tried to peer through the slats.

I managed to get one glance in, before Hailey tugged my arm violently. I looked at her, alarmed. Her face was pale and it looked like she was absolutely terrified of this place. She didn’t say anything, but continued to pull me away from the hospital looking over her shoulder a couple times. It was very peculiar because I have never seen Hailey act this way before. I had no idea what was going on with her.

However, I still couldn’t ask her about it before she was ready because like I said, Hailey only tells you stuff when she’s ready. It cannot be rushed or forced. So, as much as I wanted to know what that whole thing was about, I decided to let it drop for now, and try to distract her with a good time and some delicious food. Because Hailey absolutely loves her food, it worked. Before long, she was grinning ear to ear and talking with us like usual.

I felt so content and happy in that moment that I let everything else fade away. Hailey’s hesitation, her fear, the bills, everything. I focused solely on this moment so as to catch it before it faded away. These are the moments that I live for. The moments where everything seems just right and nothing could go wrong. I was living in a dream, and I was loving every piece of it.

When we finished, I walked home with a little skip in my step. Knowing that Hailey wouldn’t want to walk by that hospital again. When we got to a crosswalk, I crossed to the other side of the street. I glanced behind me to see Hailey visibly relax a little bit more. I’m not gonna lie, I truly felt like I was the father of the year just by doing that little thing.

However, if I was smarter, I would’ve pressed Hailey about these things that I simply overlooked because I didn’t want to have to deal with it when the night seemed so great. If I would’ve done just that, maybe I could’ve prevented what happened next.