As my eyes opened, I immediately felt a dull throbbing in the back of my head. The light in the room hurt my eyes so I squinted them as much as I could. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was in a hospital room. I slowly moved my head to the right and saw the entry wall was plate glass that looked over the nurse’s station. One young nurse was standing behind the counter with a clip board in her hand. A few seconds later, she looked up and I raised my right hand to acknowledge her. She quickly dropped her clipboard and ran into my room and to the bedside.
“Mr. Williams, can you hear me?”, she asked, looking into my eyes.
“Yes.”, I weakly responded.
“You are at Methodist Memorial Hospital in ICU. You have been here for ten days now. Do you remember anything?”, she asked.
“No, not really.”, I replied, the light hurting my eyes.
“I’m going to call Doctor Mohammad and let him know you are awake. I will be right back and check your vitals.”, she promised.
The next thirty minutes or so was extremely hectic. Nurses and aides were in and out taking blood, taking pressure and just about everything imaginable. Just as things started to ease up a young doctor walked in with a chart in his hand.
“Mr. Williams, I am Doctor Muhammad. I’m a neurologist here at the hospital. How are you feeling?”, he asked, leaning over shining a light in my eyes.
“Not good, my head hurts.”, I replied.
“That is understandable considering what happened. You were brought here with a fractured skull and a mild subdural hematoma. We have you sedated for over a week. We started backing off the medicine two days ago.”, he explained.
“What happened?”, I asked.
“That is what we hope you tell us. Obviously, you were struck in the back of the head with a very hard object. Do you remember anything?”, he asked.
“No, I don’t think so.”, I answered.
“Well, we are sending you to CAT scan to get an image of your head. We will bring you back here after that. I have been instructed by the police to make them aware you are conscious again. They want to talk to you about what happened.”, he informed me walking out of the room.
I was wheeled to imaging where a CAT scan was done and then taken back to my room. Nurses were still bustling about when two men who I knew were detectives walked into the room.
“Mr. Williams, I am Detective Bailey, and this is Detective Harper with the 2nd District. Are you up to answering a few questions?”, he asked.
“I’ll try….”, I responded.
“Can you remember anything was the night you were attacked?”, Bailey asked.
“Not really…. I remember walking to my car and then nothing.”, I replied.
“The gym night manager, Shelly is the one that found you lying in the parking lot. She called 911 and reported it. No one else was around that she could see. There are no cameras on the side of the building so there is no video available. I don’t think it was a robbery because we found your wallet, cell phone and car keys on you. Your car was not taken either.”, he started.
“A unit showed up several minutes later and secured the scene. You were loaded in an ambulance and brought here. We found out a few days ago about what happened with your mother from Detective Wilson. We also found out that you are dating Lexie Thomas?”, he asked.
“I kind of was…… not sure anymore.”, I mumbled.
“Well, if anything comes to mind you let us know. Detective Wilson is working with us on this…. he seems to think this is related to your mother.”, he stated.
I nodded my head in agreement. That is the first thing that made any sense that I had heard since awaking. I really didn’t associate with anyone other than Lexie. It had to be one of the idiots trying to get back at me. My head hurt too much from trying to reason so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.
I must have fell asleep right away because when I opened my eyes again, I could see it was night through the small window in my room. The nurse saw me moving in my bed and came in immediately. She handed me a small paper cup with several pills in it and poured me a glass of water.
“Here, take these and Doctor Muhammad is on his way up to see you.”, she advised.
Several minutes later Doctor Muhammad and several nurses walked into my room. He was looking at my chart and then closed it moving over to the bed.
“Your CAT scan looked good. Actually, better than I hoped for. You still having bruising on your brain, but the blood has subsided for the most part. What you need is rest and to get your strength back. But I need you to answer a question for me.”, he asked, strangely.
“Sure.”, I replied.
“When the results came in from your initial blood work…... we found large amounts of testosterone, Dianabol, Anadral and Anavar in your system. Now that does not surprise me looking at your physique, but I hope you know the side effects of what you’re using.”, he stated.
“Yes, I do.”, I replied.
“Then if you know the side effects why use them?”, he asked.
“Doctor, I’m a student / instructor in Muy Thai and an advanced level Krav Maga student. I trained six to seven days a week, I have to recover quickly and keep my muscle mass up.”, I replied.
“Ok Mr. Williams, but please be careful. One more thing, no fighting until my office clears you. I will remove the staples in the back of your head in two to three weeks. Then we go from there.” he instructed.
“Yes sir.”, I answered.
“Oh, I think you have a visitor waiting too.”, he said, walking out of the room.
I immediately thought the worst and couldn’t deal with having to see Lexie right now. I was not in any shape to even try to make sense of what had happened much less discuss it. Several seconds later, I was somewhat relieved to see Lexie’s mom, Jennifer Thomas walk in alone. She walked over to the bedside, leaned over and softly kissed my cheek with watery eyes. She sat down on the chair next to the bed and sighed deeply.
“I’m so relieved to see you awake…... you had me scared.”, she softly said.
“The doctor just left, I’m going to be fine in a few weeks.”, I replied.
“That’s really good news.”, she stated, smiling.
Then came the awkward pause between two people when you know the one subject you don’t want to talk about is coming up. But I was not going to be the one to bring it up.
“Lexie wanted to come but she is not sure how you feel about her. So, she didn’t want to upset you.”, Jen said.
“Well, that makes two of us because after the party I have no clue how she feels about me.”, I answered.
“I know Chris, she treated you horribly that night. We have been arguing about it ever since. Both her dad and I are furious with her. Neither of us are Cody fans to say the least. I just simply don’t know what she is thinking.”, Jennifer stated, looking down.
“At this point it really doesn’t matter. As long as she is happy that’s all that matter. They were together a long time…... that may be hard for her to get over. Don’t beat her up over it.”, I answered.
“She can’t trust him. He walked out on her once, he will do it again.”, Jen replied.
“Lexie has trouble trusting anyone. She doesn’t trust me either. I think because of what she does for a living she sees too much deception. I think she will struggle with that all her life.”, I answered.
Jennifer reached out and took my hand in hers. Jen’s hand was soft almost silky smooth. Suddenly my stomach churned slightly from the touch of her hand. Afterall, Jennifer Thomas was an attractive woman. She was in her late forties but did take care of herself. She began to softly stroke the palm of my hand with her thumb. My mother had told me once if a girl does that to you, she may want intimacy.
“Lexie wants to stop and see you but she’s not sure how you will feel.”, Jen sighed.
“If she wants to visit that is fine with me.”, I replied.
That seemed to be the answer Jennifer Thomas was looking for. She changed the subject from Lexie to what had happened the night I was attacked. Since I had very few details it was a short conversation. About fifteen minutes after that she left promising she would return. I fell asleep shortly thereafter and slept on and off depending on when the nurse would come in. My head was still hurting a bit but not as bad as when I first woke up. At around six o’clock a nurse I had never seen before came in and pulled the curtains back allowing the sun to stream into the room. She was very attractive, her silky blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed in the traditional light blue scrubs with blue nike tennis shoes.
“How are we feeling today, Mr. Williams.”, she asked.
“Please, call me Chris and I’m doing well considering.”, I answered.
“Good to hear. I’m Cierra Thompson, your day nurse. I have been taking care of you for two weeks now. It’s nice to finally meet you.”, she stated, moving around the bed checking the equipment.
“Nice to meet you as well.”, I replied.
“Breakfast will be here shortly and after you eat, I’m going to change the bandage on your head. Then I’m going to remove your catheter so we can let you get out of bed for a bit. Someone from rehab will be down today to see you as well.”, she stated.
“Sounds like I’m going to have a busy day.”, I replied.
“Chris, has your family had a chance to get in here and see you?”, she asked, checking my IV tube.
“I don’t have any family. My parents are both dead and I have no brothers or sisters.”, I replied.
“No wife or girlfriend?’, she asked, surprised.
“Never been married and I was seeing someone a few weeks ago but I think she dumped me.”, I said with a weak laugh.
“Who in their right mind would dump a guy like you?’, she responded.
About thirty minutes later, I ate breakfast and then Cierra removed the bandage and cleaned the wound. She rewrapped my head and gave me some medication. Later she came in and removed the catheter which was a little embarrassing. Although she acted like it was the most ordinary thing in the world to do.
After I ate lunch, I fell asleep and slept for a couple of hours. Later that afternoon, I was wheeled to CAT scan where another image was taken. I then was transported back to my room where for the first time, I was able to get out of bed and use the bathroom.
I was back in the bed watching some movie on the tv mounted to the wall when Cierra walked in with a stack of white towels.
“Chris, do you think perhaps you might be able to shower?”, she asked, setting the towels down on the bed.
“Yes definitely. It been over a week.”, I responded.
“Ok, let me get some to cover your head.”, she replied, leaving the room.
She came back several minutes later with a large plastic shower cap with Velcro straps. I was able to take a long hot shower and clean myself up. It felt so good to be clean again after quite a while. I was just settling into bed when Lexie appeared at the door.
“Hey Chris…”, she said softly.
Cierra turned to see Lexie in her uniform standing at the door. She picked up the towels and told me if I needed anything to let her know. As she left the room, Lexie walked slowly over to the side of the bed.
“How are you feeling?”, she asked.
“Not too bad, I was just able to take a shower.”, I replied, trying to act as casual as I could.
My stomach was in a knot, I had no idea what to say to Lexie. Even though I should still be angry with her, I wasn’t. She looked beautiful as ever and I wanted to take her in my arms even now. But, I had no idea where Lexie’s head was at this time so I had to be reserved.
“Any word on the investigation?’’, she asked.
“I talked to two detectives a few days ago but I don’t really think they have much to go on.”, I answered.
“You have any idea …...”, she followed up.
“I’m pretty sure it was Josh’s brother Leo. If he is anything like his brother this seems like the thing he would do. They act like they want to fight but only when they have the advantage.”, I replied.
“Well, I just stopped by for a minute, my shift starts in ninety minutes. Any idea when they may let you out?’, she asked.
“No, I haven’t heard anything at all.”, I responded.
“Ok, well let me know and keep me updated.”, she said, leaning over and kissing my cheek.
She walked out of the room quickly and disappeared down the hallway. No mention of us or anything that happened that night at the anniversary party. I did not know anything else to think other than her and Cody were back together. Several days later, I was discharged from the hospital with follow up visits to the neurology center.
Three weeks later, my doctor removed the staples from my head and cleared me to do most everything except to fight and left weights. He wanted me to wait a few more weeks before resuming any strenuous activity. I had spoken to Lexie and her mom several times on the phone for a few minutes. Lexie still had not brought up the night at the party, so I left it be as well. However, Jennifer had told me that Cody and Lexie were talking on the phone but as far as she knew they were not seeing each other.
After a month, I was back at the gym working out and teaching. I felt no ill effects and my hair had grown out enough to hide the scar on the back of my head. I was pushing myself hard trying to get back to the shape I was in before the attack. On the way home that evening, I decided to stop at Moe’s and get a pizza to take home. As I walked in and sat down on one of the bar stools at the counter, Molly came over with a smile.
“Hey Chris, how are you. I heard what happened.”, she said, smiling.
“I’m good Molly, thanks.”, I replied.
“What can I get for you today, Chris.”, she asked.
“Give me a large meat lovers to go, Molly.”, I answered.
“Sure, be about twenty minutes or so.”, she stated.
She brought me a large Coke and I sat at the bar waiting for them to prepare my pizza. I had been there for about fifteen minutes when a large portion of the crew, as I called them, came through the door. I looked away but they saw me right away. Darren, Mark, Chrissy and Jennifer walked in together and were headed in my direction. Of course, I knew they couldn’t just walk by.
“Hey Chris, how are you?”, Chrissy asked.
“I’m fine, Chrissy. Thanks for asking.”, I replied.
“Not what I heard…… I heard somebody caved your head in.”, Darren laughed.
By this time, Molly had returned with my pizza and had heard most of the conversation thus far. She had a nervous look on her face.
“Yep, I got hit in the back of the head by a coward a while back, but I’m fine.”, I replied.
“Oh, a coward huh?”, Mark replied.
“Absolutely, who attacks someone from behind?”, I answered with a smile.
“You keep running your mouth like that… maybe uh…the guy finds out and comes back to finish the job.”, Darren replied.
“Doesn’t have to, Darren. I know who did it and that is a very bad thing.”, I answered.
“Ooh, we scared…...”, Mark laughed.
“Why would you be scared? Neither of you have the balls to do something like that. You’re both just little boys who never grew up. Now pardon me, I have to leave.”, I said, pushing my way past them.
I walked out of the door and to my car but this time making sure no one was behind me. I went straight home and took a shower then sat down and ate my pizza watching tv. I was just about to go to bed when my cell phone rang, and I saw it was Jennifer Thomas.
“Hey Chris, are you busy?’, she asked.
“No, I was about to get ready for bed. What’s up?”, I replied.
“I wanted to let you know that Lexie and Cody were seeing each other but it’s over. They had another big fight and he walked out on her again.”, she stated, seemingly happy.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”, I answered, quickly.
“You are?”, she quickly answered.
“Well obviously she is still in love with him. I mean who does what she did at the party and not be in love?”, I asked.
“I know, I feel really awful about the way she treated you that night. We have had so many fights about it. But, I thought you might want to know in case you…...”, she said before I cut her off.
“I appreciate that Jen, but after what Lexie did it’s hard for me to believe she really cares about me. Then to do it in front of the entire family says something about our relationship in itself.”, I said cutting her off.
“I understand Chris…... I just thought you and Lexie were so good together.”, she said softly.
“So did I, Jen.”, I responded.
We talked for a few minutes after that, but it was very strained. Lexie’s parents were good people and probably would be great in-laws, but I could not make Lexie love me…… not like she did Cody. Although honestly it was hard to imagine him fucking up so quickly after getting back with her.
Several days later, I was finishing up a Muy Thai class when I noticed Chrissy Haynes working out in the weight area. I quickly scanned the crowd, but I saw no one else from the crew. I was headed downstairs to shower when I heard her call my name. I turned to see her approaching me.
“Hey Chris, I was hoping to catch you here.”, she said, somewhat out of breath.
“I’m here all of the time, Chrissy. What can I do for you.”, I asked?
“Well, I uh…. Was wondering if you would help me work out. I mean, you know…. Teach me how to do it right.”, she asked.
Chrissy Haynes caught me completely off guard. The only thing I could think of was this was a set-up. I was not going to intentionally walk into a bad situation.
“Chrissy, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I don’t want any trouble with Mark.”, I admitted.
“Chris, it’s over. Mark and I broke up over a month ago.”, she admitted.
“Chrissy, you were with him at Moe’s just the other day.”, I laughed.
“I went that day as a friend and after the way they talked to you…. Well, I’m done with all of them.”, she stated.
“I find that hard to believe Chrissy but for your sake, I hope you’re telling the truth.”, I answered.
“I am Chris…. I’m done with that shit.”, she answered.
“Well, if your serious…...be here at six o’clock every evening and I will work out with you and get you started.”, I offered.
“Thank you so much, Chris. I promise you won’t regret it.”, she replied, waving goodbye.
She walked away and went back to the machine she had been working on. Now just for a bit of reminder, Chrissy Haynes was the hottest girl in my high school. She had a beautiful face, long blonde hair and a body to kill for. She was a goddess in school and e very guy wanted to fuck her. Why she chose Mark Boudreaux was beyond me.
I finished showering and went home. I made a sandwich and was sitting on the sofa watching tv when the phone rang. It was Lexie. I was not in the mood to talk so I let it go to voicemail. I finished the movie I was watching and went back to the bedroom. I played back the voice message from Lexie.
“Hey Chris……it’s Lex. Uh…. I was wondering if we could talk for a while. I need to explain a lot of things to you. Call me when you get a chance.”, the voicemail stated.
I laid down and fell asleep right away and sleeping until eight o’clock the next morning. I got up, ate breakfast and headed to the gym. I got my leg workout out of the way and hit the jacuzzi. After a few minutes, I got out and went into the office to hangout until my afternoon class. I finally got up the nerve to call Lexie back.
“Hey Lexie, sorry I missed you last night. I went to bed early and never heard the phone.”, I said, lying once again.
“No big deal. I’m working days and get off at six. I was wondering if …. uh maybe, we could go out for dinner Friday night and talk?”, she stated, sounding very nervous.
“I’m not sure, Lex…… You really have me confused. I’m really don’t know what to think anymore.” I replied.
“I can understand that…. All I ask is a chance to explain.”, she stated.
“Alright, how about I pick you up around seven?”, I asked.
“No, I would rather meet you there. That way if it gets uncomfortable, we can both go our own way.”, she instructed.
We talked for a while longer and made plans to meet at a local steakhouse for seven o’clock on Friday evening. From the way Lexie talked. I really think she thought it was not going to go well.
The next day true to her word Chrissy arrived at the gym around five thirty. I was still sparring with Master Garcia, and we finished up around five forty-five. I grabbed a towel and cleaned up a bit then met Chrissy on the floor in the weight area.
“Holy shit, you can fight.”, Chrissy stated.
“I’m learning.”, I replied.
I took the next two hours showing Chrissy the basics of working out asking questions about what results she wanted to achieve. Basically, she wanted a smaller waist, bigger thighs and a firmer chest. The results that Chrissy wanted were not going to be hard to achieve if she worked hard. After the first night, she gave me the impression she could achieve her goals easily.
On Thursday, the workouts had caught up to Chrissy. Every muscle in her body was sore from the initial few days. She was on the leg press machine when her thighs completely gave out. She barely got off the machine and fell on one of the benches next to the machine.
“Oh my god, tell me again why this was a good idea.”, she laughed, in pain.
“I know Chrissy, been there…., done that.”, I replied.
Since I had pretty much pulled every muscle imaginable in my years and the gym, I asked her to lay back on the bench. She had on a sports bra and long spandex pants. I sat on the end of the bench and place her calves over my legs and her feet on each side of me. I then leaned over and placed my hands on her thighs pushing her thigh muscles towards her waist.
“Oh god that feels good.”, she said, exhaling deeply.
For the next five or so minutes, I worked on her thighs and calves as she pretty much went limp under my touch. Several times when I was on her upper thigh the side of my hand slightly brushed against her crotch although it was not intentional. After another minute or so she rose up slightly and rested on her elbows.
“You did wonders for my legs, Chris. You also have made me horny as hell.”, she laughed.
“Oh, well I had better stop that then…...”, I said, smiling.
She thanked me as she always did and went down to take a shower. We cancelled Friday’s workout because I was having dinner with Lexie and Chrissy needed the rest. I really was not looking forward to the dinner with Lexie for a lot of reasons. But the main one was how could you explain what you did at the party…. It was not possible.
I got there a bit early, and the hostess showed me a table in the back. I was there maybe fifteen minutes before I noticed the hostess bringing Lexie back to my table. She looked very nice wearing a silk blouse, jeans, and short heels. Not what you would expect a police officer to look like.
She sat down and we ordered iced teas and began to look at the menus. The tension was so fucking thick you could cut it with a knife. The waitress came back with our drinks and we both ordered a T-bone steak with a twice baked potato. The waitress left the table with Lexie staring directly into my eyes.
“Ok, I have been practicing this all week so let me get this out, ok?”, she asked.
“Ok….”, I responded.
“The only way I can explain what happened that night is this. I got there early with my mom and dad. We began to set up for the party. Cody and his parents showed up early as well. When he walked up to me and hugged me, he kissed me softly on my neck. I’m not sure what happened after that because a flood of emotions overtook me.”, she started.
“I’m not sure what I felt. Maybe I felt lost love or perhaps a familiar past. He was looking into my eyes as if we were back in high school in the back of his car.”, she continued.
“Later, before you showed up, he followed me behind the stage and grabbed me. He kissed me like he had never kissed me before. God help me, I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. So, I kissed him back. Then we came back to the floor, I saw you walking up and realized what I had done. From that point on, I was really confused and didn’t know what to do. He kept pressing me and well… you were being you. You’re so calm and just sat there. Anyway Chris, I am so sorry about what happened, I never intentionally meant to hurt you, but I know I did.”, she ended…... with tears in her eyes.
This was the first time I had ever seen Lexie vulnerable. Lexie just didn’t put herself out there much. I guess here story was plausible, but I had to clarify a few things for my own piece of mind.
“Lexie, I understand you two have a long history and what you said is very believable. I guess I should not have walked out on you but maybe give you a chance to explain. I’m sorry for that. But if you felt you were wrong, why did you keep seeing him?”, I asked.
“I thought he was being sincere and wanted to get back together. We shared so much that...…well I guess I thought it could work. But he the end, he’s still Cody and will never change. He admitted that he is still bothered by me being a cop. When he said that, I knew it was not ever going to work.”, she stated.
By that time the waitress brought our food, and we began to eat. I was trying to process the things she had told me, but I was having a difficult time. I decided since everything was being laid on the table, I took it a step further.
“Look, we can’t go back and change anything. So, I guess we are both sorry for what we did, and we move on.”, I stated.
“Move on?”, Lexie asked, surprised.
“Yes, I guess so…. I mean what can we do?”, I asked.
“Possibly try to move on together?”, she replied, softly.
OK, she said it…. she wanted to try again. But how can I be sure that Cody won’t show up at another family gathering. How can I know that she is truly done with him? Secondly, is she just settling for me… am I basically number two?
“Lexie, I’m trying to put all of these scattered thoughts in place. For a while, I really believed that you were gone forever and that hurt. I spent many lonely nights in bed thinking of you. But every day the sun rose, and I did what I had to do. I guess I had to learn how to feel again. Understanding you is not an easy thing to do…. You’re very complex. Sometimes, I have no idea what you may be thinking.”, I started.
“The night we were making love and you jumped out of bed running out when you heard the radio call. Then the night of the party and now tonight. You told me several times that you didn’t trust me and what I might do in the future but now, you’re asking me to trust you. Lexie, I don’t want to feel like you’re settling for second best.”, I finished.
“Chris, I don’t consider you second best…... I’m sorry. I made a mistake. Maybe we better leave it here and give us both some time to think about it.”, she said, looking down.