think you need a man to ride in on a white horse and rescue you. I just want to offer you a way out. An alternative to where you are. That’s it. No strings attached.”
She turned her face away. “There are always strings attached.”
“Not with me.”
She considered him then, for a moment, and it occurred to him that she was having trouble staying awake. She needed to rest and he needed to make his point, but before he could continue, she spoke.
“Why?”
“Why what?” he asked.
“Why would you do this for me? What makes me so special?”
He thought about making something up. Something about being drawn to her by some cosmic connection or about Fate bringing them together. Something about seeing himself in her. Something about how he was secretly in love with her. Or that he was secretly Batman. And then he decided to tell her the truth.
“There’s nothing that makes you any more special than any of the other people I’ve been able to help with this thing I can do.” She looked crestfallen and he knew immediately he’d chosen his words poorly. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and tried to explain it to her another way. “It’s not that you’re not special, it’s just that I think everyone’s pretty special, in their own way. So if everyone’s life is valuable, I should try to help out when I can. So I can cure your body without any problem, but it would be a waste for me to do it if you’re just going to allow yourself to get hurt again. I need you to work with me on this. Promise you won’t continue to put yourself at risk and will agree to the second part of my gift.”
“Which is?”
“Going to Baltimore to stay with my aunt while I try to get things figured out back here with your knight in shining armor. The one with the dented front end.”
She was hanging on his every word now. “What do you mean by ‘figuring things out?’”
As was typical of every abuse victim he’d ever known, Andrea cared more about her boyfriend than herself. She moved right past the part about moving across the country to the part about what was going to happen to her abuser.
“I’m going to have him arrested. I’m going to send him to prison. I’m going to make sure he’s locked up so he can’t keep hurting people. And you are going to help me, but from far away where he can’t find you.” He stood up then to indicate he was done talking. It was time for Andrea to make up her mind. “I’m sorry I’m forcing this decision on you, especially in your condition, but there are others who could use my help up and down this hall. If I choose you, then I can’t choose them. I have to know you’ll go.”
“To Baltimore? With your aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Until it’s safe to come back?”
“Exactly.”
The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly, forming tiny dimples in her cheeks which were peppered with cuts and scratches from broken glass. “That’s all well and good,” she said. “But what will I do after that?”
CHAPTER
15
THOMAS
Friday, September 9
Baltimore
The downtown bus was practically empty. Except for a mother and daughter, leaning in close and engrossed in conversation, Thomas was the only one on the number eight line into the city. And for that, he was grateful.
His Fundamentals of Musical Theory lecture notes were spread out on the seat beside him, and he was about halfway done with the week’s assignment. He was hoping to finish before reaching the hotel, but it didn’t seem there was going to be enough time. It was shaping up to be a late night.
When adjustments to his schedule needed to be made at the beginning of the semester, keeping his Friday gig at the hotel wasn’t a tough decision. It was never a windfall, but the tips he made there on a good night often determined whether they were able to make the mortgage
She turned her face away. “There are always strings attached.”
“Not with me.”
She considered him then, for a moment, and it occurred to him that she was having trouble staying awake. She needed to rest and he needed to make his point, but before he could continue, she spoke.
“Why?”
“Why what?” he asked.
“Why would you do this for me? What makes me so special?”
He thought about making something up. Something about being drawn to her by some cosmic connection or about Fate bringing them together. Something about seeing himself in her. Something about how he was secretly in love with her. Or that he was secretly Batman. And then he decided to tell her the truth.
“There’s nothing that makes you any more special than any of the other people I’ve been able to help with this thing I can do.” She looked crestfallen and he knew immediately he’d chosen his words poorly. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and tried to explain it to her another way. “It’s not that you’re not special, it’s just that I think everyone’s pretty special, in their own way. So if everyone’s life is valuable, I should try to help out when I can. So I can cure your body without any problem, but it would be a waste for me to do it if you’re just going to allow yourself to get hurt again. I need you to work with me on this. Promise you won’t continue to put yourself at risk and will agree to the second part of my gift.”
“Which is?”
“Going to Baltimore to stay with my aunt while I try to get things figured out back here with your knight in shining armor. The one with the dented front end.”
She was hanging on his every word now. “What do you mean by ‘figuring things out?’”
As was typical of every abuse victim he’d ever known, Andrea cared more about her boyfriend than herself. She moved right past the part about moving across the country to the part about what was going to happen to her abuser.
“I’m going to have him arrested. I’m going to send him to prison. I’m going to make sure he’s locked up so he can’t keep hurting people. And you are going to help me, but from far away where he can’t find you.” He stood up then to indicate he was done talking. It was time for Andrea to make up her mind. “I’m sorry I’m forcing this decision on you, especially in your condition, but there are others who could use my help up and down this hall. If I choose you, then I can’t choose them. I have to know you’ll go.”
“To Baltimore? With your aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Until it’s safe to come back?”
“Exactly.”
The corners of her mouth lifted ever so slightly, forming tiny dimples in her cheeks which were peppered with cuts and scratches from broken glass. “That’s all well and good,” she said. “But what will I do after that?”
CHAPTER
15
THOMAS
Friday, September 9
Baltimore
The downtown bus was practically empty. Except for a mother and daughter, leaning in close and engrossed in conversation, Thomas was the only one on the number eight line into the city. And for that, he was grateful.
His Fundamentals of Musical Theory lecture notes were spread out on the seat beside him, and he was about halfway done with the week’s assignment. He was hoping to finish before reaching the hotel, but it didn’t seem there was going to be enough time. It was shaping up to be a late night.
When adjustments to his schedule needed to be made at the beginning of the semester, keeping his Friday gig at the hotel wasn’t a tough decision. It was never a windfall, but the tips he made there on a good night often determined whether they were able to make the mortgage
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