“She doesn’t want him get away with this, does she?” I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“I honestly don’t know. It’s like he’s brainwashed her. I’m hoping this will be a wake-up call. But she said she didn’t want me to call the police or tell the doctors he did it to her,” Angela explains, still visibly upset.
A petite blonde approaches us. “Excuse me.”
“Lauren, this is Dr. Carsons,” Angela says, sniffling.
I reach my hand out, and she shakes it. “How is she?” I ask anxiously.
“She has a broken rib, facial swelling, various abrasions, and bruises. I’ve seen a lot worse; thankfully, there’s no internal bleeding,” the doctor explains.
I can’t believe this is happening.
“She’ll be fine. However, the detective would like to ask you some questions.” She gestures to Angela.
Angela looks at me skeptically, and I nod for her to go.
“Would you like to see her?” the doctor asks me.
I nod quickly, and she leads me to Hillary’s room. Dr. Carsons opens the curtain, and my heart stops as soon as I see her. Her face is so swollen and discolored, if it weren’t for her long blond hair with pink tips, I wouldn’t recognize her.
“Hey,” Hillary says, her tone surprisingly cheerful.
“Oh my God,” I mumble.
“It’s not that bad, Lauren.” She laughs weakly.
I walk over to her slowly and pull up a chair. “You don’t think this is bad?” I ask in disbelief.
“I mean, it looks worse than it is.” She sighs.
“Hillary, why didn’t you tell me?” I ask pleadingly.
“I didn’t tell anyone, Lauren,” she says softly.
“You told Angela.”
“She found out by accident. I didn’t plan to tell her. I didn’t want to tell anyone. I was embarrassed. I never thought I’d be the girl whose boyfriend beats her up. Like a bad Lifetime movie,” she kids. Her words are slow. I can only think how it must be painful for her to speak.
“Hil, this isn’t funny,” I say seriously.
“Well, what am I supposed to do, Lauren? Cry? Whine about how I was so helpless? I wasn’t. I chose to stay with him. It’s my fault, no one else’s. I just didn’t think it would get this bad.”
“This isn’t your fault, Hillary,” I assure her. I pause before speaking again. “How long has this been going on?”
She laughs mechanically. “About three months after we started going out, we had an argument when he was drunk and he slapped me. I was just so stunned. You know, I’d never been hit before. He apologized, saying he was just really out of it and he was sorry. That he’d never do it again. That’s the day all those roses came.”
I cringe; I remember saying how sweet it was.
“The next time it happened, he showed up at the house, drunk. You weren’t home. He was really out of it and wanted to drive home. I took his keys, and he, well—let’s just say that wasn’t the best idea.”
I cover my face in disbelief.
“He really is only bad when he’s drunk. He’s so sweet when he’s not. So I just stayed away when he drank. But today his friend had this party, and he was drinking. I thought it’d be okay since there were so many people around. I caught him all over this girl, practically about to make out with her. I was so pissed. I slapped him and threw a cup of beer in his face and I left.
“When I got home, he was waiting for me in front of the door. He was so calm…” She chuckles angrily. “I was pissed and told him to leave. He apologized and said how sorry he was and that he just wanted to talk… I let him in, like an idiot, and as soon as we were in the apartment, he went crazy on me. He’d never been like that before…”
“You should have never let him in,” I say, my throat burning and tears falling down my face.
“I know. I know now. Things just went from bad to worse,” she says.
“I can’t believe I never noticed anything.”
“No, Lauren. I was pretty good at hiding that fact and making excuses. Even if you had tried to do something, I wouldn’t have let you. Besides, he mostly made sure to never bruise me where people could see. I guess that should have been a sign that this wasn’t a first-time thing for him.”
“Still.” I can’t help but scold myself for not having the slightest clue this was going on.
“No still. This is my fault. I kept going back and forgiving him.”
“A man should never hit a woman!”
“But some do! I should have never kept seeing him after the first time he hit me. You know what’s really stupid? I cheated on Kevin with him because I thought Kevin was a jerk. Karma sure kicked me in the ass, huh?” She smiles weakly.
“I should have at least suspected. I’ve been so busy running around with Cal… I think I’m going to stop seeing him,” I say, taking a cleansing breath.
“What? Why!” she screeches. “Not because of this? Because this wasn’t your fault at all! I told you nothing would have changed…”
“No, not just because of this, Hil. It’s been a lot of things. When I’m with him, he makes me forget about the world around me, like the people I care about and what’s important to me.”
“Lauren, that’s not true. If it were, when Angie called you, you would have been like, ‘Screw you. I’m about to bang.’”
I laugh. I just don’t see how she can be in so much pain and still so playful.
“You were about to screw, right? Or just finished or…”
“Hil, stop,” I scold her playfully.
She sighs. “Seriously, Lauren, I’ve never seen you so happy before. A guy is supposed to put you on cloud nine and help you forget about your problems. I admit I didn’t like Cal at first, at least not for you. I thought he had trouble written all over him. I mean, I would know, right? Since I attract it so magnificently,” she says sarcastically. “But he’s stuck with you. I gave you guys three weeks tops, and here you are.” She sighs and squeezes my hand. “He’s hot, rich, and makes you smile. You could do a lot worse. A hell of a lot worse.” She chuckles.
“We’re so different. I feel like we’re on two different roads going in opposite directions. And he’s so unpredictable. What if he gets bored or…” I sigh.
“Lauren, that’s what falling in love is about. You take a chance. Sometimes you fall on your ass, or in my situation, it kicks you in the ass. But rarely do you get something amazing. You can’t hold back or keep your guard up. Don’t run from it, or you’ll miss something special.” She rubs my hand, and I hold it.
“What about when you lose it?” I ask.
“That’s the risk you take, but it’s worth it.” She yawns, holding her jaw in pain.
“You’re not going to see him again, are you?” I can’t read her expression since her face is so swollen.
“No, I’ve learned my lesson. At first I thought it was just because of the alcohol, but now I realize he just likes to beat the crap out of girls. Oh! The house—it’s—he trashed it. The tables are broken, and the lamps. I’ll pay you back for everything you bought.”