"Somebody shut up that damn beeping," I groan, the irritating noise stirring me awake.
"Hello to you, too."
I jolt upwards, ignoring the sharp flashes of pain and the feeling of pins and needles that erupt all over my body, and nearly succeed in falling off of the hospital chair. Speaking of which, how did I end up in a hospital chair? The last thing I remember is being in the hospital waiting room and receiving the news...
"Why the hell are you breathing?"
Raised eyebrows are all that I receive in response before Nick and Dallas walk in.
"One of you," I say, pointing between the two of them, "needs to pinch me so that I wake up."
Dallas' eyebrows knit together in confusion. "But you are awake."
"No. If I was awake, that"-I point to the cardiac monitor-"wouldn't be beeping, that"-I point to the bed-"wouldn't be breathing-"
"I'm a that now?"
"- and-"
"Darling," Nick places his hands on my shoulders, "breathe."
I shake my head. "Maybe I'm going crazy." I skim my eyes around the room, searching for something that could wake me up; I notice the nurse call button on the bedside, and I lunge for it, but Nick holds me back.
"Bailey, you're not dreaming," he insists.
As he forces me back to my chair, Madison enters the room, popping open a can of soda.
"I told you all that she was going to freak out." She shrugs, taking a sip of her drink. "Are Sara and Jordan still not back yet?"
"We're right here," Sara grumbles, entering the room with Jordan in tow.
"It takes thirty minutes for you two to get to the bathroom and back?" Maddie quirks an eyebrow.
"We got lost," Jordan sheepishly explains.
Sara grimaces. "We didn't realize that we were in the wrong room until the old guy told us to change the channel and give him a sponge bath."
"Wonderful," I dryly comment, then return my attention to the hospital bed. "Why the hell are you breathing? I was in the waiting room, almost asleep, when I heard the doctor or somebody say that someone had died. I fell asleep before I could hear anything more, and I just assumed-"
"Wait," Demi holds up a hand to stop my rambling, then she turns to Nick, "you let her fall asleep thinking that I was dead? What the hell is wrong with you?"
Dallas snorts, placing a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"I thought that she was already asleep," Nick defends.
"Nobody cares," I wave off his defense, "Who died then?"
Demi sinks her teeth into her bottom lip.
Realization causes me to gasp. "It was Matthew, wasn't it?" I murmur, and Demi nods slowly, almost guiltily. I fall silent, staring at the floor. "Is it bad that I feel relief?" I almost whisper, looking up at Demi with tears blurring my vision.
"C'mere, baby-girl." She moves over, patting the empty space beside her.
I hesitantly climb onto the bed, being careful not to hurt her. She tilts my head so that I'm looking directly at her.
"That man has made your life a living Hell. He stole your childhood and your innocence, and I'll be damned if he continues to torment you for the rest of your life. Your nightmares, that I doubt are about anything other than him, kill me. It kills me to see that you're suffering like that, and-"
"The nightmares?" I allow the corners of my lips to curl upwards, forming a small smile. "But you and Nick help me with those. Your singing breaks apart the memories so that I don't have to relive them."
She returns the small smile, wrapping her arms around me tighter. "That's great." I don't miss the lack of enthusiasm in her tone.
Before I can ask her what's wrong, someone knocks on door. I turn around to see Demi and Nick's lawyer dude who's name I couldn't remember if my life depended on it.
Was it Gerald? Harold? Harry?
He cautiously steps into the room. "I hope that I'm not interrupting anything."
Jason? Jack? Garfield? No, I think I would remember if he was named after a cartoon cat. Jeff?
"You're not interrupting anything at all, Geoffrey," Demi reassures.
I was close.
Geoffrey claims the chair that I was previously occupying, seemingly too awkward to be a lawyer. Then again, who am I to judge?
"I spoke with the judge," he begins, his attention on both Demi and Nick. "He believes that, given the circumstances, a trial won't be necessary. He's going to review the evidence and hear our cases before making a ruling."
By the time that he finishes, my eyebrows are furrowed in confusion, and a deep frown has morphed my lips. "Wait, what? Why was a trial even an option?"
"Bailey," Demi gains my attention, "Matthew's dead."
"Yeah, so?"
"She doesn't understand," Nick says.
"I understand perfectly," I defend, shooting him a glare. "The guy who molested me is dead." I hear gasps from behind me, but I pay them no mind.
"But you don't know how he died," Nick states.
"I don't care! I just know that he can no longer hurt me. I no longer have to worry about him finding and hurting you all."
"Can I tell her?" Demi questions Geoffrey, and the man slowly nods.
My eyebrows knit together once again, and I can begin to feel a headache forming. "Tell me what?"
Demi takes a deep breath, only heightening my anxiety and worry. "The shot that you heard before the phone call ended was nothing but a rouse. He shot a tree, then ended the call. I used that split-second opportunity to run, but he soon caught up to me." She pauses. "I don't even know if I should be telling you all of this," she groans, dragging her palms down her face.
"Go on," I mumble, wanting to know what Matthew put her through, wanting to know what I caused, as if I need more guilt weighing me down.
She takes another deep breath. "He grabbed the hood of my jacket and slung me to the ground. I landed on my back, so, when I tried to get up, he climbed on top of me."
I squeeze my eyes shut and lower my head, trying to prevent the flashbacks from occurring.
What if he did the same shit to her that he did to me?
"Hey, baby-girl," Demi coos, tilting my head upwards so that I'm facing her again. "Why are you crying?"
I don't realize that I'm crying until my fingertips come into contact with my wet cheeks. I shake my head, unable to voice my thoughts as I continue to cry. Realization flashes across Demi's face, and she brings me closer to her, shielding my face in the crook between her shoulder and neck, my tears soiling her hospital gown.
"Oh, God, baby-girl, no, no, no. I know what you're thinking, and that didn't happen." A relieved sob slips past my lips. "He stabbed me a couple of times," she murmurs, and I hastily back away from her, afraid that I'm hurting her, but she places a firm grip on both of my shoulders, thus halting my retreat. "You're not hurting me, Bailey."
"But you said-"
"The wounds aren't even that deep." She shakes her head. "He was probably just trying to stun me enough to shut me up."
I sniffle. "You were screaming?"
She nods.
"So," I hesitantly speak after a pause, "what killed him?"
She sighs. "His gun went off during the struggle. I didn't realize what had happened until my ears were ringing and his blood-" she cuts herself off, releasing a shuddering breath. "Then I heard the police sirens."
"Who told the police your location? Neighbors?"
She nods and combs her fingers through her hair. It is then when I notice the cuts and scratches on the outside of her forearms - as if she held her arms up to protect herself.
"You fought back?"
"I fought like hell." One side of her mouth quirks upwards. "Don't think that you can get rid of me that easily."
Despite her attempt at getting me to do so, I can't manage to smile. "This is all my fault." Another sob wracks my body as my vocal reminder renders me nearly breathless. "Everything is my fault."
"No, baby-girl," she says, wrapping her arms around me again, "don't think for one second that any of this is your fault."
"If I had never insisted on meeting you that day, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have caused you so much pain."
"I didn't realize it at the time, but you meeting me that day was one of the best moments of my life. You've caused so many amazing, wonderful things to happen, Bailey, and you don't even realize it."
"Mom and I have a better relationship because of you," Jordan pipes up, and I break away from Demi's embrace to see the sincerity in her eyes. "God only knows what pieces we'd be picking up in the future if it wasn't for you."
"Dallas and I have nieces to spoil now," Maddie shrugs.
"I have," Sara pauses, as if contemplating on what to say, "I have support. You're there for me," she smally smiles, seeming as if there is more she wants to say. "Dal, I'm gonna go see if either of my parents are on break."
"Okay," Dallas nods. "But be careful."
"We're in a hospital," Sara laughs as she's leaving. "The worst that can happen is that I drown in antiseptic."
I'd be lying if I said that her departure doesn't disappoint me a little bit.
I really need to stop being so sappy.
There's a slight pause before Nick breaks it.
"I got my daughter back." Nick grins at me, picking up right where our original conversation left off. "Bailey, when your mom left, I thought that I'd never get the chance to meet you. You give my life a purpose." He glances longly at Demi.
She giggles. "What are you staring at?"
Returning his attention to me, he asks, "You do realize that your mom and I wouldn't be together right now if it wasn't for you, right?"
"You two would have found your way back to each other," I insist, but he shakes his head, and Demi sighs.
"Bailey, we weren't even on speaking terms before," she admits. "Your dad hated me."
"I didn't hate you," Nick contradicts. "I resented your decision. I resented your decision so much that it blinded me from seeing how much you were hurting."
"We all blame ourselves for something that we had no control over," Jordan interjects.
"Yeah, baby-girl," Demi nods, her eyes solemn. "That's exactly it."
"Wait," I turn to Geoffrey, a thought occurring to me, "what Matthew said on the phone about Demi's divorce-"
"It was the truth," he smiles, "Demi is no longer married to Wilmer Valderrama."
I can't help the grin that spreads across my face, and I'm relieved to see that Jordan is smiling as well.
"Jordan, you're okay with that?" Demi softly wonders.
Jordan nods. "You're happy. That's all that I've ever wanted."
"I second that." I pretend to raise a glass in the air, as if to toast.
"I think we all third that," Dallas chuckles.
"I don't think that I do," Nick jokingly shakes his head.
"Oh, really?" Demi arches an eyebrow, and he nods.
"I think my goal in life is to make you miserable."
"Can I let you in on a secret?" I can tell that Demi is trying not to laugh as she beckons Nick closer to her. "You're failing. Significantly."
Nick quirks an eyebrow as if this is news to him. "How so?"
Demi hums thoughtfully. "You've made the past twenty-one years of my life worth living. Despite me cutting you off multiple times, despite all of the shit that I've put you through, you never gave up on me. Even when I had myself convinced that I wanted nothing to do with you and that our relationship wasn't worth salvaging, you never left my mind."
"Just kiss already and get it over with," I groan.
Softly chuckling, Demi places her hand on my face and gently tilts my head to the side, away from them. I laugh as I remove her hand from my face. As she wraps her arms around Nick's neck, Maddie squeals.
"Ooh, get some, you two," Dallas laughs, causing Nick and Demi to separate and chuckle as they touch their foreheads together.
"No," I object. "There will be no getting anything."
Demi throws her head back and laughs. "That should be my line for you, baby-girl," she winks at me, and I roll my eyes. "Save the eye rolling for when you actually begin dating."
"You know what?" I say after a pause. "I don't think I've ever heard you curse so much in one hour as you have today."
"I told you, Bailey, that you are just like her," Dallas reminds.
"You make weird observations," Demi chuckles at me. "I guess that's another one of your doings," she says to Nick.
"What?" He furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
She smiles. "You're bringing the old me back to life."
He kisses her quickly. "Does that mean that you're going to come home one day with hair that has suddenly turned purple?"
"Purple?" She laughs, and he shrugs.
"Your hair has never been purple before."
"What did you do?" I ask. "Dye it every color of the rainbow?"
"No," she scoffs. "I've dyed it red and blue, though, and there was that one time when the blue kind of turned a little green."
"You were insane, weren't you?"
"Oh, very much so," she laughs.
"Hey, mom," Jordan gains Demi's attention, "when can you leave?"
"That's a really good question," she looks at Nick who shrugs and shakes his head.
"I don't think the doctor ever told any of us," Maddie informs.
"Bailey, hand me the remote," Demi commands, pointing to the over-sized white device that looks more like an old telephone than an actual remote.
"Why the hell does it have so many buttons?" I pass her the device. "That alone makes me nervous."
She rolls her eyes as she removes the remote from my grasp.
"Hey, Lawyer Dude," I gain Geoffrey's attention, "why are you still here?"
"I swear there's not a subtle bone in your body," Demi mutters.
"I, um," he clears his throat, as if nervous, "I didn't want to ruin the happy mood you all were in." With that one statement, all eyes are on him.
"What do you mean, Geoffrey?" Demi softly inquires.
It seems as if he has to force himself to make eye contact with her. "Your ex-husband co-conspired with Matthew to put you in harm's way."
The room falls silent. Demi stares blankly ahead. Jordan sniffles, then nearly runs out of the room.
"I'll-I'll go after her," Maddie says, her tone shocked, though I don't think anybody else is listening.
When Maddie leaves, Dallas shuts the door behind her.
"I know that I shouldn't be shocked," Demi's voice cracks on that last word, and it's evident that she's trying so hard not to completely break down.
"No, you really shouldn't be." Nick shakes his head and begins to pace back and forth, a habit that I've noticed he does when angry.
"Nick, calm down," Dallas softly orders, her effort proving futile as Nick continues to pace.
Nick suddenly stops pacing as he turns to Geoffrey. "Why are you telling us this if Wilmer's in police custody?"
"That's just it, Nick," the lawyer sighs, "Wilmer Valderrama isn't in police custody."
"Then where the hell is he?"
"He's missing." The man's eyes shift to all of ours, one after another. "And he's a threat to the safety of all of you."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
