It was love on both ends

Chapter 6

                               Dean

I was just holding on to Scarlett when the next thing I know, she's gone.

Out of my grasp.

Out of my protection.

This is the first time I've been in panic over her. First Greyson, now this.

I don't know where she is. Getting back in the throng of people is as hard as getting through it.

I just want to go home and I don't know what I'll do at home. What I do know is that I want to leave, right now. I'm angry, and I need to take it out on something.

No, someone.

I see the problem, and I don't think about it.

I tackle this guy away from Lee. I'm so irritated that I don't even care if I'm throwing down the furniture. That's the least of my worries.

Right now, I'm grateful that I'm in good shape to fuck this guy up. I yank him up because I'm pretty sure he's drunk. I grab on to his collar with one hand and bring my other right to his jaw.

I growl."Don't you ever touch her." And slam him in the wall, full of vigor. I let him fall to the floor.

I guess that punch really did it for him. He was down in a second.

Lee is on the ground. I help her up with a lot of force. I probably hurt her but I'm still so full of anger that I can't seem to let go of.

I fit her face in my palms and look her in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" I ask, my voice full of worry. My eyes scan her for any damage.

"I'm okay." She says frantically. Her eyes flick to and fro mine.

I pull her to my chest, my heart is beating so fast that she can probably feel it. Now that I know she's okay. I feel my hand pulse from the impact it took with that dude's jaw.

Everyone decides to make room for us to pass by now that we've made a scene. I don't care about anything, but getting Lee home.

I open the front door and slam it once we're out forcefully. I move Lee, so that I can take off my shirt so that she can put it on.

I hadn't noticed her shirt got wet. So I had no clue it was see through. I put it over her head and get her hands through the sleeves.

"You're okay." I pull her back to my chest and kiss the top of her head. We stand there for a while, I rub her back in a soothing motion of circles.

"You want to go home?" I ask her. I don't think we should go home looking like this. We look like a complete mess. Her with her wet clothes, me with no shirt on and what seems like a broken hand.

She shrugs.

"I think I'm gonna have to go to the...um...hospital." I spit out tentatively.

Her head snaps up. "What!"

"I...uh...I think I broke my...uh hand." I say explaining that I punched the guy who yanked her out of my grasp.

"I'm so sorry." She says rubbing my hand gingerly.

"Don't ever apologize. None of this was your fault." I say."Guys just don't know how to keep their dick in their pants."

"I'm still sorry for your hand." She says sympathetic. "If it wasn't because of me your hand wouldn't be broken."

I pull her to me. "Stop it. Don't blame yourself. Who knows what would have happened if I wasn't there?" I say and just thinking about it makes me want to kill someone.

Women can't live their life without being catcalled once or twice a day or even more and that's disgusting. Men don't realize that we can't just touch a woman and everything is okay about it. People just need to keep it to themselves if they can't, they're ignorant assholes.

One shouldn't be afraid of getting harrassed, but that's the world we live in.

"Let's go then." I say, helping her get in the car. It's pretty late, the sun has already made it all the way down. Once I get in I start the car and check the time. It's 10:04pm. The hospital's always open, so it's not like it's going to be closed or anything.

I drive to the hospital with my left hand. It's a lot harder than I thought but we make it to the hospital in one piece.

~~~~~~~

"Your hand was fractured due to the force of the punch." Dr. Davis, a woman with an afro and beautiful green eyes wearing scrubs and white sneakers, says. She looks up from her clipboard and inspects my hand.

"So the x-ray showed us that your metacarpal are broken." She says monotone.

"Is he going to be alright?" Scarlett asks wringing her hands nervously.

Dr. Davis looks Scarlett up and down. "Your boyfriend is going to be just fine." She says, rolling her eyes.

I don't know if she had a bad day or what. Because her attitude is unacceptable. She's a professional, she can't be rolling her eyes and being half present at work. It's like her body is here but her mind is elsewhere.

Scarlett and I don't bother correcting her.

"The nurse is going to put a cast on it and you'll be all good." She says closing her clipboard and lets out a breath.

I've had it today, what is it with everyone? Are we all done with life? Is that what it is?

"I'm sorry but is there something wrong?" I say irritated, I don't think this woman is normally like this because she seems friendly and all. But maybe today was a bad day.

"No. Not at all." She says sarcastically."It's just that seeing you and your girlfriend here reminds me of my fiance..." she shakes her head, " ex-fiance. That son of a bitch cheated on me with my best friend. And they didn't care at all because they thought I would be okay with it. Why would I be okay with them sleeping with each other? And they had the audacity to tell me to leave my own house because 'they weren't done yet'" She says using air quotes. " My mother told me this would happen. I was too stubborn to believe her. Now she gets to tell me I told you so."

Lee and I glance at each other shocked.

"And you guys coming here together made me think about that asshole and it made me recall what they did to me. I'm sorry I was being a bitch to you, it's not your fault I have bad luck when it comes to love." She finishes. We're silent.

Lee breaks the silence first." We're sorry about what happened to you. And if it makes you feel better we," she says pointing between her and I, " aren't a couple he's my best friend and someone harassed me at a party and he defended me and resulted in breaking his hand."

The doctor's eyes widen."Oh my, I'm sorry about that. I just thought--- you guys were a couple because you seemed so worried about his hand and he was just so kind to you." She shrugs." I'm sorry for assuming something that isn't."

"No worries." I say speaking for the first time."I'm sorry for making you relive what happened to you."

She shrugs. "That's life. You end up living to find the one when all along you had yourself to love." She says reminiscing about a time in her life inside her head. "Any who, let's get you all fixed." She says and exits the room.

The nurse comes back and puts my knuckles in a cast. Lee draws on it on our way home. She goes to her house with the memories of tonight.

I lay in my bed and look at my cast. She drew music notes and wrote Travis with a heart for the i. There's what looks like a duck, but knowing Scarlett, she can't draw for shit. In her eyes this duck looks like a dinosaur. I smile and go to sleep.