Love Yourself (JB+AG)

[10]

Justin

Friday, 11:03 am

Dr Jefferson leaves me alone with Ariana and I just stare at her. She looks so different.

Her face is bruised and stitched, turning it a deep shade of purple. And she has a bandage wrapped around her stomach, which is also purple.

"Ari..." I whisper.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" She says.

Her voice is low and raspy. It's usually bright and cheery. At least when she's with me.

I slowly walk to the edge of her bed, pushing hair out of her face.

"You're not dead." I say.

"I wish I was." She mumbles.

"Ariana, stop."

"Justin, I wanna go home." There's tears in her eyes as she says this.

"I know you do, Ari. You will be able to soon."

"No, Justin. I wanna go now. You have to help me."

"Ariana, listen to me. You are not going home right now. There's absolutely no chance. Most likely not even today. Maybe tomorrow, but you need to stay here and get better. Do you understand?" She stares at me, shocked, and I see tears form in her eyes.

"Stop. Don't cry. It'll be okay." I wipe the tears from her face and lean down to kiss her.

"Do you wanna see your parents now?" She shakes her head.

"I don't wanna see them ever. This is their fucking fault."

"Okay. What about Nicole?"

"She can come in."

"You're so difficult." I laugh.

"Excuse me, Justin." I turn to the door where a uniformed police officer is standing on the doorway.

"Yes?"

"Can I borrow you for a second?"

"Oh, uh, sure. I guess."

"I'll be right back." I tell Ariana.

She nods. I follow the officer out of the room, telling Nicole that Ariana wants to see her before stepping aside with the officer.

"I'm Officer Parker." I shake the officers hand.

"Is there a problem?" I ask.

"Sort of."

"What?"

"We cannot find Derrick. We got there a few minutes after you left and he was nowhere to be seen."

"Shit." I mutter, running a hand through my hair.

"Yes, I know. We have every man available looking for him. I'll let you know if anything changes. But can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure. I'm happy to help."

"Okay. Explain to me what happened from your view."

"I was at my house, which is right across the street. Nicole, their housekeeper, came and started pounding on my door."

"Pause. Is Nicole here right now?"

"Yeah. She's with Ariana."

"Good. I'll have to ask her some questions as well. Continue."

"Nicole told me Derrick had locked Ariana in a room and was hurting her because she tried to get out so I ran across the street and upstairs to where they were."

"What did you see?"

"I just saw Ariana laying on the floor, surrounded by blood, and Derrick was laughing. I couldn't help myself. I punched him. And I continued to hurt him, because I cared about Ariana. And it made me angry. Very angry."

I was getting pissed just thinking about it.

"What stopped you?" Officer Parker asks.

"Nicole. She pulled me off of him and went to help Ariana."

"After a minute or two, Nicole went to call the police and I was helping Ariana. Then the ambulance came and they took Ariana. I came in my car."

"That it?"

"Yeah. That's all I know."

"Alright, Justin. Thanks for all your help."

"No, thank you." He nods and walks into Ariana's room.

"Justin, what did Ariana say about us?" Joan stands in the doorway of the private waiting room with her arms crossed.

"Uh... She said that... That she didn't wanna see you... Ever."

"Is that it?"

"Not really. She said this was your fault." Joan sighs, disappearing back into the waiting room.

I walk into Ariana's room, taking a seat while Officer Parker ask her and Nicole questions.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since they were married." Nicole answers quickly, probably because Ariana wouldn't say anything.

I make eye contact with Ariana, and she has tears in her eyes.

I shake my head and she wipes her eyes, looking back at Officer Parker.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I thought he would stop. But he never did." Ariana's voice cracks.

"You do realize he could've killed you, right Ariana?" Officer Parker asks.

She nods, covering her face with her hands.

"Is this too much? I can come back another time."

"Please. I'm sorry." Nicole says.

"It's fine." Nicole leaves the room with him and I walk over to Ariana's bed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask her.

"I'm sorry. I'm s-so sorry, J."

"Ari, I could've helped you. You know I could have."

"I know. I f-feel horrible. I'm s-sorry."

I sigh, wiping her face with a Kleenex.

"Get some rest. You need it."