Awaiting Fate

Dark people surround us at every waking moment. Time will tell...will this couple survive it?

Chapter Two

Keith Crub was being booked at the local PD office and he was not the happiest camper there. He yelled and tried to run his way out of the building, before he was tackled to the ground. One of the officer's escorted Keith to an interrogation room. 

"Mr. Crub, can you tell me why you were at 1459 Aspen Drive house?" Officer Jack asked waiting to write down whatever Keith would tell him.

"I...I..was-s waitin' for Audrie." Keith managed to speak in his drunken stupor. He then laughed at really nothing. 

"Do you know Audrie?" Officer Jack stood up and walked around the small windowless room. Keith was still laughing but was able to speak.

"I uh..uh." A laugh burst out of him. "Met her..uh..in college." Keith stared at the table for a minute and then started to laugh again.

"Why were you in her house?" 

"I told you-o that already. I was waitin' fer her!"

"Now calm down, tell me why you were waiting for her?"

"Cuz...that Jake guy isn't good fer her. He hits her..I wouldn't do..uh..that." Keith smiled. Officer Jack excused himself from the room and went quickly to the phone. He dialed the same number Jake had called earlier to report what had happened.

"Hello?" Jake answered his phone. The officer on the phone cleared his throat before talking.

"Hello Mr. Roucs, this is officer Jack. We need you and Audrie to come down to the station for questioning." 

"Alright, we'll be down as soon as we can." Jake replied.

*

"Audrie." Jake called out to her and a moment later she walked into the kitchen where he was.

"Yeah?" Audrie asked.

"Officer Jack just called and he needs us to come to the station to be questioned."

"Okay, you're driving." Audrie turned and walked to the garage while Jake grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter.

*

"Mrs. Duke, has Jake ever hit you?" Officer Jack wasn't wasting any time.

"It's miss Duke, but call me Audrie. No he has never hit me, where did you get that question?" Audrie asked disgusted.

"Mr. Crub actually told me that Jake hits you. I need to know if he was telling the truth." Officer Jack explained.

"I'm telling you the truth, Jake has never hit me, I promise. Keith is drunk and he always tells lies when he's drunk. Sober him up and he'll tell you the truth." Audrie explained and after a few minutes she was able to go.

"How did it go?" Jake asked Audrie when they met up again.

"They asked me if you have ever hit me and I declined that. I told them that Keith is an idiot when drunk." Audrie wrapped both arms around Jake's waist as they walked slowly to the car.

"Keith isn't in his right mind. I cannot believe you were interrogated because of what he told the officers." Jake opened the passenger door for Audrie. When Jake started the car he reached for Audrie's hand, but she wasn't paying attention. She was staring out the window with tears in her eyes.

"Audrie?" Jake asked, but when she turned her head she saw the truck that was inches away from their car. The truck smashed into their car and Jake tried his best not to roll the car. The car tumbled and Audrie was knocked into the side window and passed out. The last thing she heard was Jake saying it will all be okay.

*

A week had passed before Audrie woke up in the hospital. She squinted her eyes to see only a little bit of the room she was in. She opened her eyes wide when she saw that her right leg was held up in a sling. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing, she tried getting up but that made her heart beat faster. Nurses and a doctor came into the room and helped her calm down.

"Glad to see you're awake. My name is Doctor Kison." The doctor spoke to her.

"Where's Jake? My boyfriend." Audrie's words slurred together.

"He's in the waiting room. He was very lucky to not be injured, but you went into a coma right as we found your car. You have a concussion, a broken leg, and cuts on your left arm. You'll be okay, but we'd like to keep you here for another few days to make sure you're not in danger." Dr. Kison explained.

"Can I see Jake?" Audrie asked and Dr. Kison nodded. A few moments passed and Jake walked in.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Jake asked when he sat down in the chair next to the bed. She motioned fro his hand and he moved his hand into hers.

"Okay. Are you okay?" Audrie winced as she breathed in.

"I'm okay, just a few bruises and scratches." Jake said softly. "You should get some sleep." He was getting up slowly. 

"No, stay. I don't want you to leave me." Audrie tried keep all her tears from escaping, but a tear fell. Jake wiped her tear away and kissed her lips lightly.

"I won't leave you, but you need to get some rest." He said quietly and sat back down in the chair next to her bed. Audrie nodded and closed her eyes.

#

The door to Audrie's room opened and Dr. Kison gestured for Jake to come talk to him outside the door. Jake got up slowly and walked to where Dr. Kison was.

"Hi Jake, I wanted to give you an update on Audrie." Dr. Kison said and Jake nodded. "Audrie is doing better than we expected, you will be able to take her home tomorrow morning." Dr. Kison smiled and shook Jake's hand.

"Thank you Dr." Jake thanked him and walked quietly back into Audrie's room. As Jake sat down in the chair next to Audrie's bed, he gazed at her peaceful looking face. He gazed at her face too long and tears began to form in his eyes. He whispered quietly to her, "I am so sorry this happened to you. I should have been more cautious. I-" He couldn't get anymore words out because his voice struggled to continue. Jake's head crashed into Audrie's bed next to her hand. He cried into the bedding until Audrie's hand grazed his hair.

"What are you crying for?" She asked softly. Jake's head slowly raised and half-smiled.

"For not being extra safe around you." He barely spoke, but she heard.

"You were. Are safe around me. You always are. Don't blame yourself, I'm not dead. I'm still here, just not 100% yet. But I will be, I'm okay and so are you." Audrie smiled, not on her lips but in her eyes.

"How can you be so strong even when you're in a hospital bed? I love that about you." Jake wiped his tears  and cleared his voice. "Dr. Kison said you were making a strong recovery and you can go home tomorrow." He attempted a smile. 

*

Early in the next morning Jake went home to take a shower and then get the house ready for Audrie to come home. While he was cleaning, he found something underneath their bed. It was a piece of paper that was cut up into halves of paper. The cut up note said only one word, b***h. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to analyze it. He wanted to know who wrote it and why it was underneath of Audrie's side of the bed.

#

Jake helped Audrie into a wheelchair that one of the nurse's gave to her. Audrie had a small blue vase with white roses in it that rested on her lap. One of the nurses had dropped off the vase with flowers while Audrie was still in a coma.

"Ready to go?" Jake bent down to Audrie's height in the wheelchair and asked. She nodded and smiled. Jake stood up and turned the wheelchair around towards the door of the hospital room. In the car, Jake helped Audrie into the backseat, because her leg wasn't put into a brace yet. After Audrie was safely seated Jake closed the door and went to the driver's seat.

"Jake." Audrie said.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Thanks for not leaving me when I needed you most." She said sincerely to him. Before he pulled out of the hospital parking lot, he turned to face Audrie.

"It's my job to love you and be there for you when you need me." Jake replied as he turned back around to go home.

#

"Alright, I cleaned the whole house, set out remotes for the tv and movie player, magazines. I'll also cook you anything you want, just say the word." Jake smiled as he listed off her choices.

"You're so nice to do this for me. But the only thing I want right now is for you to come next to me and watch a movie with me." Audrie replied. 

"Which movie?" Jake asked.

"How about My Best Friend's Wedding." Audrie smiled. She knew it wasn't his favorite movie, but he never complained. Jake put the movie in the player and sat down next to her.

#

My Best Friend's Wedding was still going when Jake got up to go to the bathroom. When he came back Audrie was fast asleep, the doctor prescribed her to take a small dose of morphine for the pain of her broken leg. He sat down quietly and put his arm around her. Soon her head fell on his shoulder. The movie ended after another half hour, but Audrie was still sound asleep. Jake gazed at her for a minute before he went into the kitchen to start dinner.

*

The aroma of chicken pasta with basil surrounded the room as Jake dished out two bowls of pasta. He picked up the bowls and walked into the living room.

"Wake up sleepy head." Jake spoke aloud to Audrie. She opened her eyes and looked around confused.

"Where am I?" Audrie asked. Jake placed the plates down on the coffee table and sat on the couch.

"You're at home love. You just woke up from a long nap." Jake replied softly, but Audrie still had a confused look on her face.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Jake..your boyfriend." He replied with shock laced through his tone. He got up and walked to the phone, dialed Dr. Kison's number and waited.

"Dr. Kison here." He answered the phone.

"Yes, hi. This is Jake Walker, you took care of my girlfriend, Audrie Duke?" Jake replied. 

"Yes I remember, what can I do for you Mr. Walker?"

"I woke Audrie up and she couldn't remember where she was or who I was..is that normal?" Jake asked concerned.

"Did she take morphine before she went to bed?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, let her fall back asleep and don't wake her yourself. Let Audrie wake up on her own. She will remember where she is and who you are. If you have any more questions, be sure to call me. Thank you and goodbye Mr. Walker."

"Thank you, goodbye." Jake hung up the phone. As Jake turned around to look at Audrie, she had already fallen asleep again.

*

Three hours passed before Jake heard a scream from the living room downstairs. He sprinted down the stairs to find Audrie curled up in a ball besides the front door.

"Audrie! What's wrong?" He bent down to try and help her up, but she screamed even louder. Jake backed up. "Alright, I won't help you.." He took his cellphone out and dialed Dr. Kison's number.

"This is Dr. Kison." He answered. 

"Hi, it's Jake Walker..Audrie woke up but she's now screaming. What do I do?" Jake explained in a swift tone.

"Alright, call 911. Audrie might be having a panic attack, I want to make sure she doesn't go into cardiac arrest." Dr. Kison replied. 

"Okay thank you Dr." Jake hung up and dialed 911.

#

Jake had to pick Audrie up from the ground while she was screaming to make room for the EMT's to come in. The ambulance got to their house in under seven minutes and two EMT's rushed in. One of the EMT's asked Jake what her name was before checking her out. 

"Hi Audrie, my name is Hank. Can you tell me how you're feeling?" He asked.

"O-Okay." Audrie replied nervously. Jake sat on the edge of the couch and locked his eyes on her face.

"Can you tell me why you woke up screaming?" Hank asked while checking her blood pressure.

"No, I f-feel okay now." She said.

*

"Well Audrie, you seem to be fine. Take care." Hank and the other EMT walked out the door. Jake held out his arms and Audrie walked over to him.

"Sorry I scared you. I don't know what came over me." Audrie said.

"It's okay love, I only wanted to make sure you weren't going into shock. You're okay now, right? You're not lying?" Jake asked, and Audrie hugged him tighter.

"No, I'm not lying." She replied and Jake kissed her forehead.

#

The next morning the home phone rang and Jake was the first to wake up. He quickly went downstairs to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey Jake. It's Josh, just wanted to let you know you're scheduled to go to Rome next weekend." Josh replied. 

"Oh okay. What day and what time do I leave?" Jake asked.

"You leave Saturday afternoon at 4pm. Oh, and that reminds me, you're welcome to bring Audrie along this time. Jake maybe this time you should propose to her. Bro, it's been four years." Josh said and Jake moved outside to talk.

"That's a good idea and yeah its been a long time.."

"Take her with you, choose a ring, and propose there. After all, you'll be in Rome for a month. Take care, I'll be over to drop off the tickets later this morning." Josh concluded and hung up. Jake put the phone down and danced a little before going inside to take a shower.

#

After his shower Audrie was still asleep, so Jake went downstairs and picked up and old book. Ten minutes went by, he got very bored with the book and fell asleep.

"Jake?" Audrie asked and he opened one eye. 

"How..what time is it?" Jake asked and Audrie looked at the clock.

"10:30am." She replied. He sat up and hummed.

"How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Good and long. You?" Audrie smiled.

"Good as well. Josh Thomas called and said I'm scheduled to go to Rome next week. And you're going with me." Jake said while smiling. Her jaw dropped.

"Really? I get to go this time?!" She stood up.

"Yes, you do. Our plane leave this Saturday at 4pm." Jake replied as he stood as well. She hugged him and then raced up the stairs. "Where are you going?" Jake yelled. Audrie was back down in a minute, already dressed and was heading towards the door.

"I'm going shopping! For Rome! Want to come?" She smiled very wide.

"I would love to, but Josh will be here soon to drop off our plane tickets. Have fun love." He kissed her before she left.

*

There was a knock at the door later in the morning. 

"Hey Josh, come on in." Jake welcomed him in.

"Hey, good to see you." Josh replied.

"Want a glass of water?" Jake walked towards the kitchen and Josh followed.

"Yeah, I'll have one. Did you tell Audrie about the trip?" Josh asked.

"Yes, she's out shopping for new clothes to wear." He smiled to himself. 

"Ha, that's wonderful." Josh took a sip of the water. "Oh here are your tickets. Glad you're taking her on this one. Alright, thanks for the water and it was good to see you. I'll be in touch, bye." Josh handed the tickets to Jake and left.

*

Audrie got home in the late afternoon and had trouble unlocking the door. She had to push the doorbell with her shoulder because she had over ten bags of clothes. Jake walked to the door and raised his eyebrows at what he saw. Jake took four of the bags as Audrie stumbled through the door.

"Why do you have so many bags?" Jake asked. 

"Don't worry, they're not all mine. I bought you some clothes as well." She smiled and went back out to get the last few bags. "Do you want to see your clothes or mine first?"

"Yours than mine." Jake replied while taking a seat on a bar stool.

"I got four pairs of jean shorts, two pairs of ballet flats, five different designed blouses, and a light gray jacket." She smiled. "As for you I got you three pairs of kaki shorts, a pair of jeans, and seven different colored shirts."

"Very nice." Jake said.

"I hope you like your new clothes." Audrie said.

"I love them." He got up and kissed her on the lips.