The Forgotten Night Read online

  Cassidy took deep breaths and her breathing returned to normal.

  Andrew pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Cassie. I will never leave you like that again,” he whispered and gently kissed her cheek. When he pulled back, he looked murderous.

  “I’m fine, Andy, you don’t have to kill him,” she said softly, putting her right hand on his cheek.

  One of the detectives cleared their throats and Andrew pulled back, sitting back down next to Cassidy, taking her hand in his again.

  “I’m sorry, I have to ask, but is that all that happened?” Detective Coulter asked. They wanted to know if he’d raped her.

  Cassidy nodded. “I passed out and woke up to Andy, who called the ambulance.”

  Detective Rice nodded. “We’ll leave our cards with you, if you think of anything else. We have your number, if anything happens.”

  “When you find him, what will happen?” Cassidy asked.

  “We’re not sure, miss, in the state of New York these crimes are generally treated as domestic abuse cases. I would suggest that you get an Order of Protection from the courts against this Robert Stokes,” Detective Rice said.

  “You okay, Andy?” Cassidy asked, seeing how upset he looked.

  Andrew turned back to Cassidy and wiped away the stray tears running down her cheek.

  “Yeah, baby. Do you want me to call your parents?”

  “No. I don’t want them to worry. You’ll help me, right?” she asked.

  “Of course. You’ll stay at our house until your parents get home. I don’t want you to be alone in that house.”

  “Even though the staff will be there?” she asked, trying to fight a painful smile.

  “Yes, even if they will be there,” he said.

  “This is not your fault, Andy, and I don’t want you thinking so,” she said, caressing his cheek.

  Andrew simply nodded, looking unconvinced. “What did the doctor say about your injuries?”

  “That I had a bruised rib that should heal anywhere between a few days and a week. It wasn’t injured too badly. And my wrist will be in a brace for three weeks.”

  “Cassidy?” the nurse said, poking her head inside the door.

  Cassidy looked up. “If you fill out this form, we can release you. I’m guessing you have a ride home?”

  Cassidy nodded and the nurse handed her the clipboard and left the room.

  Cassidy looked over at Andrew. “Could you ask Rach if she could bring me some clothes? I don’t want to leave in a hospital gown.”

  “Of course, I’ll be right back,” he said, kissing her forehead.

  * * *

  “I got it from here,” Rachel said, an hour or so later, walking into the hospital room with a small duffle bag. Andrew looked up at the sound of his sister’s voice then looked back at Cassidy.

  Cassidy smiled slightly and nodded.

  “I’ll be back when you’re ready to head out,” Andrew said, kissing her cheek.

  Cassidy and Rach watched as Andrew left the room and shut the door on his way out. “So, I brought over some variety. I wasn’t sure.”

  “What did you bring me?” Cassidy asked, trying to lighten the mood since Rachel wasn’t exactly her perky self.

  “Um, I brought you a camisole and a T-shirt. I didn’t think that you could wear—”

  “Rach, it’s okay. I’m fine. You don’t have to be scared to say anything. I’m fine, really. They’re only superficial wounds. I’ll be fine. He didn’t hurt me that way.”

  Rachel nodded and pulled out the clothes.

  “Though you are going to have to help me into them,” Cassidy said with a smile.

  Rachel smiled back and began to help her take off the hospital gown and put on the camisole. She held her tongue when she saw the bite marks on Cassidy’s breasts and helped her put the T-shirt over them. Cassidy looked at her friend and saw the anger in her eyes.

  “Not you too,” she said.

  “What?” Rachel asked.

  “You have the same murderous look as your brother,” Cassidy pointed out.

  “How can I not? That bastard touched my best friend, the drunken asshole hurt you. How can you not be pissed? I hate his guts and he didn’t even do this to me,”

  Cassidy looked down at her cast. “I do. I do hate him. I just can’t dwell on it. I have you and Andy now. He could have hurt me far worse, but he didn’t, Rach. I just can’t think about it, you know?”

  Rachel nodded and then pulled out the sweatpants she had taken from Cassidy’s room. She helped Cassidy to the edge of the bed. It wasn’t long before they were finished and walked over to the door. Rachel opened it, and Andrew popped his head around the corner.

  “Ready?” he asked and both women nodded their heads. They walked down the hallway to the doors marked Authorized Personnel Only and exited them just in time to hear the nurses arguing loudly with someone.

  “Sir, I told you, only family are allowed back there. She is already with her fiancé, and I can’t let you back there,” the nurse said to the man at the counter, whose back was toward them.

  “I told you already, I am her fiancé,” Robert roared angrily and turned just in time to see Cassidy, Andrew and Rachel walk into the waiting room. “Cassidy!”

  Cassidy tensed at the sound of his voice. She didn’t know what to do. She felt Andrew’s hand clench hers and looked up to see the anger in his eyes.

  “Cassidy, are you all right?” Robert asked, as though it had been someone else who hurt her. “I came to check—”

  “Don’t you fucking talk to her,” Andrew said in the same tone he had used with Brian the other night.

  “She’s my fiancée, you don’t have a say over—”

  “You lost that right when you hit her. When you fucking touched her,” Andrew said, letting go of Cassidy’s hand. He stepped in front of her, putting more distance between her and Robert.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “Don’t you fucking lie! Don’t you fucking start with that bullshit!” Andrew yelled.

  By this time, they had grabbed the attention of everyone in the waiting room. Detective Rice and Detective Coulter were hurrying up the hallway toward the altercation.

  “Fine, you want the whore, you can have—”

  Andrew’s fist collided with Robert’s jaw before he could finish his thought.

  “Andy! Stop it!” Cassidy screamed. The last thing she wanted was for Andrew to get in trouble over all of this. He stepped back, and she held onto his arm.

  Detective Rice and Detective Coulter handcuffed Robert and read him his rights.

  Robert looked up and stared at Cassidy and laughed. Cassidy tensed but stepped away from Andrew and walked up to him. She drew her good arm back and punched him squarely in the nose again.

  “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again,” she said.

  Robert groaned and looked up at the detectives. “You saw that. They can’t just do that and get away with it! I want to press charges!”

  Detective Rice looked at his partner. “I didn’t see anything that wasn’t provoked, you?”

  “Looked like self-defense to me,” she answered, and they nodded for the others to leave.

  Andrew took Cassidy’s arm and followed Rachel out of the ER to where the car was parked.

  “Nice shot, Cass,” Rachel said, alleviating the silence in the car as they drove away.

  Cassidy smiled slightly. “Thanks, it felt good.”

  Andrew looked down at her and smiled back before he turned back to the road.

  They pulled into their driveway and climbed out of the car, Rachel and Andrew helping Cassidy out of the front seat. Andrew opened the front door and walked into the kitchen for an ice pack and brought it back to Cassidy, who was sitting in a sofa chair in the entertainment room with Rachel.

  “Thanks,” she said when he handed it to her wrapped in a cloth. “Aren’t you going to join us? We’re watching your favorite, Disney.�
�� She tried her best to smile.

  “I’ll be there in a moment, I have to make a phone call,” he said and pulled out his cell phone.

  Cassidy nodded as he walked off to the downstairs office, leaving Cassidy and Rachel alone.

  “He’s never going to get over this, is he? He’s always going to blame himself,” Cassidy asked, turning to Rachel.

  “He will, give him time. He just hates seeing you hurt, so do I,” Rachel said.

  “If anything, it’s my fault. I was the one who told him not to stay. I was the one who chose not to take those self-defense classes with you. It was me who dated the fucker! He shouldn’t get to take the blame. It should be me!” Cassidy burst out and Rachel took her good hand in hers.

  “It’s okay, just rest. The doctors gave you some pain medicine. I’ll go get you some water to take them,” Rachel said, obviously knowing Cassidy didn’t need someone there to tell her it wasn’t her fault or to soothe her, she just needed her friend.

  Cassidy nodded and waited for Rachel to get back from the kitchen with the water and medicine.

  Rachel handed Cassidy the two white pills then the glass of water. “They’re going to make you sleepy. You want to stay down here or go upstairs?”

  “Upstairs maybe. How long before I can take more?”

  “Every four to six hours,” Rachel replied and helped her out of the chair. “You have three choices—”

  “Your room,” Cassidy said even before Rachel could tell her what she meant. She knew though: Rachel’s room, Andrew’s, or one of the guest rooms.

  “We can watch TV until you fall asleep.” Rachel smiled and walked up the stairs to her room. Cassidy lay down in her friend’s bed and Rachel sat down in the chair beside her. It wasn’t long before Cassidy’s eyes grew heavy and she fell asleep.

  * * *

  Andrew had to call Cassidy’s father, the one person she didn’t want knowing. How was he supposed to play this down? He didn’t want her parents getting too upset, they were still vacationing or whatever the hell it was in Paris.

  Andrew looked through the numbers stored in his phone and found it. Edward Ames’ Cell.

  Reluctantly, he pushed the talk button and held the phone up to his ear.

  “Hello?” Edward asked, sounding a little groggy. What time was it in Paris? What was the time difference? “Hello?”

  “Uh, Mr. Ames? This is Andrew Winbright.”

  “Hello, son, what do you need? It’s awfully early for you to be calling.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know what time it was in Paris. How’s the trip, by the way?”

  “Good, successful. In fact, we’re coming home on a flight tomorrow, rather today, but I know this isn’t why you called.”

  “No sir, something happened to Cassie.”

  “What happened?” Edward suddenly sounded wide awake and scared to death.

  “Don’t worry, she’d going to be all right.”

  “Tell me, boy, spit it out, this is my little princess we’re talking about.”

  “Her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend Robert—”

  “Ex? Good. I never liked the man.”

  “Me either, sir, especially not now.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He hurt her physically, sir.”

  “He touched my princess?” Edward roared. “Tell Cassidy we’re coming home and make sure she stays at your house until we get there!”

  “Yes, sir, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “You’re a good man, Andrew. Take care of my girl.”

  “Yes, sir, thank you, sir. And sorry to interrupt your trip—”

  “If anything happens with Cassidy again, don’t hesitate to call this number,” Edward said.

  “Yes, sir, goodbye,” Andrew said, hanging up the phone. He breathed a sigh of relief. Her parents would be here tonight or early tomorrow morning.

  He opened the office door and walked back toward the entertainment room and found Rachel sitting by herself. “Where’s Cassie?”

  “Upstairs in my room, she fell asleep,” Rachel responded and Andrew nodded. “And try not to be all ‘it’s-my-fault-I-should-have-been-there-for-you’.” Rachel mimicked his deep tone.

  “What? It was my fault, Rach,” he said.

  “It wasn’t. No matter how hard you think about it, you can’t blame yourself. Cass doesn’t want you to and neither do I. It’s not your fault, and it’s not her fault. The one we should be blaming is Robert.”

  Andrew nodded and sat down next to his sister.

  “So who were you calling?”

  “Cassidy’s dad.”

  “Cassidy is going to hurt you when she finds out,” Rachel said.

  “I know, but they needed to know what happened.” He sighed, knowing she’d be angry at first but would see that it had to be done when she calmed down. She was just hurt and upset right now.

  “She’s really going to kill you,” Rachel said.

  “Can we forgo the ‘hurting’ and ‘killing’ comments, please?”

  Chapter Eight

  Andrew opened his eyes to the darkness that enveloped his room. He looked over at his digital clock and waited for the numbers to come into focus. He sighed. 3:30. His door opened and a shadowy figure walked around his bed. He smiled when he recognized just who it was.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked softly.

  Cassidy jumped at his voice. “God, you scared me, Andy, I didn’t think you were up and no, I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Even with all the pain meds?”

  “No, I just kept dreaming the same thing. Can I stay here with you?”

  “Yeah sure,” he said, turning back the covers so she could climb into the bed. “I would never turn down an opportunity to sleep with you,” he said with a mischievous grin.

  “And that’s all we’re going to do,” she said playfully as she reclaimed the covers.

  “Looks like you’re doing better,” he commented.

  “Yeah, the ribs aren’t hurting as much. I think the bruises should go away in a few days,” she said, settling down. “Just make sure you don’t whack me in the middle of the night.”

  “It’s already three, so there is now no chance that I could whack you in the middle of the night.”

  “You just have to be so smart,” she said, turning to face him.

  “Yep,”

  “Andy?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What does…are you and—”

  “I love you, Cassie, that’s not going to change.”

  “I love you too.”

  “Now get some sleep, we can talk more tomorrow,” Andrew said, settling further in his bed, being careful not to hurt Cassidy.

  * * *

  “Drew!” Rachel yelled as she swung open his door.

  Andrew bolted up from his bed and looked at his sister with groggy eyes.

  “Cass, I can’t find—”

  “I’m right here, you idiot!” Cassidy moaned. “And I was sleeping just fine until you busted through that door like a maniac.” Cassidy sat up and swung her legs from the bed. “And no, nothing happened. I just couldn’t sleep. You see, I am fully clothed,” she said, pointing to her pajamas.

  Rachel smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t think about you being in here. Still getting used to the idea of you and my brother.”

  Cassidy slowly walked to the door and looked back at Andrew, “See you downstairs?” Andrew nodded and Cassidy smiled. “You look cute with bed head,” she said and shut the door behind her.

  Cassidy walked with Rachel down the hall to her bedroom and went into the bathroom to freshen up. She didn’t feel like changing, she was comfortable and had a limited wardrobe to begin with. When she emerged from the bathroom, Rachel had already gone downstairs. Cassidy looked around and found one of Rachel’s jackets and put it on and headed downstairs herself.

  She walked into the kitchen and found Rachel pouring three bowls of cereal. “Like old times?” Cassidy asked.

  �
��Like always,” Rachel said with a smile.

  “I know we're in our twenties but what about the Disney Channel?”

  “You got it, sister,” Rachel commented. “You know that has a whole new meaning to it now that—”

  “Rach, don’t start.”

  “Don’t start what?” Andrew asked.

  Cassidy took her time to take in Andrew, his wet hair, the green-striped polo and dark blue jeans.

  “Something you like, Cassie?”

  Cassidy snapped to attention and smiled sheepishly at Andrew. “You know it.”

  Andrew smiled and kissed her tenderly on the cheek.

  “Come on, love birds, let’s go watch some television like old times,” Rachel said, grabbing one of the bowls from the counter.

  Cassidy and Andrew followed and all three walked into the entertainment room. It wasn’t too long after they had finished breakfast— more like brunch—that they heard the doorbell ring several times.

  “Man, it sounds like someone is frantic to get in here,” Cassidy commented.

  Rachel flashed Andrew a look.

  “There’s something you’re not telling me, what?” Cassidy demanded.

  “I might have made a call to your dad,” Andrew told her tentatively.

  “Princess!” Edward called out.

  “I thought I told you not to call him.” She shot Andrew a glare.

  “They were coming home today anyway, Cassie.”

  “Princess?”

  “I’m in here, Daddy,” Cassidy called back and her father entered the entertainment room. Rachel fumbled with the remote and turned the television off.

  “I’m so sorry, princess,” her dad said, wrapping her in his strong embrace. “I wasn’t there for you, if I ever see that man again I’m going to—”

  “I’m fine, Daddy. Andrew did a pretty good number on him already,” she said.

  “Fine job, son. I always did like you,” Edward said, looking over at Andrew. “Now are you sure you’re okay? Let me take a look at you,” he said and he looked at her bruised eye and cut lip then noticed her left arm.

  “Daddy, I’m fine, I told you. I should look like normal in a few days, the bruise is already starting to go away,” she said, pointing to her eye and her father nodded. “Is it okay if I stay here today and maybe tonight too?”