Chapter 15

"L et go baby," Rafe tells me again as the tears slipped from my eyes. "Stop him and take care of our girl."

"No, I can't lose someone else because of him," I state, pushing the pain away as Harrison began to pace back and forth behind me. I turn my head back towards Harrison finding him talking to himself quietly as he waved the knife around. "You promised me you'd never hurt me. You can't do that and leave me too. Please Rafe."

He put a hand back onto the pipe and I grabbed his other arm with both hands pulling him back up as he lifted his legs, getting them onto the bottom pipe. Harrison was so far inside his delusion and argument with himself, he didn't notice, and I breathed a bit easier as Rafe gripped the bottom rung of the bridge's railing. He pushed himself over it and pulled me into his arms kissing the top of my head.

"I love you baby," he whispers over and over, holding me tightly to his chest.

"I love you too Rafe," I tell him, kissing him despite the fact that Harrison could snap out of it any moment.

He just continues to rage to himself behind us and I lean forward to work on the knots holding my feet together and to the pillar as Rafe keeps an eye on him. About a hundred feet away from us was a square mounting that would hide Rafe's size and I knew what to do. "Go over there; if I act like you fell, he'll come to check. If I can't get away from him…"

"Then I'll be here to help," he states in understanding as his eyes caught mine. He gave me a gentle kiss as he eased back behind the thick concrete, crouching down until he was able to hide from view.

I saw the large piece of rock beside him and nodded towards it. He put his hand out, as I laid back down and on three, I shouted as loudly as I could. "Rafe! NO! NO !"

It pulled Harrison from his manic state, and he turned back towards me laughing as he hurried over. "I knew it…I knew you'd choose me," he says, and I waited until he was nearly to me before popping up sending him over the edge of the wall. He grabbed my ankle and I fell down, smacking into the pavement as he pulled me towards the edge.

"Rafe!" I screamed, terror washing through me unable to grasp anything to stop me from going over.

"I've got you, baby," he assures me, rushing to my side, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me back towards him.

Harrison was weighing me down still, and kicked at him, trying to free myself as we saw lights splash across the bridge. The sound of footsteps running towards us didn't soothe me any as Harrison kept hold of me, pulling me away from Rafe.

"You're going to kill her," Rafe shouted down at him.

"She'll be with me then," he laughed in return, and I felt hysteria well up inside me.

I kicked downward and he merely laughed louder.

Suddenly, we were being pulled back up over the edge. Hands grabbing hold of Harrison's arms as I was fully back on the bridge. I turned towards him as someone else shouted watching in slow motion it felt like as Harrison threw the hands off him as they attempted to haul him over the side of the wall. Rafe pulled my face into his chest as Harrison pushed backwards and I waited to hear the splash.

"Get people down there now!" someone shouted as something warm came around me.

"Amelia!" I heard someone else shout and glanced over my shoulder to find my parents there with some police.

I glanced back up at Rafe shaking my head, "How?"

"I called them, the police, and everyone else I could think of," he said taking his phone out of his pocket as the sheriff asked him something. I was pulled away from him as my mom and an EMT hurried down the bridge towards me.

"Oh my god, oh honey," mom says as we were ushered to the ambulance.

"Where's Maggie?" I ask, needing to know she was safe too.

"Right here baby," Rafe says, and I saw him holding her as my dad and grandma stepped back. He came over to me and tears hit as Maggie wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her tightly to me, burying my face in her hair as the tears slipped down my cheeks. I refused to let her go as the EMTs tried to check on me, and Rafe finally convinced them to let them ride with me.

Letting her go when the doctor insisted on running x-rays was nearly impossible. Until I saw Harrison's body, I couldn't believe we were safe, no matter how many people told me there was no way he could survive, there was a piece of me saying that he was still out there. I needed him gone for good, to know without a doubt that Rafe and Maggie were safe, and until I had it, I would worry.

The sheriff came into the room after the doctor left, prescribing rest and some pain medicine for the bruised ribs. Telling him what'd happened, I no longer cared if my parents discovered I'd been working at the club. If that were all that they had to be angry about, we'd be fine. Their relief that I was alive would override it for at least right now.

Rafe came in with a sleeping Maggie and when he laid her down beside me, sliding onto the bed behind me I finally felt safe. He wrapped his arms around us both allowing me to slip off to sleep and it kept my dreams from turning into nightmares.

When I woke, he was still in the room, but Maggie was gone, and I tried to sit up too fast sending pain back through my body.

"Take it easy baby," Rafe says, sliding a hand into my hair caressing my cheek as he leaned over to kiss me.

"Where's Maggie?"

"Your parents took her down to the cafeteria for some breakfast. She's fine baby," he adds with a light smile.

"What's so funny?" I ask seeing it and the look in his eyes.

"Just thinking that you are without a doubt her mom, aren't you?" he states, and I nod. "Last night I thought I'd lost you completely, that I was going to have to let you go to keep you safe, to keep her safe…"

"If it comes between us you have to choose her Rafe. It doesn't mean you don't love me."

"I was never going to let go fully last night," he replies surprising me as he stares down into my eyes cupping my face gently. "I had my foot on a small ledge. There was a walk area underneath the bridge, like scaffolding for repairs. You could have let me go."

"No, I couldn't Rafe. I haven't been able to since we met and I can't now, especially not now," I sigh as he gathers me up against him as he slid onto the bed with me. I rest my head against his chest listening to the sound of his heart beating strongly.

"Ame…baby," he states, sliding a hand down my cheek to cup my face and lift my chin slightly to meet his gaze. "I love you more than my own life, but I would never leave you unless it was the only choice I had. Last night wasn't that and I will never let you hurt yourself to protect me. I know that this is killing you, I know that it hurts to know the truth after so long of wondering."

"How could he have done it? How could Harrison have…" I trail off knowing I couldn't say it aloud yet.

"I don't know baby. I do know what Chad must have been thinking at that time. He knew Harrison better than I did so maybe he really believed he'd kill you. What?" he says when I shudder.

"It wasn't just Chad he did it to," I admit. "You remember the guy I told you about from college? The one who'd gone off the deep end with drugs?"

"Warren, right?" he asks me, and I nod. "What about him?"

"Harrison killed him too."

"Oh my lord," I hear from the doorway finding Harrison and Chad's parents standing there. I tense and Rafe held me safely in his arms not knowing who they were. "I don't believe it…it's not possible," his mom says as they head towards us. "Harrison couldn't have done this. He wouldn't have hurt Chad."

"Mary…"

"No, we know our son. There's something not true here," his dad states and Rafe sat up straighter to protect me if necessary. "He couldn't have pushed Chad off the bridge."

"I think you both should leave," Rafe warns, sliding off the bed to walk over to them.

"No, Harrison loved Chad. He was just as shocked about when they found his body as we were," Tom states trying to move around Rafe to get over to me. "What did you do to him? You've killed both our sons."

"Out now ," Rafe seethes, pushing him back towards the door as the sheriff came into the room. "Keep them away from Amelia."

"She did something to them both," Tom shouts as the sheriff tried to calm them down.

"I understand you're in pain and want answers," the man says, taking out a tape recorder, setting it down as he pushed play, letting them hear for themselves what had gone on last night.

I turn my face away from them and the reminders as Rafe moves back to my side. I bury my face in his shoulder, hugging him until it was over. Hearing it was nearly as bad as living through it and all I want is Rafe right now.

The sheriff moves the stunned Carrols from the room, and I try to forget the pain hearing it all brought back up. Rafe soothed his hands up and down my back until I lifted my lips to him and kissed him, showing him the best way possible how much I loved him, how relieved I was that he was okay.

"I love you, baby," he whispered, breaking his lips from mine to drag in a breath.

"I love you too Rafe. You and Maggie own my heart and soul. You have from the start, but I was so scared something would happen to you, to us, and I wouldn't be able to make it through again. I couldn't understand any of this. I still can't in a way, but I can't stay away from you. One night was enough to crush me."

"I'm never letting you go again baby," he warned before kissing me gently, letting all of his promises to me show in it. I wanted more but he kept it gentle and light, showing that it would arouse the exact same reaction in me that a hot and heavy one would.

"Mmm," I sigh and open my eyes when he lifted his lips. "Rafe…"

"I've asked you this before…but this time I'm really hoping to get a different response, especially since you can't run away while barefoot and in a hospital gown," he says giving me a grin as the sun shone in through the windows surrounding us, warming me despite the cool air from the air conditioning.

"Rafe…"

"Amelia Olivia Thorpe," he says pausing and my heart stops for a moment. "Will you marry me?"

"Rafe…"

"Oh no…you're not going anywhere," he says when I started to back up. I gave him a smile and slid over his lap sliding a hand up over his shoulders. "Ame…"

"You're not letting me answer," I tell him, and he smiles looking far more worried than I expected him to after asking for the second official time.

"Alright…what do you say baby? Will you marry me? Will you be my wife, Maggie's mother, mother to any others we decide to have? Will you let me love you and spoil you and adore you until we're both old and gray surrounded by our great-grandchildren?"

"Yes," slips from my lips without hesitation and I'll admit I'm a bit surprised but he's even more so, I realize when I stare down into his eyes, dancing with hope and happiness.

"Yes?" he asks, and I can't help but laugh.

"Yes Rafe. You and Maggie, you're everything I want for the rest of my life. This entire time I was thinking it was something to do with me, that something made it impossible for people to love me enough to stay when it got hard, but it had nothing to do with me. It was all Harrison and his psychosis. You told me from the start that we were meant to be together and now I know without a doubt we are."

"Then I guess it's a really good thing we came here, other than you being in a hospital right now," he adds when I lifted an eyebrow his way glancing at the hospital gown.

"Other than that yeah, it's been a good visit," I agree and smile more when the door opens, and Maggie came bounding in with my parents.

Dad had a bag for me, and I relished the chance to get dressed. It hurt to try to hook my bra and I nearly gave up when I heard a light knock on the door and peeked out to see my mom standing there.

"Need some help?" she asks, and I can't say no today. I've got a lovely shade of green forming on my side, and I figure it'll just get worse before it gets better. "The doctor said you could go home whenever you're ready."

"Ah that is music to me ears," I sigh sliding the top over my head. It's a shirt Rafe bought me and my mom studies it for a moment, and I'm not sure what she's thinking. "What?"

"Just trying to figure out when my little girl turned into a woman…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask holding back the blush that I know is trying to attack me.

"It means that you and Rafe are already sleeping together, aren't you? So that combined with the nightclub you were working at makes me wonder what else I don't know."

"There's nothing else to say Mom. Rafe will happily tell you that he's the only man I know, especially that way."

"He is? So you didn't…"

"Start working at the club and sleeping around?" I tease her, enjoying her slight regret at even mentioning it. "No, it took me months before I actually slept with Rafe too. Yes, we've had sex but it's more than that and even when I didn't want to risk it, I knew that."

"And now?"

"Now, well I said yes this time he asked, and I plan on figuring out how to keep this wedding from turning into a three- ring circus," I admit watching a light fill her eyes with joy and excitement.

I push open the door to move back into the room and move straight over to Maggie, looking at Rafe for the answer to whether or not he's told her our news. He shakes his head very slightly and I smile getting Maggie's attention.

"How would you like to be a flower girl?" I ask her and she paused for a moment before bouncing up and down on the edge of the bed.

‘You and Daddy are getting married? You're going to stay for good?' she replies, and I nod wrapping my arms around her as she hugs my neck tightly bringing happy tears to my eyes. Rafe noticed them and grew worried looking down at me.

"I'm fine…these are happy tears," I say softly, and he kisses the top of my head as my dad moves over to us.

"Rafe, take care of my little girl," Dad says to him, and he nods.

"Always Mr. Thorpe," he replies, and it amazes me at how much my dad still looks at me the way Rafe looks at Maggie.

"It's Daniel or Dad," he states giving him a half hug making me smile.

"So when will this wedding be?" Mom can't resist from asking, staring between us.

"Soon I hope," Rafe replies, and I tilt my head to the side thinking about it before giving him a grin.

"I think I can handle soon. Just not too soon because there's no necessity to rush here," I add so my parents are fully aware that's not what this is about.

"And there'd better not be even the hint of being a necessity until after the wedding," Dad says making me laugh lightly.

"Dad…my lease is up on my apartment. There's no need for me to renew it if I'll just have to break it in a few months."

"Few months ?" Rafe says staring down at me. "I'm thinking we should have something planned for mid-May early June at the latest."

"Why's that?" I ask with a grin.

"Because I want everyone in the world to know you're my wife, especially at Lemans, because the men there are far too interested in stealing you away from me."

"Don't you know by now no one can, Rafe?" I ask and he pulls me up against him kissing me despite my parents being in the room.