FicWad

Darcy's POV:

The pain in my body felt excruciating. I thought that I was going to completely pass out. But I didn't. Instead, I closed my eyes hoping that when I opened them the pain would be gone. It didn't work though. I balled my hands into little fists and dug my nails into the palm of my hands. I was still woozy from losing conscious but my head throbbed. When falling to the ground, I had hit the side of my head on the nightstand by my window. I feared that it could have been bleeding but I didn't know for sure. After collapsing, my father had continued to strike me over and over again. I had grown defenseless, my arms and strength useless. Then he had taken his cigarette and proceeded to burn me with it. Leaving me with a mark that I was sure to scar. Something that would constantly remind me of what a horrible person he was. And of the life I was most certainly leaving behind.

I hoped to never have to come back to this house. I needed a way out; I needed Gerard. Gerard would keep me safe, I was sure of this.

We were now in the car and Donna was checking my burn and bruises. She touched the side of my face. When she pulled away, her hand revealed blood on her fingertips. She shook her head and wiped her hands on her jeans. “Oh honey, what happened to you?” She mumbled. I couldn't find the strength in me to respond to her, even though I didn't think she expected me to respond.

“How is she, mom?” Gerard's voice was shaky and I could tell he was having a difficult time controlling his temper. He grabbed his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and removed one of the cancer-sticks from the package. He took a long and drawn out drag after placing it in his lips and lighting it.

Donna sighed and dropped her head, when she looked back up I thought I could see tears in her eyes. “The poor child, she has some major abrasions around her left eye and lips. Her left ear has some minor abrasions. She has a large wound on the left side of her head. She will need some stitches for that, nothing that I can’t do when we get home. Just drive us back to my house, I’ll take her straight to my office and stitch her up. The burn will scar, there is nothing we can do about that. And the bruises should fade within the next few days or week. She will not be able to attend classes tomorrow and possibly not Thursday either. She’s lucky that she didn’t get hurt any worse. If she goes back to that house though, I wouldn’t doubt him killing her next time.”

“I don’t understand it, what makes him want to hurt his own daughter? I swear to fucking god, he will never see her again. She’s an adult; he has no say over what she does or where she goes. He can’t take her away can he, Mom?” I was wavering between consciousness and complete nothingness. Have you ever had a dream where you feel as if you’re falling? You wake up with your body having a huge spasm all at once. You feel like you can’t control what’s happening. It doesn’t matter how hard you try not to fall; how hard you tell yourself that you aren’t falling. Nothing that you do matters, in the end you find yourself falling into a black sea of memories. You’re paralyzed in such a way that you can’t even comprehend what is happening. The black sea’s tentacles spread until they are far enough apart to wrap themselves around you. The tentacles are suffocating you and you can’t breathe. You begin losing your sight, you’ve become blind. That’s exactly how I felt, except I wasn’t in a dreamland. This was reality.

Even from the back seat I could tell Gerard was having a difficult time controlling the car. I could feel the car swerving in every which direction; my stomach began feeling upset and I was sure it wasn’t because of my injuries. It was odd seeing Gerard like this, he had always seemed so self-sufficient and collected. Right now, he just seemed horrified and ireful. “Gerard, your driving is scaring me more than Darcy’s condition. Would you please let me drive?” I assume Gerard agreed because the car soon came to a halt. Donna shifted my legs off of her so she could get out of the car. Her small frame was replaced with Gerard. I felt safe with him sitting right beside me. He was terrified to touch me; I could tell by the way his hands were clasped together. It was as if I was a porcelain doll and with a single touch I would break. Was I that fragile?

I found comfort when my eyes were closed, my headache would begin to subside and it was finally tolerable. I was almost in a deep slumber when I felt Gerard finally rest his hand on the top of my head. His fingers began playing with my hair. My breathing began to slow, I was falling asleep.

“What is going on between you two?” Donna’s silky-smooth voice was like a bandage for all my wounds.

“What do you mean?” Gerard quit playing with my hair, but only momentarily.

“The way you look at her. I’m not stupid, Gerard. You can fool your father but you can’t fool me. There is something mutual between the two of you. I just don’t like being lied to, Gerard. You know I don’t tolerate lying.”

“But Mom, there is nothing going on between us. She is just a friend of mine; a very close friend of mine who is going through some troubles.”

“I like her, Gerard. That’s why if there is something between you two I want you to tell me right now. I don’t know what it is about her, but she sings to me. Her heart seems so warm and inviting. It infuriates me to see her treated this way. She is such a sweet and beautiful person.”

Gerard sighed beside me, “I know Mom, I know. She does it to me too. It doesn’t matter what kind of mood I am in, she can always make me smile. I feel like she’s kind of my responsibility now. If something bad happens to her it’s my fault.” Grogginess was threatening to make me combust. I felt myself drifting into a fluffy dreamland. Not now! Please, not right now! I have to stay awake to hear what he has to say.

“Where did she say she was from?”

“Dalkey, it’s in Ireland, Mom. Why?”

“Do you know if she has any family out there; anybody that we could call to get her some help? As terrible of a man her father is, maybe they could help him too.”

“All her family lives in Dalkey. She doesn’t speak to her mom though. She was really close to her grandma though. They won’t take her away will they?”

“I’m not sure, Gerard. She needs somebody to get her out of this mess. Maybe Dalkey is what she needs.”

“What if we’re what she needs though? I don’t want to lose her. I can’t stand to see her leave. We haven’t even known each other long but I feel like we’re best friends. How could they take her away right now? She’s an adult; she doesn’t need her family to support her. I can support her.”

“Gerard, you can’t even support yourself.”

“Well, you said yourself that she was like your daughter. You’ve always wanted a daughter. It isn’t too late. Darcy could be your daughter.” It took everything in me not to smile and blow my cover. It was truly touching to see how much Gerard wanted me to stay; how much he would do for me to stay.

“Answer this and I’ll see what I can do –do you love her?”

“Mom, I haven’t known her long enough to love her.”

“You don’t believe in true love at first sight?” Donna chuckled.

There was a long silence before Gerard answered, “No, I don’t. Nothing could be that perfect. Everything must have some kind of a catch. And as wonderful as it would be, love at first sight is impossible. Nobody can know what they want when they first meet somebody, especially romance. That statement is just ridiculous and idiotic.”

“Then let me rephrase it, do you have feelings for her? If you had known her longer would you have emotions similar to love? Why is she so important to you?”

“I already have emotions similar to love. I don’t know why she’s so important, she just is. Have you ever known that something would happen before it actually did? It’s kind of like an out-of-body experience. I know that Darcy has a place in my life, I’m determining just where that is though.”

The soft whirring of the motor slowly died down into nothing. After opening the door, Gerard picked me up with no struggles. My eyes fluttered open. Dawn was arriving, and the bursts of colors in the sky were brilliant. My grandma had always told me that dawn was a moment of life, death, and great beauty. I had never really understood clearly what she meant, until now.

When we got inside, Donna was waiting for us. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you want to sleep but I really need to stitch your wounds up, it won’t take long though.” Gerard laid me on the couch where I sat limp. He took my hand and caressed small circles into the back of my palm. I was so exhausted that I barely realized Donna had begun stitching my wounds. It hurt like hell when I did notice though. I winced at the pain and gripped Gerard’s hand even tighter.

I had finally come to the conclusion that I needed someone to rely on. And that someone was Gerard. He would give me what I needed to overcome all the hardships I would face in the future. He was my best friend, my only friend. Gerard felt romantic feelings for me. It had been so long since I felt love between any men. But maybe it’s because those men weren’t Gerard.