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“Two Weeks Later....”
A
ngela had never had so much anxiety rushing through her body as she drove past the city lights pressing her foot to the acceleration pedal, almost cursing at the traffic in the streets under her breath.
As she approached the apartment building where Toby lived, the closer she walked to the door at the end of the narrow hallway, the more anxiety she felt, and her body began to sweat. She tried to remain steadfast, and before she knew it, she stood in front of his place. The wooden door with gold numbers stuck to its front stared back at her as she gulped.
It had been a good two weeks, and the hospital had finally discharged Toby. David had offered to go with her, but she refused. This was something she needed to do on her own. She hadn't had the courage to go see him ever since the incident had happened, but now felt like the time was right, even though it took everything for her to drive to his place in hopes of redemption.
Wiping her palms on her jeans right before she raised her fist up to knock, she wondered what she would do if he refused to see her; the possibility made her heart ache a little; she pushed the negative thoughts out of her mind, telling herself that she would never know what would happen if she never even tried.
A few moments passed, and before she knew it, the wooden door creaked open before her. She stared ahead, and there he was. Toby was standing on the other side of the door. His skin was pale, and it looked as if he had lost half of his body weight within the course of a few weeks. She could see bags under his eyes, and worry washed over her body right away. She was waiting for it, for some sort of anger to come bursting out of him, but instead, she was surprised when he pushed the door open wider for her to carefully make her way inside.
The tiny apartment looked almost the same besides the gift baskets on the kitchen counters and the medicines that were placed upon the coffee table by the couches. As she made it inside, the first thing her eyes fixated on was the coffee table that was placed in the lounge of the tiny one-bedroom apartment. The table was flooded with medications and prescriptions from edge to edge. Her eyes trailed over the pill bottles stacked together one after the other, and she felt as if she was about to break down. Her hands shook as she turned to face Toby, who stood by the breakfast bar.
Angela refused to meet Toby's eyes. She knew that he was staring at her, but she didn't have it in her to look back at him. She stayed silent until she heard him clearing his throat out loud, and suddenly she turned to him.
"I thought I was never going to see you again, Angela; you just disappeared on me."
She gulped; she didn't know exactly what to say to him; nothing made sense, and it felt as if the words were caught in her throat. She ignored the question he had chucked her was as she spoke.
“How are you feeling? Are you doing any better?”
She could tell that he didn't like the fact that she had ignored his question, but he still took a deep breath before he spoke in a faint tone.
"I mean, I've been better, but the painkillers they prescribed me are pretty good; I think they’re the only reason I'm managing to even move around."
She immediately felt like she was imposing even being around him. Before she even thought over what she was saying, the words began to leave her mouth, and soon, they were out there before she could take them back.
"You know what? I think I should leave. I have put you through enough. I don't want you to feel like you have to speak to me at all."
She was about to get up when she noticed that he began to carefully limp towards her. The guilt rose back to her stomach, but she tried to ignore it. She took a deep breath as she watched him. He sat down a few feet away from her, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of his lips, but she could tell that he was in pain, and he was trying his best not to show it as he spoke up.
"Look, Angela, I know you feel bad, but you really don't have to. I spoke to David and the others, and they told me their side of the story. They told me everything, and I swear, I'm not angry at you. What you did for me, going into that place to come save me, was already too much, and what happened after was not your fault. Come on; you were drugged."
She felt like a weight was lifting off her shoulders slowly. Toby reached for her hand and slowly took it. She looked up at him, and she tried to ignore the tears that were starting to form around the corners of her eyes as she spoke.
"Toby, I really am sorry about everything. All I wanted was to be there for you and protect you, and look at where it has led us to."
She noticed that his eyes remained focused on her as he spoke again.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere. You didn't do anything at all."
She stayed quiet. Silence began to spill into the apartment until Toby spoke again.
“By the way, I told David I’m on his team.”
Angela's breath hitched a little at the sound of his name. She looked up at him, and she could see a different and more serious look written all over his face. She shook her head as she spoke right away; fear spread through her chest.
“Toby, you don’t need to do that. You’ve seen the people he’s up against and what they are capable of doing. You will get hurt again if you keep going this way.”
He looked away from her, and she could tell that there was a lot going through his head as he spoke.
"We started this fight to get justice, and it has not been served. I don't know about you, but I am not backing down. I know for a fact that my best friend would have done the same for me."
She sighed. She knew deep down that there was no way she was winning this argument, and so she turned around to face him; for the first time, she allowed her eyes to meet with his as she spoke in a low tone.
"I get where you're coming from, David, but you need to be careful. This isn't all fun and games; this isn't even going to be a fight in the courthouse anymore...."
She was about to go on, but she stopped herself when she noticed the look in his eyes. He seemed to be defeated, and she knew that now was not the time to argue. She spoke up again, but this time around, her tone changed, and her focus remained on him.
“You know what, if we’re fighting for him, let’s do it together.”
She noticed the way his eyes lit up like a little child who had just been handed candy, and she smiled to herself at the sight. She looked up at him and realized that it was starting to get late, and she sighed as she looked over at him. He had picked up on the way her expression changed, and he refused to let his smile drop as he spoke.
She gulped as she heard what he said. She took a deep breath; just the sound of his name was enough to get her heart beating out of her chest. She looked away from him, but he refused to give up, and he went on.
"I know that things are complicated between the two of you, but Angela, if I were you, I wouldn't let him go."
She knew deep down that he was right; she was just afraid to admit the fact to herself. She wasn't meeting his eyes, and he spoke up.
"Have you spoken to him recently?"
Angela knew that she had completely locked herself away in her apartment, refusing to physically speak to anyone.
She finally looked up at him and spoke in a low and rather insecure way.
"Not really. I mean, we spoke over the phone just before I came here."
He sighed; he seemed to be a little annoyed as he ran his hands through his hair as he spoke.
"Angela, maybe it's time you go see him and talk to him?"
She didn't know what to say; she knew that he was right. She looked over at him and watched as he struggled to reach for the bottle of pills by the coffee table. Angela moved forward right away and helped him with it. She knew that the sun had started to fall outside, and as she grabbed him a cup of water, she knew that she should be heading out. As soon as he took the pill, she gently placed her hand over his shoulder and spoke.
"Hey, it's getting late, and you should get some rest."
He gave her a nod. She helped him walk towards the bedroom, and once he had laid down, she looked back at him. She was about to apologize once again, but he refused to take it as he spoke.
"Hey, we're good, okay?"
She offered him a soft smile, and just as she was about to leave the bedroom, he stopped her one last time and spoke.
“Just promise me you’ll go see him?”
She couldn't hold back, and so she replied.
“I promise.”
