Dark and Dirty Like You've Never Seen

[Franks POV]

I stood in the lobby of the hospital pacing back and forth. Nobody’s told me anything yet. What was taking so long? I kept pulling out my phone and checking the time. If anyone were to walk by they would assume I was an expecting dad. You know, if it were the baby part of the hospital, whatever that’s called. Unfortunately, I’m pacing the E.R. lobby.

Finally a doctor stepped out from the double doors.

“Can I see her now? Is she awake?”

“What did you say your relation was again?” The doctor asked ignoring my questions and putting a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

“I’m her …” I hesitated before deciding on, “boyfriend.” I thought about it. That’s not completely true. I mean, I want to be. That’s what I wanted to talk to her about earlier. I liked how it sounded. Boyfriend.

“Well, unfortunately, I can’t give you any information if you’re not immediate family. If you could get someone here that is actual family, then I could -- ”

Just then the doors to the lobby swung open. I turned to see a guy standing at about five foot eight, maybe ten, and looked like he used to be built like a brick shithouse but is now rocking a small beer gut. He walked up to the doctor I was talking to and butted in like I wasn’t even there.

“Is my daughter, Angela Hutchison here? I’m her father, Jack.” He pulled out his driver’s license to show the doctor. I felt my breathing start to increase and my hands began to burn. So this is the motherfucker who does this shit to her? I looked between him and the doctor. He glanced down at me once with a knowing look on his face. It was like he wanted to laugh at an inside joke that I wasn’t a part of. I had to take a step back from him before I lost my shit.

The doctor asked him to step over to the desk to fill out some paper work before they confirmed anything. I took a deep breath to calm myself before stepping over to the cushioned chairs against the wall and sitting down. I just didn’t get it. They won’t tell me shit, but the guy who put her here walks in and they’re just going to hand her back over to him. Do they even realize she’ll be right back in here once they leave? I can’t even begin to think about what he would do to her for coming here without him. My entire body convulsing.

A few minutes later, her dad joined me on the seats against the wall. Out of the four other seats he could have taken, he chose the one right next to me. I felt myself tense up and I think he did too by the way the smile crept up on his face. I stared straight ahead, avoiding any eye contact with him.

“So, you drove her here?”

I was startled to find his voice wasn’t booming and deep like I thought it was going to be. I kept looking forward when I answered.

“Yes.”

“And you’re the one who drove her to school?”

“Yes.” There was a pause before his next question.

“Do you know what happened?”

“Yes…” I answered without hesitation in a low whisper. I wasn’t afraid of him here in the hospital in front of other people so I decided to see where my boundaries were.

“So you know she broke her hand punching another student at school. A boy. She broke his nose.”

I was caught off guard. I didn’t know that.

“But … I heard her, at your house…”

“You saw her on the floor crying wanting to go to the hospital. I went in the other room to grab her birth certificate and insurance card. When I came out to get her, she was gone.”

I turned my gaze to my hands. “That’s not true …”

“That’s what she told the doctor. That’s what she told the nurse at school. That’s what everybody else saw. What did you see?”

I swallowed hard. “Nothing …” That was the truth. I didn’t actually see him hurt her. I can’t prove it.

“What did she tell you?”

“Nothing.” I hissed through clenched teeth. Realization set in. I lost. I fucking lost and he walks away unscathed.

“Right. That’s the story she gave the doctor, so that’s what happened.” The whole time he is breaking it down for me, he has a smile on his face. No one would think anything of the conversation if they looked over and saw us sitting there. Just two guys waiting on the same girl.

I felt sick. Why didn’t she say something? Why did she let him get away with it? I finally turned my gaze toward him. I looked this sick bastard in the eyes. I thought I knew what had happened. I hadn’t got a chance to talk to Angela. She was passed out the whole way here. I stared at him with nothing left to say.

“You want to step outside with me?” He finally asked. I didn’t answer him. I just kept returning my cold stare. He stood anyway and walked out the automatic front doors. I watched him for a second before following slowly. I don’t know what he had planned so I kept my distance. I walked out and found him a few feet away from the door pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. I walked over to him leaving a few feet between us. He put a stick between his lips and lit it. I felt my throat clench. I wanted one so bad right now. He held the box out to me. What’s he playing here? I shook my head no though my lips started to twitch.

“Are you eighteen? Then take one.” He took one out of the box and handed it to me. I slowly took it from his hands and placed it in my mouth and lit it, the whole time keeping my eyes on him. We stood there in silence, smoking and waiting. I was down to about my last puff when I heard the front doors open. I turned around to see a nurse wheeling Angela out in a wheel chair. I quickly threw the cigarette on the ground and ran over to her.

“Why is she in a wheel chair? Are you ok?”

“She’s fine. Just standard procedure. She broke two fingers but they’re clean breaks, so they should heal nicely. We prescribed her some pain killers. Only take them when there is substantial pain. Come back in about six to eight weeks and we can remove the cast. You take it easy, ok, Angela?”

She nodded before stepping out of the chair. I grabbed her good hand to help her up. She had her gaze turned to the ground.

“Angela, are you ok? Talk to me.” I pleaded with her.

“I’m fine.” She said just above a whisper, still not looking at me.

“Angel … please?” The nickname just came out without thinking about it, but it was enough to get her to look at me. Her eyes were watery.

“I said I’m f-fine…” I could see how hard she was trying not to cry and I couldn’t stop the rage that was building inside of me. I turned to look at her dad who was casually stamping out his cigarette and pulling his keys out of his pocket.

“Come on, Angela. Let’s go home.” He started to walk towards the parking lot.

I turned to Angela and placed my hands on either side of her face. “Don’t move. I’ll be back for you.” I searched her eyes for some sort of response. She finally nodded. I hesitated before leaning in and placing my lips on hers. Her eyes closed, causing the first two tears to fall. I felt them splash against my cheeks. That was all I needed to push my anger over the edge. I pulled away from her and stared straight into her brown eyes pooling with tears. “I love you.” I turned and started walking towards her dad. I didn’t have time to process what I just said. Did I actually mean that? I’ll figure it out later. I walked up behind her dad, grabbed him by the shoulder and ripped him around to face me.

“Get your hands-- ”

“Look here, motherfucker. I may not be able to prove what you did to her, but I know what happened. You know what happened. You’re a fucking coward. I swear to Christ if you lay your hands on her one more time, I won’t hesitate to show you what real fucking pain is. You stay the fuck away from her, you piece of shit. She’s your daughter for God’s sake! What kind of father are you?” Everything inside me just started pouring out. I watched his face go unchanging until my very last question. With that I saw him raise his fist at me. I flinched to duck, but he stopped himself short and lowered it.

“You don’t know shit about our family. You don’t know what the fuck I’ve put up with. And you sure as hell aren’t going to call me out in front of all these people like you know what kind of life I lead. If we weren’t in public, I’d lay your scrawny ass out.” He took a step back from me. I was in a blind rage at this point. Everything in front of me was blurred. My response flowed out of me before I could stop it.

“That’s the difference between you and me. See, I don’t give a shit if anyone sees.” Before I knew it, my fist came into contact with the side of his face. I knew I had hurt myself, but the pain didn’t even register. I saw his lip split and instantly swell. The look in his eyes was almost crazy. I waited for his blow but it never came. He took a step toward me. I stood unmoved. Nothing would hurt me at this point. He put his face millimeters away from mine.

“You have no idea what you just did. I’ll see you around…” With that he turned and continued walking to the parking lot. That’s not the response I was expecting. It took a few seconds for me to shake what just happened. I looked down at my hand. I had gashed it open, probably on his teeth. I turned to look at Angela. She stood there with her mouth slacked open and tears streaking down her face.

“Angela …” I breathed out her name. I started to walk towards her but she took off running. What the fuck is going on? I had no choice but to run after her.