Broken Ch. 09

Days had past far too quickly, and now Dimitri found himself waking up alone in his bed. He stared at the ceiling blankly, waiting for something to give him the drive to swing his feet out onto the floor. The sound of his cell phone's ring only required an arm's reach.

"Hello?" His voice was still raspy with sleep, Madi would have taken the time to enjoy it if it weren't for the incessant pounding at her front door. She hadn't wanted to call Dimitri, but Karl had promised to kill her if she called the police. Darren was in class, and obviously, none of her neighbors were around.

"Dimitri! I'm sorry if I woke you up, but ummm..." the terror in her voice had him sitting up within seconds, and then standing, running to his closet to pull on the first set of jeans, a t-shirt, and an overshirt he could grab. "...Dimitri..." he heard the commotion in the background.

"Madi? Don't worry, I'll be there in less than 5 minutes. Make sure the door is locked, then go lock yourself in the bathroom or something." He hung up without another thought, grabbing his coat before running the few blocks and up the stairs. He heard the yelling as soon as he walked in the front door, he climbed carefully and quietly, his eyes falling on the figure outside the door. There was something in the way he moved, the wildness, this was not a sane man. Dimitri shook his head as he wondered how Madi had become involved with him in the first place. He sighed, stepping down the stairs and whispering to the police over the phone before walking back up, stopping on the platform at the bottom of the stairs that led up to Madi's door.

"I suggest you leave." Karl turned slowly to look at the source of the voice, Dimitri stood with hands on his hips staring up at the man.

"I suggest you mind your own fucking business." Words were separated for dramatic effect, the volume rising with each syllable. Dimitri growled.

"The police are on their way, you better get out of here." Karl just chuckled and turned his head, turning back to his pounding.

"OPEN THE DOOR YOU FUCKING SLUT!" That was all Dimitri could take, he was up the stairs and wrestling Karl to the ground before he could understand what he was doing. He was on top of Karl when the police arrived, punching him repeatedly. Karl's face was worse than Madi's now, he was bleeding from the mouth and nose, his cheeks and lips swelling as the skin around his eye blackened. It took three officers to pull him off and even as he watched Karl spit blood he still felt the urge to continue hitting him.

"Son, we need you to come down to the station." He growled, twisting his arm out of the officers' grips.

"First, I need to check on Madi. I'll go when I know she's okay." He raised his fist, knocking softly, wincing as raw knuckles tapped against the steel of the door. "Madi, it's Dimitri, are you okay? Please open the door, the police are here, they have Karl. Come on, baby." The door peeked open, exposing a small portion of Madi's face. It was then Karl lunged at the already sobbing girl, Dimitri pushed the door open just in time to catch her as she fell into his arms. ******* There was something familiar about her surroundings. The feel of stiffness, the roughness of the sheets, the bright white blurs of what she could see as her eyes barely pulled open. She groaned, her head was throbbing and her eyes were dry and sore. What had woken her up? Her hand. Someone was squeezing her hand, and they were mumbling. Her mind was too jumbled to understand what they were saying. She barely mustered enough strength to turn her head. Slowly things came into focus. She was in a hospital bed, it was morning or mid-afternoon, and Dimitri was holding her hand.

"Hey you." He grinned as he noticed her open eyes. It was good to see her awake, even if the anxiety medications made her loopy as the nurse had said they would. His soft voice made her smile. She felt fuzzy, but there was no one she would have rather woken up to.

"Dimitri..." Her smile was somewhat distant but genuine. Her voice more childish than usual, more like when she was drunk and tired than like a girl who was lying in a hospital bed after confronting her rapist. "You're here." She giggled. "I'm so glad you're here. Because you're the bestest. You're nice to me and you saved me from the Karl and you even pretended I was cute." She laughed, the words catching him off balance.

He chuckled, his free hand moving to smooth her hair. "I didn't pretend anything."

"It's okay, Dimitri. It's really sweet." She laughed. "But you don't have to feel bad for me just 'cause I like you and you don't like me. All the girls like you I'm just shitty at hiding it." He blinked, the drugs were making her loopy alright, and maybe a bit too honest.

"Why do you think that?" It seemed calm and collected with direct questions was the best way to find the truth in the midst of this mess.

"Dimitri, look at me." She laughed again. "I have a black eye, a fucked up lip, bruises all over me, a crazy ex boyfriend on the loose..."

"That last ones a lie, he confessed." He squeezed her hand softly. She smiled again.

"I'm glad he finally figured out how to be honest. But that's besides the point, Dimitri, I'm no good for you. You should be with someone smart and pretty and funny and sane and.."

"I'm sitting right next to her." She laughed, eyes glittering with tears and amusement as she looked at him.

"You're silly, you know that, right?" He just shook his head, squeezing her hand. "But you're not gunna let me tell you, are you?" He sighed.

"No, no I'm not."

"Okay" she sighed sleepily. "Lie with me, then?" He nodded. This was becoming familiar. He chuckled as he slid out of his shoes and into the hospital bed with Madi, holding her while she napped.

He sighed, she was peaceful when she slept, the corners of her lips curled into a small smile. He couldn't help but raise his hand to move the curls from her face to look more closely. This near to her, he could see the freckles that dotted her nose. They were faint, barely there. What was all this craziness falling from her lips?

He could only imagine what that man... that monster... had done to her in the time they had dated. He could remember seeing them together at a few parties, he hadn't taken much notice for the most part. He was always utterly wasted, always yelling, always grabbing and pushing. He sighed, he hadn't thought much of it then, but now he wished he had stepped in.

Lips pressed to her temple, nuzzling her hair softly before wrapping an arm around her ribs to drift off. He sighed contently as she curled into a ball, pushing her back against his chest and holding his arm between her breasts so his hand rested on her heart.