|
THE APARTMENT
Gabi’s eyes widened with fright as Ricardo held his hand tightly against her mouth. She squirmed underneath his grasp trying desperately to free herself. "Shh, Gabi," Ricardo instructed. "Don’t fight me." His words slurred slightly and Gabi could smell the alcohol on his breath. Gabi could feel Ricardo’s free hand searching her out under her t-shirt. She was shaking her head frantically as Ricardo’s strong hand muffled her scream. She fought to push him off of her, but his inibriated body weighed heavily against her. Tears spilled from her eyes as she felt him ripping her shirt. "All I wanted to do was talk to you Gabi. Why didn’t you let me in? Don’t cry, Gabi." Ricardo kissed her cheek. "I tried to make you love me. All I wanted was for you to love me. Why don’t you love me, Gabi? What did I do wrong?" He removed his hand from her mouth as he groped her roughly pressing his lips into her neck. Gabi grabbed hold of his arm and attempted to twist it backwards. Ricardo sat up quickly as he drew back his hand and smacked Gabi hard across the mouth. She cried out in pain as her head flew to the side. Ricardo wobbled slightly on top of her from the force of his own swing. Gabi turned back to Ricardo with blood dripping from her freshly split lip. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please, Ricardo. Don’t do this," she pleaded. "Please don’t hurt me." Ricardo smiled pathetically at her. "You were mine first, Gabi. And I’m not finished with you." He grabbed her wrists and threw them up over her head holding them tightly against the bed. He leaned over her again pushing his mouth hard against her. She winced in pain as he attacked her broken lip. She tried to fight him off but he held her hands so tightly, she had no leverage under him. She could taste the stale liquor on his breath. Ricardo began kissing his way down her neck. In a desperate attempt to save herself, Gabi started to scream. Ricardo balled up his fist. "I told you to shut up," he yelled as he slammed his fist into her cheek catching her just below her left eye. Gabi felt her head push back hard into the pillow. She began to cry uncontrollably as Ricardo struggled to undo his pants with one hand. Ricardo leaned close to her ear, "If you don’t want me, I’ll make sure he doesn’t want you, either." Gabi turned her head to the side and closed her eyes tightly. She tried hard to picture Antonio on their wedding day. She willed herself to remember him reciting his vows to her and the words he used to profess his love. Gabi sobbed loudly as Ricardo forced himself on her. Suddenly, she felt Ricardo lift completely off of her. She opened her eyes quickly. "What the hell are you doing?" Antonio yelled as he threw Ricardo effortlessly into the wall. He turned around and knelt quickly beside the bed as his eyes locked on Gabi’s beaten face. Her bottom lip was swollen and split. She had a large red welt forming on her cheekbone just under her left eye. Antonio’s heart beat wildly in his chest. He heard Ricardo moan from behind him. Antonio spun around and rammed his strong shoulder into Ricardo’s stomach as he attempted to stand up. Ricardo’s back hit the wall forcefully knocking the wind from him. He struggled to catch his breath as Antonio hit him hard in the jaw. Ricardo summoned his strength and threw Antonio sideways away from him. Ricardo ran from the room as Antonio jumped to his feet. He was after him in a flash. "Antonio!" Gabi screamed as she leapt from the bed. She ran down the hall but Antonio was out the door before she reached the living room. She stopped quickly and ran back to the bedroom. She threw on her clothes and ran out of the apartment. Antonio was chasing Ricardo down the beach. Ricardo was fast, but Antonio was faster. Ricardo glanced over his shoulder to see his little brother gaining on him. Ricardo decided foolishly to stop running. He turned around as Antonio knocked him to the sand. The brothers wrestled for a few seconds before Antonio gained control pinning Ricardo to the beach. He pummeled his brother relentlessly. Gabi ran up stopping a few feet from the fight. "Antonio!" she screamed again as Antonio punched Ricardo repeatedly in the face. Ricardo gave in letting his brother punish him for his attack on Gabi. "I should kill you," Antonio seethed his eyes flashing with rage. "I warned you, Ricardo and now I’m gonna f---ing kill you!" Ricardo closed his eyes as Antonio drew back his fist. Antonio was trembling as he slowly looked up to see Gabi standing before him crying. He dropped his fist and it landed softly on Ricardo’s chest. "You’re not worth it," he mumbled as he pulled himself off his Ricardo. "You’re no longer my brother." Antonio stumbled toward Gabi and she caught him in her arms. He breathed heavily, trying to slow his racing heartbeat. "Are you…are you…" he fought to get the words out. "I’m fine, Antonio." Her lip was throbbing and her cheekbone was numb. "Let’s go." She directed him away from Ricardo still lying on the beach trying to recover. Antonio straightened up and put his arm around Gabi. They walked together slowly back to the apartment. Antonio touched the icepack to Gabi’s eye. "Ouch!" she whimpered. "I’m sorry, baby," he said softly as he touched her chin with his thumb. "I can’t believe he did this to you. You should have let me kill him." Gabi grabbed Antonio’s hand. "What made you come back?" Antonio shook his head, "I just knew something wasn’t right. I had a bad feeling." He squeezed Gabi’s hand. "We finished the meeting and I told Ben I had to come home. I needed to get to you." Gabi smiled softly then moaned at the pain it caused in her face. "Let me get you some aspirin," Antonio said as he laid her back on the pillows. Gabi took a long look around the room while he was gone. He came back with the pills and a glass of water. "Here you go." Gabi tilted her head back and swallowed. "Antonio?" "Yes," he replied as he sat down in front of her. "Do you think we could move?" she said in all seriousness. "There are too many memories here...bad memories." Antonio smiled widely. "I think that would be a good idea." He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the cheek. "When you feel better, we’ll find a new place. Are you sure you’re okay?" "I don’t want to think what he would have done to me if you hadn’t gotten here," Gabi closed her eyes tightly. Antonio’s heart ached just thinking of it. "He would have…" "Shh...it’s okay, Gabi. He didn’t." Antonio settled himself on the bed beside her taking her into his arms. "Try to get some rest, baby. I’m here. I’m right here." Antonio caressed her hair as she gently laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Gabi awoke with a splitting headache. She rolled over to Antonio to find a large bruise forming on his cheek. Gabi couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Antonio opened his eyes and looked at her. "What are you laughing at?" he smiled sleepily. "Us," she said flatly. "People are going to think we beat each other up!" Antonio sat up in bed and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Nice," he said with a chuckle. He turned back to Gabi whose cheekbone was now a dark shade of purple. He touched it lightly with his hand. "Maybe you should see the doctor, just to make sure nothing is broken." "I’m okay, Antonio. Really." She attempted to stand up when she was suddenly overcome with dizziness. She grabbed her head and fell back onto the bed. Antonio put his arm around her without hesitation. "See, you’re not okay. I’m going to get your clothes and we are going to the hospital." Antonio got up and headed to the closet. He returned with Gabi’s clothes and helped her get dressed. She whimpered as he pulled her shirt over her head. "I’m sorry." He helped her on with her jeans and sat her back down. "Now you stay right here and I’m gonna go get dressed." He headed for the bathroom. Gabi stood up gingerly and made her way down the hall to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator looking for some orange juice. She reached for the carton and as she stood back up, the room started to spin. The next thing she knew, she was in Antonio’s arms as he carried her down the stairs to the car. "What happened?" she asked groggily. Antonio was glad to see her waking up. "You passed out in the kitchen, that’s what happened." He scolded her gently. "I told you to stay in bed and wait for me, but no, you had to go to the kitchen. I found you slumped against the cabinet with the orange juice in your hand. I’m afraid you might have a concussion." Gabi shook her head as she hung on loosely to Antonio’s shoulders. He placed her gently in the car and buckled her seatbelt. He was very worried about her, but managed to drive calmly but swiftly to the hospital. THE HOSPITAL "I’m what?" Gabi asked with surprise. "Pregnant?" Her eyes filled with tears. "Are you sure?" Tyus checked his chart one more time. "Yes, Gabi. Your blood tests confirm it. Congratulations!" "Thank you, Tyus," Gabi smiled through her tears. "You haven’t told Antonio yet, have you?" "No, I haven’t. Would you like me to bring him in now?" "Yes, but please don’t say anything yet," Gabi begged the doctor. "I want to surprise him with the news later." "I understand," Tyus smiled. "Congratulations again. Make an appointment with Dr. Green in the next two weeks and they’ll do an ultrasound to confirm your due date. It appears that you are about five weeks along." "Five weeks? Tyus, that’s impossible," Gabi said with confusion. "I took an at home test a few weeks ago and it was negative." "Have you had a period since the test?" Tyus asked. "No, but I’ve always been irregular, so I didn’t give it much thought." "Well, home tests are usually reliable, but your blood test definitely confirms the pregnancy." Tyus consulted his circular chart. "According to the date of your last cycle, you appear to be right around 5 weeks. As I said, see Dr. Green for an ultrasound and they can confirm the due date then." Tyus started to leave, "I’ll send in Antonio and then I’ll be back." He winked at Gabi. Gabi sat back as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She was pregnant...she and Antonio were going to have a baby. Gabi made a solemn promise right then and there to do everything in her power to make sure this baby was delivered healthy and happy and not a day before it’s exact due date. She smiled as she remembered her fortune cookie. Antonio rushed in the door and over to Gabi’s side. "Well, what did Tyus say?" His eyes were brimming with concern and Gabi could barely keep herself from giving him the news. "He said I’m fine, Antonio. Just tired from everything that happened." She smiled at him. "Is he sure? Nothing’s broken?" Antonio touched her face lovingly. "No, nothing’s broken," Tyus’ voice rang out from the door. "Gabi is going to be just fine, Antonio. Just fine." Tyus and Gabi shared a knowing smile. "Are you two sure you don’t want me to call the police so you can report the attack?" Antonio and Gabi had told Tyus they were mugged. They weren’t prepared to press charges against Ricardo, regardless of what he had done. "No, thank you Tyus," Antonio said reluctantly. "We would really like to just forget the whole incident. As long as Gabi and I are both okay, we’re just going to move on." "If you’re sure...you both go home and get some rest," Tyus directed his instruction at Gabi. "Call me if you have any problems." "Problems...what kind of problems," Antonio snapped at Tyus. "What do you mean, Tyus?" Gabi rolled her eyes at him. "Antonio, calm down. I’m fine, can we go now?" Antonio gave Tyus a long look before giving in and gathering Gabi’s things to go home. Gabi slid off the table as Antonio took her arm and carefully led her out into the hall. He stopped and turned to face her, taking her into his arms. "I love you, Gabi." He leaned over and brushed her lips gently with his. "I love you so much." He put his arm around her shoulder and they walked out to the car. Gabi was silent all the way home planning the perfect way to tell her husband about their new baby.
|