Her Savior

Trying to keep herself strong, she called Ian for support only to be connected to his voice mail.

She had a very bad feeling, but kept brushing it off and continue with the preparation for her mother’s funeral. Until it was late at night and he hasn’t returned any of her calls and texts.

Then she took a deep breath as she was certain that there was surely something going on with him. And she just realized that she didn’t even know how to reach him except for his mobile. That was until she decided to call his precinct and miraculously she was connected to Dave by one of his officers.

“Hi Dave sorry to bother you this late, I was trying to contact Ian. I was… my mother passed away this morning and I…”

“Oh… Blair, my condolences. But I’m afraid I have more bad news for you. Ian was involved in a shooting this afternoon…”

“No…” she was suddenly teary, she thought that things were supposed to be going smoothly but instead it falls apart just like a fucked up house of cards.

“… but his partner reported that it was non-life-threatening, he had been treated and now resting. The doctor said that he should be okay in…”

Dave was still talking while Blair was not sure how to handle the news. She was suddenly speechless. Her heart beats faster and she was suffocating from the sheer feelings altogether.

He’s fine Blair, he’s a cop. Cop gets injured…

She thought to herself while wiping away her tears with her shaky hand.

“Blair? are you still there?”

“Yes… I’m sorry. I’ll try to go to his place soonest I’m done with my mother’s arrangements.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m sure Ian would understand. And he will surely get back to you once he’s able to reach you…”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

She ended the call not long after since she didn’t know what to say and how to handle the situation.

That night she was back to having her nightmares, but it wasn’t Benjamin. Instead, it was of Ian, how he was shot and died in her arms. She had never felt so much sadness and desperation in her twenty-three years of living.

She woke up drench in sweat and parched, she couldn’t get back to sleep. So she decided to pack up her mother’s belongings. Her hand ached and she finally gave up after doing all the manual labor single-handedly for almost three hours. 

Nurse Amelia found Blair sleeping on her mother’s bed. She saw boxes full of her mother’s personal belongings scattered around the bedroom. She sighed and put a blanket over Blair’s body.

Nobody should go through this alone the nurse thought as she tidies up the rest of the medical equipment and put them all into a separate box. 

She let Blair sleep for another hour while she prepared the young woman a simple breakfast, making sure that she was set for the long day ahead of her.

“Blair honey, wake up. I’ve made you breakfast and a cup of hot coffee.”

Blair woke up groggily and joined Amelia for breakfast ten minutes later. She was not ready but she needed to get her day started as she needed to get back to town and check on Ian.

She finally got through her mother’s burial, it was a simple ceremony attended by several of her neighbors. She made small talks but her mind was elsewhere. There were several of their friends and neighbors that came out of respect, but there were some who were there out of curiosity about Blair’s recent news.

Nurse Amelia was with her and ushered her once the burial was finished. She knows that Blair needed time for herself and she was making sure that their nosy neighbors were out of her way.

It was almost four when Blair arrived at Ian’s house. She was a bit nervous still not sure about her standings with him. Should she even be there? will he be okay with her visiting him? She was still hesitant when the front door opens and a beautiful-looking woman was on the other side.

Officer Garcia, his casual sex partner.

Blair looked at her not knowing what to say to the woman who stands there barefoot, wearing an oversize t-shirt and short jeans. She was one step closer to going back to her mother’s house but Garcia stopped her as the woman greeted her with a question.

“Wait… I know you, you’re the homeless woman I took to the shelter aren’t you?”

Garcia gave her a calculated look, knowing that she still has feelings for Ian. And that she sincerely didn’t want him to be fooled by a homeless desperate woman, who had killed her husband.

“I am and thank you. I… I talk to Dave last night and he said that Ian was shot…” she was still waiting for Garcia to let her inside the house. Somehow she could feel that Garcia didn’t want her there, and it was making her uncomfortable on the inside. But Blair was mad at herself knowing that she gets herself into this situation.

She should’ve waited for Ian to call her back. Maybe Garcia was the ideal woman for Ian, and Blair was starting to doubt herself all over again.

“Maybe… maybe I should go, I mean you’re here and he’s good… so…” Blair was feeling awkward when the woman didn’t even let her inside the house. She wanted to see him, to make sure that he was fine. But Garcia’s demeanor was making her feel unwanted.

“Yes, he’s actually resting. Maybe you should wait for his call?” she still looked at her with a  condescending look. Blair knows when she should retreat, she has been doing this numerous times already when she was still married. She knows when she was unwanted, and she finally backed away and took a taxi back to her mother’s.

The driver kept on looking at her from his rearview mirror, asking her if she was okay. She wiped her tear telling him that she was okay and that she was fine, while on the inside she was ready to break.

She gave the money that Ian gave her to the driver once they when arrived at her mother’s. The place was quiet and dark, and it was making her feel more depressed.

The house was empty, Amelia had gone back home to her family. Blair was getting herself ready for bed, she had decided to skip dinner when there was a knock at the front door.

“Blair… are you back?”

His voice was heard and she hurriedly wiped her tears and go to the door.

“Danny?”

“Hey, I thought I saw your lights. I bring you some food, Celia wanted to cook you something…”

She opened her door for Danny, she met him at her mother’s funeral along with a couple of her surrounding neighbors. The Dubois and their ranchmen from next door were there to express their condolences for her mother.

Henry, Celia’s dad, had known about her story from the television. The father and daughter talked about it more as they were all also comforting Blair for her mother’s passing.

Being in the suburbs and around the same age, Danny, Celia, and Blair used to be inseparable. They used to be her best friends growing up in the suburbs until she grew up and went to college. 

Celia had invited her for dinner that morning, but Blair politely declines telling her that she was getting back to the city.

“Danny, thank you. I was about to skip dinner since I was too tired.”

“Well, you should eat. You’re too skinny. God Blair, if I had known about Benjamin I’ll kill that motherfucker myself.”

He quickly moves around her kitchen and set a plate for Blair, he was telling her to sit and getting her a glass of water.

Since they were kids Danny had always been the girls’ protectors, he always acted brotherly towards them. One day Emilie, Celia’s older sister told her that he was that way because he was from an abusive family. And luckily their father came to his rescue and in the end adopted him legally as his own.

But being Danny he didn’t want to be a freeloader, so since he was ten he has been helping around their ranch.

And when he heard about Blair’s mother he dashes off to the funeral home taking the whole family and giving her his big brotherly hug and making sure she knows that they were all there for her.

I think I could live back here, she thought as she eats her dinner while Danny was busy reporting to her about what has been going on around the ranch. He was deliberately taking her mind off of things and she was silently thanking him for it.