Page 18 of Axton
There was a noise, maybe running water. My eyes fluttered open but everything was fuzzy, and my hand was empty. I tried to open my eyes again and there was a dim light, maybe a lightfrom another room. My eyelids were too heavy, my head was pounding, and my throat still hurt. When the door opened the light just about blinded me, but I saw the shape of a man. My eyes focused in on him and I could see clearer, but I couldn’t fight the weight of my eyelids, and they shut, but I tried harder, and they finally opened. A man was undressed. Why was a man undressed? My heart began racing, which made my head hurt worse and I couldn’t move. The man turned and walked back toward the room and that’s when I saw it, under his arm. It was just as prevalent as mine. The hand of God.
“What the hell are you doing, Axton?” I heard the groggy voice of a woman.
“Sorry, I couldn’t sleep and took a shower. I thought you were sleeping.” He answered.
“Why are you walking around her room in a towel? It’s disgusting.” She asked.
He chuckled. “Come on, you know you love it.”
“You’re an idiot, it’s the middle of the night.”
“I forgot my briefs in my bag. Calm down, I know I’m sexy as hell, but control yourself, Bolton.” He chuckled as he disappeared into the room again, and the room went dark when he shut the door. I couldn’t fight the sleep that was overpowering me. The pain was so much that I didn’t want to fight the sleep.
Once again the light was too much. Something in my hand was warm and comforting again.
“I think she’s waking up again.” The man said. “Miss Ashford, I’m Mike Axton and your brother, Koty, sent me to keep you safe.” His hand felt good, and his voice didn’t scare me. It was the man with the hand of God mark on his arm.
“Her eyes are fluttering open.” The woman said. “Wow, she’s beautiful.”
The light was too much, and I wasn’t able to open them. I wanted to reach for my head, but I couldn’t move my arm. There was a stinging sensation all down my right side.
“I’ll get the lights, they’re probably too bright.” The woman said.
The room went a little darker and I felt her presence at my side again. “Miss Ashford, my name is Valarie Bolton, and you’ve been injured. You’re safe at a hospital and your brother is safe as well.”
My heart started to race. We were running from Jeremy and Koty was taking me to a life of sin. I could hear beeping and a bit of panic from the man. “You’re safe, your father is still alive, and Jeremiah cannot get to you. Koty is also safe, you made it, you’ve escaped everything. You’re in good hands, I promise.”
My eyes opened and I saw a ceiling and there were fast beeping noises around me, then I heard his voice again. “Heavenly Father, our ever-present help in trouble, our fortress and our God: calm the anxious fears of all who turn to you; give strength and healing to those who are sick, and courage and skill to those who care for them; grant wisdom and clarity to those in authority; and humble us all to call upon you that we may be saved not only in this life, but also for that which is to come, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”
His prayer calmed me.
“When did you learn a prayer?” The woman whispered.
“My grandparents are catholic, and they made me learn how to pray. Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t say a few prayers while in battle.” He said.
While in battle?
“You are an angel sent from God to do great things with a man that deserves you. He is a soldier of God and will bear your mark. You will not marry until he comes for you.”
“Why me, papa?”
“Because we were both his chosen, that’s why he made you with such great beauty.”
The mark, I saw the mark.
“It worked, she’s calming down.” The woman said. “I’ll go let the nurses know. Her eyes are still fluttering, so she is waking up.”
I couldn’t do it. The exhaustion and pain was too much. My eyes only grew heavier and heavier. Something was wrong with me, because the darkness came again.
Axton
She was having a very hard time waking up, and Ford was right when he said it would be a slow process. She tried to wake up before we got ready to get some sleep ourselves late last night, which was why I couldn’t sleep. I was afraid she would wake up and feel scared if she saw a strange man sleeping in a chair next to her and a woman on a cot. She tried to wake up again before breakfast but fell back asleep. I knew she was scared by the way the heart monitor picked up, but I said a prayer I could somehow remember. That kind of bothered me because I didn’t think I knew any prayers. My grandparents used to pick us up on Sunday mornings to go to CCD classes before mass started, but that ended by the time my mom alienated her parents. They lived in Charleston and would make the trip into the mountainsevery Sunday morning and take us back to Charleston. We would stay until the evening, and we didn’t get to stay the night because we had school the next day. They must have driven all night to be able to do that for us. It was a short escape from hell once a week, and they fed us a few well rounded meals.
I held her hand in hopes of giving her some comfort. My phone rang and I didn’t want it to startle her, so I quickly answered it.
“Kayla?” I answered as I let Bolton know I was taking the call outside the room.
“Mike, are you somewhere we can talk?”
