Visiting

*This is a scene I had to cut for many reasons. I loved it, and hope you do too.

Ellie stared out the window as the scenery flashed by.  The Insta-Ride was going to cost her more than she could afford to spend, but she had to see him.  Ellie had managed to find out that Sean was at the VA hospital in Charleston. His lawyer was arguing self-defense in Paul’s murder, but Sean remained tight lipped when it came to questions about the fire. 

The fire chief had narrowed the ignition point of the fire to an ashtray in the loft.  She would bet it was an accident, but couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t just say that.  Hardy didn’t see it that way, or at least he didn’t want to see it that way.  Jojo had been hurt and Hardy would most likely never be able to forgive that.

Ellie shook her head. It pained her, how broken these men were. These boys she’d loved for almost half her life.   

It was obvious to her that Sean wasn’t in his right mind.  He’d once said he’d die for Hardy and Jason, his chosen brothers. And shooting her? That wasn’t in him at all.  She touched her side.  The healed wound reminded her that Sean may no longer be the man she used to know.

The car pulled up to the sidewalk in front of a crumbling old building. It looked like an abandoned school, complete with warped windows and peeling paint.  

She looked again at the address on her phone.  Yep, this was it.

 Ellie thanked her driver then grabbed her purse and exited the car.  The Insta-Ride driver tipped his head then pulled smoothly away. 

She’d been careful to ask the right questions of Hardy. She’d made an effort to get the information she needed, Sean’s location, without him knowing what she was looking for. 

In high school, the boys assumed she’d had a crush on Sean. They also assumed the crush was over and done with years ago.  She let them think that.  It was better than the questions and pitying glances she’d get if they knew.  Besides, it was none of their business. After all, she didn’t just have a crush on Sean, she was over the moon in love with him. 

Others saw the man that was a player, who never took anything seriously and seemed to have less respect for women than he had for himself.  They thought they had to protect her from him.

But Ellie had grown up next door to Sean. She’d cringed at the yelling and screaming that came from his house at all hours of the day and night.  She saw the damage done when his mother’s boyfriends got too rough, and he stepped in to protect her.  The bruises and broken bones, the pain that went deeper than just what could be seen on an x-ray. 

Sean came to her when he was overcome with the need for acceptance from the father he barely knew. He cried on her shoulder when his mother demonstrated how much more she loved her men and her booze than she loved her own son.  Well, he didn’t cry, Sean never cried, but she could tell when he was hurting.

Walking up to the front door, Ellie pushed her way inside.  The interior was well lit by fluorescent lighting that glared off the scuffed linoleum floors. The walls were a greenish shade of baby-blue that somehow reminded her of vomit and other sick things. 

A woman sat behind a thick Plexiglass divider, small holes allowing sound to travel through. “Can I help you?”

“I’d like to see a patient. Sean Harris?”

The lady clicked her tongue as she opened a large binder and flipped through it. “Name?”

“Ellie Bowman.”

“Hmm, psych ward.”  The woman pursed her lips.  “Let me see if he’s allowed visitors.”  She flipped the book closed and picked up her phone. 

Ellie stayed by the glass and the woman raised her brows.

“You can sit down, honey, this may be a few minutes.”  She indicated a row of molded plastic chairs along the back wall.

Ellie backed up and sat, her purse balanced on her knees. 

About ten minutes later, a click sounded and the door swung open. “Ms. Bowman?”  An orderly in green scrubs stood at the door, scanning the room. 

Ellie glanced around the empty waiting room, then stood. 

“Right this way ma’am.”

Ellie followed the man, only half listening while he rattled off rule after rule.  “No touching, no exchanging of items, no eye contact with others in the room…”  She clutched her purse tighter in an attempt to stop her hands shaking.  She was going to see him again.  After four years of military service and six years of mourning him, thinking him dead and lost to her forever, she was going to see him again. 

The man stopped at the entrance to a small room with several round tables set apart from each other.  A few tables were occupied, but the orderly motioned her to an empty one in the back.  Sean wasn’t there yet. She turned a questioning look to the man and he responded. “He’s being brought down.”

Ellie’s body threatened to jump out of her skin at the idea of more waiting. She’d already waited years to see him again, but she sat down, her toes immediately starting to tap.  Five minutes later, a prickling at the back of her neck had her turning around.  A tall, broad shouldered man shuffled inside the room.  His hair was shaved close to his skull, his skin, chalky and pale.  Most prominent were the dark blue-black circles that hung from his eyes. 

Her heart careened in her chest. “Oh, Sean.” she whispered as he neared.  Sean sat down, his shoulders hunched inward, his head down.  She made a move to reach for his hands, cuffed together and resting on the table.  As soon as she shifted forward, the orderly stepped up and cleared his throat.  She slid back and put her hands in her lap.  She sat quietly and waited.  Eventually Sean’s head rose and he met her eyes.

“Why did you do it?” she asked, a tear sliding down one cheek.

“He had to know,” Sean said

She shook her head. “Not Hardy. Paul. Why did you do it?”

Sean leaned in, his proprietary eyes flicking to the scar on her wrist. It was the last wound Paul had given her while they were still a couple.  It was the reason she’d finally gotten the courage to leave him.  Sean’s gaze boring into hers, he growled, “No one hurts what’s mine, Ellie. No one.”

Thank for reading! I hope you enjoyed getting a sneak peak at Ellie and Sean.