Chapter 19

Taylor blinked as though he wasn’t phased by the words Simone just said. This is not the reaction Simone was expecting.

“What?” Taylor asked, still dumbfounded by what she said.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen, honestly I didn’t.” That’s when Simone realized that Isaac didn’t tell Taylor about it, he must’ve been talking about something else. Damn, she thought. Well, now he knows.

“WHAT?!!” Taylor exploded. Now this was more of what Simone thought his reaction would be. She backed away from him on the bed. His eyes searched her then they turned a bitter cold shade of blue. He held a look of disgust across his face as he threw her hand off of his chest.

“I can understand if you never want to look or speak to me again, but…” Simone trailed off as Taylor began to get up from the bed. “I was drunk beyond belief that night and I thought it was you. I’m so sorry.” He turned to her.

“When did this happen?”

“The night you were out with Jake.”

“Gawdammit Sim, I asked you to come with me that night! Did you refuse on purpose? Did you want to be alone??” Taylor threw out the accusations.

“No! Rachel and I went out! I just had too much to drink! And when Zac came in here, I thought he was you and--”

“Woah, hang on.” Taylor stopped her. He had been pacing around the room with clenched fists the whole time Simone was talking. “He came in our room?”

“Yeah, he did.” Simone said, looking down at her feet.

“What the hell for?!”

“Because he was walking by the door and I had fallen down and he heard me hit my head on something and he came in here to see if I was okay.” She explained.

“Well Sim, for being drunk, you seem to remember a lot.” Taylor spat at her. “And I thought it was just my imagination. I knew something had to have happened between the two of you. I noticed that you’ve been uncomfortable around him. I should’ve suspected it…but then I thought that you would never do this to me.”

“Oh Tay! You have no idea how sorry I am! And when I woke up and saw that it was him lying beside me and not you…”

Taylor had enough. He stormed out of the bedroom.

“Taylor!” Simone ran after him. She watched in horror as he made his way down to the den. She hurried to catch up with him before he would do anything stupid, but she was too late. She could only stand in the doorway and watch with frightened eyes.

“Zac, I have a question to ask you.” Taylor stated as he stood in front between the television and Zac and Angie.

“Can you move? You’re blocking the view.” Zac said in response. Simone wished that he wouldn’t have said that. It was then that Zac caught a glimpse of Simone and the extreme look of fear she possessed and that’s when he knew that Taylor knew. Before Taylor could say anything more, Zac said, “Hey Ang, why don’t you go on home. I think that Taylor needs to talk to me privately.”

“Um, okay.” Angie agreed as she cautiously stood up.

“Actually, I think Ang should stick around.” Taylor said, coming face to face with Zac as he stood up.

“What’s going on?” Angie asked, looking from Taylor, to Zac, and then to Simone. She knew that something was going to happen and that something was wrong. Taylor ignored Angie’s question and focused his attention back to Zac.

“What was your question?” Zac asked, hoping that he was getting the wrong impression and that Taylor was after him about something else and not what he was thinking he was after him for.

“What the hell did you do with my fiancée?!” Taylor asked, more in a shouting voice. Simone saw the color drain from Zac’s face and when she looked at Ang, her face was pale as well.

“What?” Zac asked, hoping that he had heard Taylor the wrong way.

“Let me try to make things a little more clear…Why did you sleep with her?” Taylor asked Zac, pushing him in the chest, which made him take a couple steps backwards.

“Taylor, I, uh, I don’t know how to say--” Zac started off, but was interrupted by Taylor pushing him even harder in the chest, making him back into the wall.

“Were you drunk, too?” Taylor asked.

“No, but--”

“Then why the fuck did you fuck my fiancée??”

Zac looked over at Simone with pleading eyes. She couldn’t do or say anything that would calm Taylor down. He was too worked up, as anyone would be. Then Simone saw Zac’s eyes wander over to Angie. She was only glaring at him. Uh-oh, Simone thought, guess they’re not going to be together much longer.

“Because I wanted to, alright?!” Zac shouted. “Because I wanted her! I didn’t know what the hell came over me that night, but whatever it was, I don’t know. And you know what?? It was good, and I know that she liked it, too!”

That’s when Simone couldn’t watch anything more. She closed her eyes and let herself sink to the floor. She could hear the shouting voices of both Zac and Taylor and she could hear them getting more and more physical.

“You guys, stop it!” Angie screamed. And that was the last thing that Simone remembered hearing.

***

Simone opened her eyes. Everything was blurry and the only thing she could see were shapes of varied gray color. She blinked her eyes and finally the shapes started coming into focus. She turned her eyes to see Taylor sitting beside her. She could see that he had been crying.

“Taylor.” She choked out. She was surprised at how soft and coarse her voice was. He looked down at her and happiness filled his eyes and he smiled. That’s when she realized that she was hooked up to several different machines. “What happened?”

“Shh, don’t worry about it right now. I don’t want you to get worked up over it.” Taylor shushed her. He gently let his hands caress her hair and the side of her face.

“Tell me.” She said, her voice getting stronger. Taylor could see the determination in her eyes so he knew that he better tell her or she would get worked up.

“Do you remember that Zac and I were fighting?” he asked her. She nodded. “Well, we just got carried away and I didn’t notice that you were sitting on the floor and I pushed Zac up against that huge bookcase near the wall. It fell on you, and I, I, -- Sim, I’m so sorry.”

“Taylor, don’t cry. I mean, I’m okay.” She said. He shook his head in disagreement. Simone lifted her head to see that Taylor’s hand was on her leg. He was gently rubbing his hand on her thigh. Or was he? She could see him doing it, yet she couldn’t feel him doing it. Panic raced through her veins as she reached her own hand down to her other leg. She touched it and felt nothing. She began tapping her finger on her leg, pinching it, and still, no feeling. She tried to move her legs and nothing happened.

Taylor could see the look of distress on her face, which pained him even more than he already was.

“I’ll get the feeling back, won’t I?” Simone asked in a brave voice. “Or am I permanently paralyzed?”

“The doctor’s said it might take a few days, or maybe a week for the feeling to come back. They said that the nerves in your legs are just in shock right now from the heavy impact that they went through. A physical therapist will help them wake back up again.” Taylor leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Taylor.” She said, then pulled the necklace out from under her hospital gown. He smiled when he saw the ring and he kissed her gently and quickly on the lips.

“I’m sorry about Zac.” Simone said. “You have to believe me. I thought it was you.”

“I don’t care about that anymore.” Taylor said. “I only care about you.”


Chapter 18

Chapter 20