Escaped

Chapter 38

Escaped: Chapter 38

We laid there for hours, talking.
I know Liam was trying to keep me distracted. I was okay with that. I didn't want to think about what had happened to Benjamin Hale so I welcomed the distraction with open arms.

"Liam?"

"Hmm?"

I hesitated before bringing up the subject of him.
I didn't want to, but I wanted to know what had happened to Liam.

"What did Benjamin mean when he asked you how your side was?"

I felt Liam exhale, his breath making my hair fly.

"Charlotte, we don't have to talk about him."

I sat up.
"I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about you."
Even though that wasn't quiet true.
When it came to this topic, I had to talk about one in order to talk about the other.

I laid back down but kept my head perched on my hand.

Looking down at him, I could tell that Liam was hesitating.

"You have to understand," he started. "That the wardens there are absolutely hated. I mean, despised."

"I get why," I said bitterly.

"Well," he went on. "Two of the wardens, one of them being Hale, were talking outside my cell. I saw one of them pull out his wallet and show off the picture inside..." He trailed off.

I knew what he was talking about: my father has- used to have a picture of my family in his wallet.

I could sense Liam was holding back.

"Hey," I said. "Go on. There's nothing you could say that would make me stop caring about you."

He gave me a small smile.
"Okay... Well, I was just trying to get under his skin, ya know? So I, uh... Made some... er, inappropriate comments about you..."

He looked at me and I motioned for him to go on.

"And, uh, he got pretty mad."
I knew that my dad did care for me somewhat. But that didn't excuse the things he had done.

"So they came into my cell and gave me a good beating. Hale ended up takin' out a pocket knife-"

"He seems to like to do that a lot," I mutter.

"-and he put it between my ribs."

I gasped and stared at him in shock.

"Oh my-"

He cut me off.
"I'm not finished."

I clamped my mouth shut and just looked at him.

"Eleanor was a nurse at the prison, did you know?" I shook my head.
"But that's not how she met Louis."

"I know," I said. "I've heard the story."

"Okay, well she ended up being the one to patch me up and get the broken knife tip out of my side. I-"

"Barely survived?" I guessed.

He nodded.

We both stayed silent for a moment.

"Show me," I said.

Liam sat up and pulled off his white tank top. He lifted his right arm, showing off his ribs.

I found it rather quickly. I ran my fingers over the scarred area.
It was my turn; I leaned down and placed my lips on the raised skin, kissing it gently.