The loud sound of the doorbell rang through the house as the sounds of large rain drops did also. AJ tossed on the couch, thinking that all of it was just his imagination. After Sandra had left he finished the bottle of champagne by himself and fell asleep on the couch. He had drank himself to sleep, and as sobriety came upon him, he couldn�t tell if the sounds he was hearing were actual sounds or sounds that were coming from his head.
After a couple of seconds had passes the bell sounds he was hearing went away, and he slowly started to fall back into a deep sleep once more. And then, like someone taunting him, the loud ringing sounds returned causing him to wake up. He sat up straight on the couch he realizing that the sounds were real and that they were coming from the door. It was the doorbell. He blinked a couple of times as his glazed over eyes tried to focus in the dark. He then stood and started for the door. He wore only his boxer shorts and a white wife beater, as he maneuvered toward the front door through the dark. He yawned widely as he approached the door. �Who is it?� He barked out as he put one hand against the wall to hold himself up.
�Me.� A very small voiced squeaked out from the door. He knew the voice and a very huge part of him wanted to open the door right away, but another part of him wanted to walk away and return to the couch. �What are you doing here?� He asked.
�I need...need help.�
�Help? Where�s Randy? Why can�t he help you?�
�Please, I need....help, I need. I...help.� Serenity�s voice breath out. Her voice became smaller and the sounds of the rain covered it up.
AJ knew something was wrong, really wrong. Serenity wasn�t making any since and her voice seemed to be caught in her throat. He hurried and unlocked the door and the sight of her shocked him.
She leaned against a small suite case on the porch as dried blood left a trail from her nose. There were drops of blood on the long tan skirt she wore. One of the shoulder�s on the blue blouse she wore had been ripped, and it looked as if it was barely hanging on her. Her right eye had a purple blue tent that circled it and her right cheek was swollen and blue. Her bottom lip was fat and blood seemed to stain her lips as they shivered and her teeth chattered. She was drenched in rain as her hands clenched the small bag around her shoulder, as if the bag bared her whole life inside.
�Oh my God! SERENITY WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!� AJ exclaimed loudly. If the doorbell hadn�t waken him before, the sight of her standing on the porch woke him. He was wide awake now and he knew for sure he was not dreaming. �I�m not feeling...feeling so good.� She said as she started to collapse. He caught her before she could reach the ground, and carried her limp body inside to the couch. He then went back to retrieve her suite case.
�Serenity? Serenity? Stay awake, wake up baby. Stay with me, okay, I�m going to call for help. I�m going to get an ambulance.� He told her as he lightly patted her face.
�No, no ambulance. No hospital.�
�What do you mean no ambulance? Your hurt, and your blacking out.�
�No, I�m just really tired, that�s all. I�ll be okay though. I�m always okay. I�ve never needed an ambulance before. Believe me.�
�Your bleeding from somewhere. My hand has blood all over it.� He told her as he noticed his right hand. He had also noticed Serenity�s words. She had said I�m always okay, which told him something like this had happened before to her. At the moment he didn�t care about that though. His priority was making sure she was okay.
�It�s okay, it�s from the cut. It�s not too deep I don�t think.� She told him.
�What cut? Where?�
�It�s on my back.�
�Turn over.� He instructed, helping her. There was a red spot just below her left shoulder blade where the shirt had soaked up a lot of the blood. It was starting to come through it though. He lifted her shirt up and found a side swipe slash into her skin. The cut was deep, but it didn�t look deep enough for stitches.
�It looks kind of deep. I�m not sure if you need stitches or not though. We should still get you to a doctor to make sure.�
�No, no doctors. I can�t go to a doctor. Please understand, AJ please.� She pleaded to him.
He could hear the fear and sadness in her voice and he felt that he couldn�t go against her wishes. �Okay, okay.� He told her as he bent down to see her face. The sight of it was almost too overwhelming for him. �Serenity what happened? Tell me who did this, who did this to you?�
She looked down as her eyes filled with tears. She felt as though she just couldn�t say it. For some reason she just couldn�t let his name out. All she could do was cry. �It�s my fault, all my fault.� She chocked out, tears running down her face.
�Shhh, now. Everything is going to be okay.� He kissed her forehead and rubbed the top of her head. �Were going to get you cleaned up, okay. Your safe now.� AJ could see she wasn�t ready to talk about it yet, so he let the topic go.