Page 32 of Micah
“But she didn’t?”
“No. She laid it all out, then told me when I was ready she had cash and a phone number for someone who could help me get out. She told me about an underground network of people who help women in my position.” I tear up, remembering her generosity. “She’s a single mom, Micah. Every penny she had went towards supporting her baby. But she had saved every extra penny she could for me.”
“She sounds like a pretty incredible friend.”
“She was. She is.”
“What happened after that talk?”
“Honestly, it took me a while to wrap my head around actually leaving. I was so used to all the decisions being made for me, you know? It sounds stupid now, but it felt like if I didn’t have Brent's permission to leave, then I couldn’t go.”
“How long were you married?”
“Seven years. I married him a few months after we met. I was twenty-one.”
“Still a kid,”he says, wincing.
“I didn’t think so at the time.” I say, glancing away. “I was old enough to drink. I figured I was old enough to get married. I didn’t really understand how bad it was going to be until our first anniversary. By then, I had no support system left. Nowhere to go.”
He leans even closer. “So, what was the tipping point? How did you decide to leave?”
My eyes flood with tears, thinking of that night. The joy, the dread, the pain. And eventually, the loss.
“I got pregnant.”
A hoarse sound comes from Micah, and he rocks forward onto his knees, carefully moving Battleship off my lap. “Wait,” he says. “I need to hold you for this, Holly. I don’t think I can handle it without touching you.”The V between his eyebrows is deep.“Please.”
At the garage, I’ve seen this man laugh like a loon with another mechanic, curse like a sailor - in words and sign - after dropping a car part, and terrifying a customer who was giving me trouble. But seeing this big strong guy tearing up around me just breaks me. Knowing he feels that deeply, that he’s letting me see it, somehow makes me feel stronger.
That little voice at the back of my mind telling me that it’s an act, that he’s going to change, is getting quieter.
I exhale and nod my head yes. He stands, lifting me like he does multiple times a day, then sits in the V of the couch, settling me so my head and back are still supported at the corner, and my legs are extended on the cushions. Then he pulls his arm from behind my back.
“Is this ok? I need to be near you, but I think I’m going to need to ask questions.”
I didn’t even consider how we’d talk if he were hugging me. The adjustments he has to make to ensure he can communicate is mind-boggling. Apps make most things easier now, but what happens when he has to call someone?
“Holly,” he nudges. “I lost you. Where did you go?”
My face flushes. “Sorry…I just started wondering how your…speech might affect you every day. I never really thought about it when we were working together. But now?”
His shoulders relax. “It used to be harder, but with texting, it’s way easier. And if I get in a situation like with you? Having to get to you at the hospital? Well, one of my brothers come.”
“So you just ask them to come and they drop everything?” What would that be like? To know someone cares about you so much, they’d drop everything.
Wait.
Isn’t that exactly what Micah’s done for me? He put his whole life on hold to take care of me.
“Sort of. Ransom came, but I didn’t have to ask him. We were all trying to track you down, and as soon as I found out where you were, I was gone. Ransom met me there.”
“He just came? Just like that?”
“They’re my family.”He says with a casual shrug of the shoulder.“I know your family is different, but we’ve got you now. In our family, if one of us is in need, we’re all there. No one has to go through hell alone.”
“Coming to the hospital was hell?”
“Yes.”When I look at him doubtfully, his mouth firms. He cups the back of my head briefly before signing. “All I knew was you were in a fire, and at the E.R. I spent the whole drive over losing my shit. I ran through all the worst-case scenarios in my head. I was terrified that you would be really fucking hurt, or worse. I tried not to think about the worse.”
