Chapter 2

“Is this Ms. Hazel? This is the city police department. Your husband, Marcus, has been detained for fighting, and we need you to come handle it.”

After hanging up, my mind went blank. The silence around me was only broken by the frantic thumping of my own heart.

Driving from home to the city police department usually took about ten minutes, but now, I didn't want to drive.

I settled Lily with Mrs. Gable, slipped into soft, comfortable sneakers, and spent a full half-hour walking there. With each step, I measured the distance that had grown between Marcus and me.

Inside the police station, Marcus was handcuffed, with a wild, aggressive look in his eyes, radiating hostility.

He wasn't badly hurt, just a minor scrape on his forehead. But the other guy he'd beaten was bruised and swollen, clearly Marcus had really gone for it, like he meant to cause serious damage.

I’d only seen Marcus like this once before, back in his teenage years.

In middle school, I got a fever, and the doctor gave me a penicillin shot, which triggered an anaphylactic shock.

No skin test was performed, which was medical malpractice. The clinic doctor knew he was in the wrong and offered to treat me for free.

My mother didn’t hesitate for a second. She just abandoned me at that private little clinic.

The doctor used the excuse of a physical exam to pull my school uniform up to my chest. His eyes lingered, assessing, then his hands clamped down on me.

“I’ll give you a massage to ease your palpitations. It’ll help you breathe better.”

He pressed down on me hard. I wanted to fight back, but I had no strength, only tears streaming down my face.

I thought, this time, I surely wouldn't survive.

Just as despair set in, Marcus kicked open the clinic door.

He doused the doctor’s head with scalding soup, then lunged at him.

Marcus was tall, over six feet, but skinny, barely 130 pounds. Yet his eyes were bloodshot, and he laid into the doctor with murderous intent.

Punch after punch landed. When the doctor collapsed, I ripped the IV needle from my arm, grabbed Marcus, and we ran out.

“Don’t stop me! I’m going to kill that animal!”

I hugged Marcus, my voice trembling. “Please, don’t do anything rash, Marcus. I only have you.”

He gently ran his fingers through my hair, his nose streaming with blood. “Hazel, don’t be scared. I’ll always protect you.”

I remember Marcus, with his slender shoulders, protecting me countless times.

When my mother beat me with a leather strap, he held me tight, shielding me, taking the heaviest blows himself.

When I was bullied, cornered in an alley by a few thugs from outside school, he’d charge in, brandishing a knife, ready to take on five guys by himself, just to keep me safe. Even if he got beaten black and blue, he’d use his blood-stained hands to gently wipe away my tears.

“Hazel, don’t be scared. As long as I’m here, no one can hurt you.”

Marcus was like a beam of light, illuminating my dark, suffocating world and warming me for so long.

He once told me, “In this life, I’ll only protect you.”

But now, he was fighting for another girl.

A raw ache in my chest, a prickling pain that took my breath away.