I Need You Tonight
Part VII

"Hey, Mom!" I called as I headed down the stairs. "I’m going jogging!" I stopped by the door and waited for my mother to repeat what she said to me every night before I left.

"Alright, honey! Be careful and I love you!" I mouthed as my mother called out from her bedroom. I love my mom and it’s such a routine now. I call out that I’m going jogging. My mom calls back and I leave. I come back around thirty minutes later, red-faced and out of breath. My mom has a glass of ice water a towel waiting for me in the kitchen when I get back. It’s so routine, it’s comfortable.

But this time would be nothing like the rest.

I left the house, shutting the door behind me and checking the knob to make sure it wasn’t locked. I took a deep breath and started jogging my nightly routine. Everything when just as normal. I reached the end of my street and turned to the left. On that street, one of the houses has a huge Pitbull that sits on the front lawn and guards the house. I usually cross over to the other side of the street before I reach the house but this time I was so caught up in thinking about whether I was ready for another relationship or not that I completely forgot.

It wasn’t until I heard a low growling that I snapped back into reality. I looked up a few houses ahead and saw the dog staring at me menacingly.

Oh no! I forgot to switch sides! Don’t panic! I tried my best to calm myself down. Just keep jogging but slowly move over towards the other side. I kept jogging and shifted slowly towards the other side of the street. I neared the house and I was halfway across. I tried to make no sudden movement and didn’t make eye contact. I’ve heard that dogs can sense fear.

I was a few feet away from the curb when my foot caught on a rock in the road. I threw my arms out to steady myself, but the sudden movement made the dog react. It started barking and ran for me. I screamed and ran as fast as I could, knowing that I could never outrun the dog.

"HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, right before the dog lunged at me and pinned me to the ground, my face scraping the concrete as I went down.

I screamed as the dog wrenched it’s teeth deep into my ankle and dragged me. I threw my arms out, desperately trying to grab ahold of something, anything, to throw at the dog. I felt the skin coming off of my arms and legs as the dog dragged me by my ankle. Suddenly it stopped and shook it’s head, my ankle still clutched deeply in it’s jaws. I screamed in pain and in horror as I felt the blood soaking my sock.

The dog let go and this time didn’t come back to bite me again. I layed there silently, not knowing what to do or if the dog would attack me again. But it did and I screamed out in surprise. It went for my same ankle, but biting me in a different spot, and started to drag me again. I felt something hard rub up against my stomach, moving up to my chest and then hitting me in the chin. When I looked, I saw that it was the same big rock that had originally started this whole mess. I grabbed it before the dog could drag me away from it.

The dog stopped to rest, but didn’t release my ankle. I took a deep breath and my stomach churned as I realized what I had to do. I had read in some magazine somewhere that when you’re attacked by an animal, always go for the nose when you hit it. But the only way for me to get to the dog’s nose was for me to turn at the waist, resulting in a torn up ankle as the force of my twisting and the dog’s teeth ripped through my skin. Before I could think about it any longer and before the dog started to drag me again, I twisted, screaming at the searing pain in my ankle, and brought the rock down as hard as I could on the dog’s nose.

The dog yelped in surprise and unclenched my ankle, backing away and pawing at his nose. Before the dog could regain his composure I jumped up and started running, trying to ignore the burning pain and the blood that came from my ankle. It hurt so much to run but I knew I had to. Pitbulls were bred to kill and if I didn’t get away now, it would kill me just as it was taught to do. I kept running and bit my lip to keep from screaming in pain, biting down so hard that I tasted blood.

Nick’s house is around here and it’s closer than trying to run back to mine! I suddenly remembered. I knew I had to run to Nick’s house and I was determined to get there with my ankle. I heard panting and footsteps behind me and realized that the dog was chasing after me. Gotta get there fast, Danielle! I told myself. Keep running and ignore the pain. Just look at Nick’s house and concentrate on how happy you’ll be when you get there.

The pep talk seemed to work because I had a sudden rush a adrenaline. But even that rush couldn’t stop the dog from getting closer to me. The footsteps and panting grew louder and louder. Ignore the dog! I screamed at myself, panicking nonetheless. I was only a few yards away from Nick’s front yard. You’re almost there!

But I didn’t make it there quick enough.

I felt a sudden pulling and my T-shirt tighened around my neck, nearly choking me. I leaned back to give myself some breathing room, but the dog had my shirt tight and kept holding on, trying to bring me to the ground.

Riiippp! I felt my shirt being torn away from my body and as soon as I was freed, I ran for the house again, this time filled with more adrenaline. I jumped the fence, not knowing where I got the height of the jump from or the strength from my one good ankle to completely clear the fence. I ran through the back yard, not stopping until I reached the back door and let myself in.

Breathing hard and bloody, I collapsed onto the tiled kitchen floor in front of the door. My knees were pressing against the cold tiles and I rolled into a ball from there, covering my face protectively with my shaking arms. In fact, my entire body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Who’s there?!" I heard Nick’s voice call out, startled and scared, from the living room. I was too weak to even make a sound. "I said, who’s there!" Nick called again, his footsteps slapping against the tiles.

"Dani!" Nick stood over me, forming a shadow over my shivering body. "Why didn’t you just come through the front door?" Nick seemed a little amused that I was curled up on his kitchen floor.

I looked up and he gasped. "Dani! Wh-What happened to your face? Did you get into a fight?" He reached down and grasped me underneath my armpits and stood me up, dropping his hands as soon as he got me in a standing position. I fell over as soon as he let go and he steadied me, this time not letting go. "Oh my gosh, Dani," His voice held awe and concern. "What happened to you? You’re all bloody!" My blood had dripped onto him when he had helped me up. The dog had dragged me and scraped my entire arms, leaving open and bloody wounds. "Where’s your shirt? And, oh my gosh, your ankle!" He looked at my bloody, battered body, taking in all the damage. "Listen, you can tell me later what happened, but first we have to get you cleaned up and bandaged. Here." He grunted as he lifted me from the armpits again after finding no other unharmed spot in which to pick me up. "I’m going to get you into the tub." He carried me like that into the bathroom and set me down on the toilet.

"Let me just turn on some water." He set the water right and said, "Now, I’m going to leave you to clean yourself up. Call me when you’re done." He turned to leave.

"Nick," I whispered meekly. With the last ounce of energy left in me I continued, "Help me. I can’t do it by myself. I’m too weak."

Nick just stood, paralyzed for a moment then came over to stand next to me by the toilet.

"Okay, but then you’re going to have to leave some of your clothes on. Just take off your shoes. I’ll be back with a pair of BJ’s boxers that you can get into the tub in." He left and I sat on the toilet staring at my shoes. I was still staring at them when Nick came back.

"Um, are you okay?" He asked, kneeling beside me. I shook my head. "You need me to help you take off your shoes?" I nodded. "Okay, we’ll start with the basically unbloody one." He untied my shoelace and slid the shoe carefully off my foot and eased off my sock just as carefully, tossing them aside. "Um, this is really going to hurt so," he picked up a towel. "Just squeeze on this when it hurts to much." He untied my shoe even more carefully then he had the first. He took out the shoelace so that the shoe would be loose and a little easier to take off. "I’m sorry." He whispered as he slid my shoe off. I yelped and bit down into the towel when he accidentally ran into where the dog had bit into me. He pulled off the shoe and grasped the top of my sock.

"NO!" I screamed, and Nick instinctively pulled his hands away. "Don’t try to take it off! Just cut it off. The sock. Just cut it, please." Nick left to get scissors and came back and finished the job.

"Now we gotta get you into these shorts. So, um, let’s see. Here stand up, I’ll hold you, and you pull the shorts down past your knees, okay? I’ll look away, I promise." I nodded and did as he said. He sat me back down gently, still looking away, and when I was seated back on the toilet again, he turned around.

"Now pull off the shorts completely. I’m turned around so I can’t see you. Here’s BJ’s boxers." He stuck his hand out with his back still turned and held the shorts out to me. I gently pulled off my shorts and then just as gently slipped on BJ’s shorts as much as I could while still sitting down. We went through the whole taking off the shorts procedure but backwards until I had successfully gotten on BJ’s shorts. The whole thing took about ten minutes.

"Okay good! Now get into the tub, you’ve gotta get yourself cleaned up." He helped me into the tub and turned to leave.

"Wait." I called. Nick turned and walked back to the tub. He had already known that I was going to ask for help. Silently he ran the water over me and washed off most of the blood. He finished cleaning me and told me to wait while he went and got a towel. I sat and waited, leaning my head back against the tub. The water had a calming effect on me even though it stung in some of the deeper wounds.

"Here we are!" Nick came back with a towel. "Okay, I’m going to help you up and then let go so I can get the towel around you so just hold onto my shoulders." I did as he said and he wrapped the towel around me, then picked me up gently, making sure he wouldn’t touch any of my scratches, and carried me to his room and set me down on the bed. I sat shivering, but didn’t dry myself because I was afraid I would touch some open cuts. My ankle was still bleeding pretty bad so Nick tied a bandana around it. He gave me a tank top of his to wear and another pair of BJ’s boxers. He helped me into those and then carried me into the kitchen and set me on the counter,

"I’m going to call your mom and tell her that you’re over here but you’re alright. Hey I still don’t know what happened! Oh well, you can tell me later." He picked up the phone and called my mom, assuring her that I was doing okay but I was just a little weak and no she didn’t need to come over and did she think it was alright if I spent the night. And something like we’re responsible eighteen year olds and we won’t do anything wrong.... oh thank you! Then Nick hung up.

"So," He started as he searched through some drawers for some gauze. "So," He said again when he found it. He untied the bandana and replaced it with six pieces of gauze to cover my wound. He started to wrap it with this stuff, kind of like an ace bandage but it was white and had little holes in it. I don’t know what it’s called.

"So," He said again when he finished. He placed his hands on my knees gently, watching out for my cuts. "Tell me what happened."

Suddenly that night’s events came rushing back to me in a sudden memory flash back but with great details. I felt the same pain that I did when I was actually there experiencing it. I burst out crying, letting all of the fear and pain that I had held inside me until just then come out. I was too scared to cry and in too much pain to cry that I hadn’t, until then. Nick wrapped me in a hug. He let me cry on his shoulder until the sobs had turned into dry hiccups.

"Do you want to tell me now?" He asked gently. I nodded, wiping away the last of my tears. Nick helped me off the counter and into a chair at the kitchen table.

I told him everything that happened, right down to the very last detail, silent tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Was it a Pitbull?" I nodded. "You’re the second person in this neighborhood that the dog has attacked. The police said that if the dog attacked one more person it would have to be put to sleep. My mom heard someone talking about it. That’s how I know." Nick got up from the table. "I’m calling the police. Now that that stupid dog has hurt you it doesn’t deserve to live." I didn’t protest. I just sat back and listened to Nick tell the police all that I had just told him. He covered the receiver with his hand and whispered, "Do you feel like talking to the police tonight?" I shook my head,

"I’ve been through enough. I just want to get some rest. Tell them I’ll talk to them tomorrow." Nick finished talking to the police and came and rejoined me at the table.

"They arranged for you to come down around two in the afternoon tomorrow. I’ll come with you if you want." He had a look of concern that was so sincere I smiled. I reached my hand across the table and slipped it on top of his. He turned his hand and held mine, placing his other hand on top of mine.

"Thanks." I smiled. "Hey," A thought suddenly occurred to me. "Where’s your parents and your brother and sisters?" He had three sisters- BJ (16), Leslie (12), and Angel (10)- and one brother, Aaron who was also ten. He and Angel were twins.

"Oh," Nick let go of my hand. "They’re out at the movies and won’t be back till late. I got in trouble and couldn’t go, but it worked out fine cause I was here to help you." He looked up and smiled.

I smiled back but it was interrupted with a yawn. "I’m exhausted!"

"Oh yeah!" Nick exclaimed, his face lighting up. "Your mom said you could spend the night. I didn’t think you would want to walk home after what happened. Plus your ankle’s so bad you can barely stand. So come on, let’s go relax and watch some TV." He helped me into the living room and I layed down on the couch, my head resting in Nick’s lap. I had no idea when I fell asleep but the next thing I heard were muffled voices.

"We’re home!" I made out. It was hard to tell what people were saying because I was between asleep and awake.

"Nick?" A female voice called, probably Nick’s mom. Someone flipped on the lights. "Nick!"

I felt Nick jerk awake.

"Dani?" Someone shook me awake and I looked straight into the face of Mrs. Carter. I sat up and smiled. I guess Nick and I had both fallen asleep on the couch.

"Hi, Mrs. C!" I called out as cheerfully as I could manage.

"Dani!" I thought Mrs. C was going to lecture me about being asleep in her son’s lap, but she didn’t. "Sweetheart! What happened?" Mrs. C sat down next to me on the couch and I felt a sharp pain in my ankle and cried out. Mrs. C jumped off the couch.

"Did I hurt you?" She looked worried.

"No," I assured her. "A dog did." A look of concern and horror crossed her face. "I was attacked by a dog while I was out jogging and I ran to your house and Nick helped me get cleaned up. When you sat down I moved my foot over and I hit my ankle where the dog ripped into my skin."

"Oh, you poor thing!" She cried. "What can we do for you? Anything?" She headed for the kitchen.

"No, I’m fine now."

"Mom, she’s spending the night." Nick said at the same time. Jane Carter stopped dead in her tracks. "Mom. We’re responsible. We know not to have sex or anything." Just hearing Nick say that made me blush. I don’t know why, but it did.

"Nick," She started walking back towards the couch where I once again had my head in Nick’s lap. "I know, but I’m just not very comfortable..."

"It’s not like we’re going to sleep in the same bed!" Nick interrupted. I decided that now might be a good time to sit up. But when I did I got dizzy and grabbed my head to stop the room from spinning.

"Honey, lay back down, even if it is in Nick’s lap." Jane seemed worried yet uncomfortable when I layed my head back down in Nick’s lap. He stroked my hair and brushed it away from my face.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. I nodded and smiled. Nick picked back up his argument right where he had left off. "We’ll just be in the same... Hey, will you guys stop eavesdropping?" Nick asked calmly when he saw his younger siblings staring at us.

"Everybody to bed," Jane called, and everybody obeyed. "Nick, I know you’re responsible but I still don’t know."

"Mom, we’re just going to be in the same room sleeping, that’s all. Not in the same bed, not together, just sleeping separately. That’s it! I promise." I closed my eyes because the room was still spinning.

"Alright." Mrs. C finally agreed. I opened my eyes again.

"Thanks, Mom!" Nick helped me off the couch and put one arm around my waist and helped me into his room.

"Okay," He said when he had sat me down on the bed. "You can have the bed and I’ll take the floor. You need somewhere comfortable to sleep." And with that he helped me into his bed and under the covers. "Comfy?"

"Yeah!" I smiled. "Nick you’ve been so great today. You’ve really helped me and I want to thank you."

"Well, you can thank me by getting a good night’s sleep." He left my bedside and made himself a pallet on the floor and went to the bathroom to change into some pajamas. He came back, shutting the door behind him. "And you know how else you can thank me?" He asked quietly, walking over to the bed.

"How?" I asked, smiling.

"Kiss me." He said, and turned out the lights.

And so I did.

And it was great! I hadn’t kissed Nick that way in so long!

"Good-night, babe." He called playfully as he slipped into bed.

"Good-night, babe." I echoed, and slipped into a peaceful sleep.

"So you’ll be on crutches for a while, but look on the bright side, the dog will never do this to you or anyone else ever again. And it’s a really good thing that the dog didn’t have rabies." The doctor handed me my crutches and Nick helped me off of the examination table. It was only yesterday when the dog attacked me but so much had happened that it seemed like weeks ago. Nick and I and my parents had gone down to the police station and they recorded my story. Then we went down to the vet to put the dog to sleep. Then me and my parents and Nick had come down to the doctor’s to make sure that I was okay.

All I had were some really bad bite marks and I had to get my ankle wrapped up and I would be on crutches for about a month. I was just so glad that it wasn’t anything worse.

"Miss Evans, you will need to come in for weekly checkups and stay off of your feet for a few days." The doctor patted me on the back. "If you have any pain just take some Tylenol. That ought to be it." We checked out.

"Mom, do I really have to stay off my feet?" I asked once we were back in the car. Nick and I sat in the back. "I feel fine. Plus, this weekend I was supposed to go with Nick and the guys to some shows. And I really wanted to go." I didn’t mean for my voice to sound as whiny as it did and I tried to cover it up by saying in a normal tone, "I’m a responsible eighteen year old and I can take care of myself."

"But, Sweetheart, you’re just going to get in the way, you being on crutches and not able to maneuver on them that well yet. I’m sorry, honey." My mom turned around to face me and she did look sincerely sorry. She knows that I go almost everywhere with the guys and that I was really looking forward to going with them on this trip.

"Mrs. Evans, Dani wouldn’t be in the way. She’s always a big help and we always have fun." Nick tried to persuade my mom as well. "I promise she won’t be in the way. We all were really looking forward to having Dani there with us."

"I know, honey, but I just don’t want Dani to get any more hurt than she already is." My mom looked at me. "I’m sorry, and I promise we’ll have fun here at home."

"Well, can I make a deal with you?" I tried to sound mature. "If I learn to handle myself well on these things could I go? I mean, it’s only Monday and we would be leaving on Saturday so I have today and four other days to learn. Please?"

My mom thought for a minute. "Please?" I repeated. She looked at my dad and they seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes.

"Alright, you can go," My mom finally answered reluctantly. "But only if you promise you’ll learn how to work those crutches. Then you can go."

"Thank you!" I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around my mom as well as the back of the seat. I look at Nick and we both smiled. I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Time to celebrate! Let’s go out to eat!"

Part VIII
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