Abby by C Mari (easy novels to read .TXT) 📕

The warm feeling spread across my body. It feels like my whole body is blushing. My stomach gets warm and butterflies start. Owen. I say his name over and over again in my thought. I so badly want to hug him and embrace him and-- oh this is bad. This is so very bad. I can't be thinking like this.

My crying starts up again and the butterflies escape my stomach. Owen stirs under my hand. He wakes and I let my hand fall back on my thigh.

"Abby?" He sounds so cheerful saying my name. "I'm so glad you're ok!" Suddenly, he wraps his arms around me in a hug. Just as soon as he got so close to me, my breathing struggles again and the tears fall.

Owen pulls away but leaves his arms on my shoulders. "Abby? Are you ok? Does anything hurt? What's wrong?" In a panic Owen starts checking my body for signs of discomfort.

Through my tears, I ask one of the questions that's been nagging at me since I woke up. "Where's Luke?"

***

I drop my arms from Abby's shoulders. "I didn't mean to make you cry Abby Bee." I use my old nickname for her in hopes that it might ease the fact that I'm here instead of Luke.

"Owen," She says, still crying and sobbing. I hate hearing her sound so pitiful, especially when I can't help in anyway. "Where is Luke?"

"Do you not remember anything that happened last night?" I ask, trying to be gentle.

"I remember I was with Luke. That's all before I woke up here." Abby answers with agitation growing in her voice.

"Bee, listen." I try to find the words to explain. How do I tell the girl I love that her new boyfriend is dead? Her crying face makes explaining anything so much harder. I only want to comfort her but I doubt she will let me.

All of a sudden, Pete walks into the room, throwing the door open, trying to look like a hot shot police man.

"I told you to call me when she woke up, Owen." He growls.

"She just woke up. She doesn't remember anything about what happened." I try to whisper and be gentle of Abby's presence.

"She'll remember." Pete says, looking Abby up and down. Usually Pete gets under my skin; however, this time it went deeper. He wasn't only being an annoying ass to me, he was bringing Abby in on it. Nobody is allowed to mess with Abby, especially when I'm around. And especially not when I was so close to losing her. I only hope Luke was there to protect her while I was away wallowing in my self pity.

"What am I supposed to remember?" Abby asks, still crying.

Pete gets closer to Abby's bedside and drops to look her in the eyes. "You were attacked in your home last night. You don't remember that? You called for help from your bathroom."

"Pete, stop it!" I warn him.

"Your friend, Luke, he's dead, Abby. Someone killed him last night, at your home. We need you to remember." Pete says it all emotionless and cold. All of this was just another case for him; another reason for him to act like a big shot.

Abby's eyes look far away from where she was looking at Pete. I could see her eyes turning a gray hue. Abby's tears and sobs stop automatically.  Her crying before would be an understatement to what was about to happen.

Abby looks up into Pete's eyes and gives him a piercing glare. "Get out of my room."

Pete freezes. He's never been kicked out on the job. I go to his side and pick him up off of his knees by his shirt collar. "Pete, I'm not saying this as your superior. I'm saying this as the only person she has right now. Get the hell away from her."

Pete leaves with less confidence than when he had come in. I close the door behind him.

As soon as the door clicks shut, Abby's strong attitude deminishes and her light gray eyes shed more tears than I have ever seen.

Not knowing if it would do any good, I sit beside Abby on her bed and pull her face to my shoulder to try to comfort her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I kept saying as I stroked her hair. Seeing Abby so broken always makes me broken too. Still, a slight part of me feels jealous over Luke. Would she ever cry like this over me? Did she? I try to imagine what Abby did when we broke up but then I want to push the image out of my head as quickly as it had entered.

"It was him wasn't it? He did it. It was him." Abby keeps crying and kept telling me it was him.

I stroke her hair more. "Nobody is going to hurt you. I've got you here Abby Bee. I won't let anyone hurt you again." I kiss her head. No matter what, I will keep my word.

"You aren't going back to your house; especially not alone." Owen commands as I'm checking out of the hospital. The doctor told me that as long as I kept the wound clean as to not get an infection I could go home and schedule a time to get the stitches removed.

I shift my weight and lean against one of the brick pillars. The mental stress is making me exhausted, but I can't admit that in front of Owen. The sun outside is unusually warm for late January. We're waiting outside for someone to pick me up, even though Owen insists on driving me anywhere as long as it's not my house.

"What? Do you want to come back with me? Or better yet, have a round the clock guard in front of my house? I can take care of myself." I snap at him. I would not change my life because of this. I refuse to let him or anyone else force me to watch my back every second.

"You sure proved that." Owen mumbles under his breath. His comment sets me on edge. I'm already upset and irate, I don't need his protective lectures. "If not that, then stay with someone else." I see Owen grimace at his statement, "Hell, I'll even pay for you to stay in a hotel!"

"What makes you think any of those will make me any safer?" If something else is going to happen, I rather I be in my own home and where nobody else would get hurt.

"Abby," Owen stands in front of me and reaches out to touch my arms. "I'm just worried about you. We've been friends far too long to let this stupid argument stop me from worrying about you."

My stomach starts gathering butterflies again. Owen's eyes are looking straight into mine. When he does that I feel like he can read what I'm thinking or feeling. I look away quickly, hiding my blushing face through my hair. I try to collect my strength again. I shouldn't let him in. "I wish you had thought about that then." I say with every ounce of strength I had time to collect, which isn't a lot.

"You're still mad?" Owen asks, seemingly shocked. "Abby, it was one fight, two months ago. I just want to be your friend again."

"Don't act like you know what's happened these two months! If you want to be my friend, go back and take back everything you said to me!" I shout at him, still not facing him because of the tears welling up in my eyes. I'm not mad about the fight itself anymore. What I'm still mad about was everything he said to me when I let go of all the pride I have and tried to apologize. It still makes me cry just thinking about it.

"I will." Owen says, moving my hair out of my face to look at me. I see him out of the corner of my eyes, his face is serious. "I don't know how but I will."

I almost lose my breath again, but the bright red Honda that pulls up in front of us pulls me out of my imagination. "Josiah." I breath a sigh of relief. As soon as I see his face when he gets out of the car and makes his way to me my welled up tears spill over.

Once he reaches me, Josiah puts one of his strong arms around me and places his body in between Owen and me. I'm enveloped in Josiah's large, muscular body, but I peek around soon enough to see him glare at Owen. "Keep away from her and leave her alone." Josiah adds with the glare.

Owen's face twists into anger and confusion. Trying to avoid a fight, I put my hand on Josiah's arm. "Josiah, please, let's go. I have something to tell you." I'm able to muster up more strength this time to stop my crying.

Josiah's understanding eyes look down at me as he nods. He leads me to his flashy car and helps me in. I look out the window at Owen's confused, sad puppy dog face as Josiah drives away.

I didn't notice I was shaking until Josiah turns on the heat. I couldn't bear to tell him that I wasn't cold, but I was scared. It seems he read what I was thinking anyway when he took one of his hands off the steering wheel to hold mine.

***

I throw my pencil at the wall. I just can't concentrate and nothing is helping. Who is Josiah? Were there two other men that Abby had? Just more questions. And how am I going to win back her friendship? All of it just sucks.

I stand up and pace the room. Where did she meet him? I've never seen him around town before. And it's a small town. Where did she meet all these people?

The Abby I knew didn't make friends so easily. I was the only friend she had since she was ten. Even in high school she would be mean to anyone who asked her out.

Especially guys who look like Josiah. Pretty brown hair, same color eyes, I'm-so-perfect smile with an upscale, muscular body and city boy car. Abby would say guys like that act like they "shit rainbows" and she doesn't have patience to deal with pompous fakes.

I kick my chair away from me and it bounces on the wall and slides back. Why am I acting this way? I shouldn't be this jealous or this judgemental. I take a deep breath to calm myself. I need a minute out. I grab my cruiser keys and head down to the funeral home.

I park my car around back and go to the back building. I knock first; knowing the dangers of entering the back building without letting your presence be known. Within seconds, the door swings open and there stands Sal in his surgical gear.

"Hey, kid. How's Abby?" Sal asks from under his surgical mask.

"I don't know." I admit with a queasy feeling in my stomach. Sal removes one of his gloves to pat my back and opens the doorway to invite me inside.

"I'm