I am so bad. I should have had this fic, and all my fics, updated weeks ago. I've been saying once Tax Season was over, and I wasn't working two jobs I'd get back to a regular routine of writing…Then I got sick and we lost three employees at my work all at once (Day Care…one pregnant, one hit a child, one flat out quit…)It's been a mess at work so I've been working overtime and stuff…Not that you guys really care. You just want me to get down to the business of writing, so here is the latest chapter of After The Rain, and hopefully the others will lend themselves to updates soon…

This chapter carries abusive Kevin and Simon X Morris warnings. Read at your own risk. You have been warned.

Chapter 11:

*~Lucy~*

"I'm going with you."

I blinked at her. Roxanne. Kevin's partner. A cop. "What?" How could a cop just leave? Cops don't leave. Cops are supposed to be strong, protective, fierce.

'I can't stay here. He'll kill me. Luce, you know what he's capable of. You're the only one."

For one split second I almost suggested staying and joining forces to fight him. But it would never work. Especially with me being pregnant. My baby had to be my first priority, even before trying to take Kevin Kinkirk down.

My hands lay against my stomach. My baby. I had to leave. For the baby. I had no choice. I would do what I had to do, anything to keep my baby safe.

"Roxanne…" her name felt like a balloon losing air, drifting away, wilting.

She looked down, then up and her hair fell like a curtain around her face. "I'm a cop. I have connections. I know a guy. I can get fake IDs and we can go to Mexico if we want. Anywhere."

"How soon?"

"I don't know. I'll have to get away from Kevin to see him about it. And I need a picture. Do you have your driver's license with you?"

"In my purse."

I watched her walk over to the storage cabinet. She struggled to get her arms up high enough to open it, and I had to close my eyes. But then I saw a scene so clearly in my mind, Kevin backing Roxanne into a corner, hitting her, kicking her, attacking her methodically until she collapsed on the ground, and Roxanne moaning, curled up in the fetal position to protect her face as best she could.

He would never hit her in the face. Her uniform would hide bruises from the neck down.

"I was never here, you know that, right?"

I nodded and she was gone. I lay there thinking how easy it would be to get up and walk away on my own, before Roxanne came back. Before Kevin came back. Before I saw my parents again. I didn't want to see them. I wasn't sure I could keep my cool, and my secret. They would know, Kevin would know, something was up.

I took a deep breath. I had to stay calm, I had to keep my plans a secret, for the baby's sake. I couldn't risk letting Kevin anywhere near the baby.
*~Simon~*

"Get me out of here."

"What? Dude, you can hardly sit up," Morris looked at me almost as if I was speaking a language he didn't understand.

"You can carry me."

His puzzled expression made me think he thought I must have lost my mind. Maybe I had. I would, for certain, if I stayed in the hospital much longer. I felt like a monkey on display at the zoo, laying there where anyone could come by and look.

"Morris, please, man. I'm begging you."

He stood up and paced the small space between the walls at the end of my bed. My vision had improved only slightly, but enough to see that he looked like he had lost weight. He was so thin. Paper thin, some people might say.

"I can't, Simon. You know I can't."

"Why not?"

"Your parents for one."

I rolled my eyes, which hurt and I grimaced. "I don't care about them, or the stupid doctors or anything. I want out of here. I have to get out of here."

He stood at the end of the bed with his hands on the footboard. I imagined he gripped it so tight his knuckles turned white. I wanted to tell him I was sorry, I didn't mean to put him on the spot like that, but I couldn't make the words come. I was sorry, only because I couldn't get out of the stupid bed by myself.

"It's not that easy, Simon. Where am I going to take you? I'm no doctor. I can't take care of you."

Morris taking care of me. Now that was a thought I liked. I could see the two of us living together, alone, somewhere far far away from my parents and his parents and everyone. Just the two of us. Morris and me.

I reached for his hand and he moved to stand next to the bed. I brought my other hand up to the back of his neck and pulled him down to me.

His lips were dry, but his mouth yielded to me. I closed my eyes and felt an electric shock jolt through me when our tongues touched. My mind drifted away, into a peaceful oblivion for just a few moments that felt like flying. I was soaring over the top of the world and Morris was right there with me.

After a long, intense moment, I dragged my mouth to his ear and whispered softly, "When the doctor gives me the okay then. I want you to get me out of here. Out of Glen Oak."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

End chapter 11. I hope it was worth the wait. ;) Please use the review option to leave your thoughts, and don't waste your time or mine with flames…Honest feedback, constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks so much! Lucky Star (JJsLuckyStar )