Ch.18

Fox paced outside the jail, Ethan's voice ringing in his head.

"It wasn't a mistake…proposing to Teresa.." he said over and over again.

"Was it?"

He stopped abruptly, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

"If I took it back it would kill her."

"But what if Ethan's right? What if this does give her false hope? That could kill her as well."

He sighed, slowly strolling towards the entrance.

"Well here goes nothing."

Teresa sat on her cot; her eyes fixated on the ring Fox had given her. Dreams of their wedding were dancing in her mind. For the first time in a long time, she felt truly invincible.

"Resa?"

She looked up.

"Fox!" she said joyfully, getting up and walking toward him. She reached for his hand through the cold metal bars that separated them.

"What are you doing here?"

He didn't say anything.

"Fox? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked growing uneasy.

His gaze fell to the floor.

"I told Ethan about our engagement?"

"Really? Oh what did he say?" she asked beaming.

"He thinks it was a mistake Teresa."

She blinked, not wanting to comprehend what he was saying.

"What?"

Fox sighed.

"He thinks it was a mistake for me to propose while you're in this situation."

"But why? I don't understand…"

He didn't answer.

"Fox, tell me what he said." She said sternly.

"He said I was giving you false hope." He said quietly.

Teresa laughed.

"Well that's crazy!" she exclaimed. "False hope about what? Does he think that I'm not going to get our of here?"

Fox looked at her.

"Fox, you don't believe him do you?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Her eyes grew large.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "You agree with him? What Ethan said?"

"Resa I don't know," he muttered.

She let go of his hand and slowly backed away from him.

"You don't think I'm going to get out of here…do you Fox?"

"Teresa I'm trying so hard-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I ASKED." her voice boomed. "I don't want to hear It Fox…I just want you to answer the question. Do you think that I'm going to get out of here?"

"Yes." he said quietly. "But I don't know when."

"And you've just decided that I'm not worth waiting for? You wouldn't wait for me to get out of here?"

"Teresa would you just let me explain? I'm trying to tell you that I don't care what Ethan said…I still want to be engaged to you."

"Wait so I'm confused…you want to stay engaged, even though you think it's a huge mistake. And you think it's a huge mistake because you have lost all faith in my trial and me. Am I missing anything here Fox?"

"Resa, what do you want me to say? I'm only telling you this because I thought you should know what Ethan said…"

"I'll deal with him later Fox…right now, were talking about us…about me and you…I don't think you realize how hurtful what you are saying is to me."

"Resa, I would never hurt you…"

"Not having faith in me is hurtful Fox…why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Look I'm sorry I said anything alright?" he threw his hands up. "Can we just forget about it? I'm sorry."

She stared at him for a moment.

"Leave."

"What?"

"Leave Fox…I don't want to see you right now."

"Resa…"

"FOX GO!" She yelled rushing towards the bars. "And take this stupid thing with you." she threw the ring at him, hitting him in the chest.

"Teresa, wait a minute-"

"No Fox, you wait a minute. I don't know what you think I should be feeling right now. I don't know if you think I should feel grateful that even though you think its wrong, you would suffer through an engagement with me, or if I should feel blessed that I found a guy like you has no faith in me but still pretends to care…but all I feel right now is disgust. When I look at you, it makes me sick. And I don't want to feel like that Fox. I'm tired of feeling like that."

Her voice cracked.

"Please, just leave."

Fox felt a lump form in the back of his throat. This is not how he wanted things at all.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "You know I would never hurt you."

She looked away.

Fox wanted to reach over and brush away the stray tears that had cascaded down her cheeks.

But he didn't.

"I love you Teresa." He said. And with that he walked away.

She waited a few moments to make sure he was gone. She turned around seeing the empty hall in front of her. She put her hand to her mouth as she slowly sank to her bed.

She closed her eyes trying to stifle back the sobs that were escaping.

But it was no use.