Chapter 7
After hanging up the phone, Charlie followed a group of students into the university cafeteria. They were serving sandwiches, and Charlie got in line. He got a sandwich and two bottles of water. Quickly he gulped most of the first bottle of water. He bit into the sandwich. Something tasted a bit off. He decided that it was because it was so hot and humid. He ignored the 'off' taste, and hungrily finished the sandwich. He polished off the rest of the bottle of water, and tucked the second bottle under his arm. He approached the counter, and politely asked for another bottle of water to take back to Jordan. Charlie put the two bottles into a small plastic bag, tied them to the bike's handle bars, and started back to the cottage.
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After Charlie left, Jordan busied herself. She found the broom, and swept as much water as she could out of the hallway, and out the back door. She swept as much of the house as she could. There was shattered glass, broken tile, and brick everywhere. The master bedroom, where she and Charlie had slept, was now wet and filled with debris that had blown in when the windows had imploded. Jordan gathered up their remaining salvageable belongings, and took them into the second bedroom.
Jordan surveyed the second bedroom. This room didn't have a window, which had struck her as odd before, but now she was thankful for it. They had a room to stay in that wasn't full of glass shards. She tugged the mattress back onto the bed. She looked in the closet, and found clean sheets for the bed. She made the bed, and put their luggage into the closet. The cottage was horribly hot, but at least they had a place to sleep that was clean and dry.
Jordan walked into the kitchen, and ate some dry cereal for lunch. She drank some water, and watched out the window. Charlie had been gone for quite a while. She hoped he was okay, and that he got back soon.
Suddenly, Jordan heard a noise in the back of the cottage. She froze, listening. Quietly, she crept towards the sound, listening.
A strange man was standing in the second bedroom. He had Charlie's lap top in his hands. His head jerked around, and he saw Jordan. The man put the lap top down, and grinned as he came towards her. "Well, well. What do we have here?"
Jordan froze. She was terrified. "What do you want?" She took a few steps back.
"What do you 'think' I want?" He grinned, and reached for her.
Jordan screamed, and ran out of the room. The man chased her, getting her cornered in the living room. "Get away from me!" she told him threateningly.
"Or what?" he taunted. "What's a little girl like you gonna do?" He grinned, and lunged at her. She screamed and tried to run. The man grabbed a handful of Jordan's long hair. He put a hand around her throat and pushed her against the wall. Jordan was crying, terrified, and angry. She tried to fight him off, but he tightened his grip on her throat. He watched with satisfaction as she struggled against him. He relaxed his grip.
Jordan sucked in a deep breath. She was crying. "Please don't. I have a child. She needs me."
"A kid, huh? You got a man?"
Tears streamed down Jordan's face. "Mmm Hmm."
"Is he here? Where is he?"
Jordan's heart pounded. This guy was huge. She didn't want him anywhere near Charlie.
"I said, 'where is he?'" He pushed her hard up against the wall. He grabbed her breast and pinched hard. Jordan tried to slap him. He slapped her hard across her face. "You gonna slap me, you little bitch?"
He pressed himself against her. Jordan started screaming, fighting him with everything she had. He grabbed her around the neck.
His hands were huge and hard. She was struggling to get air. Jordan suddenly remembered something Don had once told her. "Go for the throat."
Don and Colby had been having dinner with them one night, and the two of them had told Jordan to always aim for the attacker's throat. Jordan had laughed at the time. She was a housewife, married to a math professor. She had doubted she'd ever be in that type of situation. Now, their words were ringing in her ears. Jordan brought her hand up, forcing her fingers, as hard as she could, into the hollow of the man's throat. He gasped, and immediately released her. Jordan was gasping, as she tried to run from him. The man held his throat a moment, then went after her again.
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Charlie was finally back at the cottage. He leaned the bike against the side of the house, and started walking towards the door, when he heard the terrified screams of his wife.
Charlie froze, and looked around wildly. A long metal post, obviously part of someone's chain link fence, was lying a few feet away. Charlie seized it, and ran into the cottage.
Charlie came into the room, and found a strange man pinning Jordan down. She was sobbing and screaming, trying to fight him off. The man's intentions were obvious.
Jordan, with her arms pinned down and unable to fight him, spit into the man's face. He momentarily released one of her arms, and hit her hard across the face.
At that moment, Charlie screamed, "Get away from my wife!" and he struck the man with the fence post as hard as he could.
The man screamed in pain, as he fell. He clutched his shoulder, and glared menacingly at Charlie.
Charlie was enraged. He held the post up threateningly. He lowered his voice, and told him very icily, "I said, 'get away from my wife'. Now."
The man hesitated. Charlie swung the metal post. The man barely managed to dodge the blow, and ran out of the cottage.
Charlie dropped the post and ran to Jordan. She was crying and terrified. He pulled her into his arms, and held her as she sobbed.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I should never have left you here by yourself. I wasn't here, and he hurt you." Charlie looked at her miserably. "I am so sorry."
Jordan looked at him. "This wasn't your fault."
Charlie wasn't buying it. He looked her over carefully. Her eyes were red from crying. He saw her bruised swollen cheek, bruised lips, and the huge bruises forming around her throat. Tears welled in his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
She laid against his chest, trembling, letting her tears flow, as Charlie held her protectively. No way would he leave her alone again. He gently kissed her wet, bruised face.
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Later that evening...
Jordan was curled up, asleep on the bed. Charlie walked into the bathroom. He took a large plastic cup, and filled it with water from the bathtub. He put the stopper in the sink, and poured the water into it. He wished he could get a shower, but unfortunately this was going to have to do. Charlie got out a clean wash cloth, and started peeling off his clothes. He was down to his underwear, when he heard a sound behind him. He whirled around, and saw Jordan. Charlie relaxed. "You startled me."
"Sorry." Jordan put the lid down on the toilet, and sat down. She looked at him.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "I should never have left you here by yourself. It's my fault." He looked down into the sink.
"No, it's not. Stop saying that." She shook her head at him. "It's just one of those things. We never thought anyone would do this. You can't blame yourself for this. Besides, you stopped him, and ran him off. So technically, that makes you my hero." She gave him a little smile.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Hardly." He looked at her, taking her face in his hands, turning her face to examine her cheek, then pulling her hair back to look at her throat. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I am fine. Bruised. But fine." She hesitated. "By the way, you had excellent timing." She smiled.
Charlie sighed. "I don't even want to think about that." He shook his head, as he thought of that creep on top of her... and what he would have done. The thought turned his stomach. Charlie looked at her. "I would have killed him," he said quietly.
Jordan said nothing, as she wrapped her arms around Charlie, and buried her face in his neck. He hugged her tightly. His heart ached. "Jordan, I'm..."
Jordan stopped him by putting her hand over his lips. She lifted her face and looked into his dark sad eyes. "Don't apologize anymore. It is not your fault." She removed her hand, and kissed him before he could speak. She pulled away from him, and walked to the bathroom door. "Now, then. I'm going to go check out our food stash, and see what we can have for dinner."
Charlie watched her walk out. He sighed, and went back to his "sink bath".
