When the Leaves Stop Falling

Chapter 6

While seated on a quilted bedspread with her back to the bathroom door, Serena rolled her eyes at the phone. Luckily Courtney was still in the shower. "Austin, you're not listening--"

"I heard you just fine!"

She gave up and laid down with the receiver to her ear, giving in to the exhaustion. The bed in the motel they'd found off the highway was so comfortable she thought she would sink into the mattress. Sighing at her brother's impatient tone, she uttered again, "I feel fine."

"Oh yeah, you sound fine." Serena rolled her eyes again at his sarcasm. "You go tooling around in some cave, in the desert no less, with some person you never met, who will probably kill you in your sleep."

She chuckled, despite better efforts not to, thinking Courtney couldn't even hurt herself if she wanted to. She propped her arm over her face.

He'd been so protective of her their entire lives. That was part of her reason for escaping three years ago. She loved her little bit of family left, more than she could ever bring herself to admit. But she couldn't take the pity stares and the "are you okay's" anymore.

Sitting up, she let the sound of water from Courtney's shower drift into her to calm. "Austin, this woman couldn't hurt anyone." Contemplating how to say the next part, she sighed, noting he was listening now. "She has this scar on her arm, and she's so...hesitant. I think someone, wellI think someone from her past hurt her."

Austin paused. "What do you mean?"

"She's never traveled before, as in at all, and acts as if everything she sees is a new wonder. Which is so strange because she has this world-weary way about her. Like she's seen too much. And her eyes, Austin! I swear she can see right into my head. But she refrains from touching of any kind and doesn't know how to take a compliment."

"Where did you pick her up again?"

"In some small town just inside the Arizona border, but I don't think it was the people there hurting her." She envisioned the round faced diner owner who pushed her way into the booth, who cleverly pushed them both so expertly into this adventure neither had time to stop and think. "The woman who owns the place she waitressed at isn't family. I don't think she has any. But she was kind. Courtney made a brief reference that she took her in years ago."

"I see."

Austin could never turn his back on someone who needed it. She smiled, remembering all the stray animals he took in when they were kids, driving Grams nuts. He would bend over backwards to help anyone, even if he didn't know them. She got that part of her heart from him, the only good part.

The water shut off behind her so she took her bottle of pills from the nightstand and shoved them into the bag by her feet. "I gotta go soon."

"All right, but you need to call me three times a day until you get back."

"Okay."

"I mean it, Serena. And you are to take it easy."

"Okay! We should be there by Saturday."

Steam poured into the room. Turning, Serena watched silently as Courtney, with a small white towel draped across her midsection, fumbled through her bag on the bed. She pulled on a dark blue pair of pajama pants, and with her back to Serena, shed the towel. When she reached for her top on the dresser, Serena's gaze landed on a large white scar, running diagonal the entire length of Courtney's back, almost hidden by her creamy white skin.

"Oh, my God." Serena was off the bed before even finishing the sentence.

Franticly, Courtney covered the mark with a light blue shirt and whirled around, backing away from where Serena had moved closer. "No questions, please." Her eyes were pleading, eyebrows drawn together as if the scar still hurt.

Serena stayed where she was, not wanting to alarm her. They knew nothing about each other, not even a shred of history. She had no idea what was going on, what had happened to her new friend, but somehow determined fate interfered for a reason. Tears clogged the back of her throat, hot and heavy as she tried to swallow them down. She pressed her lips together and covered them with a shaking hand.

"I'm sorry." Sorry someone had hurt her, more than she sorry she'd pointed it out..

"Don't cry," Courtney said helplessly, at a loss. No one had ever cried for her, not in all her years, and she had no idea how to handle it. She went against instinct and took Serena's shaking hands in hers. Warmth and something dark shot up her arm from the contact. Anger, not with her, but for her. Empathy? Courtney dropped her hands and took a step back in retreat. The silence was worse than the pity in Serena's eyes. "I cleaned out the tub, if you want to go take a bath and relax."

After a couple moments, Serena lowered her eyes and nodded. "I'll be out in a little bit." Serena seized her bag and headed toward the bathroom. "The food should be here soon. They're delivering."

When the bathroom door closed, Courtney sat on the bed. Though it was only four o'clock in the afternoon, she had no energy left. Had she really gotten in a car with a stranger? She thought about calling the diner. Talking to Mrs. Meyers would remind her why she'd made this hasty move.

Instead, she glanced around the motel room. The dark burgundy interior was shut off to the outside world by heavy floral printed drapes which hung all the way down to the dark green carpet. They opted to get a single bed, since it was forty dollars cheaper. The headboard was attached to the wall, and above it were little light fixtures that dimly glowed.

She couldn't believe she'd let Serena see the scar. She was usually more cautious than that, but she'd let her guard down. Should she explain to Serena how she got the scar? Since she'd never spoken about her father to anyone, words fumbled in her head. Excuses. He had just tried to raise her right, with morals and values. If she was a better daughter, he wouldn't have had to hurt her. He used to press his Bible to her chest, hoping to bless the demons out of her that caused the visions. It hadn't worked, so he'd used other recourses.

It never worked. No matter how hard she prayed, they still came, along with the strange feelings. She couldn't even make her father happy, how was she supposed to do anything right for Serena? She would tire of her as well, and that strangely made her unbearably miserable. When she ran from her childhood home, she didn't do it to escape the hate that festered there. She left because she let him down, and didn't know what to do, or even what she did to make him stop.

A thought, one she'd had often, shoved its way into her mind before she could fight it off. Something she contemplated often since she'd been rescued by Mrs. Meyers. Maybe it would've been best if Mrs. Meyers had left her on the side of that highway ten years ago. The rain would have washed away Courtney's sins, and maybe, just maybe, God would have heard her then.