Page 87 - It Ends with Us

The n I was n’t.

I do n’t real ly know what hap pened, but I’m guessing he threw me of f of hi m.
I just remembered one second I was on hi s bac k an d the next second I was on
the ground an d my forehe ad hu r t like you wouldn ’t believe. My mom was
sitting next to me, ho ldi ng my head an d telling me she was sor r y. I looked
around for my da d, but he was n’t the re. He’d gotten into hi s car an d drove of f
af ter I hi t my he ad.

My mom gav e me a rag an d told me to ho ld it to my he ad becau se it was
bleedi ng an d the n she he lped me to he r car an d drove me to the ho spital . On the
way the re she only sai d one thi ng to me.
“Whe n the y as k you what hap pened, tell the m you slipped on the ice.”
Whe n she sai d that , I just looked out my windo w an d star ted cr ying.
Be cau se I tho ught for sure thi s was the final straw. That she would leav e hi m
now that he had hu r t me. That was the moment I real ized that she ’d never

leav e hi m. I felt so de feat ed, but I was too scared to say an ythi ng to he r ab out
it.
I had to get nine stitche s in my forehe ad. I’m still not sure what I hi t my
he ad on, but it do esn’t real ly mat ter. The fac t is, my fat he r was the reas on I was
hu r t an d he di dn ’t even stay an d che ck on me. He just left us both the re on the
floor of the gar ag e an d left.

I got ho me real ly lat e las t night an d fell right to sleep becau se the y had given
me some kind of pai n pill.
Thi s morning whe n I wal ked to the bus, I tried not to look di rectly at Atlas
so he wouldn ’t see my forehe ad. I had fixed my hai r so that you couldn ’t real ly
see it an d he di dn ’t notice right away. Whe n we sat do wn next to eac h othe r on
the bus, our han ds touche d whe n we were putting our stuf f on the floor.
His han ds were like ice, Ellen. Ice.

That ’s whe n I real ized that I forgot to give hi m the blan kets I had pulled out
for hi m yesterda y becau se my mothe r got ho me sooner than I expected. The
incide nt in the gar ag e sor t of took over al l my tho ught s an d I completely forgot
ab out hi m. It had snowed an d iced al l night an d he had been over the re at that
ho use in the dar k al l by hi mself. And now he was so cold, I di dn ’t know ho w he
was even functioning.

I grab bed both of hi s han ds in mine an d sai d, “Atlas . You’re freezing.”
He di dn ’t say an ythi ng. I just star ted rubbing hi s han ds in mine to war m
the m up. I lai d my he ad on hi s shoulde r an d the n I di d the most embar ras sing
thi ng. I just star ted to cr y. I do n’t cr y ver y much, but I was still so upset by