“Ms. Clara,” I said, instinctively extending my hand to her as she turned around to face me. Destiny had told me everyone called her mother Ms. Clara. “I’m Jacob…Destiny’s fiancé.”
She glared at my hand, and then looked at me like I was the lowliest vermin she’d ever seen. “My daughter ain’t nobody’s fiancée! If she had one, I’d be the first to know,” she said.
“That’s right,” Montie added.
“With all due respect, ma’am, Destiny is my fiancée. We got engaged earlier tonight,” I assured Ms. Clara.
“Well, it seems more than an engagement happened tonight, now didn’t it?” she said with each word holding contempt.
“Given the situation, I’m only allowed to let immediate family back to see her. Since she doesn’t have a legal husband, it is up to you who those people will be,” Dr. Searcy said to Ms. Clara.
“That will be me and him,” Ms. Clara said pointing to Montie. “The two of us will go back, but is she going to be okay?” Ms. Clara asked the doctor.
“Well, she’s unconscious. She is in critical, but stable condition. There is swelling on her brain from where she was hit multiple times with a pistol, but all of her vital signs are looking good,” he paused for a second looking from me to Ms. Clara. “She really is a fighter.”
“Hit with a pistol? Oh, my God!” Ms. Clara said falling aimlessly into Montie’s waiting arms to cry. Her arms shook viciously as he consoled her. She kept screaming, “Oh, my God. This isn’t happening to my baby. Oh, my God!”
“It’s going to be okay,” Montie said as he looked at me, shaking his head from side to side.
“Take me to see her, doctor. I have to go see my baby,” Ms. Clara said.
“I’m sorry this happened, Ms. Clara. I fully intend to make this right,” I said taking a step toward her.
“You get away from me!” she yelled before I was within a foot of her.
“You don’t know me, but I would never harm a hair on Destiny’s head. In fact, the person who is responsible will regret ever putting a hand on her,” I said, as I grew tired of playing Mr. Nice. The only thing that mattered to me was being at Destiny’s side. “Let me be there for her,” I added.
Dr. Searcy repeated, “Only immediate family can come past this point.”
“And that includes me!” I said frustrated that Dr. Searcy kept making that point and that Ms. Clara had chosen to let Montie go with her.
“I know you haven’t met me, but I’m more family to Destiny than Montie is,” I told Ms. Clara.
“You’re right. I don’t know you, and until you have a good explanation of what happened at your house, Jacob, you’ll be out here in this waiting room,” she said focusing all of her frustration toward me. Her eyes narrowed and I felt that she would pounce on me at any moment.
“All I know is my ex-girlfriend went to my house and attacked her.”
“Your ex attacked her?” Montie asked, as he stepped forward to confront me.
“Get out of my face, Montie!” I understood his frustration, but I was tired of him flexing his weak muscles.
“You got my children’s mother dealing with some ex-girlfriend mess? You better hope for your sake that she makes it out of here the same way you found her, or I’m beating your ass, white boy,” Montie said, before pressing his finger into my chest.
That poke to my chest was all it took for me to cock my fist back and bust Montie square in the nose. Months of playing Mr. Nice with him had finally rattled me. His bull crap sent me over the edge.
“You keep your punk ass hands off me,” I said as he fell to the ground.
“Lexi, call security!” Dr. Searcy said as he stepped away from us with his eyes the size of quarters.
I saw the shock and agony appear in Ms. Clara’s face when she rushed over to help Montie to his feet. It was obvious she was on his side. There was no way she would allow me to go back to see Destiny after knocking him out. I turned around and stormed out of the emergency room, fuming.
CHAPTER TWO
Montie
We Belong Together
Jacob sucker punched me and ran just like the coward he is. He had Destiny fooled, thinking he was some big, tough guy. He was nothing more than a high-class punk. If he had still been standing there when I got my bearings, I would have put some of the Kung-Fu I learned in martial arts class on that pretty boy.
Ms. Clara reached her hand out to help me get up. “Come on, Montie.”
I got to my feet and looked around at the stunned hospital staff. A police officer was talking to Dr. Searcy. “The doctor told me what happened,” the officer said. “Would you like to press charges against the person that hit you?”
“That won’t be necessary,” I said, knowing that I would see Jacob again. I planned to get revenge and I didn’t need any help from the law.
“Are you okay?” Lexi asked. She came over to check me out.
I nodded. “I’m fine.”
“Ms. Baker is this way,” Lexi said, pointing me in the right direction.
“Thanks,” Ms. Clara and I said together.
“Jacob is going to have to deal with me,” I said to Ms. Clara, ignoring the painful sting in my nose as we walked down the long hall to Destiny’s room.
“I don’t know what she was thinking by getting herself into this mess,” Ms. Clara said, rolling her eyes. “But she needs us to be strong for her right now.”
“You’re right,” I said as we walked into Destiny’s room.
Security had been called by the staff, so two husky men wearing brown shirts and khaki pants made it to the room just as we were walking in. “Is everything okay?” the tallest and huskiest security guard asked.
“Everything is under control now,” Dr. Searcy told the guard before turning his attention back to us. “Like I said, everything is touch and go right now, so all you can do is just be here as a show of love and support. Don’t try to ask her any questions or anything,” he warned.
I had to brace myself at the sight of Destiny. She had so many bruises and tubes going to and from the machines beside her bed. Her head was wrapped in bandages, but what could be seen was dark and bruised.
“Oh, my baby,” Ms. Clara said as she began to shake and whimper. “Who would do something like this to my baby? She has never hurt a soul!”
“She’s lucky the officers got there when they did. They had to shoot down the perpetrator before she was able to kill Destiny.” Dr. Searcy pointed to an officer, who had been standing guard outside Destiny’s room.
“Where is the other woman now?” I asked, half out of curiosity and half out of the desire to strangle any life she might have left in her.
“She’s at another hospital. I can’t disclose which one. Because of the nature of this incident, we are on high alert. You will have to talk to the police to get more information about what happened before Destiny arrived here.”
“Thanks, and we appreciate what you’ve done to save Destiny’s life. She means a lot to us,” I told Dr. Searcy. He nodded as he walked out to give us a few minutes of privacy.
Why did I let my wife go? I kept asking myself questions like that over and over again. I listened to the whimpers of Ms. Clara as my own tears threatened to fall. Destiny deserved to have a man by her side, protecting and serving her every moment of the day. How could Jacob claim he loved her, but let one of his other women do something like this? Destiny misread him, but I didn’t. I knew he wasn’t worth shit.
I stepped out into the hallway and found the doctor. I needed reassurance. “Dr. Searcy, is Destiny going to pull through this?”
“It will all depend on how she responds over the next forty eight hours. We’re waiting for a bed in the ICU. She has to go for neurological testing before we can make any judgment calls.”
“Do everything you can for her. We need her,” I said.
“We sure will. You can go back and visit for about ten more minutes, and then she’s going to need to get some rest,” D
r. Searcy said as he pat my shoulder for good measure.
Ms. Clara was standing beside the bed holding Destiny’s hand and praying when I walked back in the room. I dropped my head in prayer and went to the opposite side of the bed. I took Destiny’s other hand.
“Dear God, long time ago, I put my only daughter in Your capable hands. I know with you all things are possible. There is no bullet, beating or strife that is stronger than Your will. Please see my baby through this and restore her, in your name! Let her be healed by your Holy hands, now and forever.” The tears that were falling down Ms. Clara’s face had dried up by the time she finished her prayer.
I looked down at the woman I still considered my wife. She didn’t look like her usual gorgeous self. Her face was riddled with red bruises that were beginning to darken. Her forehead was swollen, and she was completely out of it. Still, an aura of eternal beauty surrounded her. I wanted to kiss her on her full lips and tell her how much I loved her, and never intended to let her go again.
“Everything I did in our marriage, I did for us,” I said as I held her hand and kissed it. “I love you, Destiny.” She slightly squeezed my hand after a while of my gripping her tender hand and praying for any sign that she would be okay. “Ms. Clara, she squeezed my hand!” I breathlessly said.
“Praise Him! God put it in my spirit that my baby is going to be just fine,” Ms. Clara said as she continued to hold one hand and I held the other. “She’s going to be just fine!”
I went to tell Dr. Searcy what Destiny had done. He came into the room with a nurse. “If you wouldn’t mind stepping out for a while. We’re going to send her for those neurological tests,” Dr. Searcy said. The nurse began checking Destiny’s manual blood pressure and writing notes.
Ms. Clara held onto Destiny’s hand. She didn’t want to let go. Hell, I didn’t want to let go either, but I knew we had to let the pros do what they had to do. I went around the bed and took Ms. Clara’s hand.
“Come on,” I said. “We can go get the kids from my mother’s house and go back to your house to rest for a few hours.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Ms. Clara said, holding tight to Destiny’s hand.
“It’ll only be for a few hours,” I said reassuringly.
“Here, here is my key. Go to my house and get me a change of clothes and I’ll change here,” she said, unwilling to leave Destiny’s side. “I’ll wait in the waiting room until they bring her back from her tests. I don’t want her to be alone for one second.”
I knew that was Ms. Clara’s final answer from the look in her eyes. “Sure,” I said as I walked out of the hospital room with a heavy heart.
On the drive to my mother’s house, I thought about where things went wrong. Destiny didn’t understand my ambition when we were together. I put in a whole lot of work to be able to make six figures at my own company. While Destiny was at home raising our kids and taking care of our home, I was constantly working at building my business. I worked well into the midnight hour many nights, so even when I was home, I wasn’t.
She eventually grew tired of the distance growing between us. She offered to work with me at the company, but I declined. I had my own vision and I thought her working with me would cloud it. Even as we stood in the courtroom and said our ‘I don’ts’, I always felt that one day we would make it back to each other.
I remembered when she handed me the divorce papers like it was yesterday. I’d spent every weekend away from home for a month. During those business trips, I didn’t call home and I didn’t answer her calls. That was her final straw. “If I have to feel alone, I might as well not be married,” were her exact words.
I asked her to rethink the divorce and she did for a while, but my work schedule did not change. I was on the verge of making my business successful. My new software design was about to become a hit, so I couldn’t slow up. I wished she would’ve held on a little longer, but she didn’t. All of which led up to this moment.
CHAPTER THREE
Destiny
The Meaning of Goodbye
An unspeakable fear traveled through me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t even open my eyes. The doctors had been in my room discussing how to lessen the swelling on my brain. Nurses were in and out moving me around and running checks and tests on various parts of my body. From the tone of some of them, they didn’t know if I would make it another forty-eight hours.
My heart beat to the rhythm of the beeps on the monitor. A mixture of thankfulness and vengeance ran through my mind as I struggled to understand what all was happening. I wanted to get up out of that bed and go see my kids. I wanted to move on my own, but I couldn’t. I wanted to talk, but tubes were down my throat.
“What happened to the woman that did this?” I heard Montie ask.
“She’s at another hospital. I can’t disclose which one. Because of the nature of this incident, we are on high alert. You will have to talk to the police to get more information about what happened before she arrived here…”
Their conversation was a brutal reminder of what Justine had done. I didn’t like the fact that Justine was not in jail, especially when I lie in that hospital unable to move or talk.
The first moment of security I felt was when Montie held my hand, kissed it and said, “Everything I did in our marriage, I did for us. I love you, Destiny.”
I was content that he was there. I was assured that he would not let anything else happen to me. I spent seven years with Montie and nothing like this ever happened. He had his faults, but my not having one trip to the emergency room accounted for something. I never thought I’d be lying in a hospital bed in the name of love.
I squeezed his hand as hard as I could to let him know, without words, that I loved him, too. I never stopped loving him. After all, he was the father of my children.
“Ms. Clara, she squeezed my hand,” Montie zealously said.
“Praise Him! God has already put it in my spirit that my baby is going to pull through this. She will be just fine,” Mama said, holding my other hand tight. Mama had the spirit moving on my behalf and Montie was showing his unconditional love.
Meanwhile, I kept listening for the sound of Jacob’s voice to break through the noise. I loved Montie, but only the man I was in love with could put my mind at ease.
As I lie battered and bruised by Justine’s hands, Jacob’s unwavering show of support that he so freely extended to her hours ago was grossly absent. That detail sunk in as I succumbed to whatever medicines the doctors had flowing in my IV and my mind went completely black.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jacob
You’re a Billion Dollar Man
“Drive me home,” I said to Henry, as I plunked down into the backseat of my car. I was so upset, I knew I couldn’t stay at that hospital any longer. I would have ended up breaking Montie to pieces. Who does he think he is to tell me I can’t see my woman?
Compounding his pesky antics was the way Ms. Clara looked at me after I hit him. I didn’t like that she had to meet me under these circumstances any more than she did, but she could have at least heard me out.
“Sir, are you sure you want to go in here?” Henry asked as he pulled into my driveway. There was crime scene tape everywhere and my once immaculate lawn looked like a certified war zone. Even my house looked eerie. I had a good mind to go back to Grady Memorial and finish Montie off, and then head over to Justine’s hospital next.
“No, take me to the nearest hotel,” I ordered once I saw the crime scene tape. If I went in and saw an ounce of Destiny’s blood splattered in that house, it would only cause my rage to boil over.
“Dad,” I said, after dialing my father’s number. I was in route to the hotel and had to talk to the old man. He was the only person I trusted to help reel me in from the murderous feeling growing in my heart.
“What’s going on, Son?”
“Nothing good, Dad,” I said deeply inhaling and exhaling the fresh wind blowing into my car window. �
��Justine just came to my house in Atlanta and attacked my girlfriend.”
“Justine who?”
“Our Justine, Dad.”
“She did what?”
“You heard me right. She came all the way to Atlanta and attacked my girlfriend at gunpoint. Now, Destiny is in the hospital in critical condition and her family is pissed at me and won’t let me see her.”
“Hold on. I know you’re not telling me our sweet little Justine tried to kill someone,” Dad said.
“She didn’t try to kill just anyone. It was my girlfriend.”
“That just can’t be right. It’s not even in her nature to do something like that. She’s always been so nice and respectful,” Dad said, seeming unable to wrap his mind around what I was telling him.
“Well, she’s not playing nice and respectful now. What she did was premeditated, calculated and evil. I’m so angry with Justine! We better not ever cross paths again,” I barked.
“Son, first of all you’re going to calm down and let the proper authorities handle everything. Tell me what happened?”
“Someone called my house and said Justine was at Calvary General after having attempted suicide. They told me she wasn’t doing well. I tried calling her parents, but didn’t get an answer.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” Dad asked.
“After her parents didn’t answer and I got the call from the hospital, I jumped on the jet. I meant to call you on the plane, but Justine called before I had the chance to. She told me she was at my house about to kill Destiny.”
“This is crazy!” Dad said.
“That’s why I’m so fucking upset. I left my girlfriend…no, actually my fiancée, to be by Justine’s side, and she calls me with this shit!”
“If Justine was at Calvary General, how did she get to Atlanta to attack Destiny?” Dad asked perplexed.
Breathless 2: In Love With An Alpha Billionaire Page 2
