The EMT gave me a small smile as the ambulance pulled to a stop in front of the hospital and he crouched down to open the doors. “Looks like it worked, huh? Maybe you could write a song for me, help get my baby to sleep at night. Seems like it worked pretty good on her.”
“Yeah, maybe, I do know a lot of kid songs.” He patted my back after he and his partner wheeled Leah into the emergency room. “Good luck in there, bud. She looks like she’s going to pull through just fine. Unfortunately, she’ll be going through some pain in the meantime.”
I thanked him before he left and then once again focused my attention solely on my wife. I answered as many questions as I could. I unfortunately hadn’t been there for most of what trauma her body had been through. If I had, it certainly wouldn’t have gone as far as it did.
The doctors quickly took over, pointing me towards the waiting room where I did nothing but pace. I called every single one of our family members, giving them the short version of what happened, and within an hour almost every one of them was right there with me.
I instantly felt a little calmer when Caleb was placed into my arms and nuzzled his small head into my chest. Whatever happened with Leah, we would pull through this. She was one strong ass woman and put up a fight with whatever was thrown at her in life. It was one of the many reasons I had fallen in love with her so easily.
Chapter 29
Leah
My eyes slowly blinked open and instead of my husband standing over my bed, Ally’s blonde head bobbed into focus, her blue eyes wide with excitement.
“Leah, are you awake, sweetie pie? Blink once for yes and twice for no.” I rolled my eyes at her but couldn’t help my lips to curve into a small smile. I could feel how swollen my jaw still was so it didn’t go very far but Ally must have seen it because her face lit up with a wide grin.
“If I wasn’t awake how exactly would I have known to blink my eyes, Al?” I mumbled out, swallowing thickly at the dryness in my throat.
“Ah, there she is, my sweet and sarcastic, Leah. I knew you wouldn’t be gone for long. You are one tough nut,” she sang out. My eyes darted around, looking for my husband, even though I was glad to see my best friend. Things were really different when she was gone especially as of late.
“He’s down in the cafeteria. His mom finally dragged him out of here to get something in his stomach. He’s been up here every minute with you since you were brought in. Teddy and I hopped on a plane as soon as he called. I can’t believe what that crazy bitch did to you. I mean Roy’s a nice looking guy but she was pulling out all the stops to keep him. No clue why she thought beating the shit out of you would solve that.”
I groaned as my head flopped back onto the pillow and I winced as my head throbbed. Just thinking about that woman made the pain flare up. If her plan b was putting me in a butt load of pain, I guess it had worked. I don’t know how it worked out for her otherwise though.
“Is the crazy lady at least in jail? Please, tell me she is.”
“Oh yes,” she replied with a satisfied smile. “I don’t think you’ll have to be worrying about her for a long, long time. Apparently, she has a little bit of record. Obviously, nothing to the extent of what she did to you but with that all added up, she’ll either end up in jail or the looney bin. I guess either one will do.”
“Good.” Even though I would prefer seeing her go off to live life in a cold jail cell, I guess either one would do like Ally said, as long as she stayed away from my family. I didn’t think my body could put up with any more ass kickings for a while.
I closed my eyes, feeling the pain medicine slowly wash over me once again, but pried them open when I heard the door pushed open. I was rewarded when I saw my sexy husband walk in and as soon as he saw my eyes, a wide smile spread across his beautiful face, and he raced over to my bedside.
“Finally awake, baby? How are you feeling?” He brushed the pad of his thumb lightly across my lips and even with all of the medicine pumping into my system, I still felt the butterflies take flight in my stomach.
I relished in the feeling of his skin against mine. I had been ready to die when Shelia had the gun pointed at me and it felt so good to be right here, alive and breathing. “I feel like I got the shit beat out of me, but other than that I think I’m good.”
“Really?” He leaned down to kiss each corner of my mouth gently. “Because that crazy woman really did a number on you. I just wish I had gotten there a little bit sooner. I had this feeling that something was wrong so I snuck out of my conference and headed home. I’m just glad I got there when I did. I almost lost you,” he added quietly.
“But you didn’t,” I raised the hand that wasn’t in a cast and smoothed out the creases that had formed from the tension on his forehead. “She’s actually lucky that she thought to tie me up or I totally would have taken her. I guess she was smart when it came to that.”
Chase smirked and stood up straight, “You’re right, you’re here and that’s all that matters.” The door swung open once again and Teddy’s shaggy blonde head popped in. “All clear in here?”
“Yes,” Ally rolled her eyes and waved him in, “even though I know you wouldn’t mind seeing what’s underneath Leah’s hospital gown.” I watched as Teddy sauntered in and came to stand over my bed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. The two of them still looked to be totally in love with each other and they both had the same sick twisted sense of humor, which was probably why they got along so well.
“Wow, Leah. You are lookin’ like pure shit.” Chase reached over and slapped him in the back of the head as soon as he said it and gave him a death stare. “Dude, you didn’t even let me finish.” Teddy rubbed the back of his head while smirking at me.
“I was going to add before I was rudely interrupted, that you look sexy as hell as always though. If Chase wants to step out of the room, the three of us could have a real fun time, if you know what I mean.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and Ally rolled her eyes at him, even though she was smirking at him the whole time.
“Chase can stay right where he is, but thanks so much for the offer,” I stated sarcastically. I really couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, knowing the two of them, it probably was not a joke.
I still remember when we were back in high school and Ally had to re-live her night with Leo Marney and Tad Cooper by telling me every detail that had went down between the three of them. I hadn’t talked to her for a week after that.
I was all for Ally living her life however she wanted, but she did not need to share it all with me. Gross. And by the way the two of them were looking at each other, I had a feeling they were into some kinky shit.
“You still up for one more visitor before you pass out again?” I raised my eyebrows at Chase when he broke the silence, waiting for him to tell me exactly who the visitor was. I guess it kind of depended.
“Caleb wants to see you. He’s been asking about you non-stop. Roy has him out in the waiting room with my mom.” I nodded my head eagerly and Chase turned to head out the door. “Wait, how much does he know?”
“I told him you had an accident, but you know that kid, he’s too smart for his own good sometimes. He seems to be handling it pretty well, but he just wants to see you. I’ll only bring him in for a minute.” I watched as Chase left and then Ally and Teddy crowded around my bed.
“We’re gonna head out for the night, so you guys can have some family time. I’ll see you in the morning, ‘kay sweetie?” Ally leaned down to kiss me on the cheek and Teddy did the same on the opposite one with a smirk. “See you tomorrow, beautiful.”
I sighed as I leaned back and fought to keep my eyes open. I certainly didn’t want to come off as loopy and belligerent when Caleb came into see me. We had already dealt with that enough coming from Shelia.
“Mommy!” I heard a squeal as his tiny body ran in to the room and he immediately rushed to stand next to my bed, pushing to his tiptoes in order to see me. Chase came up from behind him and scooped
him into his arms so we were more at eye level.
“Hey buddy, I’m so glad you’re here. You always make me feel so much better.” I reached out to squeeze his hand and he gave me a wide smile in return. “When are all of your boo boos going to go away? You want me to kiss ‘em, so they’ll go away quicker?”
“Oh sure, I bet that would definitely work.”
“Be gentle,” Chase whispered into his ear before carefully leaning him down so he was hovering over my body and he peppered all of my injuries with kisses.
“Ah,” I breathed out. “I’m already feeling better, thanks so much. I’m really sleepy now though, do you think you can go back with Roy and be a good boy for me?” He nodded his head in answer and gave me a small wave before Chase carried him out of the room. “I’ll be right back, baby. Go to sleep though, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
My eyes instantly closed as soon as the door swung shut. I thought I would have trouble falling asleep in the hospital with the almost constant noise but my eyes grew heavy right away. I was safe and my family was here to surround me with support. Even though I could still feel the pain, the happiness overrode that and made me feel like life was finally starting to look up.
Chapter 30
Leah
It had been almost a month since I had gotten out of the hospital. Other than my wrapped wrist, you could hardly tell that someone had tried to kill me. Luckily, Mary had went to work pretty quickly as soon as the police had cleared our house and by the time I came home from the hospital, everything was back into perfect order, even more so than before Shelia had wreaked havoc in it.
Ally had helped too, by doing her favorite thing, shopping. Almost every single one of Caleb’s toys and stuffed animals had been replaced before he came home, so he never had to see the damage that had been done and he was just excited to have everything new.
Shelia still remained in jail, waiting for a trial that was soon to come. Our lawyer assured us that she would get plenty of time, whether in prison or a mental institution, and I guess that was all we could ask for. As long as she got some kind of punishment for what she had done, we would be happy. Other than that, we had completely pushed that situation out of our minds, wanting to move on with our lives.
The weekend had come and it was the first one that we were letting Caleb spend at Roy’s again. I knew none of this had been Roy’s fault and I knew how guilty he felt, but I was nervous to let Caleb out of my sight for even longer than a second.
Roy had completely understood why I felt that way and I had finally worked up to the point where I thought it would be okay for Caleb to go. I know how much he loved his dad and I wasn’t going to stop their relationship from growing just because of my fears.
“You about ready, baby? Mom said dinner should be ready around six, so I think we should be heading out.” I glanced over at the clock after pulling my sundress over my head and rolled my eyes.
It was only four-thirty and we had at the most a twenty minute drive. “Okay, I’m coming. What’s the hurry anyway? We have oodles of time.” I sat down on his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck where he was patiently waiting for me on the living room couch, but he abruptly stood up and lowered my feet to the ground.
“No time for that woman. We need to get out of here.” He shoved his hands into his jeans that hung low on his hips and I followed closely behind, enjoying the view, even if he was rushing me for no reason.
He looked extremely yummy today with a form fitting black shirt on that hugged his back and a black hat pulled on backwards. I loved when he wore them like that, his green eyes were more visible and I could stare into them for hours. Ah, that was a little cheesy, wasn’t it? Oh, well I guess I could be cheesy if I wanted to. I earned it.
He held the truck door open for me, gripping my hips through the thin material of my dress before boosting me inside. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look in that dress? Absolutely amazing,” he stated as he slid behind the steering wheel and flung an arm over the seat to back out of the driveway.
“Why thank you, kind sir,” I replied in a southern drawl. “You look pretty amazing yourself.”
“I try. Mom’s dying to see us; we haven’t had a family dinner in a while.”
“I know, I wish Caleb would have been home to go with us. I guess there’s always next time. I know he was excited about going to Roy’s house, especially since I reassured him about a hundred times that Shelia would most definitely not be there.”
“It’s okay, baby. Just like you said, there’s always next time. Now that everything has finally settled down, I’m sure Mom will have them every week again. We have one stop to make before starting the trip over there.” I looked at him questioningly as he drove but his lips were pursed tightly and I knew he wouldn’t budge and tell me where we were going, no matter how much I bothered him. I sighed and leaned against the headrest, closing my eyes for what only felt like a few minutes before I felt the truck come to a stop.
“Where exactly are we?” I felt his hand cover my eyes as he pulled me out of the truck. “No peeking.” Grass tickled my feet through my platform sandals and then finally we stopped.
“Okay, I thought this would help a little bit with the whole healing process. I talked to the doctor to see what she thought and she figured it would help too. My mom suggested this right after…well right after you got out of the hospital, but I knew you probably couldn’t handle it then. I just-”
I huffed out a breath to interrupt his rambling. “Chase, whatever it is, I promise I’ll be okay, just uncover my damn eyes.” He did as I asked and I looked around, quickly realizing we were in a cemetery. “What…?” Any question I was going to ask, rushed out of me when I saw the small headstone across from my feet. It read:
~Baby Boy O’Neil~
To the world you are just a part, but to us you are the world.
The feelings that were running through me were so overwhelming; it was a mix of sadness at what we had lost, but also happiness for what Chase had done. A single tear ran down my face as I ran a hand over each word that was carved so carefully. Chase stood silently watching me the whole time; it was only then that I noticed the pile of fresh flowers.
“I try to visit at least once a week,” he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “It seems to help. I thought it would for you too, but we can leave if you want.”
“It was a little boy,” I whispered and Chase reached out to wrap me in a tight hug, kissing my forehead as I sank into his warmth. “Thank you, for bringing me here, for doing this. I almost feel like I should be having a break down or something right now, but it feels more like closure.”
“That’s kind of how I thought of it. Now, you can visit whenever you like.” I nodded my head, looking down at the headstone once again. I couldn’t believe how sweet and thoughtful my husband was, even when he was going through a hard time of his own.
“You ready to go or you want a little more time?”
“Nope,” I took a deep breath and turned towards my husband. “I’m good. Let’s go.”
He led me back towards the truck and boosted me in. “I guess I’m a little glad Caleb is gone this weekend. I felt like we needed to do that alone. Thank you.”
“No problem, baby. Caleb’s went with me a few times actually. He doesn’t actually understand the whole thing, but he likes to go. Are you sure you’re still up for dinner?”
“Of course, really I’m fine. Better than I have been in a while. I’m glad we’re getting back into a sense of normalcy again. It was gone for so long, it feels good to have it back.”
“Good,” he responded. “Besides, I wanted a little alone time with you.” I turned when his hand landed on my bare thigh as he drove and he smirked at me with a sideways look. “You know we haven’t christened the truck since we got married,” he added in a husky voice.
“Mmhm,” I breathed out as his fingers inched upwards on the inside of my leg. “I think we’ve been pretty busy. But I th
ink it’s a little inappropriate, now that we’re grown adults, don’t you think? I mean you are a teacher and all. How do you think it would look if Mr. O’Neil got caught with his pants down?” I lightly teased and inched away from his wandering hand.
“I think that they would probably be pretty jealous and I also think that I don’t give a damn about what other people think. Right, baby?” He gave me a wicked smile, that made me squirm in my seat just thinking about what he was going to do. The truck came to an abrupt stop and I realized he had turned into a roadside park and pulled into the most secluded spot there was.
“Now, get over here.” He lightly yanked on my hand until our bodies were right next to each other, and there wasn’t an inch of space between us.
I was still playing hard to get though; he had to work for this if he wanted to have a little fun. I sat there still as a statue, looking out the windshield at the line of lush green trees in front of me. Like they were really that interesting. Right. Not when I had Chase O’Neil trying to seduce me.
He let out a low laugh when I refused to turn his way and huffed out a breath. “Fine, playing hard to get, I see.” It was like he was a freaking mind reader and knew exactly what game I was playing.
His hand slipped onto my thigh once again as the same time his mouth sunk down to my neck, lightly nipping at the sensitive spot right behind my ear. This time he didn’t tease though. His hand went straight for my silk panties and he rubbed lightly on the outside of the material back and forth with his thumb.
“Mmhm, I can tell you want nothing to do with this,” he murmured out, a smile forming against my neck. “You can’t deny that you’re excited, right?” A traitorous moan escaped my lips when he pushed aside the material and instantly sunk in two fingers.
“Okay, I’m done playing games.” I swung my leg around until I was straddled across his lap and he smirked back at me once we were face to face. “That didn’t take you very long, guess I have magic fingers, huh?”
Limitless (Journey Series) Page 15
