by Ivy Smoak
"Mad? Why would I be mad?" He laughed. "No. This baby is going to be every part of you. Sweet and kind and good. No, I'm not mad."
"I thought you'd be upset."
"No, baby." He kissed the side of my neck and pulled me against him again. "Never. I'm going to be a dad." He buried his face in my hair.
"You're going to be a great dad."
He just held me in response. I let myself cry against his shoulder. This was all I needed. For him to hold onto me. This was all I ever needed.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he whispered.
"I'm okay." I was holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping me afloat.
"And the baby? Everything's okay?"
I pulled back. "I don't know. I found out I was pregnant right after you came to the hospital. I was a mess. I couldn't eat. I... I don't know."
"I'll go tell Porter or Briggs to get the nurse."
"No." I grabbed his arm before he could get up. "Briggs was working for her. She threatened his wife and daughter. And the nurse drugged you. I don't know if she knew what she was doing or if it was an accident..."
"Is Briggs out there right now?"
"I don't know. The last thing I remember was him putting this cloth over my mouth and..."
"That son of a bitch." James grabbed the edge of the bed and slowly stood up.
"James, you need to sit down. Your stomach is bleeding." There was a blood stain on the front of his hospital gown.
He looked down at the blood.
"Something must be wrong with your stitches. You have to sit down."
James tried to walk past me but I grabbed his arm.
"James, please just sit down. I'll go get someone."
The door burst open and Briggs rushed in holding a gun. He was completely out of breath.
My heart was filled with fear. Because the gun was pointed directly at me.
"Jesus Christ," he said and kept his gun pointed at me.
James stepped in front of me.
"Get down!" Briggs yelled.
"Briggs, you don't have to do this," James said.
"I said get down!"
The room echoed with the burst of his gun.
I screamed and pulled James down behind the side of the bed. I heard glass shatter behind us. I turned my head. I'm pretty sure James saw it the same time that I did because he tried to push me behind him again. Isabella was standing in front of the broken window with the gun in her hand.
"Drop it!" Briggs shouted. "Now!"
She smiled and lifted the gun toward me and James.
Another shot echoed in the room and hit Isabella right in the chest. A third shot hit her in almost the same spot. The gun fell from her hand. She stumbled backwards and crashed through the broken window.
We heard people screaming outside and a sickening crunching noise.
"Are you both okay?" Briggs said. He knelt down next to us. He put his hand on my shoulder.
"Thank you," James said and clasped his hand.
"I'm so sorry, I..."
"It's okay. I understand. I'd do anything for my wife and baby too."
"Baby?" Briggs turned his head to me and smiled. "You're pregnant?"
I nodded. None of this news was happening the way that I had planned.
"Congratulations," he said with a big smile.
I couldn't think about this right now. I tried to run through everything Isabella had said to me in my mind. "Officer Daugherty was working with her," I said. "And possibly the nurse. I'm not sure she knew what she was doing. Find Detective Lee."
"I already called it in when I was hightailing it back here after checking to make sure my family was okay. Detective Lee is on his way. And..."
"You piece of shit!" Porter yelled as he came running into the room. He grabbed Briggs by the collar of his shirt and pushed him onto his side. He landed a hard punch across Briggs' jaw. "I trusted you!" Porter yelled as he landed another punch.
"Cole! Stop!" I tried to stand up, but James' put his hand on my shoulder.
"Porter, he just saved our lives," James said.
"And you wouldn't have needed saving if he had done his job. He was behind the whole thing!" he spat and grabbed Briggs collar again.
"Both of you stop!" James said affirmatively.
"I wasn't behind the whole thing, man," Briggs said. "Just today. She threatened my family."
"And what about when Isabella snuck in here the first time and tried to kill him?" Porter said. "Because of your stomach issues. Bullshit." He pushed him back down on the ground.
"That was true. I didn't...she didn't threaten me until today." He ran his hand down his face.
"You can tell it to the cops," Porter said and pulled him to his feet. "I'll be right back," he said and he walked Briggs out the door.
"I'm sorry," Briggs said as he was pulled out of the room. "I'm sorry!"
"We can't let him get sent to prison for this," I said.
"He drugged you." James ran his palm along the side of my face.
"And he saved you." I swallowed hard. "Is she dead?"
"I think she was dead before she even fell."
"It's over." I pressed my head against his chest.
"It's over."
Chapter 36
Saturday
Isabella was dead. I shouldn't have felt at peace with that. But she had been my hell. She had been James' hell. And we were both breathing easier now. I wasn't happy that she was dead. But I was happy that James and I didn't have to live in fear. I was happy that there wasn't a shadow over us. I was happy that maybe, just maybe, there was a little less weight on James' shoulders.
We had just given our statements to the police and now a silence had settled over the new hospital room they had put James in. My head was resting on James' shoulder and I was staring out the window at the sun rising.
"It's beautiful," James murmured against my temple.
I hadn't realized he was watching it too. I tilted my head up to look at his face. He smiled down at me and kissed the side of my forehead.
"Is it horrible that I feel so peaceful?"
He lowered his eyebrows slightly. "No." He pulled me in closer to his side.
"She needed help. She needed..."
"You can't get someone help unless they accept that they need it."
I nodded my head against his shoulder.
"For the first time in a long time, all I see is light." He grabbed my chin and tilted my face toward the sunrise.
I blinked away my tears. "Me too."
We both sat in silence, watching the colors stretch out over the horizon. No one was going to try to hurt us again. Everything was going to be okay. It was truly, finally over.
Rob came bursting into the room and we both turned toward him. He had kicked the door open with his cast and was now cursing under his breath.
"Rob, just wait one second!" Daphne said from behind him as she tried to grab the door to hold it open.
James laughed and Rob's face immediately looked more at ease.
"Is the troll really dead?" Rob said. He was balancing a crutch under one arm. His other arm was in a sling.
Daphne made an apologetic face.
James gripped my shoulder a little tighter. "She's dead."
"Good riddance." Rob collapsed in a chair. "Sorry it took me so long to come see you. The doctors kept delaying my discharge for no reason!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Daphne quickly closed the door.
I laughed and she started to laugh too.
"And when I finally did get discharged, the po-po wouldn't let me come in and see you until right this second. Something about collaborating witnesses or something. Trust me, I was giving them hell."
"Well, the investigation must be coming to a close if they're letting us talk now," said James.
Rob nodded. "Right, right." He glanced at me and then back at James and raised both his eyebrows.
I was just about to let James know that Rob knew about the
baby when James cleared his throat.
"I'm really happy you're both here," James said. "We actually have some news."
Oops. But I didn't bother telling James they already knew. I was excited that he was so excited about it.
"Penny's pregnant. We're having a baby!" The joy in his voice was almost palpable.
"What?!" Rob said in a weirdly high pitched voice. "That is totally a huge surprise to both me and Daphne! We didn't know about that at all! How exciting!"
James laughed. "You already knew?"
"Your baby mama has a big mouth. Right, Daphne?"
Daphne's eyes got wide. "I'm not sure that's exactly what happened." She laughed awkwardly.
Rob laughed.
James turned toward me and I was surprised to see his smile vanish. "Don't cry, I'm not upset with you for telling them." He slowly wiped his thumb under my eye. "Why are you crying?"
I hadn't realized I had gotten tears in my eyes. "No, it's just...I'm so excited that you're excited."
The smile returned to his face.
Rob slowly stood up out of his chair and hobbled over to James. "You're going to make a great dad. You know you are." He clapped him hard on the back despite the fact that they were both hurt. "And my main MILF." He gave me a hug too.
James groaned.
"You don't approve of her new nickname? You better get used to it." He grabbed both sides of James' face. "You beautiful, beautiful man."
"Stop touching me."
"I'm just so happy you're alive."
"You're freaking me out," said James. "Are you still on pain killers?"
Rob laughed and released James face. "Actually yes, yes I am." He patted James' cheek again.
"Okay, maybe I should be getting you home," Daphne said.
"If that means your house, then fine," Rob said. "Home."
Daphne wouldn't have been able to hide her smile if she had tried. I felt like I had just witnessed a big moment. He had called her place his home.
"Call us if you need anything at all," Daphne said.
"Thanks." But everyone needed to spend some time away from the hospital. I glanced at James. It looked like he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.
When Rob and Daphne left I helped him adjust his pillows so that he'd be lying down and snuggled up next to him.
"Did you catch that? He called Daphne's place his home."
"My baby brother is growing up." James yawned.
I smiled as I watched him fall asleep. We were all growing up.
Chapter 37
Saturday
We waited as patiently as possible in James' room. His doctor said he could probably be discharged from the hospital tonight. While we were still at the hospital, we decided we should go ahead and get an ultrasound. James was excited, but I was super nervous. I just hoped the baby was healthy. I hoped I hadn't jeopardized anything. I was absentmindedly tapping my heel against the leg of the chair waiting impatiently for the doctor to show up. I almost jumped up when the door opened.
But it was James' father. He gave us a small smile and walked over to us. "How are you feeling today?" he asked James.
"Good. Better." James smiled. Their relationship was still strained. But at least they were talking, "Actually," James said, "the doctor is about to stop by. If you could give us a minute, we'll be right out."
"Well, there's one last thing we need to discuss with Detective Lee. I asked him to meet us in here and he mentioned that he was stopping by in just a minute anyway. He said he was ready to brief us on what they had found."
"What's this about?" James asked.
"Something I had told Officer Daugherty. I'd prefer if we waited for Detective Lee." He looked down at his hands. He seemed upset.
I was too jittery to focus right now. I was excited for the ultrasound. It was all I wanted to talk about. I nudged James with my elbow. "Let's tell him," I mouthed silently.
James smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"Jon," I said.
He immediately looked up at me.
"We have some exciting news." I smiled up at James.
"Penny's pregnant," James said and squeezed my shoulder.
A smile spread across Jon's previously distressed features. "You're having a baby? Congratulations, James." He stood up and gave James a hug.
I was almost surprised by how long it lasted. James even awkwardly patted his back.
"And Penny," he said. "I knew you'd be giving me grandchildren in no time." He gave me a hug. "Wow." He exhaled slowly as he sat back down. "I..." he laughed. "I don't even know what else to say. Congratulations. I think we all needed some good news. Penny, I know you're going to be an amazing mother. I know it." His smile seemed to disappear again.
"Really, Dad, what's this about?" James said.
Jon shook his head. "Maybe I should just discuss this with Detective Lee in private. I shouldn't have..." but his voice trailed off as Detective Lee walked in.
"I heard you get to go home today?" he said with a smile and sat down next to Jon.
I think we're all ready to get out of here," James said with a smile.
"Right, right. Well I won't keep you longer than necessary. But I have some great news. As soon as we arrested Officer Daugherty, everything started to fall into place. I wasn't doing the questioning, but apparently he sung like a canary, trying to get himself a deal to walk away scot-free. Don't worry, we won't let that happen. But it did let us round up everyone that was part of what happened to you the past few weeks. Isabella had paid Officer Daugherty five million dollars to help her. He had a gambling problem that he had kept hidden from the force and was in terrible debt. He didn't need any more convincing than that.
"You already knew about Briggs. And he hadn't been lying about not being involved the whole time. There was video footage of the nurse slipping something into his coffee to upset his stomach. Her name is Linda Vega. She's the mother of Brian Vega, one of the guys on James' threat list. We were aware that James had gotten numerous death threats from him after Hunter Tech's advancements had tanked Vega's stock price. But no one had put it together because Linda got the nursing job under a fake name. She told Isabella what to do in order to make James' lung collapse again. And she fed her information on his health status and injected James with that slow release sedative."
I squeezed James' hand. His face looked a little pale. It was a lot to take in.
"Brian Vega was involved too," Detective Lee continued. "He hacked into the bank transfer to make it seem like the money had been sent to an account owned by Tyler Stevens. But it really went into an offshore account that your lawyer, John Litt owns. Litt had a copy of the restraining order against Vega, which was how Isabella was able to find someone else who wanted James dead. Apparently John Litt and Isabella had been sleeping together ever since James and her divorce hearing. Litt will almost certainly be disbarred for accepting bribes, releasing personal information, and forging the DNR. Or just for the scandal. He's already hired the best defense lawyer in the city, but don't worry, I'll make sure he sees jail time for this.
"We took your information about the threats against Briggs' family and have decided we agree that he acted upon duress. He was an unwilling accomplice. We are all set to drop the charges against him if that's what you're sure you want to do."
Without hesitation, James nodded.
"We have already dropped the charges against Melissa Monroe and Tyler Stevens. Is there anything you would like to add about Linda or Brian Vega?"
"No," James said.
Detective Lee nodded as if expecting that. "They've both plead guilty already. They'll be behind bars for a long time."
James exhaled slowly. I hadn't realized how much stress he was still holding onto. "Thank you," James said and stuck out his hand to Detective Lee.
"Just doing my job, sir." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Jon," he said, turning to my father in law, "you said there was one more thing you'd like to discuss?"
"Yes, actually, I was hoping it would come up in the briefing. But since Officer Daugherty was the only one I ever told, I feared it might not. I had talked to him the other day, and I wasn't sure why nothing was being done about what we discussed," he said. "I thought it was the proof that we needed. And if I had known he was dirty...if I had talked to someone else...maybe none of this would have happened." He shook his head. "Penny, that's why Susan and I were fighting the other day in James' room. I was confronting her about something. And she stormed off. I had to go after her. I had to confirm my suspicions. And I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry I left him alone." He shook his head again and looked back down at his hands.
"And what exactly did you tell Officer Daugherty?" Detective Lee asked.
I grabbed James' hand. I knew this was going to be bad. I knew this was going to hurt him.
"About all the texts between Susan and Isabella."
Shit. James' mother helped her?
"He didn't divulge that information during his questioning," Detective Lee said. "What texts?"
Jon looked at James for a second and then looked back at the detective. "There are texts on Susan's phone encouraging Isabella to do whatever it took to stop the wedding from happening. They never mentioned violence, and I'd like to think she didn't know what was going to happen. But even after James was shot...she kept Isabella informed on what was happening in the hospital. She fed her delusions. She encouraged her. She was a part of all this."
Detective Lee looked up from his notes. "Do you want to press charges against your wife?"
I noticed Jon glance at my stomach.
"Yes," Jon said. "I want to press charges."
"Dad?" James said. "You don't have..."
"She encouraged Isabella even after she stole from you. Even after she hurt you. I know that Susan didn't believe Isabella was behind that. In part because Officer Daugherty insisted that Isabella wasn't. But, James, she knew. Or she at least should have been concerned. She put us all in danger." He glanced at my stomach again.
"We'll go talk to her now. If you're sure," Detective Lee said.
"I'm positive," Jon said.
The detective nodded. "I'll go tell her she needs to come in for questioning."
"And I'll get out of your way," Jon said and started to follow Detective Lee out.
