“Can I help you?” a man asked.
“This is Dr. Leonardo. I have a code gray in the emergency room,” she said calmly. “Please send everyone.”
“Okay, I’ll send someone in.”
I heard a click that told me the intercom disconnected, and my father stood up and stalked over to the doctor, standing to his full height so he was towering above her.
“Why the fuck are you treating me like I’m the criminal?!” he screamed. “She’s a minor, and I’m her fucking father!”
“Sir, all I’m asking you to do is let your daughter, who seems to be more than capable, speak for herself,” Dr. Leonardo said quietly, her voice trembling a little.
“She’s been held hostage against her will!”
“Then let her tell me that,” she insisted.
“She doesn’t fucking know what’s happening! She has the mind of a child! She’s in no position to have a child of her own, and I’m fucking ordering you to terminate this pregnancy now!”
Dr. Leonardo’s eyes betrayed her fear, although the rest of her expression remained calm. Now I could tell that she didn’t believe a word my father was saying, but she also had to protect herself and keep this situation under control so my father didn’t get violent. Honestly, I was surprised he hadn’t already tried to hit her. Maybe he knew if he did that, it would invalidate everything he was saying about trying to protect me.
“Sir, unless she’s been declared mentally incompetent, I have to ask you to let her answer my questions,” she repeated.
Two security guards and a police officer walked into the room, and while my father was otherwise occupied, I took a chance.
Help me, I mouthed to them.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come with us,” one of the guards said.
“No! I! Am! Not! Fucking! Leaving! My! Daughter!” my father roared. His eyes were beyond dark and cold now; they were just completely crazy. And I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.
“Sir, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I am going to have to ask you to leave this room,” the police officer said firmly.
“I’m not fucking going anywhere! My daughter was kidnapped and raped, and you’re treating me like I’m the fucking criminal!”
Tears pooled in my eyes and spilled over my cheeks. Every time he said that, it felt like I was being punched in the gut all over again. Brendan had never done anything to hurt me in his entire life. He loved me more than anyone else in the world, and he was one of the few people who made me feel completely safe. And now the person who had been hurting me was making sure I never saw him again by accusing him of kidnapping and rape to anyone who would listen. And what was worse was, they were actually believing him. If they could just get him away from me, maybe I could finally tell someone the truth and the police could arrest the right person.
“Detectives are on the way to get her full statement,” the officer told him. “And you can either come with me to another room willingly so we can get your injuries looked at, or I can place you under arrest. The choice is yours.”
“I’m not fucking going anywhere!”
The officer took a pair of handcuffs off of his duty belt. “In that case, sir, you’re under arrest for disorderly conduct. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I’ve read them to you?”
“I’m not fucking leaving!” my father screamed, turning around and punching the officer in the face. “I’m not letting my daughter be alone with you people!”
The security guards each grabbed one of my father’s arms and pulled them behind his back while the police officer, who now had a bloody lip, put him in handcuffs.
“You’ve just added assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest to the charges against you,” the police officer spat. “Do. You. Understand. The. Rights. I. Just. Read. To. You?”
“Yes, and I want a fucking lawyer! I’m going to sue you and the city for everything you’re worth!”
“Good luck with that,” the officer scoffed. “Let’s go.”
My father jerked around, kicked, and kept screaming about how he was going to sue everyone in this hospital for separating him from his victimized daughter, but between the two buff security guards and the police officer, they managed to get him out of the room. As soon as they were gone, the doctor went and pulled the sliding door shut and closed the curtain, and I burst into sobs again. The doctor pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“You’re safe now, sweetheart,” she murmured. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. It’ll never be okay,” I bawled. “He’s the one who did this to me, and he had my fiancé arrested for something he didn’t do. My fiancé was trying to protect me from him!”
“Okay. You’re going to be okay. Detectives are on the way to get a statement from you, and as long as your fiancé cooperates and tells the truth, I’m sure everything’s going to work out. Now, I’m going to have someone from radiology get you in for some x-rays so we can check out that arm and those ribs.”
“My baby,” I blubbered. “Please don’t kill my baby.”
She gave me a kind smile. “I’m going to make sure nothing else happens to you or your baby, Darla. I promise. I’ll get an order for an ultrasound to check on the baby too. I’ll see if they can come in before you go for the x-rays, but I can’t make any promises.”
Wait. X-rays. Weren’t those supposed to be bad for a pregnant woman?
“But…won’t the x-rays hurt the baby?” I asked.
“They’ll try to give you a little extra protection around your pelvic area, sweetheart, but I have to get a look at those broken bones. I know you want to save your baby, but right now, you are my first priority.”
I nodded and used my good hand to wipe away my tears as I tried to slow my breathing to normal. Dr. Leonardo squeezed my shoulder as she stood up and walked out of the room. For the first time, I was completely alone, and my chest squeezed and my heart rate kicked up. I quickly grabbed the bag they’d given me in case I threw up again. A knot was twisting so tight inside me that I thought for sure my stomach would explode.
“Darla?” I heard a familiar voice ask.
I looked at the door and saw Alex and Ethan standing there, looking beyond uncomfortable.
“Jesus Christ, Darla,” Ethan gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.
“Do you fucking know who I am?!” I heard my father screaming from down the hall. “I’m the fucking pastor at First Baptist Church! I will have your fucking badge, you motherfucking moron!”
Ethan stiffened and his eyes went wide with fear as he listened to my father ranting and raving.
Oh, my God. This was probably the first time since he’d left town that he’d actually been anywhere remotely in the vicinity of my father.
“Can we come in?” Alex asked.
I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief that someone I knew was here. Neither of them was the person I really wanted with me, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.
They walked into the room, and Alex pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down, while Ethan moved to stand in the far corner of the room, where the curtain that was in front of the door would hide him from view. I wished I could get up and give him a hug, but I couldn’t even sit up right now, let alone stand.
“My dad called me,” Alex said quietly. “He said Brendan insisted on it before he’d say a word about what happened because he wanted someone he trusted here with you. He’s working on getting Brendan released, but the officer who took him in jumped the gun and logged his arrest into the system, even though he was just supposed to be brought in for questioning, so it’s going to take a little time to get it all straightened out. I called Nay on the way over here. She’s on her way
to the police station so she can give Brendan a ride when they let him go, and she’s calling Kate and Ash.”
“Why didn’t they listen to me?” I sniffled. “I kept telling them that he didn’t do anything and they just ignored me. The police are supposed to help people, not just believe the person who screams the loudest. This is why I never said anything before. Because no one ever listens. No one ever cares.”
He sighed. “The good ones do. They’ll arrest your dad before this is over. He’s not going home. Did you see that news story about the girl who was murdered by her boyfriend a few months ago?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“The officer who brought Brendan in is her father. He was on desk duty for a while, and he’s just getting back on the streets. I guess he saw this situation and projected what happened to his daughter on it. It’s not an excuse, but—”
“No, it is,” I cut him off, choking back more tears. “That’s horrible. I can see why he thought a father wouldn’t hurt his daughter. But…he has to have seen things like this before, right? Brendan wasn’t resisting him. He wasn’t refusing to be questioned. My dad was the one who was ranting and raving. Why couldn’t he see that Brendan was the calm one?”
“I don’t know,” he said, taking a breath. “I wish I had answers for you, but I don’t. All I can tell you is that they’re letting Brendan go, and he’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“This is all my fucking fault,” Ethan croaked. “If I’d just said something when he was hurting me…none of this would have happened.”
Alex’s eyes went wide as he looked over at Ethan. I guessed Ethan hadn’t shared that information with him yet. This was a hell of a way for him to find out.
My heart broke for Ethan. I couldn’t stand him thinking any of this was his fault. I hadn’t said anything about what my father did to me for all those years, either, so how could I expect him to do what I couldn’t? How could I have expected him to find the courage to speak out when I’d been silent?
“It’s not your fault, Ethan,” I murmured. “It’s his fault.”
“Well, I’m going to do what I can to make sure he goes away for as long as possible. I’m going to tell the police what he did to me. I don’t know if it’s too late for them to charge him for hurting me, but maybe at least it’ll help if they know you’re not the only one,” he sniffed.
“You’d do that?” I whispered, barely audible.
“I can’t do anything to change what I did to you all those years ago, but I can help you now,” he said, wiping a few tears from his cheeks. “That’s why I insisted on coming here with Alex. I’m so fucking sorry, Darla. I was a coward. I could have stopped this from happening by just opening my damn mouth.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Ethan,” I insisted. “My dad made his own choices.”
“Hi. Darla?” I heard a female voice ask.
I turned to look at the door, and I saw a middle-aged woman in scrubs rolling some kind of machine into the room.
“Yeah?” I sniffled.
“I’m Sally from radiology,” she told me. “I’m here to do an ultrasound?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Someone was here to check on my baby.
Thank you, Jesus, I prayed. Please let her be okay. Please.
“Yes, please,” I begged. “I need to know if my baby’s okay.”
Alex and Ethan both looked at me with identical wide-eyed, open-mouthed expressions.
“Ba-baby?” Alex stammered.
“Brendan didn’t tell you?”
“No. No, he didn’t. He didn’t say a damn thing,” he chuckled. “He’s getting hell for that when he gets here.”
“We just found out yesterday,” I sighed. “Maybe he didn’t have time.”
Sally looked at the guys apologetically. “I’m sorry, fellas, but can I get you to step out of the room while I do the exam?”
“You going to be okay, Darla?” Alex asked.
I nodded. “Um, do you have any way to get in touch with Marie?”
The person I really wanted if Brendan couldn’t be here was my mom, but I wasn’t about to have her come within ten miles of this hospital while my dad was still somewhere in the building. So Marie would have to suffice for now.
“I’ve got Peter’s number saved in my cell phone. Do you want him to come too, or just Marie?”
“I don’t mind if he comes, but the one I really want is Marie,” I sniffled.
He smiled. “I’ll call him. We’ll be right outside if you need us, okay?”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“Don’t mention it,” he chuckled.
The guys left the room, and I turned to Sally, who had been patiently waiting.
“Sorry about that,” I mumbled.
“It’s okay. I heard you’ve had a rough day,” she said, cracking a little bit of a smile.
I couldn’t help it. I snorted. “Rough day” was the understatement of the century.
“You could say that,” I sighed.
“Well, let’s see if I can make it a little better. How about if we check on your baby?”
“Yes, please.”
Sally gently pulled my shirt up, hissing quietly. My terror returned all over again, and I couldn’t help the tears that started to trail down my cheeks.
“How bad is it?” I choked out.
“You’ve got a lot of bruising around your ribs,” she told me.
“I tried to protect my stomach,” I sobbed. “I tried to keep the baby safe. I tried.”
“And it looks like you did a good job of that,” she soothed me. “Let’s just fire the machine up and take a look. Do you know how far along you are?”
“No,” I blubbered. “I just took the test yesterday. My last period was like seven weeks ago.”
“Okay. Have you had any cramping or bleeding?”
I shook my head.
“That’s a good sign, sweetheart,” she said as she plugged the machine in and turned it on. “We won’t know for sure until the doctor takes a look at these images, but you have reason to be hopeful.”
I heard an electronic humming sound as the machine fired up, and she squirted some gel onto the wand and then she grabbed the rolling stool and sat down.
“Sorry, I know this is cold,” she chuckled weakly.
Despite the warning, I still yelped when the ice-cold gel made contact with my skin. I felt an uncomfortable pressure as she pressed the wand down over my stomach and pelvic area, and there was a whooshing sound coming from the machine as she moved it around. And then I heard a rapid thumping sound, and Sally pushed some buttons on the machine as she moved the wand around, then looked at me and pointed to a small image on the screen that looked kind of like a lima bean.
“See that?” she asked.
I nodded.
“That’s your baby. And that sound you hear is the heartbeat. I’m taking some pictures for the doctor right now, and she’s going to give you the final verdict, but it looks like it’s just fine.”
More tears leaked out as I looked at the life that Brendan and I had created on the fuzzy screen. Even at this early stage of life, our baby was already a fighter, and she had held on through everything we’d been through today. And then I started sobbing as I realized that I was getting my first look at this baby and my fiancé was stuck at the police station waiting to be released.
“Thank you,” I sniffled. “Is there any way I can get copies of the pictures? For my fiancé.”
She smiled. “Of course. I’ll make sure the doctor makes copies for you.”
After another few minutes, Sally left. As soon as she was gone, Kate and Ashton rushed into the room with tears streaming down their faces, followed closely by Alex and Ethan.
“Oh, my God,” Kate sobbed as she threw her arms around my neck. “Oh, my God, Darla.”
Immediately, I was able to breathe a little easier. I still wanted Brendan here more than I wanted my next breath, but at least if he couldn’t be here, two
of my best friends were.
“Please say you’re okay,” Ashton choked out as they hugged me from the other side.
“Everything hurts,” I sniffled as I rubbed both of my friends’ arms with my good hand. “I’m still waiting for x-rays because I’m pretty sure my arm and a couple of ribs are broken, but that was the ultrasound tech that just left. She said the doctor has to be the one to say for sure, but it looks like the baby’s okay. I just want Brendan.”
“Thank God,” Kate sniffled. “Brendan should be here soon. Nay went to the police station so she could give him a ride here when he gets released. We came straight here.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“Where else would we be, honey?” Ashton murmured. “You’re family. Scare the shit out of us, why don’t you?”
I couldn’t help it. I let out a watery chuckle, then groaned in pain as it jolted my ribs.
“Don’t make me laugh. It hurts,” I sniffled.
“Sorry,” they sighed, dropping a kiss on my head.
A knock sounded on the wall, and I looked up to see a man and woman who looked about Peter and Marie’s ages walking into the room. They were both wearing badges around their necks, so I figured they were probably the detectives I was told were on the way.
“Hi. Darla?” the woman said.
“Yeah,” I sniffed.
“I’m Detective Michele. This is my partner, Detective King,” she told me. “You up to answering some questions?”
I nodded. “Sure. Can my friends stay with me?”
“I’m sorry, but we need to speak with you alone to get your statement,” Detective King said, giving me a sad smile.
“Um, detectives, I need to speak to someone too. It’s about the person who did this to her. He…he hurt me too,” Ethan said, his voice shaking a little.
Detective King’s eyes widened a little as he looked at me, then at Detective Michele.
“Is it okay if it’s just us girls, Darla?” Detective Michele asked.
I nodded.
“Okay. I’ve got this, Gil,” she said, looking at her partner. “You can talk to him.”
“Come with me, son,” Detective King said, leading Ethan toward the door. “We’ll find somewhere quiet.”
My Vows Are Sealed (Sealed With a Kiss) Page 37
