A Soldier For Bella (Love Conquers Life #4) (13 page)

He nods as he continues to lie down with his eyes shut.

“Babe, if you’re still tired, then sleep and we’ll be here when you wake.”

Nurse Nancy comes back ten minutes later with crackers, apple juice, and tea, but he’s fast asleep so I tell her to leave it and he can try to eat when he wakes up.

“Listen, darling. We’re going to go get you guys some things to have here with you and we’ll be back. I also want to touch base with Richard to see if he has any updates.”

“Okay, don’t rush. I’m fine the way I am, but please text me if you hear from Richard about the case.”

They nod, hug me, and walk out the door.

Chapter 12

Derek

I wake to find my mother and father sitting in chairs by my bed and Bella with her head resting on the bed next to my leg. “Good morning,” my mother says.

“Shh, she hasn’t left since we were brought here via ambulance. She’s really tired,” I say.

My mother nods. “How are you feeling?”

I take a sip of my water and eat one of the crackers left from yesterday. “I’m hungry, but other than that I’m fine. You guys didn’t have to come home.”

My mother gives me an evil eye. “Did you really think we were going to stay in Florida while our only son is lying in a hospital bed with injuries that nearly killed him?” Her voice starts to increase the further along she goes into her statement.

“Thank you for coming, but really, I’m going to be fine,” I tell them as Bella starts to groan and talk in her sleep. I rub my fingers through her hair to try and settle her, but she jumps up, startled, instead.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was trying to settle you so you’d continue to sleep.”

“It’s fine, babe. Did I wake you?”

“No, he woke all by himself.” She jumps and turns to see who is behind her.

“Bella these are my parents, Vanessa and Jesse Thompson.” I point to my parents.

She instantly stands and puts her hand out. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but I’m sorry they’re under these circumstances.”

My dad shakes her hand, and my mother pulls her in for a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you too.”

When they pull apart, Bella looks her in the eye. “I also wanted to thank you for giving them permission to speak with me. I was a mess waiting to hear something.”

“Thank you for being here with him and taking care of him,” my mom says to Bella with a warm smile. It’s really nice to see my mother and my girlfriend getting along, even under these circumstances.

“Can you tell us what happened, son?” my father asks as Bella takes a seat by my side. She looks down at the bed, embarrassed at the situation.

“Bella, you need to stop. This isn’t your fault.” I take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles. Starting from the beginning, I go through all the details of what we’ve been going through over the last few months.

I’m just finishing the story when Richard walks through the door with Sandra in tow. “I’m glad you’re awake,” Richard says as we shake hands.

“Richard, Sandra, I’d like to introduce you to my parents.” They all shake as I go through another round of intros.

“Any news, Richard?” After I ask, I inform my father that Richard is the DA. Richard smiles proudly.

“They’ve been combing through your car, trying to find anything that’ll link Bella’s stalker to you. They have plenty of fingerprints, but because there are so many, they’re not done processing them all yet. As you know, we have his picture and we’ve finally identified him as Brian Wood. He is a friend of Brock’s and has been in love with Bella since she and Brock met. From what the police have gathered, Brock told Brian about his and Bella’s breakup a few months after the actual split. That’s when Brian became obsessed with Bella. He started telling Brock he was an idiot and was going to show him how a woman should really be treated.” He pauses, trying control his emotions. “Anyway, long story short, he’s pissed that you’ve scooped up his woman and he wants her back. Now we just have to figure out where he is.”

“What about my bag?” Bella asks as I give her a look of total confusion. “While you were being treated, we were trying to figure out how he knew where I was. I hadn’t put any info out about me staying at Patty’s on social media, and only a few people knew. It was obvious that none of them leaked it.” I nod as we look to Richard for the answer.

“I was right. He planted a tracking device in your bag and has been following you. It’s our belief that when he found out you were at Patty’s and realized there was no way for him to get in, he sat outside and waited to see if you would leave, but caught Derek going in instead.”

Bella gasps, and I know it’s because this is making her feel more like it’s her fault. Richard continues. “He must have waited for you to get settled inside to mess with your car. I know the break line was messed with, but I’m not sure what caused the fire just yet. The car is charcoal.” He gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, Derek.”

“I’m just glad Bella wasn’t in the car with me. I’m not sure I could have gotten us both out in time.”

A tear escapes her as I try to comfort her, but nothing I do right now is helping. It’s making me feel a bit helpless.

“I’m sorry, Derek,” Bella says. “We should have figured this out sooner. We should have stayed apart longer, something to keep you safe. We made him mad.” She starts to ramble, but I cut her off.

“Stop.
I
made him mad, and I did it on purpose. I wanted him to stop going after you and come after me. I just didn’t realize he’d do it so quickly, and I got careless. This is not your fault, do you hear me?” I demand.

She gives me a small nod, but I know she’s not buying it. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me so I can comfort her. I wince at the pain in my ribs. She tries to get up, but I won’t let her. 

“You definitely made him mad. One of the officers called me just before we got here. They found pictures of you in his house. They all had drawings on them showing he wanted to eliminate you.”

“So, what’s next?” my father asks Richard.

“The police have a warrant for his arrest, and as soon as they find him, he’ll be taken into custody. He just upped the charges from stalking to attempted murder. Once we have him, he won’t be going anywhere.”

“But you still have to find him. What if he’s on the run or in hiding somewhere?” my mother asks, panic in her voice.

“He won’t get far. From what Brock has told us, he has no friends and no family. That means nowhere to hide. Unfortunately he’s a classic stalker, depressed and lonely. He wants someone to love him, and in his mind he can make Bella love him.”

Richard’s phone rings. “Excuse me,” he says as he steps out of the room to take the call.

“Why didn’t you tell us about all of this?” my father asks me.

“I’m sorry. I just figured you guys were all the way down the coast so there was no sense in worrying you.”

“You know, Derek, if you worried less about everyone else and more about yourself, you may not be in this bed right now,” my father says, frustrated. I know his frustration comes from fear and my injuries, but it still stings. They’ve never really been mad at me like this.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“You should be. Do you have any idea how worried we were when we got the phone call? It helped to know you weren’t lying here alone, but we were still panicking nonetheless,” my mother says. Christ, I’m thirty two years old and I’m being scolded by my parents in front of my girlfriend. Bella’s breathing has calmed down. I’m actually hoping she fell asleep.

The nurse pushes a tray of food into the room. Thank God, because I’m seriously hungry. It’s too bad Bella has passed out on my arm, making it difficult to eat. The nurse chuckles and rolls the table with my tray to the other side of the bed so I can try to eat with my left hand.

The nurse looks up at my parents. “Do you folks need something to eat?”

“No, thank you,” my father says. “I’m going down to the cafeteria.” The nurse nods and walks out the door. “I’ll bring back a coffee for Bella.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I say as he walks out the room, leaving me with my mother.

“So, this thing with the two of you is serious?” my mother says, concern in her voice. I know she’s probably worried that I’ve gone and gotten hurt over just any ole girl, but Bella isn’t just any ole girl, and I need to make sure they realize that.

“Mom, I love her, and she’s moving in with me.” I try for a respectful but serious tone.

She takes a deep breath. “Well, I guess we will need to get to know her then, won’t we?”

“She’s a good person, Mom. She took time out of her day to help her best friend Patty get her boyfriend’s apartment set up and she hadn’t even met him yet. She was there for her, though. She hasn’t had things easy in life. Her parents have disowned her because she chose to be a model, and she has worked hard to get to where she is.” I take another bite of my breakfast. “I’m proud of her.”

“Are you telling me that Sandra and Richard aren’t her parents?” she asks, totally confused.

“No, they are Patty’s parents, but Bella and Patty were best friends in high school.” I kiss the side of her head as she softly snores. “Bella came to Patty’s rescue when some girls were bullying her. They became good friends, and when Bella’s parents disowned her, Sandra and Richard kind of adopted her. They treat her like their own.”

“Poor girl. Who could do that to their own child?” she says with a sympathetic look.

“Who could do what to their own child?” my father asks as he walks in with some goodies and coffee.

“I’ll fill you in later, dear,” my mother says, and I’m glad because I don’t want Bella waking up to this conversation. I finish eating my breakfast as my mom and dad dig into the muffins he’s brought up from the cafeteria.

“I know this probably isn’t what she usually eats, but there wasn’t much down there. I did grab a couple of apples and bananas too.”

“That’s fine, Dad. She’ll eat a muffin. She doesn’t eat them often, but she works out so she doesn’t have to stress about what she eats all the time.”

As we’re finishing up our food, Bella stirs and stretches beside me. She instantly blushes when she realizes she fell asleep on me and in front of my parents. “I’m sorry, babe. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“You’re fine. I enjoyed having you snuggled up to me.”

“Would you like some coffee?” my dad says to Bella. “I got you one from the cafeteria along with a muffin and some fruit.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Thompson. That was very kind of you,” she says with a smile.

“No need to thank me, but please call me Jesse.”

She gives him a warm smile. “Okay. Thank you, Jesse.”

He hands her the bag as she climbs off my bed. She opens it and pulls out the blueberry muffin and a banana. She takes a bite and moans in appreciation. “This is so good, and I’m starving. Seriously, thank you.”

He chuckles at her. “You’re most welcome.”

The doctor walks in. “Good morning, Mr. Thompson,” he says as he approaches my bed.

“Doc, you see that old man right there? That is Mr. Thompson. Please call me Derek.”

The doctor laughs. “I’d be careful. That old man looks like he can still kick your butt.”

I burst into laughter, but it hurts, so I instantly stop.

My father laughs. “That right there, doc, was karma,” my father says, referring to the pain I got for laughing at him.

“I believe you’re right, Mr. Thompson,” he says to my father as he shakes his hand. “I’m Dr. Kline, and I’ll be taking care of your son for the next few days.”

“What? Days?” I ask. “Doc, you have to get me out of here.”

“No, you’re not ready, and I’m not releasing you a day earlier than need be. I am fully aware of the situation, thanks to the guards standing outside your door.” He turns my head and lifts my eyelid, flashing a light into both of my eyes. “You have a minor concussion from hitting the ground after the explosion and internal injuries that we need to ensure are healing properly and then we can discuss your release. You’re very lucky that you were wearing your seatbelt. That prevented your head injuries from being worse than they are.”

I open my mouth to say more, but with the doctor and my father both giving me a dirty look, I quickly shut it.

“Dad, can you at least get me a new phone so I can get updates from Sloan?”

“Who’s Sloan?” Bella asks, and I cringe slightly because I haven’t said much about Sloan to her.

“He is the guy that has been helping me figure this stuff out. He was in the military with me. A total kick ass tech dude who has discovered that your stalker created a fake account and has been posting stuff about you. He says stuff like he’s your boyfriend and that he’s going to be proposing to you. It was his idea for me to post stuff on your wall so we can draw him out.”

“Oh, well, let me just thank him for putting you in the hospital,” she says, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Bella, I know you’re scared, but I’m the one who posted the notes. He just suggested it. I didn’t have to do it. To be honest, I thought it was a brilliant idea, and it did what it was supposed to do. It took the threat off of you and put it on me. Plus, we have an ID now, and the police are closer to catching him.” She nods at me. “I need my phone though so I can see where Sloan is at and give him the guy’s real name.”

She sighs and walks over to her purse. “This phone?” My eyes go wide. I’m shocked that she’s holding my phone in her hand.

“How did you get it?”