Devoted - The Complete Series: A BWWM Romance Boxset (24 page)

“She’s breathing, Bradley.”

“You took
everything
from me! I have
nothing
.” Eileen sobs and rage courses through my blood. I want to twist her frail neck until I hear her bones crackle; I want her to be out of my life forever. The thought flashes through my mind like a lightening storm. Instead I drop my knee into her the small of her back, pinning her in place as I twist her arms behind her.

“Shut the fuck up, Eileen.
You
are the only one who ruined your life. You’re not a fucking victim!” I twist my knee as I look back to the real victim in the room and then over to the crowd of gagglers with their cell phones hovering around the door. “This isn’t a fucking movie! Someone call 9-1-1 for Christ’s sake.” I swear some people aren’t worth the air they breathe.

“Heavenly Father, please let my baby stay. I’m not ready for her to go to you yet. I just got her back.” Henry’s voice cracks as he rocks Brianna in his arms like I’ve often held Brooklyn when she wakes up from a bad dream.

“Outta the way, everyone move it. Now!” Two police officers burst into the bathroom, ordering the scum holding cell phones to clear the way. One of the officers runs to my side, “Sir, I need you to stand up.” He demands, standing over me.

“She’s dangerous. She attacked my fiancee with a knife. Look it’s right there,” I nod my head to the switchblade hiding under the sinks. I try not to think about the engagement ring in my pocket and how Eileen may have robbed me of the only woman I’ve ever loved.

“I have control of the situation, Sir. I need you to clear out.” I drop Eileen’s arms like the foul garbage that she is and rush to Brianna’s side.

“Brianna? Baby? Are you all right?” I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around her as Henry keeps bargaining with God. Brianna’s eyelids start to twitch, and she rolls into my embrace. “Brianna? You’re gonna be all right, I promise. I promise, baby.” I watch as the blood from her forehead blooms on the fabric of my shirt.

“Bradley?” She answers me weakly. All of my anger is washed away by a tide of relief. Tears spring to my eyes as I lean over her and kiss her face. “The baby! Oh my God, where’s Eileen? Is my baby ok?” She struggles to communicate her jumbled thoughts.

“Everything is going to be ok, the baby is fine.” I smile and run my hand down over her beautiful belly, but when I look down my smile fades as fear grips my throat.

“What’s wrong?” Brianna tries to sit forward to follow my gaze, but a paramedic stops her.

“Just relax and try not to move around too much, ok?” Two other paramedics are calmly carrying over a bright orange stretcher. “We’re gonna get you to the hospital and take care of you and that little one, ok? But I need you to take it easy.” He speaks to Brianna gently, in a practiced calm manner. “Sir, I need you to step out of the way. We’ll take over from here.” His voice firms up and I wordlessly nod, knowing there’s nothing else I can do. “Do you have a preference for the hospital?”

“Yeah, take her to the Presbyterian, please.” I watch as they roll Brianna onto the stretcher, her eyes are locked on mine and in them I can see her fears. It seems to take an eternity as they strap her onto the board and brace her neck. However, it isn’t her neck that I’m worried about as I watch them easily lift her from the floor and steadily walk her toward the door. She didn’t have any problems lifting her head only moments ago. Luckily, she didn’t lift it far enough to see what I am worried about; the blood soaking the crotch of her pants, billowing upward to her hips and down over her thighs. I try not to panic as she watches me, I need to keep a poker face and to reassure her that it’s all going to be ok. However, with that much blood, I’m not so sure myself.

“Don’t worry, everything is going to be ok. We’ll meet you at the hospital, ok? The cops have Eileen, so don’t even think about her anymore. You’re gonna be all right.” I feel like a liar as I follow the paramedics carrying Brianna out to the ambulance. But I don’t know what else to say. Stressing her even more isn’t going to help anything.

“Brianna! Oh my Lord! My baby!” Evelyn starts shrieking as soon as we get outside the door. Police are everywhere keeping people from getting too close.

“Evelyn hush, she’s gonna be ok.” Henry walks over to his frantic wife. Brooklyn starts calling me from Evelyn’s arms as soon as she spots me.

“Braddy, come here. I need my Braddy!” I hate Eileen with every fiber of my being. I can’t believe the terror she’s caused my family, not to mention her own flesh and blood. She never deserved
any
child, let alone one as sweet and loving as Brooklyn. As the paramedics load Brianna into the back of the ambulance, I make my way over to my niece. The truth is, I need to feel the comfort of her little baby arms around my neck right now as much as she needs me.

As soon as Brooklyn is in my grasp, Evelyn collapses against her husbands chest. Her body is heaving as she sobs loudly, and Henry rubs his hand over her back the same way I am doing with Brooklyn. “Braddy? Why is Brianna laying on that board? Where is she going?” She looks at me wide-eyed, even at two-years-old, she’s smart enough to know the answer isn’t good.

“Brianna fell down, honey. She just needs to go to the doctor and get a check-up. It’s all going to be ok.” My throat closes tight around my words, as I choke back my tears. My mind is spinning like a cyclone, not even an hour ago I was talking to Henry about marrying his daughter. That feels like it was in another lifetime.

“Mama! Mama, come here!” Brooklyn starts twisting and flopping around in my arms. I struggle to hang onto her like a trophy fisherman waiting for someone to take a picture of their prize catch. “Mama, I want my Mama!” She starts wailing, and I look around in confusion until I spot Eileen in the back of a police car. With her head bowed and her body shaking, I can see that Eileen is still in her own world filled with delusions and distress. Anger trembles through me as I watch her sit there, oblivious to the pain that she’s caused me and Brooklyn. She hasn’t even noticed her own daughter who is freaking out to be near the mother who never deserved to raise her.

“Come here!” Brooklyn’s voice is hoarse from screaming, and tears are mixing with snot on her face. There’s no amount of hugging or hushing her that’s going to calm her hysterics. We need to get out of here.
Now.

“Let’s go,” I nod at Henry. “We need to get to the hospital and get her out of here,” I tilt my head at the flailing toddler. He nods in response and shelters Evelyn with his arms, turning to go.

“No go! No go!” Brooklyn sobs bitterly. “Mama!” She cries the words so hard it makes me choke back my own tears. I try to hold her against my chest, but Brooklyn doesn’t understand that her mother can’t take care of her. She doesn’t know that Eileen can barely take care of herself. A child can never see anything but the good in their parents. I strain to hold her close to my body as we make our way down the path.

“Sir? Sir!” I turn to see the man calling out to me. A police officer with a round belly and a ruddy complexion is slowly jogging to catch up with us.

“Officer?” What now?

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask that you come with me, there are some forms to fill out and I’ll be needing a witness statement before you can go anywhere.” He puffs out the words like he just sprinted over here.

“Right now? Can’t this wait? I have to get to the hospital, and she needs to get out of here.” I tilt my head toward Brooklyn, who has stopped fighting me and is just crying uncontrollably against my shoulder.

“No, it can’t wait. I’m sorry, sir. It shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes or so.” He rubs his hand over his neck and stares at my shoes, his cheeks turning crimson as Brooklyn bawls loudly.

“Fine.” I push the words through my clenched teeth. “Lord knows we haven’t been through enough already, what’s another twenty minutes, right?”

“We’ll try to make it as quick as possible, Sir. If you want to leave your daughter with,” he looks at Brianna’s parents, uncertain of how they’re connected to my family.

“My fiancee’s family,” I answer his questioning eyes.

“Yes, if you want to leave your daughter with the in-laws, we can get this done.”

“If you think I’m putting her down, after what she’s been through, then you’re crazy. You can either ask me your questions now and deal with this,” I nod at Brooklyn, who is heaving with each sob as though her heart is truly broken. “Or, I can come down to the station tomorrow.”

The officer looks at me, then at Brooklyn, then at his shoes. He twists his toe into the dirt path and sighs, “I’ll tell you what, my partner and I will meet you at the hospital in an hour. You go tend to your family, Sir. But, I do need to get your witness statement today, ok?”

Surprised at his sudden compassion, relief runs through me. “I do understand. Yes. Thank you, officer.” I turn on my heel and head to the car before he has a chance to change his mind.

Chapter Two

Brianna

Lights are flashing by my eyes as people that I can’t see flank each side of my stretcher. I feel like the entire staff is surrounding me as they wheel me down the hospital hallway. With my neck braced and my head strapped to this board, all I can do is watch the lights. My tears slide down the sides of my head as I pray. The voices of the staff are buzzing around me like bees in a hive, and I try to make sense of what they’re saying.

“Vaginal bleeding and head contusion…”

“Emergency sonogram, possible cesarean…”

“The mother lost consciousness, fetal distress…”

“Do you have any pain in your pelvis, ma’am? Were you struck in your abdomen?” One of the nurses leans over me as we cram into an elevator.

“I fell on my stomach, really hard. I passed out, so I don’t know what happened after that.” My voice squeaks as I try to tell myself to keep faith that everything will be ok.

“How far along are you, ma’am?” I can’t make out the details of her face with the bright light shining behind her head like a halo.

“I’m twenty-seven weeks,” the buzzing of voices gets louder as the crowd of medical staff discusses my answer. “Is my baby ok? What’s happening?” A chill runs through me and for the first time, I realize that my forehead is throbbing. I just want Bradley here. I want him to hold me close and tell me that everything is going to be ok.
I swear, if that bitch hurt my baby, I’m going to go to jail because I’m going to kill her.

“We’re going to find out soon, ok? I know it’s hard, but try to take some deep breaths and think positive.”

I try to nod, but my head won’t budge. Instead, I’m rewarded with a flash of pain across my forehead. It doesn’t bother me though, all I can concentrate on is my baby. I try to psychically communicate with my baby to say it’s going to be ok, to hang on.
When was the last time I felt the baby move? Did the doctor say vaginal bleeding?
I try to take deep breaths, but they’re ragged and heavy.

Within a minute, I’m being unstrapped and transferred onto a hospital bed. In a flurry, my shirt is cut off of me and straps are placed over my chest as cold jelly is smeared over my belly. Normally, when I feel the gel before an ultrasound, I giggle with excitement. It’s always a thrill to hear my baby’s heartbeat fill the room and watch the outline of my little bean squirm around on the monitor. Now I’m filled with dread, and the monitor is tucked away behind my head so I can’t even see the screen.

“Don’t forget to breathe, Mom.” The nurse guides me as terror grips my chest. My breathing is shallow, but it’s the only sound filling the room as the doctor pushes a wand into my belly searching for signs of life in my baby. The nurse holds my hand, and I twist my head to take a look at the doctor’s face, hoping for some kind of indication of what’s going on. However, he’s just squinting at the screen, concentrating as he pokes my belly with the wand from different directions.