Protect Me (36 page)

“Is the baby ok?” She managed to get out past her burning throat.

“Yes, luckily the baby sustained no injuries during the altercation. Your blood pressure has been a little high so we will need to monitor that to make sure it goes back down, but I believe we are in the clear going forward. You are around six weeks now so you should be able to hear the heartbeat in a few weeks.” She smiled again at the both of them.

“How is that possible though? I am on birth control. Oh God, could the birth control have hurt the baby?”

“Birth control isn’t one hundred percent effective and medicines, especially antibiotics, even taking your pill at a different time everyday could reduce its effectiveness. But no, as far as we can tell, you have a perfectly healthy baby until you get far enough along to do further blood work. But I feel confident in saying everyone should be ok.” The doctor explained.

“Thanksgiving.” It hit her as she looked over at Ryan smiling. “I was on antibiotics after I had gotten sick over Thanksgiving. I had no idea.”

“Well, I’d say you got a good reason to be thankful. I will be back to check on you in a bit. Try and get some rest and I will have the nurse bring you in some soup.”

Abbi’s hand met Ryan’s at the center of her stomach as she relaxed back into her bed. They were going to be a family. She didn’t know what to say. A baby had been the last thing she had thought about happening in their lives. Hell apart of her wanted to wait for this part, to give them both a chance to have the wedding and get settled. Aside from the scariness of a new situation, she couldn’t be more thrilled. It all felt so right, like they were now complete. As the doctor left, the nurse entered in with a pitcher of water and a cup of ice with a blue and white striped straw hanging out the side.

She took a few sips of the water as the iciness calmed her throat. She could feel it making its way down into her stomach, chilling her body with each sip. She saw Ryan flinch as he attempted to stand from the chair. She watched him as he struggled to stand upright, before she placed the cup back down onto the small table beside her bed.

“Ryan, what’s wrong?” She spoke out between her slightly parted lips.

“Nothing, I’m fine baby.” He smiled down at her. “I’ll be right back.” She watched him hobble over into the bathroom.

What had happened, had he been involved in any of the stuff that had gone down? At that thought her stomach dropped. Spinning into a ball as bile rose into her throat. Judy! Judy had been shot! She might not remember what had happened after she was shoved into that van, but she remembered seeing Judy get shot. She grimaced as the images of Judy’s lifeless body came into her mind. She could feel the blood draining from her face as the tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Ryan tried rushing over to her bed after coming out of the door to the private restroom.

“Judy.” It was all she could get out. She didn’t even think she wanted to know the answer.

“Oh baby, Judy is ok. She had to have surgery, but they were able to remove the bullet and repair the muscle that was damaged.”

Relief flooded through her body. “Can I see her?”

“I will ask the nurse, but I am sure we can arrange for you to see her in the morning.” He smiled.

“Ok.” She paused taking Ryan by the hand as he managed to sit down in the chair next to her. “Ryan, what happened to you?”

“Babe, the last thing I need for you to do is worry about me.”

“I want to know, please.”

“Since we have been together you know I haven’t always been open about my past and what I did in the military. It’s something that has haunted me for many years. I have talked to professionals and gotten all the appropriate clearances from them, but it’s something that never really goes away. That was the main reason I tried to steer clear of us in the beginning. I didn’t think that you would want to be with someone who had… had killed.” She could see the color leaving from his face before he continued. “After everything that happened in the beginning I knew that I didn’t need to protect you from me, but that I myself needed to be the one to protect you from everything else in this damn world. I worked with the SWAT team that found you. Jace was with us too. For the first time in my life, when I came into that room and saw your body lying on the floor, nothing from my past mattered anymore. In an instant you took all of that away for me. You gave me the clarity that I have been searching for since the first time I pulled a trigger in action.” She winced, he didn’t have to say it out loud she knew what he had been through and what he’d had to do. “My whole life I spent worrying about my past and whether it made me a bad person for what I’d done, but I realized that it wasn’t about my past any longer. That it was about my future, with you.”

“Did you get hurt? Did someone hurt you?” She couldn’t hide the concern in her voice.

“I had to make a decision. When I saw him pointing his gun at your head I had to make a decision.” His head hung low as if remembering the image of what he had seen.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m ok. We’re ok.” She said placing her hand onto her belly.

“I didn’t think twice about it. I stepped towards him knowing he would take aim at me and I did what I had to do to make sure you were safe.” He lifted his head back up, a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

“Oh baby. I have always known the things you have done in the past without you having to tell me. I never pressed it because it didn’t matter to me. You know that you can always talk to me when you need to and I will never judge you.” The words came out mumbled through her swollen lips.

“You are the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Both of you.” He stood leaning over her belly, bending down and placing a light kiss against her naval.

She couldn’t imagine her life any other way. Most people who had been through all of the shit she had gone through over the years would have called it quits. Hell, what she had gone through over the past few months would have been enough to break someone.  Yet somehow she knew that everything would be ok. Call if fate or coincidence, but she knew there was a reason she had been brought to this town and as crazy of an idea it seemed at the time, it had been the best decision she had ever made.

Three weeks later

“Go faster, Ryan! Go faster!” Abbi giggled as Jace raced Judy’s wheelchair faster than her own up the ramp on the front of their house.

“You know, you two didn’t really need wheelchairs. The doctor said just to take it easy.” Ryan smirked down at her as he leaned down towards her ear. “I don’t want to take any chances with Biggie Smalls in there so you’re going to have to enjoy the scenic stroll.” He smiled before kissing her neck just below the slight swollen bruise on her jaw.

“Mmmm I can think of a scene I would like to take in.” She flashed her eyes up at him. She hadn’t felt his hands on her body in what felt like months, she was pretty sure that she was about to dry up and waste away down there.

“We will see. Depends on how well you behave.” He stopped just shy of the door as Abbi pushed herself out of the wheelchair and walked into the house.

Home. She was so happy to be home. Ryan walked in behind her placing his hand on the small of her back and led her into the great room. Judy and Jace splayed out on the large white lounge taking in the view of the sunset from the glass window. They looked happy. She wasn’t sure what was going on between the two of them, but Jace hadn’t left Judy’s side the entire time she was in the hospital, which made it hard for Abbi to get a moment to tell Judy about her and Ryan’s news. She could hear them whispering and giggling from the couch.

“No, I am not going to tell her that.” Judy hit Jace in the arm. “She would think I was a floozy.”

“No, she won’t. She would think the exact opposite.” Jace smiled up at her.

“It’s too soon, but I will.” Judy smiled over at Jace.

“It’s not too soon. I promise. She will be ok with it.”

“What are you two lovebirds talking about over there?” Abbi came in sitting next to Ryan on the couch opposite them.

“Oh nothing.” Judy smiled over at her. “Jace, would you please go get me a bottle of water?” She smiled suspiciously at him.

Why were they acting so weird? As many times as she had seen Judy and Jace together, she hadn’t seen them quite like this. She knew they hooked up sometimes and talked on the phone a lot, but previous to the events that had occurred a few weeks ago she never actually thought they were serious about a relationship.

“Babe, would you like anything?” Ryan asked before following Jace to the kitchen.

“A bottle of water would be great.” She smiled up at him as he left out of the room.

“Ok, spill the beans!” Abbi laughed over at Judy.

“What on earth are you talking about, sister?” Judy rolled over smiling, before standing and making her way over to Abbi’s side.

“Yeah, yeah. Something is going on with you two but don’t worry, I will find out.”

“Oh it’s nothing really.”

“So, I have some news for you.” Abbi couldn’t help the beaming smile on her face.

“Really? What is it?” Judy’s smile matched the extremity of her own.

“Well, you’re going to be an Aunt.”

“What? Holy shit! That is so amazing!” Judy reached around with her good arm and hugged Abbi close to her. “Abbi, I am so happy for you two! Well, you three! This is great!” Her smile slightly changed into concern. “The baby is ok right?”

“The baby is healthy. I am actually at nine weeks now. We got to see the heartbeat at the hospital.” Abbi couldn’t contain the smile that was spreading across her face.

Judy placed her hand onto Abbi’s stomach. “Listen up, Little Nugget. This is you’re Auntie Judy. You better be good to your mama because I don’t handle hurling very well. So you’re gonna have to keep that shit on lock. Oh, and for the record when you spend your weekends with me, I believe in eating chocolate cake for breakfast.”

“You’re not allowed to give my baby chocolate cake.” Abbi giggled.

“What your mama doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Judy whispered towards her belly before smiling up at Abbi.

From the kitchen they heard a shout followed by “Hell yeah!”

“From the sounds of it Ryan told Jace.” Abbi laughed. “So what is going on with you two?”

“Well, I actually have something I need to tell you too.” Judy grinned.

To be continued…

This has truly been an amazing journey. I have been very blessed to have so many people who have had my back and supported me along the way. My biggest fan and inspiration has been my husband Jason. Thank you for showing me what true love really is. Thank you Mama for always participating on my webpage, daddy for never doubting I could do it, and my sister Brandy for keeping me sane through it all. Thank you to an amazing sister, by choice , Jenifer for late night brainstorming sessions. Also Jill for helping along the way! Big thanks to the amazing Teresa Gableman and fabulous Gail McHugh, you have both been such an inspiration and motivation throughout this journey. I am so very blessed to have had your help and guidance along the way. Thank you Lisa S., Peggy F., and Colleen L. for spending so much time editing and working on my baby!

Aside from the writing process, there have been so many other aspects of the book that so many wonderful people have helped with. I would like to thank Rex P. and Tabetha L. for being amazing cover models. Thank you Hillary Warren for providing make-up services. Of course the beauty of these two individuals would have never come together if it hadn’t been for the talents of Lizzie and Nita with 917 Photography and Lynn Lauren Photography. A huge thank you to the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia communities, without all of your help and support I would have not made it as far as I have.

Lastly, I would like to send out many thanks to those who have followed my page, interacted, shared and begged their followers to come over and support me. I truly would have been lost without you!