A Rock & Roll Romance (25 page)

“Jake!” She cried.

“I’m right here baby. I’m not going anywhere.” I tried to reassure her while running to keep up with them.

I climbed in behind them and took Aubrey’s hand in mine. I was clutching to her for dear life. They
closed the door and started an IV. One of the medics was wrapping her wrists in gauze. She moved her hand to her abdomen and started sobbing.

“She’s pregnant.” I told the
woman medic who was assessing her.

She nodded
in understanding. I felt sick to my stomach with the thought of losing even one of our babies. Her bottom lip was trembling, and I felt so helpless. I wanted nothing more than for her and our babies to be safe. I wished that I was on the damn stretcher for once. When we arrived at the hospital, they ushered us in through the emergency entrance. A team of doctors were already there waiting. I was fucking livid when they told me that I needed to stay outside the room. They closed the curtain so that I couldn’t even see what was going on. I anxiously paced the floor as I waited for news. Twenty minutes later a nurse came out and told me that it was okay for me to go in the room.

“Hey baby, are y
ou doing okay?” I asked her.

She nodded solemnly.

“She’s going to be just fine. We had to give her three stitches in the abdomen. She told us that she had the dog in a sling. I can tell you from my standpoint that the dog saved her life. Otherwise, the knife would have gone straight through. It would have undoubtedly terminated the pregnancy and possibly killed her. You’re a very lucky girl, Aubrey Thompson.” The doctor said. “We’re going to admit you for observation as a precaution. Get some rest and we’ll move you up to your room shortly.”

“Thank you.” I said earnestly
and shaking his hand.

             
He nodded and left the room.

“Aubrey, he said that you and the babies are going to be fine. Why do you look so sad?”

“Bella.” She wept.

“Brett’s at the vet with her right now
. They’re going to do everything they can to make sure she’s fine. Baby, she saved your life.”

“I know
, but she’s my baby too.” I watched tears slide down her pale cheeks.

             
I used my fingertips to wipe her tears away. I placed her hand in mine and waited for news. I knew that I should call Tim and let him know what happened, but I wanted to get the rest of the details first. We waited for over an hour before they came to move Aubrey to another room. Once she was situated the nurse gave her a mild sedative to help her sleep. I started to protest until she said that it was safe for the babies. It didn’t take her long to fall asleep. I sat with my phone clutched in my hand and waited for it to ring. Forty minutes later there was a knock at the door. I looked up and saw a detective standing there with another officer.

“Can we come in?” He asked.

“Actually I’d prefer to talk in the hallway? I don’t want to disturb her.” I motioned to Aubrey.

“That’s fine.”

              I stood up and walked out into the hallway. We stood right outside the door so I could keep an eye on her.

“Mr. Parker, as you a
re already aware, Ms. Thompson had a restraining order against Mr. Roberts. This evening he kidnapped her with the intent of doing something extremely sinister. Luckily, with your quick thinking about the microchip we were able to avoid this being a homicide investigation.” I felt bile rise in my throat at the thought. “Unfortunately, well not really, our officers had to use deadly force to take Mr. Roberts down to prevent further incident. I want you to rest assure that our department will do everything in its power to wrap up this investigation quickly so that you can put it behind you. We were aware of this case when you brought it to our attention last month, but we weren’t aware that you and you’re fiancée were back in town.”

“We
actually weren’t due back for a couple more days. Aubrey hasn’t been feeling well lately, so we ended up cutting our trip short so that she could come home and rest. We just found out earlier today that we’re going to be parents, to twins.”

“Congratulations
. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance. We will need a statement from Ms. Thompson, when she’s feeling up to it as well. Oh, and your bike is gone…”

             
He handed me a card with his contact information.

“
Yeah, I figured as much. I’ll be in touch.” I told him shaking my head. I knew that was going to happen.

             
I went back into the room and sat next to Aubrey again. She was mumbling peacefully in her sleep with her hand on her stomach. I put my hand on top of hers and was beyond grateful that both of our babies were okay. I was still trying to work through what happened tonight. It felt like an eternity while I waited for my phone to ring. Finally, it did. It was Brett.

“Hello.” I answered
quietly.

“Bella’s going to be fine.
” He said in a rush. “I don’t really understand vet lingo, but from what I did understand the knife didn’t penetrate anything vital. She’s one lucky dog, especially since it went completely through. They just finished the surgery, and she’s in recovery now.”

“Thank God!” I yelled.

Aubrey stirred and I told myself to calm the fuck down.

“Brett
, thank you for everything. Seriously.” I said sincerely.

“I was just doing my job.” He stated.

“Brett you put your life in danger to protect Aubrey tonight. You put your ass on the line every time you go anywhere with me. I just want you to know that I appreciate it, and you.”

“I love you like a brother
, Jake. Over the past few months, Aubrey’s become like a sister to me. The change I see in both of you is nothing short of a miracle. I’m serious.” He started laughing.

“I know. It’s pretty crazy.” I
couldn’t help but laugh too.

             
It really was some sort of kismet that brought us together. We were like two lost souls wandering the world and then
bam!

“So about what you said earl
ier, that Aubrey’s pregnant. Is it true?”

“Yeah, we just found out this morning. She’s literally only like five or six weeks along
, and it’s twins.”

             
I could hear him chuckling on the other end of the phone. Why does everyone think the fact that we’re having twins is so hilarious?

“Twins, huh?
Figures. Either way you guys are going to be rock star parents.”

“We’re sure as hell go
ing to try. The doctor said if it weren’t for Bella that we would have lost the babies and possibly Aubrey. She saved all of them.”

“Bet you don’t think that stupid cocoon thing is so stupid anymore, do you?”

“I’ll need you to go pick up a new one before she gets released.” I teased.

“I’m on it. I’ll be over there in a little while to check on things. Do you want me to call
Vin in the meantime?”

“No, we’re good. Why don’t you just go home and spend some time with
Ri and Kayley? I’ve got things under control here. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“
Call me if you change your mind and I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks again, Brett.”

“Anytime Jake, anytime.”

             
I disconnected Brett’s call and scrolled through my contacts. I pulled up Tim’s number and hovered my thumb over the send button. It was after one in the morning their time. I thought about waiting until morning, but I put the call off long enough already. It rang quite a few times before he finally answered. I knew I woke him up. I told him everything that happened and that Jeremy was out of the picture, permanently. I explained that Aubrey, the babies and Bella were all going to be fine. He wanted to come out, but I assured him that I had things under control. I told him we would be there in a week anyway. He reluctantly agreed. I promised him that I would keep him up to date on any changes and to go back to bed. It felt like Texas déjà vu all over again. The hospital. Aubrey in bed, at least this time she wasn’t in a coma. I put my head down on the bed and tried to catch some zzz’s.

Aubrey

              I woke up completely befuddled. I blinked a couple times before the realization of what happened hit me. It came at me head on, like a freight train. I started freaking out. Jake lifted his head and looked at me with wide eyes. He stood up and sat next to me in bed. I was still rattled from last night. Jeremy. Knives. Bella. Gunshots. I was having a difficult time categorizing it all. I quickly remembered the babies and forced myself to relax. I looked at Jake again. He had worry etched all over his handsome face. I reached out my hand that didn’t have IV’s and touched his cheek.

“He can’t hurt you anymore baby.” He whispered.

              I knew he was telling me that Jeremy was dead. I already knew and a majority of me felt an enormous wave of relief. The other part of me felt guilty for feeling that way because he was still someone’s son. He was obviously very mentally disturbed. I wasn’t excusing his actions by any means because I would wear the scars that he gave me for the rest of my life. I’m sure that karma takes calls in the afterlife as well. My next thought was my puppy.

“What about Bella?”
I asked.

I was expecting the worse because s
he was so tiny, and he thrust that knife at me with such force. The conviction in his eyes will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to kill me. I felt horrible that Bella had to bear the brunt of the attack, especially because she was completely defenseless. I guess in hindsight it was a good thing since the outcome could have been much graver, but I still wanted her to be okay. She was my first baby.

“She’s going to be fine. They said that the kni
fe missed all major organs. They expect her to make a full recovery.”

“Thank
goodness.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“How do you feel baby?”
He eyed me apprehensively.

“I’m a little sore. I’m feeling confused. But, I’m okay.”

I tried to sit up some more so I could get comfortable. Jake reached around and helped me. He told me exactly what the cops told him. He said that we needed to meet with the detective to discuss my side of events. I told him just to make the call so we could get it over with. He called Brett first because he wanted him to be here too. After he made the phone calls he lifted up my hospital gown to look at my stitches. I knew exactly what he was feeling. Last night when I felt like I might lose the babies it all became clear. It was meant to be, they were meant to be. Life doesn’t throw you more than you can handle.
It likes to test though.
Brett came into the room with some bagels and coffee. Just the smell of the coffee turned my stomach. He laughed and quickly ran them out into the hallway.

“
Ri had the same problem when she was pregnant with Kayley.” He smiled.

             
He reached into the bag and handed me a bagel with cream cheese. It tasted stupendous. It tasted like the forbidden fruit. I was popping the last bite into my mouth when the police showed up.

“Ms. Thompson, I’m Detective Johnny Cruz
, and this is Officer Ryan Consuelo.” He said as he came into the room.

They pulled up chairs next to the bed
, and the detective pulled out a notebook.

“Can you tell me what you remember from last night?” He asked softly.

“We had gone to the doctors earlier and what we thought was kidney stones turned out to be babies. I remember going to take a nap because I was feeling really tired. I hadn’t been able to keep food down for most of the day, so I sent Jake to go get me some. When I woke up I was being carried. At first I thought it was Jake because he’s notorious for tossing me over his shoulder and carrying me around like that.” I looked at him, and he smirked. “Except it wasn’t Jake, it was Jeremy. He somehow managed to bond my hands while I was sleeping. He threw me into the back of a car and drove to the hotel. He dragged me inside, and the dresser was lined with candles and knives. My instincts were to fight, but the last time I was attacked by him the more I fought the more he liked it. I decided to act like a willing participant and see what happened. I remember him asking me, ‘How does it feel knowing you’re going to die tonight?’ The next thing I knew he picked the biggest knife and taunted me with it. As soon as he heard activity outside he stabbed me with it. Brett came into the room right after that, or I’m certain that he would have kept stabbing. Brett used some kind of ninja move on Jeremy knocking him down. He was distracted long enough for Brett to grab me and run back out the door. Then we ended up here.”

             
The detective reached into his pocket and produced an evidence envelope.

“Does this look familiar?” He held it out.

              I felt all of the air rush out of my lungs.