Deliverance for Amelia (18 page)

Chapter Forty-Seven: Amelia

“
W
ELL,” DR. KERR SAYS, gently running her hands over my womb, “I’m putting you on bedrest. The spotting is concerning. However, I can’t do much when you’re here and not in the hospital where you should be.” She turns to look at Gabe, “Please bring her into my office tomorrow. We need to do a couple of tests to make sure that the baby is okay.”

Gabe nods as he runs his hand over his scruffy face.

“I’ll see myself out.” She says quietly as she stands and leaves the room, leaving us alone.

Hot tears streak my face as I stare at the ceiling.

Gabe grabs at his hair as he paces back and forth in front of the bed.

“This is your fault, Amelia. If our baby dies, it’s because you didn’t take care of yourself.” Gabe rasps as he chokes back a sob. I’ve never seen him show much emotion, ever. Not once.

I look towards him, “Gabe, you can blame whoever you want, but I think even you know the truth.”

I flinch as I see him stalk towards me, but he stops and just looks down at me. The rage is swirling in the green eyes that I once thought to be so beautiful.

He shakes his head and then turns with his hands clenched at his sides.

I lay for a while in the dark, and jump when I hear a faint scream. I sit up on my elbows and it continues. I lower my feet to the ground and place my hands over my stomach. I open the door and walk past Able. He grabs my arm and I turn to face him.

“Go back to your room, Amelia. Just go.”

I yank my arm from him and continue on my way to the source of the sound. I stop outside of the door and place my hand on the knob. I stand like that for a while before I finally work up the nerve.

I crack the door and peek in, immediately falling to my knees.

“Kat.” I whisper, and then everything goes black.

My eyes flutter open. The room is pure white, with no hint of color. I place my palm over my forehead and press down in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing in my head.

I feel like a part of me has been taken. I feel vacant. The little kicks that I had grown to love, gone.

I squeeze my eyes shut and run a shaky hand down to my now flat stomach. The baby. Is he alive? Did they manage to save him? My stomach hurts. I start recounting the events leading up to me being here.

I blacked out. I blacked out because of what I witnessed Gabe doing to Kat. He-he had her tied down and he was hurting her. I felt my stomach constrict and I fell to my knees. Everything was black, but I remember hearing Able in my ear.

“Amelia. Stay.”

Yes. I was lifted. Able was carrying me. Then I heard nothing. I felt nothing. I was in a haze when I heard frantic voices and something was placed over my nose and mouth… yes, it was oxygen… helping me breathe.

Then a bright light, and the feeling of pressure on my stomach, seeing Gabe’s eyes above me while he was wearing a surgical mask.

“
Amelia
.”

He kept saying my name, but I wasn’t sure if it was real. I felt like I was floating.

“
The baby isn’t responding.”

That voice… always so soft and calm… Dr. Kerr. There weren’t any cries from an infant. Gabe looked sad. Gabe was sad. He actually had tears in his eyes. I never thought it was possible. I never thought I’d see him cry.

“The baby.” I whisper, my mouth feeling dry. My stomach, it’s hurting really bad now.

My eyes travel around the room and then I see him. Gabe. He’s sitting in a chair with his hands on his knees.

“The baby.” I croak. He shakes his head slowly.

A sob wracks through me and I grip my chest over my heart. My heart hurts more than anything. My baby. He’s dead.

“He didn’t make it.” Gabe says, his voice sounding strained as he stands and faces the window. My eyes follow as tears roll down my cheeks.

“I want my-my mom… and my g-grandmother.” I stammer. I need them to wrap their arms around me. Tell me it’s okay.

“We’ll try again.” Gabe says with a heaviness that I’d not thought him capable of.

I sit up on my elbows, “Gabe. I…” Another sob rolls out of me, “I saw you hurting her.”

“We’ll try again.” He repeats.

“Get out. Get out or I’ll scream.”

“Amelia, I-”

“Get. Out.”

That wasn’t me. We both turn our eyes towards the door where my grandmother is standing.

Gabe sneers at her and then looks towards me, but I can’t take my eyes from my grandmother as more tears flow.

Gabe stomps out of the room and past my grandmother.

“Amelia.” She says sadly as she opens her arms and embraces me. The love emanates from her, practically flowing through my pores. My body begins shaking as I wail into my grandmother’s chest.

“I know, sweet girl. I am so, so sorry.”

Chapter Forty-Eight: Able

I
FEEL THE BITTER SMOKE bite my lungs as I inhale my cigarette, an occasional habit. One that I should probably quit, but we all die eventually anyway.

What do I have to live for anyhow? A mother who thinks me to be the devil? A woman who I am so fucking in love with, but can’t have? No. I should have fucking protected her. I let my goddamn past make me into a hardened man, a man whose eyes have seen so much evil, but I eventually chose to ignore it. I could have gone in there and put a bullet into his head. But I chose to stand there and remain stoic.

What will be left of her? She was already so incredibly broken. She was nervous about being a mother, but excited nonetheless. I remember the smile that spread across her face when she felt him move. She grabbed my wrist and placed my hand over her stomach. Her excitement was infectious. I shared that moment with her, as well as many others. Her lips on mine were the best, though, when she would let me love her. God, I would give everything – my last breath – anything to give her freedom. Even if that meant that I wasn’t involved in her future.

My eyes spot the black town car in the distance. Is she coming home? She’s been in the hospital for over a week. I miss her smell and her taste on my lips.

The town car pulls up and Benedict quickly exits and runs around to open the door. Gabe slides out first, looking disheveled. Then, I see her small form scoot out. Benedict opens the trunk and retrieves a wheelchair. Gabe tries to assist her, but she yanks away. It looks as though he wants to fight her, but he doesn’t. He only nods to Benedict who assists her. She lets him.

I try and catch her gaze as he wheels her in, but her eyes are unmoving. They’re so empty.

I look down as I take another drag of my cigarette.

“Hey, can I get one of those?” Gabe rasps. My eyes meet his as I pull the pack from my pocket along with my lighter. I pull out a cigarette and hand it to him before lighting it for him.

“The baby didn’t make it.” He says bitterly. I remain quiet for a moment, trying to keep my temper in check.

Finally I respond, “I know.”

We stand in silence for several moments before Gabe snuffs his cigarette into the neatly arranged flowerpot beside the door. He begins opening the door before he stops, “Able, keep an eye on her while I’m gone.”

I keep my eyes locked in front of me as the door shuts behind him. Yeah, I’ll take care of her, but not for him. I’ll do it because she’s the one who made my heart beat again.

I’ll do it, because she deserves to have somebody love her, and dammit I do, with everything in me.

Chapter Forty-Nine: Gabe

I
’VE NEVER DOUBTED THAT I AM A MONSTER. Not once in my life. I had always accepted the scratchy voice, figured I was plagued by it and that would never change.

I never thought that I was capable of warmth, or compassion, or love. Those things were abnormal to me.

But, my
son
, my son is
dead
!

The hurt that I feel is incomprehensible. What is this – why would I hurt? Had love finally claimed my icy heart, melting the rigid contempt? I wanted normalcy. But normalcy has destroyed me. I’m not sure when I can face her again.

I want to strangle her. I want to suck all of the life from her, just like her womb strangled the life from our son.

I saw him. He was covered in her blood as he was lifted from the opening in her stomach where they cut. He was such a small baby. Less than two pounds. His arms hung limp. His heart didn’t beat and his lungs didn’t expand.

I learned love and heartbreak all at once.

I walk up the steps and stop outside of the front door. Amelia will be up in our bedroom, or standing underneath the mobile as it circles and plays tunes in our would-be son’s room. She’s healing from the cesarean. I’ve been gone for weeks, but I’ve been watching her. She walks aimlessly through the house, not acknowledging anything. I wonder if she’s finally done it. Has she finally lost her shit?

I turn the knob and smile when I see Esmerelda on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor with the brush as I had instructed before. I’m not sure why I hadn’t hired a staff before Amelia… it makes everything so much easier.

I ascend the stairs as I let my hand freely run over the smooth rail. I hear classical music belting out from behind the master bedroom door. I nod at Able and he nods back as I walk further down the hall.

Standing in front of the guest bedroom door, I contemplate exactly what it is that I intend to do here. Kat’s in there, and she’s obviously terrified of me. I know what it looked like when Amelia saw us that night. I didn’t
rape
her. I
almost
raped her, but then Amelia passed out. Things spun out of control, and the darkness crept out before I could catch it and shove it back down into the pit of my mind. My kills used to help me keep somewhat of a grasp on things, but then I was faced with the possibility of losing my child. Then, that’s exactly what happened.

Kat can keep me from harming Amelia. I can’t hurt Amelia. Not if I want her to give me a family. I won’t lie, the idea of fucking Kat flashed through my mind, even when I had my arms wrapped around her trembling form in the parking garage. She could be… somewhat of a mistress, that and she could become friends with Amelia. Possibly pull her out of the dark hole that she’s in. At least now, I know what the fuck I’m doing with this girl.

I unlock the door from the outside before stepping in and closing it behind me, Kat is sitting on the edge of the bed. I clear my throat, she doesn’t turn. She gives me the cold shoulder. Okay.

“Kat.” I say, but she remains unresponsive. I approach the bed and scoot up to where I’m behind her. I reach out to touch her shoulder and she jumps.

I sigh, “Kat, I’m sorry. I was way out of line the other night. Look, I’ve got a proposition for you.”

I gently grasp her shoulder and turn her to where she’s facing me. She doesn’t look defiant… she looks terrified, though.

“What if I told you,” I pause as I tap her nose with my index finger, “That you didn’t have to live on the street anymore? You could live here, with us.”

“Really?” She breathes out, her blue eyes becoming large with curiosity.

“Really.” I say, echoing her. “You’d have to help me sometimes though.”

“How?” She asks, her head tilting to the side.

I swear. This girl is almost childlike. She’s hot, but seems a little slow… If you know what I mean. Normally, girls like her would be offsetting for me. I don’t like weak people, perhaps that’s why I made Amelia my wife, because she isn’t weak by any stretch. She’s checked out emotionally for now, but my witty wife will return soon. Kat should be a nice additional to our dysfunctional little family.

“I want you and Amelia to become friends. Would you like that?”

Her head bobs up and down, “I’d like that. She’s pretty, and she seems nice.”

I smile, “She is very, very pretty and very nice.”

“Is that it?” She asks.

I shake my head slowly, “Not quite… see, I’m a man-”

She giggles at my obvious statement and I continue, “I have needs that sometimes I can’t take care of when I’m with Amelia.”

A frown overcomes her face.

“See, Kat. I think you’re really pretty.” She blushes and bows her head, but her eyes remain on mine.

“I’d like it if you and I could have a little relationship also. You know,” I pause as I run a finger down her arm, making her shiver, “A really special relationship.”

“But, wouldn’t Amelia be mad?” She asks, suddenly looking concerned.

“No, of course not.”

Kat looks down at her lap, “I’ve never had a relationship before. Not like that.”

Okay, this bitch is becoming annoying. Fast.

“How about I show you how good I can make you feel, and then let you decide.”

Her eyes snap back to mine as she nods haltingly, “Okay.”

I smile, “Okay, lie down. I’ll do everything else.”