Forbidden Forever (11 page)

Michael's
POV

What the hell have I
done?
Laney.
I put my face in my hands and sit on the steps,
rocking back and forth. When she said she was leaving me I lost it. I
know I am an asshole, but I can't see myself without her in my life.
Why do I act this way toward someone so important to me? I hear the
sirens down the road and I know they are coming for me. I stand and
walk in the house and grab my wallet and keys, turn off all the
lights and lock the door behind me. I sit back on the steps and
prepare myself for what is to come. It's so fast like a movie scene;
the cops pull into my well-manicured lawn and get out with guns aimed
at me. The criminal. The abusive husband who nearly killed his wife
because she was leaving him due to all the crap he put her through. I
deserve this and much worse for what I have done.

It is like something in
my brain takes over when she is around and I lose myself, hate takes
over, but hate for what? Not really Laney, I love her and every ounce
of love she has for me. I have really lost her now and my poor kids.
They will hate me forever for the pain I just caused their mom. I put
my hands up and behind my head like the officer barks at me. He comes
up behind me and takes one arm and brings it to my lower back and
cuffs it, then the other arm. "You have the right to remain
silent. If you wish to exercise that right, say so out loud," he
reads me my rights. I understand and get into the back of the police
car. I am booked and put into a cell with three other men for
holding. I sit in my own thoughts for what seems like years until my
attorney arrives and they call me to speak with him. They take me to
a private room and my attorney is sitting at the other end of the
table. I don't care what happens to me, what I care about is if Laney
is okay and if the kids are with her.

"What did you do,
Michael?" my attorney, Mr. Mack Jacobs, asks me.

I slam my hands hard on
the table and yell, "Is Laney okay?"

He looks at me with eyes
that could burn a hole through me and explains to me how bad the
damage is. "Laney is in surgery due to a ruptured spleen. She
passed out after the ambulance arrived on scene to help her. They
rushed her right into surgery," he tells me.

"Do the kids know
what happened to her? Are they with her?" I ask.

The words barely make it
out due to the cracking in my throat. I did this to her. My mind is
circling from the reality of what I have caused. I look at my hands
and see the blood, her blood. I put my face in my bloody hands and
scream, the tears pour down my face as I recall every horrible
action. Mr. Jacobs tells me that they have sent a deputy to get
Callie and Kaleb and take them to the hospital. All I can think of is
her going alone and I beg him to call Sierra, Laney's best friend,
and have her go instead. He calls someone and orders them to let
Sierra go and that he will personally call her himself. They agree
and I feel better knowing Callie and Kaleb will have someone with
them when they find out what happened and what I did.

I don't deserve to feel
better about anything, but no matter what I have done, my kids have
always been the light in my life. I would never harm them or want
them in this kind of pain. Pain I caused. Mr. Jacob's calls Sierra
while he is with me and explains what has happened.

I can hear her sobbing
on the other end and screaming, "OMG, I knew this would happen.
I'm going to kill that mother fucker."

I believe that she would
if given the chance, and she should after what I have done. The last
image I have of Laney is her pulling away from me after I nearly
smashed her windshield in with a brick. I deserve everything that
happens to me. Sierra gets herself together after about five minutes
and he hangs up the phone.

"Okay, Sierra is
going to get Callie and Kaleb and take them to the hospital, I have
arranged for you to have a private room until they know if Laney will
be okay. You will have a chance to clean up and they will give you an
orange jumper to wear while you are here. What happens here on out
depends on what happens with her." He shakes my hand and walks
out.

I am escorted down the
hall to a private cell so I can slowly die in my own thoughts. If she
is okay I will make it up to her. I will show her every day how
deeply sorry I am for what I have done. Maybe one day she will be
able to forgive me and the pain I have caused her, not just this
time, but all the times I put her down and caused her extreme pain.
The times I broke her heart and made her feel less than absolutely
beautiful in every way. It was never her; it was always me. Four
walls and my thoughts are all I have and all I deserve. I have heard
nothing about Laney and if she is okay. I do something that I haven't
done since I was a young boy, I pray, I pray for her recovery and her
forgiveness. I knew that my anger was out of control for years and I
should have gotten help for it long ago. Instead, now I have hurt
three people who I care so much about and I have no idea if any of
them are okay. It should be me on that hospital bed not her. Oh
Laney, I am so terribly sorry. I wish I could take it all back and we
could be the family we once were.

Chance's
POV

It has been four hours
since Laney left here to go tell Michael that she wants a divorce.
Four hours can change things and he could convince her to stay and
make things work. My heart would be crushed in a millions pieces if
she decides to stay with him. I call her phone, but all I get is
voice mail. I put the phone down and pace back and forth on the
balcony. I look toward the elevator to see if she is walking in and I
can't hear her. I don't know why I have this feeling in my gut that
something is wrong. I can't get the feeling to go away. She loves me;
I know it deep down in my soul. I feel it when she looks at me, the
warmness that takes over in between us and I know she wants me as
much as I want her.

"Where is she?"
Maybe with Callie or Kaleb. Of course she would want to talk to them
in private. I try and convince myself that she is with them and
things are fine. My cell phone starts ringing and I run to the patio
table and see that it is the hospital calling.

"Yeah," I
utter out.

"Hi, Dr. Turner.
This is Jenny from the hospital, I am sorry to bother you, sir, on
your day off but..." She stutters and doesn't finish her
sentence.

"What can I do for
you ma'am?" I ask.

"Yeah, umm, I don't
know if you have heard, but Laney Collins was brought into the
hospital this evening and is currently in surgery, sir. I know she
works with you and thought you should know," she fills me in.

My mouth drops and my
heart stops. I don't know what to say or do so I stand there holding
the phone in silence.

"Sir, are you
there?" she asks.

Coming out of the fog
that has just covered my brain, I speak. "What happened?"

"Not sure, sir,
other than her spleen was ruptured and she is in surgery now. She is
alone and I thought someone might want to be here who knows her.
Maybe you can contact her family," she informs me.

"Yes, I will get up
there as soon as I can and I will get family contact information
together and contact them. Thank you for calling and letting me
know," I tell her.

I hang up the phone, not
waiting for her response. My heart is racing; I feel the void that
was there earlier. This is what I was feeling, it wasn't that she
chose him over me. Something else was wrong. I throw on some of my
washed out, holey jeans, T-shirt, and my boots. I grab my keys and
rush out the door and get on my bike. My head is swimming with
thoughts of her being okay or not being okay. What could have
possibly happened? She must have been in a car accident to rupture
her spleen so bad for surgery. I can't believe no one is there for
her. How could they have not called her family by now? Surely they
have her cell phone. What the fuck! I swerve in and out of beach
traffic and finally reach the hospital.

I park and almost run to
my office to get the family contact information. I grab it and head
straight to the surgery area. I pause when I see Sierra, a young
girl, and Laney's daughter, Callie, and son, Kaleb. I know them from
the pictures all over Laney's desk. Sierra spots me and tells the
kids to have a seat and she will get some information. She nods for
me to walk down the corner from the waiting area.

Sierra, voice trembling,
asks, "Have you heard anything about how her surgery is going?"

I tell her they just
called and told me she was in surgery and no one was here. They
wanted me to call her family.

"Well, the attorney
called and asked me to get Callie and Kaleb and bring them up here so
she wouldn't be alone."

"Attorney?" I
say, confused.

"Yes, Michael's
attorney. You don't know," she says, shocked.

"Know what!" I
say more loudly than I meant to.

"Michael beat her
up, but somehow she got away and called the police. It was pretty bad
and he is in jail now. Michael had his lawyer call me so I could tell
Callie and Kaleb and bring them here to their mom," she
explains.

"I'm going to kill
him! I haven't heard anything other than that she is here. I thought
it was a car accident. What kind of monster would do this to
someone?" I spit out.

"My daddy!" a
small, sweet voice says from behind me.

I turn to see Callie
standing at the corner of the hall. Tears are pouring down her
innocent face. I have never met this young girl, but my heart breaks
for her pain and the confusion that her dad would do something like
this to her mom. I walk over and introduce myself to her and wrap my
arms around her. She places her head on my chest and starts crying
uncontrollably. Sierra stands and watches as I embrace Callie for the
first time, and even with all the heartache that is taking place
right now, I see a reassuring smile touch her face. She is a truly
great friend to Laney and her kids. I see now why they are so close;
they take care of each other and their children. We walk back into
the waiting room and wait but no one comes and gives us an update.

I introduce myself to
Kaleb, but he just nods and goes back to listening to his music. I
start getting angry, worried, and overcome with emotion, so I let
Sierra and the kids know I will be back and I leave for answers. I
walk down the hall to the operating area and I see a male nurse
standing at the nurse's station. I approach him, probably coming off
as a deranged lunatic, but he holds his professional image well.

"I am trying to get
some information on Laney Collins. She was brought in by ambulance
about one and half hours ago," I ask the nurse.

"I will see what I
can find out and come update you in the waiting room," he says,
his face sincere and caring.

I thank him and walk
back to the waiting room. I know it isn't more than ten minutes but
from where I am sitting, it feels like days. The last time I was in
this position, I was waiting to find out fate of my grandfather who
had open heart surgery. The outcome was not good and he did not come
out of that room. I keep trying to think of anything to get my mind
off things and I remember that I am the least important person in all
of this. My eyes drift up to Callie sitting across from me with
Brooke and Sierra. She looks so much like her mother with the blonde
hair; they have the same facial features and strikingly beautiful
blue eyes.

Trying to get her mind
off anything until we have some news, I decide to talk to her. What
do you say to a teenager? I am new at this, but I know we will be
spending a lot of time together in the future and hopefully forever.
I need to put on my dad shoes; this is my soon-to-be daughter, and
son even though no one knows it but me.

"So, Callie, your
mom tells me you are really smart and doing really well in school. Do
you know what you want to do when you get out of school?"

I know Laney already
told me this, but I need to get her mind off of things and, well,
this seems like a start.

"I am going to be a
forensic anthropologist. I want to study human bones and figure out
what happened to them. I would like to work for the New York City
crime lab one day. Maybe travel around the world and visit historical
burial sites." As she explains her dream, I see the light in her
eye return for a moment.

"That sounds so
exciting. Always discovering new things has to be a never boring
career," I acknowledge.

"My mom thinks it
is weird, but yes, it will never get boring," she adds.

Kaleb has one ear bud in
so I decide to ask him, too. His response is a shrug of the shoulders
and an, "I haven't really thought of it."