Life of a Fool (London Brothers Book 2) (26 page)

“For him, it was.”  What. The. Fuck.

“No.”  I cupped her cheek.  “That is still abuse, and you
know it. 
Do not
make excuses for him.  I won’t let you.  Understand?”‘

She started to cry harder, and I felt like shit.  “I’m
sorry.”  I kissed her lips.  “I’ve just been out of my mind worrying about you,
looking for you.”  I gently rocked her in my arms and kissing all over her
face.  “I’m so sorry.  Don’t cry.  Please.”

She calmed down after a few minutes and gripped my shirt
with her right hand. “Jace?”

“Yes, baby?”  I placed my hand over hers.

“I had sex with him…more than once.”  Tears streamed down
her face.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know what to do.” 
Well, fuck.

I took a deep breath and said, “I know.”

“What?”

“Baby, I knew what he would want.  I hate it. 
God, how I
hate it.
  But I understand.”  I kissed her beautiful lips and tried to show
her how much I loved her.

“Jace, I’m so sorry.”  She cried in my arms, her tears
soaking my tee shirt.

I lifted her face to look at mine.  “Hey, let’s just forget
about it.  We’re okay.  I promise.  I don’t care about what you had to do to
stay safe.  All I care about is having you back in my arms.  And we are going
to make sure you are well enough to travel so we can go home and let your body
heal completely.”  I watched as a tiny smile formed on her lips.  “There’s my
girl.”  I kissed her mouth and placed my forehead against hers.  “I love you so
much and when all this over, we are going to have the life we both deserve. 
You and me, Legs.  We belong together and anyone else…” I placed my hand on her
stomach and she winced, worrying me “…anyone else that comes along will only
add joy to our home, no pain, no regret.  Got it?”

“Yes, Jace.  Got it.”  She smiled, but I could see she was
still in pain.  “I love you.  Thank you for saving me again.”

“I’ll always save you, baby.  Always.”  I heard the sirens
coming close to the house.  “Help is here.  We’re going to sit here and let
them come up to check on you.”

“Okay.  I’m so tired, Jace.”

“Just lean on me.  Don’t go to sleep.  I’ve got you.  I won’t
let you out of my sight, not ever again.” 

Craig appeared at the top of the stairs.  “How are we doing,
Legs?”  I glared at him, but couldn’t hold it.  He deserved to call her
whatever the hell he wanted. 

“Craig.”  She looked over and reached her hand out for him. 
He stepped closer and took it as he kneeled next to us.  “I’ve been better. 
Thank you.” 

He kissed her hand and said, “You’re my girl, too, Lori Ann,
and there was no way in hell I wasn’t coming with Jace to find you.”

“Keri?  Please tell me she’s okay.”  Tears were slowly
running down her cheeks again.

“She’s just fine.  Concussion, but okay.  She insisted I
come get you back.”

“She did?”

“Yes,” Craig and I said in unison. 

“I don’t know how I’ll ever…”  I covered her lips with mine.

“Stop.  We love you.”

The paramedics reached the top of the stairs, and as I
relayed all of the injuries Lori Ann had, Craig stepped away and joined Ty and
Frank as they spoke to the police downstairs.  One paramedic checked on
Antonio, then shook his head to his partner and carefully covered his body with
a blue cloth.

When I told them about the kicks and the baby, the
paramedics looked to each other and sped up their activity.  They wasted no
time carefully prying Lori Ann from my arms, causing her to scream in pain and
reach for my hand. 

“Where does it hurt, ma’am?” the tall, older man asked.

“My stomach and ribs.”

“So, you said you already had broken ribs and he kicked you
there?”

“Yes and it hurts here.”  She pointed to her stomach, and a
huge knot formed in my gut.  I had a really bad feeling about the baby.  I
couldn’t imagine how it survived the force of the kick I witnessed. 

“Okay, we are going to get you loaded in the ambulance and
to the hospital as quickly as we can.”

“Yes,” was all she said.

“I’m going with her.  I’m not letting this woman out of my
sight.”

“That’s fine, sir.  But you have to let us take care of her.”

“I will.”

As we made our way down the stairs, I heard Craig giving all
the details to the police about everything that had transpired over the last
several weeks.  He handed over his gun, and we gave badge numbers, along with
relevant contact information for them to corroborate our story and gather other
pertinent information.  I was grateful the detectives that accompanied the
officers didn’t make me stay behind for questioning.  Instead, one rode along
with Lori Ann and me to the hospital and continued to take our part of the
statement.  It was difficult for her to speak through the pain at times, but my
girl relayed as much of it as she could, and the detective nodded in
understanding. 

Seconds before we arrived at the Hana hospital, Lori Ann
looked over to me and said, “Jace, I don’t feel good.”  The paramedic looked to
me, then back at her.

“What’s going on, ma’am?  Tell me…”  Before he finished his
sentence, Lori Ann started heaving and throwing up, retching in agony.  “Shit! 
Park this fucking thing.  We need to get her out of here.” 

“What’s happening?”  I yelled.

“Don’t know.  Could be the ribs.”  The ambulance slammed to
a stop in front of the emergency room door and the van doors flung open to a
host of doctors and nurses waiting for us.  I had no idea how it all happened,
but I was damn grateful someone had called ahead and had a team ready for us. 

There were directions and calls
from the nurses and doctors as I ran alongside the stretcher watching Lori Ann’s
panicked eyes.  The detective was running right behind me telling doctors what
he knew of her injuries since I was too freaked out to speak.  I looked back at
him once and he just nodded his head and kept speaking.  Lori Ann was wheeled
into a room, and everything went nuts.  I was ushered out of the room even as
my girl screamed my name through fits of vomiting.  I felt helpless.  Something
was happening, and I didn’t know how to fix it.  I sank to my knees outside her
room and prayed that God would protect the love of my life. 

*****

Time stood still.

No.  Time crawled.  Three hours of time, to be exact.  I
watched as the doctors wheeled a sedated, unconscious Lori Ann into the
operating room.  She had internal bleeding that had to be stopped.  And, worse
yet, it was coming from her womb.  A nurse had come to get me from the hallway
to be with Lori Ann as the doctor delivered the news.  There was no heartbeat. 
The blow to her stomach had killed her baby.  The doctor immediately discovered
it as soon as he laid the ultrasound wand on her belly.  She turned to me,
closed her eyes and cried, but said nothing.  I kissed her face repeatedly and
told her how much I loved her and that it wasn’t her fault.  I promised her a
life full of love and babies, looking to the doctor for hope that it would be
possible.  He didn’t respond. 

Craig, Ty, and Frank were at the hospital by the time she
went into surgery.  I had Craig call and let Derek know where we were and what
was happening, asking him to tell our family to pray for my love.  The doctor
gravely spoke to me just before going through the OR doors, saying if he couldn’t
stop the bleeding, he would have to remove her uterus.  There was a significant
tear in the wall, and if he couldn’t repair it, removing it would the only way
to save her life.  It was like a sucker punch.  “Detective London, she’s not
going to die.  I’m only telling you we can’t leave a bleeding, leaking womb
inside of her.  That would kill her.  I’m preparing you for the fact that she
may not be able to have children if I can’t repair this.  Do you understand?”

“Yes.  I don’t care about that.  Save her.”

“I will.”  He clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’ll
come out soon and tell you how things are going.  If my nurse comes out, then
you’ll know things are a bit more difficult and I can’t leave her.  Okay? 
Doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing, just that she needs my attention.”

“Okay.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  And with that, he turned and went to save
my girl.

I was sitting on the floor, knees bent with my head resting
on my hands on top of them when the sound of the OR door opened.  It was the
surgical nurse.  My heart fell to my feet, and I stood.  She held her hand up
and smiled. 

“It’s not what you think.  Dr. McCourt told me to make sure
you knew he would be out here himself, but he got called to another OR to
assist in an emergency as we were prepping Lori Ann for recovery.  Everything
went really well and we were able to save her uterus.”  I sighed and grabbed
the nurse for a hug.  “Well, thank you, Detective London.”

“So, she’s okay?  What about her ribs, the other injuries?”

“Ribs are okay and healing well.  Unfortunately, her lower
stomach, her womb took the brunt of the kick.  We took a look at her broken arm
and it is also on the mend.  We reset it in a new cast and it should be able to
be removed in a few weeks.  For now, she is in recovery and you can see her in
a little while.  Give her a chance to start waking up.”  She paused and laid
her hand on my arm.  “I know you told us the baby was her husband’s…the abusive
man that was killed.  But she is still going to mourn that baby.  No matter
what she tells you, she was a mother…is a mother and will mourn.  I wanted you
to know that.”

“Thank you.  I know.  She didn’t really know how to feel
about the baby, but I know my girl and know the love she already felt for it. 
She just couldn’t admit it yet.  Do you know if it was a boy or a girl?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”  Her face was sad, and I
knew the answer.

“Yes.  It was a little girl, wasn’t it?”  A sweet little
Lori Ann that her bastard husband killed.  God, how I wished he was still alive
so I could see the agony in his face at the realization that he killed his
daughter. 
He
deserved to live with that pain, not Lori Ann.

“Yes.  But, Detective, what you need to take away from this
is that she can still have children and as ugly as it is…as ugly as it
sounds…he can’t hurt either of you anymore.”  She was right. 

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

“You’re welcome.  Now, give me a few minutes, and I’ll sneak
you in to sit with her.”

“Yes ma’am.”  I smiled, then turned to Craig and the guys
who shook my hand and leaned in for a quick man hug.

“Thank God, man.  I want this shit over.”  Craig said.

“Me too.  I’m going to go sit with her.  I need to see that
she’s really okay.”

“Okay.  We will get to work on our return trip.  Do you know
when Legs can leave?”

“No.  I’m sure we have to stay a few days at least.”

“Okay, find out and we will book flights.  Cops cleared us
to leave after forty-eight hours.”

“Sounds good.  I’m ready to get the hell home.”  I laughed.

Before I walked into Lori Ann’s room, I called Derek.

“How you holding up?”  This was how he answered his cell
phone.

“Hey.  I’m better now.  She’s going to be okay and can still
have children.”

“Oh, Jace, that’s good news.  Mom is out of her mind here. 
I guess I should’ve told her a little more about Lori Ann’s situation before I
completely bombarded her with everything Craig told me.”  Derek let out a hard
laugh.

“Right.  Well, I’m certain I will hear it all when we get
back.”

“Coming home soon?”

“Yes.  Just as soon as the hospital releases us.”  I
paused.  “It’s all so surreal, man.  I mean, every bit of it.  The fact that
Legs is mine, her crazy husband is dead…never be able to hurt her again, but
most of all I can’t get over how close I came to losing her for good…more than
once.”

“I know.  I’m sorry.  But you need to focus on your future
with that girl.  Hell, you’ve loved her for years.”  Derek chuckled, and I did
too.

“You’re right.  Antonio’s men are in jail, and it looks like
they aren’t going anywhere.” 

“Good.  Now, go see your woman.  Tell her we love her too
and are ready for both of you to be back home.”

“Thanks, brother.  Kiss Claire for me.”  I knew that would
irritate my little brother.

“Fuck you!”  Derek laughed.

“Call you when I know something,” I said as I laughed at
him.

“Sounds good.”  We hung up, I
took a deep breath, and went to see my girl. 

*****

The recovery room was quiet, so calm compared to how frantic
everything was when we first arrived at the hospital.  Lori Ann was covered
snugly in a white blanket, an IV still in her arm, and a peaceful expression on
her beautiful face.  I was relieved, but so sad for all she had been through
the last several weeks.  And now she’d have to come to terms with the death of
her baby.  I hated it, and I vowed to myself that I would make the rest of her
life a fairy tale…one she deserved, one I would gladly provide.

I watched her closely for another hour before I saw her
gorgeous blue eyes slowly open.  She looked at me and grinned, then started to
cry.  I leaned up and kissed her eyes, whispering, “It’s okay.  Cry all you
want.  I’m here, baby, and you can cry for as long as you want, whenever you
want.  I’m so sorry about the baby.  I know you didn’t want to admit it, but I
think you were going to love the idea.”  She cried harder, holding her hand on
her stomach.  “I love you so much, and you can talk to me anytime you want
about the baby.  Anytime.  Okay?” 

She nodded her head.  Then, with a groggy voice and between
sobs she said, “It was a girl, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes.”  She turned her head away from me and looked at the
wall.  “Hey, don’t hide the sadness from me, please.”  I used my hand to
carefully move her face back to mine.  “Please,” I begged as a wave of sadness
washed over me, and I felt tears threaten.  I certainly wasn’t a crier, but I
couldn’t bear the idea of her shutting me out of her pain.  “I told you I
wanted that baby because it…she was a part of you.  Please don’t shut me out. 
I want to mourn with you.  I
need
to mourn with you.”