by Jane Blythe
“Are you all right?” Xavier quietly asked her.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I just want to go home.”
“Me too.” Xavier gently kissed the top of her head.
The second Rose, who had been sawing through the ropes with a knife, had them free, Ryan jumped to his feet and took Sofia from his brother’s arms.
Xavier stood, too, bringing Annabelle up with him and holding her tightly against his chest. She could feel him trembling and knew just how scared he had been, tied up and unable to get to her, knowing that Ricky was out there somewhere.
“Okay, let’s get the four of you to the hospital,” Jack announced. “And no arguments,” he added before all of them, bar Sofia, could protest that they were fine. “You are all getting checked out.”
The prospect of traipsing through the woods one more time was an exhausting one. Annabelle consoled herself with the fact that warmth and home were waiting for her. She was cold now and dead tired. It turned out she didn’t have to walk another step. Xavier put an arm around her shoulders and his other under her knees and lifted her up.
“I can walk,” she objected, even as she snuggled closer.
“Shh, just rest,” was all Xavier said as he began walking with her.
And that was exactly what Annabelle did. She laid her head on Xavier’s shoulder, closed her eyes, and was asleep before they made it back to the car.
* * * * *
5:03 P.M.
She was warm.
That was the first thing that occurred to Sofia as she slowly swam back to consciousness.
She wasn’t sure where she was. The last thing she remembered was Ryan laying her down on the cold ground and telling her to stay still and quiet. But she didn’t think she was still in the woods. Wherever she was now, it was too warm. And the woods had been so cold. Her body had been shaking so violently that her muscles had started to ache. It had been all she could think about. The cold had even overridden the pain in her stomach.
Voices were speaking quietly above her.
“Hey, how’s she doing?”
“Better. Her core temperature is almost back to normal.”
“How did her surgery go?”
“It went well. They were able to repair the damage. She lost a fair bit of blood, but thankfully, the cold helped her out on that one.”
Were they talking about her? Was she in the hospital?
“How are you doing?”
Sofia thought that was Ryan’s voice. Knowing he was here with her made her feel better.
“I'm doing okay,” someone replied. Annabelle, maybe?
“Hospital released you?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah, a while ago. I pretty much warmed up in the car before we even got here. I spent some time with my therapist,” Annabelle responded.
“That’s good. You have a lot to sort out, but at least it’s over for you now. You saved Sofia’s life last night; thank you,” Ryan’s voice wavered with emotion.
“I just hope she’s not angry with me.” Annabelle’s voice was also heavy with emotion.
Why would she be angry with Annabelle? Sofia wondered. She wanted to open her eyes and ask, but she didn’t seem to have the energy.
“She won't be,” Ryan assured her.
Sofia would have echoed that sentiment if she could have.
“Any word on Paige?” Xavier asked.
Paige? Sofia felt a slice of panic shoot through her. What had happened to Paige?
“She’s still stable,” Ryan answered. “I checked in on her a while ago.”
“Did you sort it out?” Xavier asked.
“Jack and Rose are taking care of it.” She could hear a smile in Ryan’s voice now.
“She’s going to be so surprised.” Xavier, too, sounded happy. “We’re going to go home, let Annabelle get some rest, but call if you need anything, or if there’s any change with Sofia or Paige…”
The voices got quieter for a moment. And then Sofia felt Ryan’s presence right beside her. She wanted to wake up properly. To find out what was going on. Pulling herself together, she managed to blink open her heavy eyes. She found herself in a hospital bed, wrapped in a warm blanket, attached to machinery, with Ryan in a chair at her side. He had his eyes closed, his head resting against the back of the chair, and he held her hand.
Sofia tried to call out to him, but her throat was too dry to produce a sound. Instead, she managed to lightly squeeze the hand that held hers.
Immediately, Ryan sat up, a smile lighting his face when he saw her awake. “Hi there, beautiful.”
He moved to perch on the side of her bed, his weight made the mattress move slightly which made her stomach ache, but Sofia didn’t mind. She was just happy to be alive and safe. “Hi,” she managed to croak.
“Here.” He held a straw to her lips, and she took a sip. The cold water felt so good sliding down her parched throat.
There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but she started with the most important. “Isabella?”
“I'm so sorry, cupcake, she’s dead,” his grip on her hand tightened. “I'm so sorry.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “She saved me.”
“Shh, I know she did.” Ryan brushed at the tears trickling from the corners of her eyes.
“Ricky was going to rape me, but Isabella stopped him. Then he threatened to kill me, but she wouldn’t let him. She saved me, Ryan.” She was crying in earnest now. It made her stomach hurt worse, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
“I know, baby, I know; she loved you,” Ryan tried to console her.
“She couldn’t go through with it. She was going to let him have me, but she couldn’t; she couldn’t do it.” Sofia had the feeling she was rambling incoherently.
However, Ryan seemed to understand her. “I know, sweetheart; she called me, asked me to come and get you.”
The more she cried, the worse the pain became. “I hurt,” she whimpered through her tears.
“I know, cupcake.” Ryan looked so helpless; she knew he hated it when she was hurting and he couldn’t fix it for her. “Ricky stabbed you, do you remember?”
She managed a nod as she struggled to control her crying.
“You were in pretty bad shape by the time Xavier and I got to you and Annabelle.” He was stroking her hair with one hand, hoping to help calm her, while his other hand still held hers. “By the time Jack and Rose arrived, you were completely unresponsive. You gave us quite a scare. Once we got you to the car we wrapped you up in blankets, with hot water bottles, and the heater blasting. Then the paramedics arrived and used heating blankets, but for a while they couldn’t get your temperature to start going up.”
“Sorry I scared you,” she sniffed.
Ryan smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. “I'm just glad you're okay now. Although you're going to be in the hospital for a few days at least,” he told her apologetically. He knew how she felt about the hospital after her last long stint.
“I don’t care. I'm just glad I'm safe now. Why would Annabelle think I'd be angry with her?” she asked.
“She’s the one who shot Isabella,” Ryan told her gently.
“She killed my sister?”
Ryan nodded, “I'm sorry.”
Digesting this news, Isabella had been willing to save her, but would she have turned herself in? There were no guarantees on that. Last time, after Sofia had fallen down the stairs, Isabella had made sure Ryan came and rescued her, but hadn't stuck around. She could easily have done the same thing this time. As much as it pained her to admit it, her sister was never going to stop killing.
“Sofia?” Ryan was peering at her in concern.
“I understand. She did the right thing; I don’t want her to feel bad about it.” She tried to smile at him but feared it came out fairly wobbly. “What happened to Paige?”
His brow furrowed in confusion. “Were you awake earlier? When Xavier and Annabelle were here?”
“Half awake,
” she replied, aware he was stalling. “What happened to Paige?”
“We can talk about it later; you should rest now,” was all Ryan would say.
His non-answer only made her anxiety grow. “Ryan? I need to know. Did something happen to her? Is she okay? You said she was stable. Is she here in the hospital?”
“Paige was attacked,” he reluctantly told her.
“Is that why you wouldn’t answer my calls the other night?”
“I'm sorry.” Ryan looked a mixture of devastated and guilty. “Maybe if I'd talked to you, let you know what had happened, then Ricky and Isabella wouldn’t have had a chance to get their hands on you and Annabelle.”
She shook her head. “Life doesn’t work that way, you know that. Was is it her stalker?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ryan nodded.
He was holding something back. “Do you know who it is?”
“Yes and no.”
She was too tired to figure out why he was being so vague. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He sighed. “I don’t think you need to know this right now. I was going to wait until you were stronger, but since you know about Paige, I may as well tell you. Paige was attacked by your stalker.”
Shocked, Sofia could only gasp in response. Her stalker had attacked Paige? Paige was in the hospital because of her. It was her fault. If she had only managed to figure out who it was who was stalking her, then this wouldn’t have happened. If she had been a better aim and managed to shoot the stalker the other night, then this wouldn’t have happened. If Ryan hadn't had to make sure she was okay, then he could have caught the stalker the night they were together when he broke in. This was all because of her. Paige was her friend, and she had been hurt. How could she ever forgive herself for letting this happen?
“Sofia?” Ryan stopped stroking her hair and took her chin in his hand, giving it a little shake.
“Is she okay? Is Paige okay?” she demanded.
“She was hurt pretty badly; she’s in the ICU,” Ryan replied.
“I want to see her.” Sofia tried to wiggle free from Ryan’s grip so she could throw back the covers and climb out of bed.
He held her in place. “You're not going anywhere. You're still weak, you need to rest. You can see Paige later,” he promised.
“Is she going to be okay?” She was chewing on her lip to keep from bursting into another round of crying.
“She was bleeding internally, but the doctors were able to find and fix everything. But she suffered some serious head injuries, and they won't know the extent of the damage until she wakes up.”
“She hasn’t woken up yet?” She could practically feel her pulse and blood pressure spike in alarm as her guilt grew.
“No,” Ryan cast a concerned glance at the monitors beside her bed. “But when I found her at the scene, she was conscious and lucid. Those are good signs, Sofia.” Ryan leaned closer. “We just have to trust and pray that she’ll be all right. And don’t even think about blaming yourself,” he added. “It is not your fault.”
She didn’t agree but was too worn out to argue.
“Hey,” Ryan brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “I have a surprise for you. Something that is guaranteed to cheer you up.”
“Maybe later; I'm tired. Maybe I should just go back to sleep.”
“You're going to want to see this, I promise.” Ryan smiled at her, kissed her again, then stood, “I’ll be right back.”
Once Ryan was gone, she closed her eyes and rested wearily against her pillows. She was tired and in pain and all she wanted was to sleep. She was feeling so guilty. Guilty about Isabella. Her sister was—had been, she corrected herself—sick. She’d needed help and Sofia hadn't even noticed. If she had only realized just how sick her sister was, then all of this could have been avoided. She was feeling guilty about Paige, too. Her friends shouldn’t get hurt because of her. What if the stalker didn’t stop there? He could go after anyone she loved. When Ryan came back, she would ask him why her stalker would attack Paige.
“I have someone here who wants to meet you,” Ryan announced as he came back through the doors.
When Sofia saw who was with him, everything else flew from her mind. “Is that who I think it is?” she asked, a smile spreading across her lips despite herself.
“Yep,” Ryan grinned. “Sofia, meet Sophie.” He carried the baby over to her.
“She’s so beautiful,” she gushed, running her fingers across the baby’s silky soft head. “Can I hold her?”
“Sure.” Ryan balanced the baby in one arm and helped her sit up a little more with his other, then he placed Sophie in her outstretched arms.
Cradling the tiny little girl, tears began to trickle down her cheeks again. Only this time they were happy tears. “How did you find her?” she asked Ryan.
“Isabella texted me the address after she called to ask me to come and get you; she asked me to give her to you.” Ryan sat back down on the edge of her bed. “As soon as we all got to the hospital, Jack and Rose went to pick her up.”
She was almost afraid to ask in case the answer was no, but she asked anyway. “Can I keep her?”
“Yeah, you can. Brooke’s parents don’t want her, and you're her only living relative on her father’s side. Stephanie has already taken a DNA sample to confirm she is Brooke and Logan’s baby, but CPS is happy for you to keep the baby now. We’ll call your lawyer, get the adoption papers drawn up, and then she is officially yours forever.” Ryan took her hand and one of Sophie’s little ones.
“Officially ours,” she corrected. “You're going to raise her with me, right?”
“Honey, you couldn’t keep me away from the two of you if you tried,” Ryan assured her. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a small black velvet box, opening it to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. “Sofia, will you marry me?”
For a moment, all she could do was stare. “Are you sure? Is now the right time? Maybe we should wait till things settle down. Maybe we should wait until Sophie gets settled with us. Maybe we should wait…”
“Cupcake, I'm not waiting another second. I've already been waiting to ask you this since I found out you and Edmund were just friends,” Ryan told her.
“Yes,” she said, just as Sophie cooed and then giggled. “I think Sophie says yes, too,” she laughed.
Sliding the ring onto her finger, Ryan kissed her and then pressed a kiss to the baby’s head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” They gazed into each other’s eyes until the door to her hospital room swung open and a doctor bustled in.
“Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Everette,” he apologized. “I'm Dr. Daniels. You’ve been asleep since you came in so we haven’t met yet, but I've been treating you since you came here after your surgery.”
“Hi.” She shot the doctor a distracted smile; she knew he was just doing his job, but she just wanted to be with her family right now. Family. That word had never sounded so wonderful. She and Ryan and Sophie—they were a family now.
“Sorry, Mr. Xander, but she needs her rest.” Dr. Daniels shot Ryan a pointed look.
“Yeah, you should take Sophie home.” Sofia didn’t want either of them to leave her, but she was tired, and Sophie should go home, have dinner and a bath and go to bed. “Oh, we don’t have any baby things,” she suddenly realized.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Ryan assured her. “Mark said he’ll look after Sophie at his house until you get out of here. And he and Helen dropped their extra baby stuff off at your house already. They still had the extra crib and change table from the twins. They were just sitting in their garage so they offered to set them up in our guest room. I said yes; I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all,” she told him.
“There’s the twins old baby clothes, too, plus some of the toys and bottles and things that Tony doesn’t use anymore. Trust me, we have more baby things than we are ever going to need,” Ryan grinned.
“Will Mark bring
her back tomorrow?” she asked anxiously, already unwilling to be away from the baby for too long.
“You bet he will,” Ryan promised. “I’ll let Dr. Daniels check you out and go give Sophie to Mark, and then I’ll be back.”
Sofia didn’t pay attention to Dr. Daniels as he checked her vitals and the wound on her stomach. She was so happy and had everything she’d ever wanted—a man who loved her, a baby to raise, a family of her own. A family different than the one she grew up in. A family full of love.
Content, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
* * * * *
6:00 P.M.
Closing the door behind him, Dr. Bruce Daniels sighed in relief.
She didn’t know.
She hadn't recognized him.
If he had his way, Sofia would never know that it was he who was looking out for her. He didn’t need the recognition. That wasn’t why he was doing this. He just wanted to make sure that Sofia remained safe and happy. She deserved happiness. That family of hers was a nightmare. He was glad that Isabella had eliminated them. If she hadn't, he might have been tempted to do it himself.
He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.
Although she had helped Sofia by killing off their family, he was glad Isabella was dead. She caused Sofia pain and he couldn’t allow that.
And now Sofia had a family of her own.
Ryan and the baby.
So long as Ryan didn’t hurt Sofia, then he was happy for them to remain a couple.
Sofia’s happiness was paramount.
She was all he had.
She was the center of his world, and he would do whatever was necessary to make sure she remained happy.
It had been a mistake earlier to beat up the other woman. Detective Paige Hood. He had been distracted and Sofia had been abducted, nearly killed.