by Angel Steel
“Where is she?” Craig asked from behind him.
“End room. But no one is allowed in there yet; they’ve been in there for the last hour with her,” he told him.
“Someone will come out soon and tell us what’s going on,” Craig said.
“I wish they would just hurry up and tell us something. This is killing me standing out here, not knowing what’s going on in there.” Jesus, he didn’t want her alone in there going through this, someone at least should be in the room with her. Feeling defeated, Nate sat down; there was nothing he could do, and walking back and forth wasn’t helping. He heard someone walking down the hallway and looked up noticing two police officers walking his way. “Mr. Jackson?” The lanky one asked.
Nodding, “I’m Inspector Clark, and this is Sergeant Higgins. Can you explain exactly as to what happened tonight?” Higgins pulled out his note pad ready to write.
“My girlfriend and I had a fight at a motel; I left as I was angry. When I returned twenty minutes later she was missing. I called her friends back at home, telling them, and they suggested it was her ex that had taken her. I drove to his family home and found Skylar there with Lucas and two other guys. One of them was raping her when I arrived. So you have one in custody, one dead, and the other got away.” Higgins was writing every word he said as Clark asked the questions.
“Who made the first shot, you or Mr. Chaplin?”
“Lucas did, as I was trying to get to Skylar. I shot him in self-defense as he was trying to shoot me, again.” Pointing to his left shoulder. Which he still needed to see a doctor about.
“Will you testify against,” Looking down at his note pad, “Adam Slater, in the court of law?”
Standing up, Nate answered, “I will.”
Clark continues, “You will have to meet us after you had your medical treatment at the local station for a formal statement that can be used against the persons involved in this situation.”
“Yes, I’ll be there.” Shaking hands with Higgins and Clark and watched as they left the waiting room. Before he sat back down he noticed Dr. Malcolm walking their way. “How is she?”
“Skylar’s head wound reopened and has been restitched; she also has bruised ribs on her right side. Internally, the tearing of her vaginal walls resulted in minor blood loss due to the violent penetration. There is swelling and she will be tender for a week or two. I have also collected evidence for a sexual assault case acquiring a rape kit, but she is in a fair bit of pain right now. We’re giving her something for that.”
Nate let out the breath he was holding in. “Can I see her?” Nate asked.
“She’s asked to see Craig first,” Dr. Malcolm said.
He kind of expected that, “Okay.”
“I’ll go see her, and then you can,” Craig said as he walked past him.
All he could do was nod at him. He watched as Craig and the doctor walked down and into her room. He just wanted to look at her with his own eyes just to make sure she was truly okay.
* * *
Craig opened the door softly and walked in. He held his breath at the sight of her.
“Craig.” Skylar weakly moaned.
He walked over towards the bed and sat next to her, reaching for her hand. “I’m here,” he said.
“I never should have left, Craig,” she whispered.
“This is not your fault, don’t you dare blame yourself, understand?” Craig told her.
“I know, but if I had just stayed home, none of this would have happened at all,” Skylar sobbed.
Craig only nodded at her answer. He knew Lucas would have found a way no matter what, but least it was over now.
“Is the baby all right?” she whispered.
“Dr. Malcolm didn’t say anything at all; only that you will be a bit sore for a week or two, but I’ll ask.”
“Okay,” she replied. She really didn’t need to hear bad news right now and hoped the baby was fine.
“You need to tell him, Sky.”
“I know,” she said.
“Now would be a good time since he’s out in the waiting room, with Greg, Joey, Alex, and Dom.”
“I don’t think I can tell him right now, but I will tell him,” she replied.
“I’ll let you rest for a bit before I tell them they can come in.”
“Can you stay until I fall asleep, please?”
“Sure,” Craig said. He watched Skylar close her eyes and breathe out softly. How could anyone go through anything like she just did? Watching her breathing become steady, he let go of her and sat back and watched her sleep. Moments later he heard a knock at the door. Looking over, he noticed Nate standing in the doorway.
“How is she?” Nate asked, but didn’t move from the door.
“She’ll be fine, a little tired but she’s a tough one,” Craig answered him.
Nate only nodded at what he said. Although he hadn’t slept, he didn’t want to; every time he closed his eyes, he pictured everything that guy was doing to her. He knew he shouldn’t have left her alone in that room when they had that fight. He couldn’t help but blame himself for all of this. Breathing out, he moved towards the bed where Skylar was. He still couldn’t believe all the marks they had left on her beautiful body. Reaching over, he pulled up the blanket, covering the majority of the bruises. Seeing her like that hurt like hell, especially knowing that if he had stayed she would be fine and not in the condition she was in now.
Once Skylar’s breathing evened out, he pulled a chair closer to her and sat, watching her sleep. After a while, Nate wrapped his hand around hers and rested his head on the bed near her side as he closed his eyes.
* * *
Skylar woke with sweat on her brow. Jesus, did I just relive the entire nightmare in my head? She had no clue where she was. She sat up slowly, her whole body aching from top to bottom. She let out a moan at the pain running everywhere through her system. Opening her eye, she waited until it adjusted to her surroundings and then peered around to see where she was. She knew she had heard Nate’s voice back at the room where Lucas had her.
Realizing that she was in the hospital, she looked around and noticed someone was sitting beside her bed. Looking over, she was glad to see Nate there. He was leaning to one side in the chair sound asleep. He looked so peaceful there; she reached over and pushed the buzzer for the nurse.
Minutes later, someone walked in, “Hello, Skylar. How do you feel?” the nurse asked.
“I’ve been better. How long have I been here?” Skylar asked her.
The nurse walked around to her chart and wrote down some things. “Only for five hours,” she said, smiling at her.
“Okay, that’s a relief. Um, can I see the doctor please? I wanted to ask something. Or is Craig still here?” The nurse looked up from the chart.
“Craig went home with the others. He said he’ll be back in the morning. He’s the only one here,” she said, pointing towards Nate. “But I can grab the doctor for you. I’ll just go see if he is free now, okay?”
Skylar nodded and watched as she left the room. Lying back down, she looked over towards Nate again; noticing he had changed clothes and that there was something bulky under his shirt. Frowning, she leaned over her bed towards him to see what it was, but hit the side of the rail attached to the bed and cried out.
Nate shot straight out of his chair and nearly fell over. He reached for her, “Skylar.”
“Nate, what happened to you?” she asked through her pain.
Nate frowned at her, confused at what she said. He sat beside her on the bed, being careful not to hurt her. He couldn’t believe he was looking at her, alive and talking to him, after what happened. Reaching over he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “How are you feeling, baby?” He wanted to hear it from her mouth and not from anyone else.
“A little sore everywhere, but the drugs are helping at the moment. Are you going to answer my question now?” Skylar pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for
his response.
Nate placed both his hands over his face. “I’m so glad you’re all right. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t,” he whispered. He couldn’t look at her.
“Nate, that didn’t answer my…”
“I see you’re up, Skylar,” Dr. Malcolm said as he entered the room.
Saved by the doc, Nate thought.
He stood. “I’ll go and give the boys a ring to let them know you’re awake, okay?” Nate told her and walked out of the room.
* * *
Skylar watched as Nate left her room. What was going on with him? She had no clue.
“What can I do for you?” the doctor asked her.
“I wanted to know if everything’s all right with me,” she asked.
Dr. Malcolm grabbed her chart and opened it. “You have bruising around your ribs on the right side. We had to restitch your old head wound as it was reopened. Your left eye once it opens your vision will be blurry for a day or two, and internally, due to the violent penetration your vaginal walls tore and there was minor blood loss. Also a rape kit was performed for evidence. The stitches will need to come out in one week. The swelling and tenderness will be gone completely around two weeks.” He smiled at her.
She really didn’t care about any of that. “What about the baby?” she whispered.
Dr. Malcolm walked over and sat down next to her. “Due to the blood loss, if it was anymore you would have lost the baby. We arranged an ultrasound anyways to have a look and everything looks great, Skylar. Nothing affected it at all.”
She couldn’t help but cry, this time tears of relief and joy. After everything her body went through in the last twenty-four hours, their baby was fine. She couldn’t believe it. “Thank you,” she sobbed.
“You’re welcome. I’ll release you in a day or two, as long as all your stats are good,” he said, smiling at her and then leaving the room.
She nodded and then laid back down. Now all she had to do was tell Nate that he was actually going to be a father, for real. She started to feel anxious and wanted Nate back in the room with her so she could tell him.
* * *
Nate left Skylar as quickly as he could. He was glad the doctor came in when he did. He couldn’t handle seeing her with all those bruises and in pain. Shaking his head, Nate sat down in the waiting room. If only I had stayed in the damn motel room with her. He could have handled the screaming, crying, or even throwing things at him to make him leave. But he wanted to give her space, that’s why he left. And now he blamed himself for what happened to her. If he stayed he could have prevented all this from happening to her and she wouldn’t be in a bloody hospital bed right now.
Breathing out, he stood and walked outside for some fresh air. Reaching for his phone, he dialled Craig’s number.
“Hey. How are things going up there?”
“Skylar’s awake if you guys want to come up and see her,” Nate whispered.
“That’s great, Nate. Can you put her on the phone so I can see if she wants us to bring her anything?”
“Um, I can’t, I’m outside the front of the hospital.” He knew what was coming.
“What’s going on, Nate? Why aren’t you with her right now?” Craig growled.
He sighed; he couldn’t tell him the real reason why he wasn’t up there. “The doctor is with her now and I wanted to give her some time with him.”
“That’s no excuse unless she asked you to leave.”
“I left; she didn’t ask me. I have some things to do, so one of you guys need to come up,” Nate said.
“What the fuck, man?”
“I’ll wait outside until one of you gets here.” Nate hung up. He really needed to get away from here and sort himself out. He couldn’t handle being in the same room with her; it just made it worse than it already was.
Twenty minutes later, Dom’s truck pulled up. Chantal and Dom both jumped out and walked in the main door. Nate hid behind the trees beside the main entrance and watched as they made their way inside. He didn’t want to deal with whatever Chantal had to say to him, and he knew Craig or Dom would have said something to her.
Once he saw the lift doors close behind them, he made his way to Dom’s truck and used his spare keys to start it. He quickly sent a text message to Dom letting him know he was borrowing his truck. He reversed out and drove home; he needed time to himself to sort out what he needed to do. The only place he could go for that was his parents’ cabin up in the mountains. Once that was decided, he planned what he needed for the stay there.
* * *
Skylar woke as someone walked into her room. Smiling, she sat up and expected to see Nate walk in, but it wasn’t.
“Hey, Sky.” Walking up to her, Chantal gave Skylar a hug. She didn’t want to cry in front of her, but she couldn’t help it. Dom pulled a chair closer to the bed for her as she sobbed. “How are you?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine in a couple of days, Chan,” Skylar smiled at her.
“It could have been worse,” Chantal whispered.
“I know, but it wasn’t, thanks to the guys.” She looked over towards Dom and thanked him with a nod. Dom returned her nod with a smile. “Did you see Nate out there? He left about ten minutes ago,” Skylar asked.
Both Dom and Chantal looked at each other and frowned. “No, we didn’t see him at all,” Dom replied.
Skylar looked over at him. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Dom came over and sat beside her on the bed. “He rang Craig and said for one of us to come up and see you since you were awake.”
“And?”
“He sent me a text saying he borrowed my truck. He’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone? He was just here with me, before the doctor came in.”
“Did he say anything to you at all?” Dom asked.
“No, but he was acting a bit weird; I don’t know why.” Skylar leaned back onto her bed, trying to think of why he would have acted that way. “Do you know if Craig or Alex said anything to him?”
“Not that I know of, why?” Dom frowned.
“Nothing.”
“Sorry, darling, but you can’t just ask me that and then not give an answer.”
“Maybe he heard me and the doctor talking and didn’t like what he heard,” she whispered.
“Like what?” Chantal asked.
She really wished that Craig were here to tell them instead of her. Breathing out, she said, “I’m pregnant.”
Both Dom and Chantal looked at each other, then her. “OMG, really?” Chantal screamed and threw herself at Skylar and hugged her tight.
Skylar wasn’t really expecting that reaction, but she took it.
“How far along are you?” Chantal said after she settled down.
“Eight weeks on Saturday.” She was so happy they knew now besides Alex, but the main person who needed to know still didn’t.
“Maybe that’s the reason he never came back into the room,” Skylar said.
“You got it all wrong, Sky. Whether he knows or not, that’s not the reason.” Dom really hoped it wasn’t that. If it was, he was going to kick his ass for it.
“Okay, say it’s not that; what else would it be then?”
“I really don’t know,” Dom answered. “I’ll head downstairs and give him a ring and find out what his plans are.”
“Okay, thank you,” she whispered.
Dom leaned over, kissed her on the forehead and left the room so the girls could have some time together.
* * *
“I can’t believe you’re actually pregnant,” Chantal told her.
She couldn’t believe it herself. She had always wanted kids. She just had to find the right person for that to happen with; now she just wanted to know how he felt about becoming a father. If he didn’t want anything to do with the child, she could deal with being a single parent. She really wanted him to be involved, though.
“Earth to Skylar,” Chantal tapped her on the leg.
“Huh?”
“Where were you just then?” Chantal asked.
“Just thinking about things,” she replied.
Chantal shook her head. “Anyway, I was saying we get to go baby shopping. Do you know the due date? What sex it is? God, it’s going to be fun designing that spare room of yours into a baby’s room.”
Although Skylar was excited about the baby, it seemed Chantal was even more excited than she was. “So I’m guessing you don’t want to come shopping with me or help me set up the spare room?” She knew what Chantal had said before, but she liked to pull her strings just a little.