by K A Sands
I shifted my gaze around the inside of the car, my phone nowhere in sight. It had shaken lose from the sucker on the windshield and I couldn’t see it no matter how hard I looked.
Shaun stirred beneath me, a pained groan that had a relived sigh whooshing from my chest.
“Don’t move. Don’t move.”
Lazily opening his eyes, he smiled up at me, his teeth a bloody mess. Although he winced, he still managed to breathe out a barely audible ‘hey’. I tried to smile back but I came up short, his body was so broken I couldn’t find it in me to tilt my lips for him.
“Don’t move,” I pleaded again, watching his eyes close but catching the movement of his thumb coming up as if to say okay.
“You’re upside down.” His words were slow, like it took great effort to say them, but at least he was talking.
“Yeah. Upside down and crazy in love with you,” I said.
He tried to laugh, instead producing a gurgled sound I didn’t like. I stretched carefully, reaching my arm out to try to touch him but it wasn’t enough, I couldn’t connect with him. I eyed my seatbelt again, knowing it was suicide unbuckling it. I’d have to wait to get my hands on him.
We had to wait. Someone would come. But we had to wait.
Wedging my feet either side of the peddles in the footwell, I pulled my body taut and awkwardly clamped my hand around the inner door handle. It relieved some of the pressure on my neck, kept me in place as comfortable as I was able.
And then I talked. Talked to Shaun. Told him all the things I loved about him, all the things I wanted us to do together. Our future. The hopes and dreams I had. How one day I was going to marry him and make him blush and all those things you fear you might never get the chance to say to someone again. Word after word, all the while blood dripped from my head down onto his not so crisp white shirt. With each stain I felt him drifting further away and my heart cracking into tiny pieces. I couldn’t lose him.
The thump, thump, thump of rotary blades registered before the shouting coming from above us. Taking a deep breath, I turned my aching neck and looked up the cliff. Relief engulfed me, almost choked me, at the sight of help.
Someone was there. More than one someone. I just hoped it had been quick enough. That life wasn’t so cruel as to rip another person I loved from my life. I’d never recover. Not from a loss as mighty as Shaun. The cruel injustice of it was too much to comprehend.
“They’re coming, baby. Hold on, please hold on. They’re coming.”
Lucca
Winding up the rehearsal, Laura looked more relaxed than she had for the last few days. “Happy?” I threw my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, kissing her cheek.
“Yes. That went well, don’t you think?” She eyed the back of the big hall where Ryder was talking with a burly security guard. “Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.”
“It will be better,” I guaranteed.
The smile she gave me loosened my shoulders. I’d done everything I could possibly do to make sure our wedding would go without a hitch, and I was quietly confident it would. I was desperate to be married to this woman, the absolute love of my life.
“We should go do lunch now, get all the family together.”
“Yeah.”
The boys were on their way from Brighton and Phil was at Ryder’s where we’d arranged for all of us to come together for lunch before heading to the hotel later that afternoon. It was the beginning of our family coming together for three days of celebrating.
Except the boys weren’t coming to the hotel until the next morning. Shaun had other plans nobody except myself knew anything about. I’d banned everyone from our house, so Shaun could carry out his intentions in private. The way he’d asked a week ago. The usual father threats had been issued but really, having another son, albeit a son in law, made my heart giddy. My boy was happy. There was no question he would say yes to Shaun when he asked the question. I’d got down on bended knee at breakfast one morning in front of everyone to ask for Laura’s hand, Shaun didn’t want that. He wanted just him and Ayden.
We were all still picking up pieces and finding our way with one another, where we stood in the lives of those around us. I respected what Shaun had asked.
Laura gravitated toward her sister when Ryder strolled over, clapping his hand on my shoulder. “You ready, dude?”
Grinning at him, I nodded my head emphatically. “Am I ever. You’re turn next bro.”
“Yeah…” He ogled his girlfriend. “You’re probably right but you beat me to it, you fucker.”
My phone ringing interrupted our playful banter, I didn’t look at the caller ID before answering so was surprised to hear Tony on the other end. Out of breath and rambling, I cut him off mid-sentence feeling only slight disgust for the man who was most likely banging Stella to keep her where she was.
“What’s the problem?”
“She’s fucking gone!”
Of course she was. Stella was a crafty bitch, too smart for her own good at times. I tipped my head to the ceiling in exasperation. “What happened?”
“She jabbed me with something in the shower. I’ve been lying, freezing on the bottom of the cubicle for two and a half fucking hours!”
He was pissed, royally pissed and I didn’t blame him. Maybe for once Stella had met her match. He wouldn’t let her get away with duping his arse a second time, he’d be like a ragged dog with a bone finding her.
“You’ve no idea where she is?”
“Nope. Her car’s outside but her purse is gone”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
What could I do? If he didn’t know where she was then there was no hope of me having an inkling. “Fuck, Tony,” I moaned.
“I know. I’m sorry, mate. She’s a wily bitch is your ex-wife. I’ll find her, I swear.”
“Let me know as soon as you do,”
I hung up, my happy seriously trodden on, my mood verging on anger. Searching the room for Ryder, I caught Taylor’s eye instead, watching me through narrowed eyes that snapped away as she held her phone to her ear. Mine started ringing again and I groaned. I just wanted to go home and eat some bloody food.
I didn’t recognise the number and in light of what my investigator had just told me, I was reluctant to ignore the thing. “Hello?”
“Mr. Rinaldi?” The voice was foreign to me.
“Yes.”
“Mr. Lucca Rinaldi, Ayden Rinaldi’s father?”
Blood raced through my veins at the mention of my son’s name from a stranger’s mouth. I glanced back to where everyone was now gathered and flinched at the scream piercing the air.
“I need your attention, Mr. Rinaldi.”
I watched Taylor sink to her knees and Ryder scramble for the phone that had skittered across the room. I didn’t move at first, wondered why my legs wouldn’t carry me to the commotion.
I knew.
More was coming. When I did move, I barely listened to the man on my own phone. “You have it!” I shouted.
“Your son and his partner have been involved in an extremely serious road traffic accident.”
My feet stopped, I halted in the middle of the room. “Pardon? Who is this?” Panic welled quickly, someone was having a laugh at my expense.
“Detective Manning speaking, Mr. Rinaldi. I’m on scene now. Your son, Ayden, is being airlifted to the Royal Sussex County Hospital as we speak. I need you to be there as soon as possible, please.”
“Is he okay?” I couldn’t think straight. If anything had happened to my boy again, I was going to lose my shit in spectacular fashion.
“He was talking as far as I am aware, sir.” Oh, thank God. “He confirmed his name over the radio, said to call his father.”
Christ! “Shaun. Shaun would have been with him.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Rinaldi. Air Rescue are doing all they can on scene for Shaun. The situation isn’t so easy with the precarious nature of the car.” The room blurred, the noise muffling around me as I copie
d Taylor’s descent to the floor, sinking to my knees on the parquet flooring. “Do you have someone with you?”
I dropped the phone and crouched forward, hands flat on the wood, sucking in air through my nose and out through my mouth. My boys were hurt. I had to get to them.
Laura was by my side a second later, my face in her hands, tears cascading down her face.
“Emily’s missing,” she whispered. “Stella has Emily.”
Ryder
“I’m gonna fucking kill her, I swear it! The second I find her, it’s her last breath. You find my baby girl and you do it now!” I bellowed.
Our house was swamped with police and the noise was driving me crazy. A Family Liaison Officer had arrived but they’d yet to add their pennies worth to the scenario unfolding. I just wanted Emily. Taylor had gone nuts once she’d picked herself up off the hall floor. In the five minutes it had taken to get back to the house she’d made everyone the enemy in her head. Including me.
Phil had described exactly what had happened over and over again, his memory clear until he fell to the floor unconscious. He was besides himself, blaming himself, saying he should have known better. That he should have recognised Stella.
Stella was behind this.
And if she hurt one single hair on my baby’s head, I was gonna tear her limb from limb, then throw her out to sea.
I stalked out of the living room in search of Taylor. I knew where she was, exactly where I wanted to be. The door was closed as I approached, the wood between us did nothing to quiet the sobs from inside the room. Hearing them hurt so damned much. I shuffled into the room, closing the door behind us for privacy.
Taylor sat in the rocking chair in the corner, her red and swollen eyes fixated on Emily’s empty crib, the covers still rumpled, her head imprint still on the pillow. I moved and sat at Taylor’s feet, winding my arms around her calves and rested my head against her knee.
“Where is she, Ryder?” I couldn’t answer, had nothing to tell her. “Why would she do this to us? To Emily, to Ayden?”
“She’s a sick woman, baby. This is not on you. We’ll get her back”
We sat in silence, Taylor rocking the chair, me moving with the motion. My anger curled in on itself and the need to smell my child overcame. I climbed from the floor and approached Emily’s crib, fingering her rabbit mobile she loved so much as tears slid down my cheeks. Taylor followed, wrapping her arms around me from behind and holding on, leaning against my back.
Lifting the pink crocheted blanket from the crib, I slung it across my shoulder, feeling Taylor nuzzle into the soft material pressed against my neck. Then I picked up the little pillow and stopped, retreating my hand like something had stung it.
In black embossed lettering, the answer to where Emily was, stared up at me. I snatched at the business card then turned in Taylor’s hold, smiling. She looked at me in confusion, brows knitted until she saw what I held in front of her face.
“You think?” she asked cautiously.
I did, I absolutely did. “Let’s go get our girl.”
Grabbing her hand, we raced from the room, down the stairs, throwing the card on the foyer table on the way out to my truck. I’d memorised what I needed to, it was up to the rest to follow. The police would soon catch up.
Ayden
“Where’s Shaun?”
“We’ll see him soon.”
“I need Shaun,” I said for what was likely the hundredth time since arriving at the hospital.
When they’d strapped me to the gurney and inched me from the car, I screamed with all my might. Shaun needed me, and I was leaving him. I couldn’t leave him there.
Another rescue chopper had taken place of the one I’d been carried out in. On the way up in the winch, I’d glimpsed where my car was balanced and panicked all over again. Shaun’s arm had been dangling through the shattered window, getting him out was not going to be as easy as it had been for me.
I just wanted to see him. To kiss him. Hold him. But no one was giving me any answers.
“Where is he?” I gritted out.
The nurses were prepping me for a CT scan. They’d cleaned the wound on my head but were delaying stapling it, waiting to see what the scan showed. Whatever that meant.
“Ayden, calm down. Let’s get your head seen to then we can see about Shaun, okay.”
“I don’t care about my head!”
My dad came closer to the bed. “Okay. Here’s the deal. They’re still on scene, they’re having trouble securing the car in order to get him out.” What the fuck? I’d been here about forty minutes, what the hell was taking them so long? “He has medical treatment. He’s coming soon.”
“It was her,” I seethed. “You know that, right? She did this.”
“What do you mean?” He stood up straighter as he looked at me, silently asking me to be sure of my words. And I was.
“I fucking saw her. Before we went over the barrier, she saw me. I looked right into her eyes.”
“She wouldn’t do this to you. No way. You are her son. Are you absolutely sure what you saw?”
“She did it to him.”
“Look…” he rubbed a finger over his lip, “…you’ve had a bump…”
I didn’t let him finish. “It was her, dad. I don’t care if you don’t want to think she isn’t capable of hurting me, I know what I saw. Where is she?” He looked sheepishly at the floor contemplating. “Where is she?” I pressed.
“I don’t know. Two minutes before Detective Manning called, Tony called saying your mother had jabbed something into his arm and she took off. He’d been out cold for two hours.”
“And you don’t know where she is now?”
“No.”
“Great.”
Saying nothing more, I let the nurses wheel me down to the x-ray department where the whole time the doughnut moved around, my head banged mercilessly. It had nothing on my heart though. That big muscle governing my whole being tripped the light fantastic. Except it didn’t feel so fantastic. Not this time. Not without my love.
My head was fine, and I ground my teeth together as the doctor stapled my skin yet again. It was becoming a habit. The cold sweat blanketing me I attributed to waiting for news on Shaun. Every minute my father was away hunting down information was agony.
“That’s you, young man.” The doctor patted my arm. He was one of my dad’s friends, I remembered him from my last visit.
“Any news?”
I knew there wasn’t, but I had to ask, it was all I could do. He’d been in the room the last time I’d asked the very same question, then stayed to staple my head, so he was aware of how anxious I was to hear of something. Anything.
“My beeper has rumbled, so I expect someone is on their way. Hopefully it’s your man.” His smile was easy and comforting, his bed side manner far nicer than the crabby neurologist downstairs in the x-ray suite.
“Can I get up?”
“Sure. But Ayden, be careful. I don’t detect any concussion. Not severe anyway so just take it easy, okay?” I nodded at him as he handed me two white pills. “For the headache. Do you need a clean sweater?” He pointed to my ruined jumper.
“No. This will do.”
“All right. Let’s go see what we can find out about your fella.”
I followed him from the curtained off cubicle and out through the ward, back into the ER. My dad was standing with Laura at the far side of the waiting room, both huddled together and talking to one another. As if sensing my arrival his eyes shot to mine, and I knew Shaun was here. His face said it all, full of relief and love. He always betrayed himself with the way he looked at me. Sucking in a breath, I shored up my defences and made my way over.
“He’s in. Just a minute ago,” my dad rushed out as I reached him.
“And?” I watched a nurse clamber around in a cupboard for latex gloves in a hurry.
“Eyes open.”
“Yeah?” I smiled and held my breath all at the same time, probably look
ing constipated.
My dad grabbed me in a hug and held tight. “Yes. Banged up pretty bad but he’s not taking it lying down.” That was my fucking man! That was Shaun, through and through. “Give them a few minutes. They just want to sort some things then they said they’d call you through.”
I broke free from his arms and bent double, hands on my thighs, grateful. So very grateful our story still had many chapters still to come.
“Ayden Rinaldi?” A triage nurse dressed in blue scrubs called from the mouth of the corridor leading from the waiting room. “Come on,” she hitched her head to the side and I grinned at her, my heart finally picking up and beating a healthier pace. She returned the grin and winked.
“He’s groggy, okay. Has some sedation running through his IV. You have five minutes, that’s all I can give you as we need to get him to surgery to reset the bones that are broken. He’ll most likely need his left forearm pinned, it’s pretty smashed. But his ankle is a simple compound fracture that should heal well.”
Shit, banged up was the right word.
“His face is a bit messed up and may need a plastic surgeon to look at it.”
“Yeah, I saw that in the car.” I worried my lip between my teeth as I shoved my hands in my pockets, giving her my attention.
“It most likely looked worse with all the blood, but we cleaned him up a little.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” I grabbed for this stranger’s hand and squeezed, I had no idea how else to convey my gratitude.
She stopped me as we stood outside a curtain that was drawn around the bay, her hand at my chest, her voice hushed. “He’s lucky, very lucky. You both are. Don’t dwell on this, move on, yeah? Your fella’s a right charmer by the way.”
I laughed, the air around me tasting sweeter than ever at her words, a weight lifting from my chest. When she pulled back the curtain, Shaun grinned at me, his teeth still bloody, but fuck - all my breath escaped, and I rushed to his side, anxious to feel him.