Finishing that, he turned and gazed at the woman who had given birth to both his beloved Zamora and Aisha. That fact he had gleaned when the police and ambulance had arrived at the house. He knew now where they got their beauty from. She was cradling the little boy in her arms, humming softly, and rocking him slowly back and forth.
Not wanting to disturb the two, he quietly took a seat just as Doctor Boyd and another doctor approached Selma.
Taking a seat in front of her, the doctor sighed heavily. “First, let me say your son is a strong, healthy young man, and that is definitely working to his advantage already. Somehow the bullet missed all his vital organs, the wound is through and through. We’ve repaired the damage. Now, I have to tell you though, the next seventy-two hours are going to be critical, he did lose a lot of blood, and was in a deep state of shock. He’ll be in ICU for awhile. Once we get him settled in in there, you can see him. It shouldn’t take more than..let’s say..an hour or so. If you need anything, anything at all, just go to the nurse’s station and ask. And for what it’s worth, it’s my opinion that he will pull through with flying colors. Well, so to speak…“
“Thank you doctor,” she whispered, then closed her eyes, tremendously relieved.
“You’re welcome. And remember, anything you need…” Saying that, he got up and left.
Several minutes later they were converged upon by friends of the family, all of them angry as stirred-up hornets, but worried to death at the same time.
Standing, Jonus finally introduced himself to Selma, then introduced her to everyone else. The commotion woke the little boy up.
“If I wasn’t so worried about Aisha right now I would go hunt that Mary down myself, rip off her arm, and beat her to death with it!” Helen seethed as she picked Gabriel up. Emotionally drained, the boy laid his head on her shoulder almost as if he knew he was safe amongst these people.
Sheriff Berry arrived just minutes later, questioning Selma and Jonus, while Helen, Carol, and Barbara took the boy to the cafeteria to get him something to eat. The Sheriff informed them he had put an all-points bulletin out for the van, and all of the local news agencies had good photos of Zamora, Mary, Samuel, and the two elders, whom Selma had identified earlier. These were fresh from the surveillance cameras and tapes Connell had wisely had installed in and around their home after the cross burning fiasco.
Handing the Sheriff the paper with the hotel reservation printed on it, Selma suggested they could be hiding out there until things calmed down.
Thanking her for her cooperation, he turned to leave, but stopped as Jonus called to him.
“Hey, Sheriff, wait up! I want to come with you! I can’t just stand around here twiddling my thumbs!”
Giving the young man a hard look, something told him that he would come anyway, even if he had to follow in his own vehicle. “Alright, come on, let’s get to that hotel.”
“Thanks, Sheriff. Just give me two seconds.“ Taking Selma’s hand in his, he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll call the minute we find out anything.”
“Just bring my baby back, I’m afraid they’re going to hurt her.” she replied as she wiped tears from her face.
“Go, ahead, Jonus, I’ll stay here with Selma. Reverend Lee has already made arrangements for her to stay in a room here at the hospital, so she can be close to Ezekiel and Aisha.“ Ben said. “I’ve got your number, and we’ll call you if anything comes up here.“ he finished, then wrapped a comforting arm around Selma’s shoulder.
***********************************************
Connell held Aisha’s hand as he caressed her brow lovingly, doing his best to reassure her as the nurse told the doctor they were ready for the c- section.
Doctor Monk worked quickly, yet carefully. After several moments, he happily cried, “Aisha, Connell, your first is… a beautiful baby girl!” With exquisite care, he handed the tiny infant to the nurse.
Connell released a breath, squeezed her hand gently, then gazed in wonder at the pecan-skinned infant. Even at a premature seven months, she had a head full of auburn hair. And from the sounds of her cries, her lungs were working just fine. His heart swelled with happiness, and he blinked back tears of joy and muttered, “Oh, baby, she’s beautiful, just like her mother!”
Aisha smiled and nodded weakly. Her eyes drifted closed as Doctor Monk announced the delivery of the second child.
“My word! Another beautiful little girl! Connell, you’ll need to get the shot gun out twice instead of once, when they’re older!” he said, and chuckled at his own joke.
That moment several alarms went off at once, and one of the nurses called out, “Her pressure is dropping! She’s coding, doctor!”
None of the noise mattered to Aisha as she felt herself peacefully slip away into oblivion.
**********************************************
Connell stood outside the delivery room pacing, beside himself with worry and grief. He had been ushered from the room quickly by a nurse, and had only complied when she impressed upon him the importance of them needing all the elbowroom they could have in order to work.
Suddenly falling to his knees in the hallway, he began to sob hopelessly. She’s dying! Please, Lord, this is a nightmare, this can’t be happening, not AGAIN? Please, give her back to us, give her back to me.. he prayed.
Seeing him collapse, Selma, Reverend Lee, Helen, Ben, and several others rushed to him to comfort him.
“Dear Lord, please don’t take my precious daughter, or my son. I couldn’t live if either one of them was taken away from me.. Selma thought.
Placing a hand on Connell’s back, the Reverend lifted his eyes to the heavens and began praying fervently to heal both Aisha and Ezekiel.
************************************************
“Goddammit, Jonus, if you don’t calm your ass down and stay out of this room, I swear I’ll have your ass handcuffed and taken to jail so you can cool off!” the Sheriff bellowed as two of his deputies physically dragged Jonus away from the hotel room doorway. Dragging him down the hallway, they released him. One returned to the crime scene, while the other stood watch over him warily.
Turning his attention back to the matter at hand, it was clear to the Sheriff that there had been a scuffle in the room. Furniture had been overturned, and several drops of blood had been found on the white floor tiles in the bathroom. “Cody, tell the forensic team when they’re done with the other room to come in here and go over this place with a fine toothed comb. I want it dusted for prints everywhere. That blood in the bathroom, I want samples taken.”
He then turned and walked out of the room, leaving the door open. Just outside he turned to face an older woman, the hotel manager, who had been waiting nervously. “When did they leave? And did anything seem unusual to you when they came in and checked out? “
The woman shook her head no, and handed him a card. “Two of the men came down and checked out of the rooms, not more than an hour ago. They seemed Ok to me. But I was preoccupied with my soaps, so I didn’t really pay close attention to them. Here’s their registration card. Of course you know it has their tag number, and make and model of the van. Some of your men are looking at the hotel surveillance videos right now.”
Nodding, he thanked the woman for her help. Handing the card to one of his deputies, he said, “Call that information in, and make sure everyone knows that if they spot that van and pull them over, to exercise extreme caution while approaching. They’re armed and dangerous, they’ve already shot a man. You can also release the tag number and description of the van to the news reporters.”
“Yes sir.“ the deputy nodded, then hurried off.
Looking down the hall to where Jonus was pacing back and forth, he decided it would be best to tell him everything. Better that than having the young man running off by himself, vigilante style, trying to take the law into his own hands.
Walking up to him, he placed a hand on his shoulder and said “Come on. Let’s go to the command
center we have set up across the street with the state police. Listen, we found some blood in the second room they rented.”
“Oh God..“ Jonus muttered weakly.
Holding up a hand, he said, “Jonus, just calm down now, son, we don’t know who’s blood it is. For all we know, one of the guys could have cut himself shaving.” When his cell phone rang, he flipped it open and snapped, “Berry, here..”
Jonus studied him closely as he grunted, nodded, then hung up.
“A State Trooper spotted the van and pulled them over, and has two of the men in custody now, transporting them to the station. They’re claiming they don’t know where Mary, Samuel, or Zamora are. My guess is they either had another car stashed somewhere, or they rented one after leaving the hotel and spitting up. I’m going to go down there and see if I can’t help those two be good citizens and remember what we need to know. I‘m afraid you can‘t come with me this time, with the State Police being involved and all..sorry.”
“I understand. And thanks, Sheriff.“ he replied, and watched as he turned and left.
After he had gotten into his cruiser and left, Jonus told the Deputy who had been watching him that he was headed back to the hospital.
“Suit yourself, drive careful.” the man answered, and went in search of a hot cup of coffee from the command center.
Walking out to his truck, he had already made his mind up to pay a visit to the Tribe of Eden compound himself, in person. Zamora had told him where the place was located, and he wasn’t going to wait for the police. He was going to get the woman he loved, all by himself, if he had to. God help them, God help them all if she’s hurt! I’ll wipe out that whole Goddamn compound myself if they’ve touched one hair on her head..
“Jonus...son?“ a voice called out.
Startled, he looked up from the ground and saw his father and two brothers just as they were stepping out of their dad’s dark blue Chevy Suburban.
Walking up to him hesitantly, his dad said nothing, and engulfed him in a tight embrace.
Hesitating only a second, he returned the embrace, surprised, but taking comfort in it. His father had never hugged him in his entire life.
“Son…I’m so sorry about the things I said to you, and to your girl. Can you please forgive an old fool?“
Completely off balance, he answered, “Well, sure, dad, I may have been mad at you, but I never stopped loving you.“
Stepping back, he held him at arms length, and in a choked, emotional voice, said, “Ebony heard on the police scanner about Zamora’s abduction. Son, we want to help. I want to help. There are so many things I want to make up to you, to all of you, and I want to start today, right now, by always being there for you boys whenever you need me. It’s time I became a real father, the dad I should have been from day one.”
“Thanks……dad.“ he replied in wonder.
“So, what’s the plan?“ Patrick asked.
“I want to go after her. The police have to follow procedures….I don’t. Sheriff Berry thinks they had a second vehicle stashed somewhere, because they have two of them already in custody, and they were in the van. This woman, Mary, will no doubt run to the only place she knows, that Goddamn compound.” he replied, then gave them a brief rundown on the cult and it’s location.
“We’re all ready, and have the Suburban loaded down with everything we need. No one takes a Thompson’s woman! Mom and Ebony are at home waiting for us to bring Zamora back.” Timothy replied.
With a warm, genuine smile, Ed placed a hand on Jonus‘s shoulder and said, “Come on, son, let’s go get your girl.”
***********************************************
“Honey, you need to wake up……….” a voice floated to her.
Aisha groaned, her eyes heavy. She didn’t want to open them, but a familiar voice forced her to come out of her peaceful sleep. Finally opening her eyes, she saw Jenny was sitting on the bed next to her. She was alive! And she was young, beautiful, and healthy! Running a hand over her face, she shook her head slowly from side to side, and mumbled happily. “Oh, Jenny! You won’t believe what an awful dream I had! I dreamed you had…you had…” she faltered, beginning to feel disoriented.
Jenny gave her a warm smile, like a ray of sunshine, then reached out and gently pulled her to a sitting position.
A bright flash of light, and Aisha noticed they were sitting by a beautiful river. This can’t be real… she thought in bewilderment. Suddenly looking down, she touched her stomach, which was now flat. “I….I died, didn’t I? I died, because I’m here with you. I’ll never see them again…”
Jenny touched her face. “You’re not dead, yet. You’re just…I guess you could say… hanging out with me here for a bit. For you, I guess you could call it somewhere in between life and death. We have to get you back. Don’t forget, you have a promise to keep.”
Grabbing Jenny’s hands and wishing she could take her back with her, she sobbed, “I miss you so much Jenny…Connell and the kids do too….”
With a sad smile, she answered, “I miss all of you too. But I’m still with you all, all the time. Don’t cry, sweetie, I never truly died, I’m here with you right now, aren’t I? And I’m still holding your hand whenever you go through troubling times, you just can’t feel it or see it. Connell, Abby, Shawn, and your daughters as well. We’ll all be together again one day. We‘ll all be together….stay strong…..promise me….” she said, her voice beginning to fade.
Her vision blurring, she tried to reach out to her friend in desperation, but was unable to move her arms. Feeling a sensation of weight on her chest, she began struggling to breathe………
***********************************************
Desperate for air, Aisha’s chest heaved, then she coughed violently. Opening her eyes, she was blinded by bright lights directly above, and could hear the beeping of electronic equipment, and the muttering of voices, one of which kept repeating, “We’ve got her back, we‘ve got her back!” Annoyed, she tried to speak, but was unable to. She wanted to go back and spend just a little more time with Jenny. “Aisha, you’re going to be just fine.” she heard a voice say, and felt a cool hand touch her forehead. “Jenny. I want to go back and talk to Jenny some more.” she moaned, finally able to speak.
“What did she say, doctor?” one of the nurses questioned.
“I don’t know, she’s probably just a little confused, she’s had a traumatic day.” Doctor Monk replied softly as he checked her vitals. “Aisha, both you and your twin girls are going to be fine. We’re going to put you in ICU, but it’s just precautionary, can you understand me..? I’m going to go have a talk with your family, Ok? You‘re in good hands now.”
“It hurts.” she moaned, the pain from her ordeal finally beginning to register.
“We’ll give you something for the pain.” a voice answered.
She nodded weakly, then tried to ask for Connell, but drifted back off to sleep instead.
**********************************************
Connell sat dully, cried out, expecting the worst. When he spotted the doctor walking towards him, he got up slowly, along with everyone else.
Smiling, the doctor said, “Well, it was touch and go for a bit, but she’s fine! We’re going to keep a close eye on her and run some tests, try to figure out why she stopped breathing for a moment. I’m putting her in ICU, in the room next to her brother. But all her vitals are strong, and I think she’s going to be Ok.“
“Oh, thank God..“ Connell breathed, while all their friends patted him on the back and hugged him.
“The twins are premature of course, but I don’t foresee any problems there, either. We may be a small hospital, but we have a hell of a staff. Uhhh, pardon me, Reverend, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on them as well.”
***********************************************
Connell sat watching Aisha as she slept. He could see the strain on her face, but she was even more beautiful to him now than she ever
had been. Thank you Lord, for sending her back to me, and keeping our babies safe… he prayed silently. Picking up her hand, he held it in his, planting a small kiss on her knuckles.
Her eyes fluttered and opened, and she slowly turned her head to face him. She smiled weakly, then motioned for the water pitcher sitting on the bedside table.
He poured a small amount in the cup, and carefully aided her in taking a few sips.
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