by Christy Dilg
The police quickly arrive and I give them my home address and the details of the evening. They take me to the hospital to be checked out and have a tow truck take my car somewhere to have the windshield fixed. I don't know how I drove to that store because once I get into the ambulance my stomach feels like someone just laid a ton of bricks on it. The EMT gives me something for the pain almost immediately. I know it's been thirteen years, but I do believe labor hurt less than this. The EMT is cleaning me up and bandaging the cuts from his boots and the pot he was using. I guess the adrenaline finally wears off because I pass out, either from the trauma or the exhaustion of trying to free myself from that monster.
Chapter 14
Michael's POV
What the hell have I done? Laney. I put my face in my hands and sit on the steps, rocking back and forth. When she said she was leaving me I lost it. I know I am an asshole, but I can't see myself without her in my life. Why do I act this way toward someone so important to me? I hear the sirens down the road and I know they are coming for me. I stand and walk in the house and grab my wallet and keys, turn off all the lights and lock the door behind me. I sit back on the steps and prepare myself for what is to come. It's so fast like a movie scene; the cops pull into my well-manicured lawn and get out with guns aimed at me. The criminal. The abusive husband who nearly killed his wife because she was leaving him due to all the crap he put her through. I deserve this and much worse for what I have done.
It is like something in my brain takes over when she is around and I lose myself, hate takes over, but hate for what? Not really Laney, I love her and every ounce of love she has for me. I have really lost her now and my poor kids. They will hate me forever for the pain I just caused their mom. I put my hands up and behind my head like the officer barks at me. He comes up behind me and takes one arm and brings it to my lower back and cuffs it, then the other arm. "You have the right to remain silent. If you wish to exercise that right, say so out loud," he reads me my rights. I understand and get into the back of the police car. I am booked and put into a cell with three other men for holding. I sit in my own thoughts for what seems like years until my attorney arrives and they call me to speak with him. They take me to a private room and my attorney is sitting at the other end of the table. I don't care what happens to me, what I care about is if Laney is okay and if the kids are with her.
"What did you do, Michael?" my attorney, Mr. Mack Jacobs, asks me.
I slam my hands hard on the table and yell, "Is Laney okay?"
He looks at me with eyes that could burn a hole through me and explains to me how bad the damage is. "Laney is in surgery due to a ruptured spleen. She passed out after the ambulance arrived on scene to help her. They rushed her right into surgery," he tells me.
"Do the kids know what happened to her? Are they with her?" I ask.
The words barely make it out due to the cracking in my throat. I did this to her. My mind is circling from the reality of what I have caused. I look at my hands and see the blood, her blood. I put my face in my bloody hands and scream, the tears pour down my face as I recall every horrible action. Mr. Jacobs tells me that they have sent a deputy to get Callie and Kaleb and take them to the hospital. All I can think of is her going alone and I beg him to call Sierra, Laney's best friend, and have her go instead. He calls someone and orders them to let Sierra go and that he will personally call her himself. They agree and I feel better knowing Callie and Kaleb will have someone with them when they find out what happened and what I did.
I don't deserve to feel better about anything, but no matter what I have done, my kids have always been the light in my life. I would never harm them or want them in this kind of pain. Pain I caused. Mr. Jacob's calls Sierra while he is with me and explains what has happened.
I can hear her sobbing on the other end and screaming, "OMG, I knew this would happen. I'm going to kill that mother fucker."
I believe that she would if given the chance, and she should after what I have done. The last image I have of Laney is her pulling away from me after I nearly smashed her windshield in with a brick. I deserve everything that happens to me. Sierra gets herself together after about five minutes and he hangs up the phone.
"Okay, Sierra is going to get Callie and Kaleb and take them to the hospital, I have arranged for you to have a private room until they know if Laney will be okay. You will have a chance to clean up and they will give you an orange jumper to wear while you are here. What happens here on out depends on what happens with her." He shakes my hand and walks out.
I am escorted down the hall to a private cell so I can slowly die in my own thoughts. If she is okay I will make it up to her. I will show her every day how deeply sorry I am for what I have done. Maybe one day she will be able to forgive me and the pain I have caused her, not just this time, but all the times I put her down and caused her extreme pain. The times I broke her heart and made her feel less than absolutely beautiful in every way. It was never her; it was always me. Four walls and my thoughts are all I have and all I deserve. I have heard nothing about Laney and if she is okay. I do something that I haven't done since I was a young boy, I pray, I pray for her recovery and her forgiveness. I knew that my anger was out of control for years and I should have gotten help for it long ago. Instead, now I have hurt three people who I care so much about and I have no idea if any of them are okay. It should be me on that hospital bed not her. Oh Laney, I am so terribly sorry. I wish I could take it all back and we could be the family we once were.
Chance's POV
It has been four hours since Laney left here to go tell Michael that she wants a divorce. Four hours can change things and he could convince her to stay and make things work. My heart would be crushed in a millions pieces if she decides to stay with him. I call her phone, but all I get is voice mail. I put the phone down and pace back and forth on the balcony. I look toward the elevator to see if she is walking in and I can't hear her. I don't know why I have this feeling in my gut that something is wrong. I can't get the feeling to go away. She loves me; I know it deep down in my soul. I feel it when she looks at me, the warmness that takes over in between us and I know she wants me as much as I want her.
"Where is she?" Maybe with Callie or Kaleb. Of course she would want to talk to them in private. I try and convince myself that she is with them and things are fine. My cell phone starts ringing and I run to the patio table and see that it is the hospital calling.
"Yeah," I utter out.
"Hi, Dr. Turner. This is Jenny from the hospital, I am sorry to bother you, sir, on your day off but..." She stutters and doesn't finish her sentence.
"What can I do for you ma'am?" I ask.
"Yeah, umm, I don't know if you have heard, but Laney Collins was brought into the hospital this evening and is currently in surgery, sir. I know she works with you and thought you should know," she fills me in.
My mouth drops and my heart stops. I don't know what to say or do so I stand there holding the phone in silence.
"Sir, are you there?" she asks.
Coming out of the fog that has just covered my brain, I speak. "What happened?"
"Not sure, sir, other than her spleen was ruptured and she is in surgery now. She is alone and I thought someone might want to be here who knows her. Maybe you can contact her family," she informs me.
"Yes, I will get up there as soon as I can and I will get family contact information together and contact them. Thank you for calling and letting me know," I tell her.
I hang up the phone, not waiting for her response. My heart is racing; I feel the void that was there earlier. This is what I was feeling, it wasn't that she chose him over me. Something else was wrong. I throw on some of my washed out, holey jeans, T-shirt, and my boots. I grab my keys and rush out the door and get on my bike. My head is swimming with thoughts of her being okay or not being okay. What could have possibly happened? She must have been in a car accident to rupture her spleen so bad for surgery. I can't believe no one
is there for her. How could they have not called her family by now? Surely they have her cell phone. What the fuck! I swerve in and out of beach traffic and finally reach the hospital.
I park and almost run to my office to get the family contact information. I grab it and head straight to the surgery area. I pause when I see Sierra, a young girl, and Laney's daughter, Callie, and son, Kaleb. I know them from the pictures all over Laney's desk. Sierra spots me and tells the kids to have a seat and she will get some information. She nods for me to walk down the corner from the waiting area.
Sierra, voice trembling, asks, "Have you heard anything about how her surgery is going?"
I tell her they just called and told me she was in surgery and no one was here. They wanted me to call her family.
"Well, the attorney called and asked me to get Callie and Kaleb and bring them up here so she wouldn't be alone."
"Attorney?" I say, confused.
"Yes, Michael's attorney. You don't know," she says, shocked.
"Know what!" I say more loudly than I meant to.
"Michael beat her up, but somehow she got away and called the police. It was pretty bad and he is in jail now. Michael had his lawyer call me so I could tell Callie and Kaleb and bring them here to their mom," she explains.
"I'm going to kill him! I haven't heard anything other than that she is here. I thought it was a car accident. What kind of monster would do this to someone?" I spit out.
"My daddy!" a small, sweet voice says from behind me.
I turn to see Callie standing at the corner of the hall. Tears are pouring down her innocent face. I have never met this young girl, but my heart breaks for her pain and the confusion that her dad would do something like this to her mom. I walk over and introduce myself to her and wrap my arms around her. She places her head on my chest and starts crying uncontrollably. Sierra stands and watches as I embrace Callie for the first time, and even with all the heartache that is taking place right now, I see a reassuring smile touch her face. She is a truly great friend to Laney and her kids. I see now why they are so close; they take care of each other and their children. We walk back into the waiting room and wait but no one comes and gives us an update.
I introduce myself to Kaleb, but he just nods and goes back to listening to his music. I start getting angry, worried, and overcome with emotion, so I let Sierra and the kids know I will be back and I leave for answers. I walk down the hall to the operating area and I see a male nurse standing at the nurse's station. I approach him, probably coming off as a deranged lunatic, but he holds his professional image well.
"I am trying to get some information on Laney Collins. She was brought in by ambulance about one and half hours ago," I ask the nurse.
"I will see what I can find out and come update you in the waiting room," he says, his face sincere and caring.
I thank him and walk back to the waiting room. I know it isn't more than ten minutes but from where I am sitting, it feels like days. The last time I was in this position, I was waiting to find out fate of my grandfather who had open heart surgery. The outcome was not good and he did not come out of that room. I keep trying to think of anything to get my mind off things and I remember that I am the least important person in all of this. My eyes drift up to Callie sitting across from me with Brooke and Sierra. She looks so much like her mother with the blonde hair; they have the same facial features and strikingly beautiful blue eyes.
Trying to get her mind off anything until we have some news, I decide to talk to her. What do you say to a teenager? I am new at this, but I know we will be spending a lot of time together in the future and hopefully forever. I need to put on my dad shoes; this is my soon-to-be daughter, and son even though no one knows it but me.
"So, Callie, your mom tells me you are really smart and doing really well in school. Do you know what you want to do when you get out of school?"
I know Laney already told me this, but I need to get her mind off of things and, well, this seems like a start.
"I am going to be a forensic anthropologist. I want to study human bones and figure out what happened to them. I would like to work for the New York City crime lab one day. Maybe travel around the world and visit historical burial sites." As she explains her dream, I see the light in her eye return for a moment.
"That sounds so exciting. Always discovering new things has to be a never boring career," I acknowledge.
"My mom thinks it is weird, but yes, it will never get boring," she adds.
Kaleb has one ear bud in so I decide to ask him, too. His response is a shrug of the shoulders and an, "I haven't really thought of it."
The nurse walks in and looks at the kids, Sierra, and then to me. We all stand at once and walk toward him.
"She has come out of surgery and everything went well. She is in recovery now and we have given her something to sleep, so it will be a while before she will wake up. I suggest you all go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat because you will need your rest. I have orders that you all can stay in our private room this evening so you will be close if she wakes up," he informs us.
It is one of the many perks of being the Director of the Heart Center I think to myself. "Thank you and yes we will go to the cafeteria. Will you come get us once the room is ready?"
"Yes, sir. Try and relax now. She is out and doing well." He turns and walks away, but glances back at Sierra before disappearing around the corner.
Chapter 15
I look at the kids and Sierra and we all start walking to the cafeteria without speaking a word. We get our trays and get in line, one by one telling the lady what we want. I put everything on my lunch account and we sit at a table toward the back where it is basically empty. The girls look so exhausted from the stress and worry, they barely touch their plates. Kaleb looks like he has just lost his puppy, but trying to act like it doesn't bother him that much because he is trying to be stronger than anyone else. The nurse has perfect timing. As soon as I clean up the table, he walks in. We follow him to a room that has two beds, a cot, and a chair that lays back for sleeping. There is a big window that overlooks the parking lot. The room is supplied with a small fridge and I bet it is stocked for us, thanks to the wonderful staff here.
I decide that I will take the chair so the girls can have the beds and Kaleb can have the cot. These things can be brutal on someone's back, and right now, they are all going through enough. The nurse informs us that we should rest and they will let us know if something changes, but Callie's face is so full of fear I think maybe I should go see Laney for myself and give her some peace of mind.
After explaining that I will go check on things and come back to inform them, they all lay down and I head to Laney's room. The room is dark except for a small light on behind her bed. As I get closer, I can see the bruises on her face, swollen eye, and cut on her forehead. Her arms are black and blue and there are several gashes that have been sutured. A huge lump forms in my throat as I see her lying there so still and lifeless. How can someone do this to someone they once cared for or the mother of their children? I will never understand the minds of people so cruel and full of hate. I grab a chair and pull it close to the top of the bed. Her hand looks so fragile that I am afraid to touch it, but I can't resist feeling her skin against mine. I place it gently in mine. My eyes wander to her chest and I catch myself watching her breathe. I know she is breathing on her own and that is a good sign and gives me great comfort in knowing she will be coming home to us soon.
"Laney, baby, I need you to wake up. We haven't even been able to have a full love story yet. There are so many amazing things I want to experience with you." I talk to her, unsure if she can hear me or not, but if she can, I want her to know I am here waiting, waiting for the moment I can see her beautiful eyes again.
"Baby, Callie and Kaleb need their mom to comfort them both, they are so scared. I'm not sure if it will help seeing you like this. Please, baby, just open your beautiful eyes," I beg.
I
place her hand to my cheek and start praying. "Please God, heal her and bring her back to us. She has given me more hope, more love, more happiness than I have felt my whole life. Please let her be okay." Tears pour down my face as I close my eyes and feel her skin on mine.
Silence fills this small room and I know I need to go comfort the girls and young man down the hall and let them know she is going to be okay. Looking at her lying in this bed, it is hard to get that conclusion because she is so swollen and bruised, but I have counted her breaths and checked her pulse and they are strong; she is strong and she will pull through this. The thought of leaving her alone for a second is heartbreaking, but I know she needs the rest and I have to go let them all know her progress. Every moment I don't check in with them they will worry and it has been hours. Laney would never want that. I walk down the hall and enter the private room. All three girls are in one bed snuggled together, but when they feel my presence I have six eyes staring at me. They all sit up, waiting for me to talk. Kaleb is sitting on the windowsill and his head turns toward me.