“How long have I been out?” She suddenly whispered.
“They didn’t tell you anything?” She shook her head.
“They only ran some tests and told me I’d been in a coma for a while.”
“You’ve been unconscious for just over a month.” Her face paled as I told her. “Do you remember anything?
“A little,” she answered, her voice shaking now. “I remember being drug through the woods. You found me though.” I nodded, squeezing her hand. “He threw a knife at you. You fought but he was going to kill you,” I nodded when she paused. “I shot him.” Her voice shook as she spoke. “Something was wrong with the babies but everything went black after that.”
“You didn’t wake up after that,” I told her. “They took you to surgery as soon as you got to the hospital.” She pulled at her gown as I spoke until her stomach was visible. The skin was still slightly round, proof that she’d been pregnant. She ran shaky fingers over the bandage beneath her belly button. A tear splashed onto her hand as she looked up at me.
“What happened?” She whispered, but began to sob before I could answer. I took her into my arms again as her body shook. I heard a noise outside the hall and glanced over to see my parents in the doorway, holding the twins in their carriers. I nodded for them to come in as I pulled Libby away from me. Her back was to the door and she hadn’t heard them come in.
“Libby,” I murmured, gently pushing the hair from her face. “They made it.”
“What?” I barely heard the whispered word. She slowly raised her head from my shoulder and followed my gaze to the doorway. They’d taken the babies out of their carriers and were holding them, waiting to bring them over.
Libby gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. I pulled away from her and motioned for my parents to come over. I took our son and turned back to Libby. She lifted her shaking hands but using my free hand, I grabbed a pillow and put it beneath her elbow. I laid our son in the crook of her arm, helping her relax onto the pillow so she wasn’t lifting his weight with her weak arm. Momma followed my lead, walking around the bed and carefully doing the same with our daughter.
“They’re alive,” she murmured, more as a statement than a question. She stared down at them, tears filling her eyes again. “A boy and a girl,” she murmured, with a smile. “What are their names?”
“I couldn’t name them without you,” I explained.
“Are they okay?” Libby asked, her voice shaky with emotion.
“They’re perfect,” I answered, watching her sigh in relief. “They were absolutely fine when they came out. Not one problem.”
“How long were you here?”
“I was out of it for a week before I woke up. Then another week before they discharged me. They let the twins come home with me. Momma, Dad and Emma Lou have been helping me with them.” Dad chuckled.
“He didn’t have a clue,” Dad snickered.
“You didn’t either when we brought Cole home,” Momma reminded him with a smile.
“I spend half my days here and half at home.” She smiled up at me. “I’ve been bringing them in every day.”
“Thank you so much,” Libby whispered to my parents.
“That’s what family is for,” Dad answered with a smile.
“We’re going to head down to the cafeteria for a while.” She nudged dad towards the door. “You have a lot of catching up to do.” We were both smiling as they left.
We sat in silence for a while, watching our babies. I rocked my daughter while Libby held our son. I watched as she played with each of his fingers and toes, seeming to memorize every inch of him. After a while, I switched with her and she repeated the same process with our daughter.
“I heard things while I was out,” Libby whispered a while later. “Bits and pieces of conversation. I wanted to wake up and answer but I couldn’t find my way out. Was that what it was like for you?”
“Yeah. I remember hearing your voice. It’s what brought me out.”
“Where’s my father?”
“He’s dead, Libby,” I answered carefully. “You don’t have to be afraid of him anymore.” Libby shook her head, her jaw clenching.
“I didn’t mean Jackson,” she answered. “I meant my real father. Where’s John Paul?” I hesitated, unsure of what she knew. “I heard you both talking. It was in and out, like a fuzzy radio station but I caught most of it.”
“Libby, he wanted to tell you,”
“I know,” she murmured. “Can I see him?”
“Of course you can,” I answered. “He comes in at three every day and sits with you while I go home to spend time with the babies.”
“I have some things I want to ask him”
“That’s kind of an understatement,” I murmured, making her chuckle a bit.
“Yeah.”
Chapter 29
Libby helped me feed and change the twins, though she tired easily. She lay back on the bed with one baby on her chest while I rocked the other in the chair beside the bed. I noticed that she’d fallen asleep and when my parents finally came back, I helped them strap the babies into their carriers.
“I’m going to stay with here,” I explained, kissing them. “I don’t know how long she’ll be sleeping for.”
“Tell her we’ll bring them back first thing tomorrow,” Momma assured me, giving me a hug. “You just take care of her and we’ll take care of them.” I smiled and watched them leave left before lying beside Libby in the bed.
A few hours later, I was flipping through the four channels on the TV when John Paul poked his head in the door.
“Your Dad called the station and said Libby was awake,” he said quietly as he sat down next to us. “How much does she know?”
“Mostly everything,” I answered, “She could hear most of what we said while she was out.”
“She’s been through so much, Cole,” he muttered. “I would’ve said things differently if I’d known, maybe left out a few of the details.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Libby’s voice was stronger than it had been earlier in the day. John Paul jumped in his chair, making Libby smile. She made no effort to sit up and I could tell that she was still physically exhausted. I reached over for the bed controls and moved it into the sitting position.
“I’m so sorry, Libby.” John Paul barely got the words out before he broke down. Libby sat quietly as he wept into his hands.
“You were with her,” Libby murmured. John Paul looked up, confusion marring his features. “At the hotel, before she died.” His face pinched when he realized what she was asking him. “She called the day before and told me she was with someone. That he’d keep her safe. It was you, wasn’t it?” John Paul nodded slowly.
“She left while he was at the mine,” he answered. “She knew he’d come after her and she called and asked for my help. We filed a report, requested a restraining order. I told the deputy I was taking care of her protection personally until she could get into a women’s shelter.” John Paul met her eyes. “She told me the only reason she never left was because he’d kill you both if she tried. But now that you had Cole, she trusted that he would keep you safe.” I pulled Libby closer to me as he spoke. I hadn’t done a very good job of keeping her from danger.
“I found a hotel across the county, checked in under a different name and paid cash. I took all the precautions. I don’t know how he found her.” His eyes filled again. “I’m the goddamn sheriff and I couldn’t keep her safe.” Libby reached her hand out to him and he hesitated before taking it.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered, gripping his hand.
“She was happy, Libby. Even if it was only for a few days,” he murmured, squeezing her hand. “She was really happy.”
“What happened?”
“I’d left to pick up dinner. She wanted to stay and take a bubble bath.” John Paul smiled at some memory but the smile faded quickly. “When I got back the door to the room was open. He was gone.” John Paul shudde
red. “She was still alive.” Libby gasped and I hugged her tighter. “I knew as soon as I found her that she wouldn’t make it.” He was crying again, as was Libby. I could feel her trembling in my arms. “She was barely breathing but she kept saying she was sorry. The last words she said were ‘I finally fought back’. She was gone before the ambulance got there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Libby’s voice was raw again.
“You still weren’t safe,” John Paul answered. “If you knew I was your father it might’ve pushed Jackson over the edge sooner. I couldn’t risk it.”
“You lied to us,” I murmured. “You lied on the police report.”
“I’d already let Libby live with that monster her entire life,” John Paul argued. “I couldn’t put her in any more danger than I already had.” He wiped his sleeve on his face. “If I could go back and change it, I would.”
“No,” Libby answered, taking his hand again. “You can’t change the past. But we can change the future. Are you ready to be a father, John Paul? To be a grandfather?” His eyes widened as she spoke.
“I want that more than anything,” he told her, a smile threatening on his face.
“I expect you to be there for us. For every birthday, every milestone, every event. You don’t ever have to watch from a distance again.”
“I’ll be there,” he whispered, squeezing his daughter’s hand. I smiled, knowing that everything was finally going to be okay.
Chapter 30
2007
The new granite stone was stark white against the bright summer grass. I had put it there next to her grave as a reminder to the rest of us. We would lay here in this cold ground some day and I wanted those that followed us to remember as well. I took a deep breath as I read the words etched into stone.
You cannot change the past but you have the power to change the future
Annie and Johnnie, now four months old, lay sleeping in their double stroller. John Paul was standing next to me and I put a supportive hand on his shoulder. It was still hard, for all of us, coming here after all that had happened.
The fresh-picked bluebells bobbed in the light breeze. Libby ran her hand across the cold stone before kneeling at her mother’s grave and setting down another bunch of flowers.
“You gave me life and did what you could to save it,” she whispered to the stone. “I love you, Momma.” She stood and turned back to me, tears wet on her face. I held out my hand and pulled her into my arms.
“You okay?” I asked, kissing her forehead.
“I will be,” she murmured. “Sometimes I wish I’d known sooner. I might’ve done something different and she’d be alive today to play with her grandchildren.”
“Those grandchildren might not be here today if you had known sooner.” John Paul murmured, coming up to us with the stroller. Libby sighed but looked down at the twins with a smile.
“I feel like I lost so much time with them,” she whispered.
“Recovering takes a lot of work and a lot of time,” I answered.
“Besides,” John Paul added. “You have plenty of time to catch up. We all do.”
“You’re right, Dad,” Libby murmured, smiling at him. John Paul smiled back and we turned to make our way out of the cemetery.
Before we drove away, I looked back at the empty graveyard, afraid I’d hear the echo of Jackson’s sick laughter but all I could hear were the birds chirping in the trees. I smiled, and drove the car away, letting the years of fear and worry fade away. I held Libby’s hand as the mountains faded behind us.
The End
About the Author
Amanda Meredith’s passion for reading and writing began in the first grade when she was struggling with reading so much, her parents were considering holding her back. But thanks to a dedicated teacher who spent hours of unpaid time with her after school, she discovered a passion for the written word.
She was soon reading above her grade level, devouring books from the library and writing stories. She even won runner up in the school’s young author contest.
Through the remainder of her school years, she took as many English classes as she could, writing everything from poetry and song lyrics to short stories.
After graduating, she married her high school sweetheart and while raising her two children, continued to write and read, using her passion for storytelling to instill a love for books in her own children.
Authors normally don’t get published taking years to write a novel between diaper changes and cooking dinner. Amanda’s family has and always will come first but the desire to write, to create worlds that a reader can escape to, will always been a passion for her.
Outside of family life, she enjoys playing guitar, singing and horseback riding.
Amanda lives in Illinois with her husband, children and variety of pets. She continues to write and will be publishing more books in the near future.
Find out more about
Amanda Meredith
at
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00DQQ9FWY
and
https://www.facebook.com/authoramanda.meredith
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