by Eva Luxe
“When can she go home?” I asked, rubbing the back of Willow’s hand.
“As soon as she wakes up and we take one more good look at her. Then you two can leave.” The doctor smiled and left.
Good news. For now.
Willow’s eyes fluttered open, and she turned her head on the pillow towards me.
“Darien, what h-happened,” she asked, her voice creaking from her deep sleep.
“Morgan happened,” I whispered.
“W-wait, I wasn’t dreaming?” Willow struggled to sit up. “She hit our car?”
“Yes, she hired someone to do it. Don’t worry, I’ll have her taken care of.” Willow grabbed my hand.
“Darien, please don’t hurt her. Y-you’re not like her. You’re better.” Willow had a kind heart. But Morgan was about to take me into dangerous territory. How come I didn’t meet Willow earlier?
Would I have even deserved her back then?
“Okay, Willow. Get some rest, I need to make a phone call.”
I slipped my hand from hers and rubbed her leg. I stepped into the hallway and too out my phone. It had a few scuffs on it, but it was still operational. Before I could even dial, the screen lit up.
It was Dean, so I picked up.
“Dean? I was just about to call you.”
“Really? Did they already show up?”
I leaned on the wall.
“What are you talking about?”
“The courts. They got that video. Judge ruled in her favor. They’re coming over to take Dahlia. She’s got full custody.”
My grip intensified around the phone. Every nerve in my body felt shot. “What?! No they can’t take her. Not my daughter! What the hell happened?”
“Damn it Darien, I’ve been digging hard to find dirt on her ass. She’s no fucking saint, but everything keeps turning up clean.”
“Bribery. She’s keeping people quiet…”
“I know. The court hearing is in two more days, so if there’s any dirt I can bring up, I’ll have it by then. That’s our last chance.”
“I’m not home. I’m at the hospital. Morgan hired someone to hit our car.”
“What?!”
“Yeah, I know it was her. What time are they going to get Dahlia?”
“The papers say around noon today,” Dean said sighing.
“I’ll be there, bye.”
The doctor came back after an hour of running around. They looked at Willows vitals and checked her for any other signs of trauma.
“She’s free to go. I suggest that you drink plenty of liquids before re-introducing heavy food back into your diet. Have a good day. These are your discharge papers.” He shuffled around some papers for her to sign.
The doctors and nurses smiled a few times and left. Willow was still planted in the bed and looked up at the clock.
“Ronald…” she said, hanging her head down.
“Huh, what’s wrong Willow?” I asked, placing my face near hers for some added comfort and support.
“They’re going to cut his machine off soon.” She swallowed. “A few weeks ago my mother said in two months they would cut him off. I had a feeling she was lying. I found out. He’s due to be cut off today,” she cried.
“I can stop it—”
“No, don’t. I finally realized something. Ronald needs to be free. Even if it’s without me. I was being selfish by keeping him hooked up too those machines.” Willow held herself, trying to calm her tears. No, those tears were normal. Holding in feelings like these would only harm you in the long run. I held her hands and looked her in those beautiful blue eyes that I’ve grown to love and adore.
I cupped Willow’s cheeks and whispered, “Don’t do this to yourself, you love him. That’s your family. Cry if you need to. But don’t hold your feelings back.”
Willow trembled in my arms. The uncertainty of what to do shook her to the core. There was no easy way made visible to her. Whether she went left or right, I knew that she would feel the pain of this for a while. I was going to be here when it got rough too.
“What if he was in pain?” Willow asked, her voice cracking up.
“Willow—”
“No, my mom was right. I don’t want to let him go. But I have to.” She buried her face into my chest and I held her protectively against me.
“What time do they take him off?”
“Three o’clock,” she sobbed.
“You should be there.” I began to rub her back. It was cruel reality that time was ticking for both of us to lose something.
“I can’t do that. I just can’t!”
“You can. You should. I’ll be there with you. But I think Ronald would like that.”
Willow’s sobs lessened, and she looked up at me. “You’ll come with me?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes.
***
I returned home with Willow and Dahlia came running from the front door into my arms. I spun her around and placed her back on her feet. I’d be damned if I gave up Dahlia too easy. Reputation my ass. The only thing I cared about right now was my renewed family.
“Willow! Daddy!” she cried. “I missed you two!”
Willow bent down to give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Dahlia, it’s so good to see you again. You’re just as beautiful as you were when I last saw you.”
“Why’d you leave? You didn’t say goodbye.”
Willow sighed and glanced up at me. “I had an emergency. But I’m back now and I’m not leaving.”
“Ah, Mr. Thrilling, I’m glad you’re back,” Mrs Thompson, Dean’s wife, said as she hobbled down the steps. She adjusted her glasses and smiled down at Dahlia.
“I am too.”
The sound of a car approaching into my driveway came from behind me. I turned around and saw Morgan’s Rolls Royce drag itself towards us. Willow met her glare head on and folded her arms.
“No!” Dahlia shouted, hiding behind me. “I don’t wanna go, why is she here?!”
Mrs. Thompson stepped beside me and sucked her teeth. “It’s too early, she isn’t supposed to be here right now. Especially without the Sheriff.”
“Daddy, don’t let her take me away!” Dahlia begged, gripping my arm. I remembered what she told me.
The locked rooms.
The lack of food. My jaw tightened as I struggled to not lose my mind and scream like a wild beast. Willow was beside me, and that made me stronger. I wasn’t at this alone. She was invested in Dahlia’s safety with me. That was why I’d be there for her as well. Especially later on today…
Willow patted Dahlia’s head and smiled. “Dahlia, Daddy and Mommy will protect you.”
“Mrs. Thompson, take Dahlia inside for me, please.”
“Yes. Come on, dear.” Mrs. Thompson said, holding her hand out so Dahlia could take it. The two of them went up the stairs and disappeared behind the double doors.
Morgan got out of her car and slunk over with her overbearing perfume corrupting the surrounding air. I coughed and rubbed my temples.
Divorce couldn’t happen sooner enough.
“Well, look at you two… walking,” she sneered.
“Look bitch, step one foot near Dahlia and—”
“And what?” Morgan challenged.
“Willow, let me handle this,” I said, walking in between them. “Morgan, I know you’re behind that car accident yesterday.”
“An accident. Oh heavens, not me.” Morgan thrust her hands on her hips with a coy smile. She thought she got away with it. Did she forget I was richer than her? Whoever she used wouldn’t mind ratting her out for a couple grand. Twice whatever she paid them.
“Your sarcasm is pathetic,” Willow hissed.
“Give me my daughter,” Morgan demanded, throwing her chin up.
“Over my dead body. You’re not supposed to be here until noon,” I said.
“An hour early isn’t better? Doesn’t it show I’m a good Mommy?”
�
��Good mother my ass,” Willow laughed.
“Shut your trap, whore.”
“She’s not a whore. If anything, there’s one whore I see. And that’s you. You’re a money whore, a bad mother, and a bad person.”
“Call me what you want, but Dahlia’s mine.”
“You can’t even address your daughter like she’s a living thing and not an object.”
“The court saw the video. They gave me full custody. Now I’ll wait here for my little object or else someone’s going to jail.”
The sheriff rolled into my driveway, it was now thirty minutes to noon. He stomped out of his car and trudged over to us with a frown on his face.
“Mrs. Morgan Thrilling?”
“Yes.”
“You’re under arrest," the Sheriff barked.
I held Willow close to me while Morgan was turned around and handcuffed. The sound of the cuffs clinking around her wrists satisfied my anger.
“Under arrest?! No, you’re wrong, the court said to—”
“The court said to wait for me to take you here. Otherwise you’ve violated the restraining order, and now you’ve got to go to jail. There will be a hearing tomorrow morning about custody.”
Morgan grunted and groaned while she was taken to the back of the Sheriff’s cruiser and stuffed inside.
“Wow. Nice,” Willow exclaimed.
Chapter Eleven
Willow
It was a victory, albeit a temporary one.
I looked at my phone while I sat in the living room. It was now two fifteen and Darien was getting ready to take me to Ronald.
This whole thing didn’t feel real. There was a deep resentment deep down inside towards my parents for coming to this decision so early.
But then again…
I understood what it was like to have a promise of something dangling in your face for so long and not be able to achieve it.
Ronald deserved to go to a nice place. He didn’t deserve to be hooked up to a greedy hospital, being forced to straddle the line between life and death all because of a ‘maybe he’ll wake up’.
If Darien weren’t here, I’d skip out on it. Seeing that heart monitor fall flat would tear me to pieces.
“Ready?”
“No. I’ll never me. This day will haunt me for the rest of my life,” Willow whispered, looking into her hands cradled on her lap.
“This wasn’t your fault,” I reminded her.
“Why does it feel like it then?” Willow inhaled a sharp breath.
“Because you love your brother. It’s only natural. Come, we don’t want to be late.”
Dahlia stopped us before we left, Mrs. Thompson was close behind.
“Mommy, Daddy, where are you going?” she asked us with big eyes.
“To say goodbye to one of Willow’s relatives. They’re going home to another place.”
“Can I come? I want to meet them too.”
“I wish, Dahlia dear. But this is something very personal. Be good and we’ll come back and order some of that greasy pizza you love so much.”
“Yay! I want extra, extra cheese!”
“Thank you again, Mrs. Thompson. Dean has a good wife on his hands.”
“No problem. You two be careful.”
“Won’t be too unsafe with Morgan behind bars,” I added.
On the way there I kept silent.
I told Darien to keep the radio off, I needed silence. No amount of noise could drown out the pain thundering through my chest right now. It would only made it worse.
When we arrived at the hospital, Darien parked the car and got out. I didn’t, I was stuck to the seat, panicking, unwilling to move.
Darien walked over to my side of the car and opened the door. My bottom lip trembled as I fought back the unbearable urge to cry.
With great patience and understanding, Darien bent down and pulled my chin down so I would look at him. “Willow, please. You can do this,” he urged.
“I can’t.” My bones rattled, threatening to malfunction and turn to stone.
“Ronald would appreciate it. I know it.”
I sighed and finally got out the car. Darien’s warm soft hand wrapped around mine while we walked in and found our way up to his room.
Mom and Dad were there. They turned around, shocked to see me.
“Willow, you’ve brought a friend,” my mom pointed out.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“He’s not family. I only want family in the room with us,” she said.
“Darien’s more family than any of you. He’s coming whether you like it or not.”
The doctor over heard our argument and butted in, “I’m sorry but, unless he’s family, he’s not allowed inside.”
“Then I’m not—”
“I’m her husband. Doesn’t that qualify?” Darien said to the doctor. The doctor frowned and gave up on taking my mother’s side.
“Husband!? Willow you got married and didn’t tell us?” she cried, throwing her hand over her heart.
“Let’s focus on Ronald,” my father added. I couldn’t agree more.
The doctor opened the room, and we spilled in like molasses. We dreaded this day, but it had to come. I was going to miss him. Ronald was a pest sometimes, but he was my pest, my brother.
“I know some of you held onto the belief that he’d wake up. But with a heavy heart, I turn off the machine. Rest in peace Ronald Reign. Any last words.” The doctor looked around. Funny, he feigned kindness and compassion. If I hadn’t kept those bills paid, he would’ve turned off his machine without batting an eye.
“Wake up, Ronald, it’s not too late,” I said to Ronald, rubbing his hand.
The doctor looked at my mother and father.
“We love you,” my father said. My mother broke into tears, choking back loud sobs.
“Okay… here we go.”
The doctor turned a knob on the machine and the lights turned off.
Ronald’s breathing became erratic, and his hand moved.
“Ronald?! Doctor, his hands moved,” I exclaimed.
The doctor looked at Ronald and checked for a pulse.
“Well I’ll be damned. My god, he’s—he’s alive! Nurses!”
“Ronald, keep going, you’re almost there! Open your eyes!” Darien held me from behind, his support flowing into me.
“Ronald, you’re awake!” I shouted, leaning over to hug him
“My dear son!” my mother sobbed, coming over to do the same.
Ronald coughed and struggled to sit up. I pushed him back down.
“Stay down, you’re too weak and—and you need to rest more,” I said.
“H-hey, what’s going on? Why do I feel weird? Willow? Mom and Dad?” Ronald asked, his voice raspy from his deep slumber. He looked around and tilted his head to the side when he saw Darien.
“Ronald, you idiot! You’re never driving a car again!”
“What? Come on, that’s ridiculous!” he chuckled.
Yeah. That was my brother. I knew he’d beat the odds.
“You were in a coma,” I explained. “We were unhooking you from your breathing machine.”
“Wow, that’s—whoa. Th-that’s some w-weird—”
“Stop talking, save your energy,” I huffed.
“Mhm, fine,” he mumbled with a smile.
***
The next day he was up walking. Darien had made sure he had the best medical treatment money could buy. I felt good knowing my brother was safe, it even helped ease the symptoms of my pregnancy. Less vomiting and more eating.
He was also taken to a better hospital with physical therapy.
It was two hours before Darien’s hearing when we went to visit him. I hugged him hard, but made sure not to crush anything.
“So, I’m beginning to remember some of it. The accident I mean,” Ronald said while he balanced on the rails, training his legs to walk again. The muscle memory was there, he just had to work them out since they were out of comm
ission for like, four months.
I rubbed his back and looked down at his legs. “Yeah. I regret not doing something stupid so you didn’t leave.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Hey, Darien, thanks for the help by the way. Much appreciated.” He waved over to Darien who was sitting across the room.
“Not a problem,” he said, waving.
“So,” Ronald said, grinning, “you two really getting hitched? I mean, it’s kinda obvious you’re knocked up.” Ronald looked down at my stomach which was showing the infamous baby bump now.
“Well—”
“Yes, we are,” Darien said, coming closer to us. Uh oh, did he really mean this?
“Nice. I knew you’d marry some rich dude one day, Willa.”
Old Ronald, distorting my name whenever it fit him. “It’s Willow, and Darien is more than just a rich dude to me.”
“That’s good.” Ronald took a few more steps using the rails to support his weight. He was showing some improvement. His therapist was knelt down to make sure he made all the right moves too.
For some reason that smell that came off of Morgan popped up in my mind. The name of the scent was right on the tip of my tongue.
“Ronald, before we go. I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“Remember that horrible smell in the mall that day we went Halloween shopping? What was that called again?”
“Marijuana. Why?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“Wait, isn’t that illegal?”
“Yeah, they haven’t passed the law for that to be used recreational or medicinally yet. Don’t think this town will ever do that either.”
I whipped around to Darien, almost slapping my body onto him. I forgot he was that close. “Darien, that’s it! When Morgan came to the house that time where she wanted me gone, that smell came off of her, it was drugs!”
“What? Drugs?” Darien furrowed his eyebrows. Finding out that drugs were around your daughter for so long wasn’t something nice to hear. But it was necessary. And damn, it was that final key we needed.
“I think I know how to make sure Dahlia will never have to see that evil woman again.”
Darien was going to be free.
Epilogue