AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'm not, Caleb. I escaped. I was the one for him. He'll be so angry that I've left. Sophia, the other young girl, she'll cop his anger. She's hurt bad enough." She speaks erratically.
I place my hands on her cheeks and make her look at me. "Breathe with me." I take in a deep breath and let it out. I breathe with her until she calms down enough to listen to me. "Listen to me, sweetheart. We're going to find Sophia. We will. In the meantime, we need to get you better. You need rest. Have you called your family?"
"No!” She shouts me down. “I can't have them here, Caleb. I need time to deal with this. Please. Please, don't call them. Please. I beg you."
I hate being stuck in this predicament. Do I follow my head or my heart? It doesn’t matter which one I follow, because someone is going to be pissed at me.
"Okay. I won't call them yet, but they need to know sometime. The police won't be able to contain the press forever."
I can't help but act like a cop at times like this. It's one part of my past career that I haven't lost. I doubt I ever will now. It’s in my nature to think about every scenario possible.
"I know. I just need some time. I need to get out of here, Caleb. He'll find me here. I can't go back." She hyperventilates.
"Aria," I say sternly. "You're not going back there. I can assure you of that. When you leave the hospital, you're coming home with me. I live in a secured area. Nothing gets in or out without our say so."
"I can't stay here. I can't. Please."
"Sshhh!" I pull her back into my arms and hold her head into my shoulder. I’m heartbroken at the sight of the woman I’ve loved for so long.
"Miss Marshall?" I look over my shoulder to see a doctor walking in. Aria tightens her grip on my t-shirt. "My name is James Collier. I'm the doctor who's been taking care of you. How are you feeling? "
Aria remains buried into me.
"She's terrified, Doctor. How long does she need to stay here for?"
"I want to keep her in overnight to get her fully hydrated. The wounds she has have been dressed and a nurse can take care of that at home. However, I'm afraid we have a few matters to discuss. Aria, do you want to discuss this on your own? "
"No." She sits up, wincing with pain. “Whatever you need to say, you can say it in front of Caleb."
The doctor pulls a seat over and sits down beside us. "On your arrival last night, we did several tests. You were raped numerous times, so we needed to make sure you have no sexually transmitted infections. Unfortunately, we won't have a couple of those tests back for a few weeks, but the ones we did have come back are clear of infection."
Aria's body relaxes slightly as her shoulders slump. The more I hear, the more I want to kill the bastard for touching her against her will. No woman should be treated like this. Ever.
"Aria, due to some bleeding we found when we examined you, we ran a pregnancy test. It came back positive."
The room goes silent. I feel the walls closing in around me and my heart is beating so fast in my chest that I can feel the blood rushing through my ears. It's Aria's piercing cry that brings me back to this moment.
"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but we'll need to do an ultrasound to see how far along you are. You may still have options."
Aria can't talk. Her sobs are consuming her. I don't blame her, because I don't know what to do or say for the best, and I've seen some crazy shit in my time. I feel like my lips are sealed shut. I can’t comprehend what I’m hearing.
"I'll leave you alone to absorb this information, but I'll be back in five minutes to perform the scan."
The doctor squeezes my arm and I remain looking at a blank spot on the wall. I need to keep that focus before I go crazy and lose my shit, and I know Aria doesn’t need to see any of that. I need to be strong for her.
She bangs her fists down on the bed. "This... this can't be happening."
"It's okay. I'll help you in every way I can. You're not alone, no matter what you decide. We'll get through this,” I reassure her.
I'm saying this to calm Aria down, but deep down, I worry how she'll ever get over this ordeal. I've watched people crumble because of less. She's been captured for a year, raped and abused, left to think God knows what, and now she's pregnant with that monster’s baby. Life really is fucked up.
The door opens and the doctor walks back in with the same nurse that was here when I came in earlier. I help Aria to lie back on the bed, but she clutches at my hand for dear life. I can only imagine how terrified she is.
"We'll make this as quick as possible, Aria." The nurse rolls her gown up to under her chest and squeezes jelly on her bruised tummy. I don't think there’s a part of her that isn't bruised and abused. I want to erase every mark and make her feel better. For every bruise or mark she has, I want to hurt that bastard twice as hard.
I don't take my eyes off Aria’s beautiful face, but she's staring at the ceiling with tears rolling down her cheeks. The doctor trades places with the nurse. He turns on the screen and types in information. Within seconds, he's scanning Aria's tummy. I don't want to look at the screen, but something is drawing me to the beating heart. I see this tiny little baby on the screen. A fluttering heartbeat. Tiny arms and legs moving around. I feel tears well in my own eyes as the baby rolls around. It kind of looks like he’s trying to suck his thumb. A helpless little baby that didn't ask for any of this.
I look down at Aria and she catches my eye. I move hair out of her face and she slowly turns her head to the screen. Her hand comes up to cover her mouth, to bite back another wave of tears. It's like the words the doctor spoke earlier were there but seeing the proof on screen is reality.
