AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How?” I clench my teeth, fighting the urge to rip the room and the whole damn village to pieces. “Who? Who found her?”
“Mr. Martin.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Martin. He lives in the old mill. He said she knocked on his door for help, but that’s all I know. That information concerns the police. My only interest is in your wife’s wellbeing.”
Sabella walked? She walked in her state all the way to the village to knock on someone’s door? With broken ribs and a concussion? Bleeding internally. Because she didn’t have a choice. Because I left her alone in that house.
“Mr. Russo.” The doctor takes on that gentle tone again. “You should also know that your wife’s injuries indicate that she was sexually assaulted.”
I hear her and I don’t. The words get stuck in my brain, but my mind doesn’t process them. A moment of silence stretches as she gives me exactly that—time to process something I can’t. Something I can’t fix.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “The baby didn’t survive the attack.”
The baby.
The baby.
Sabella was pregnant?
With my baby.
The blow nearly cripples me.
Our baby.
Spearing my fingers through my hair, I pull hard, trying to ground myself with the pain, but no physical torture can outweigh the incredible grief.
Fuck.
Sabella.
“You may want to see someone for counseling. I’ll leave a number in the front. The receptionist will give it to you when you fill out the paperwork. You can stay with your wife for a few minutes, but let her rest. That’s the best medicine for her right now.”
The cold, calculated violence that builds inside me is the pillar on which I lean. The familiar sentiment is the only thing that allows me to function. If not for the vengeance already dictating my actions, I’d fall apart.
She turns, reaching for the door.
“A boy or a girl?” I ask in a voice I don’t recognize as my own.
“It was too early to tell,” she says, looking at me from over her shoulder but not meeting my eyes. “She was no more than five or six weeks pregnant.”
I nod. Internalize that. Bottle it up to deal with later. There’s only one thing I need to hear now. “Will she be all right?”
“She suffered physical trauma, but the damage isn’t permanent. She’ll be able to fall pregnant again if that’s what you mean.”
My tone is cutting. “That’s not what I meant. Willshebe all right?”
Unfazed by my hostility, she says, “That depends on how well her body heals, but from what I’ve seen, she’s a strong woman.”
“I want the best care for her, the best medical treatment.”
“She’s got it, but you’re welcome to transfer her to a private clinic in Bastia when she’s stronger. We may not have all the advanced technology here, but our staff is dedicated.”
I nod again, just wanting to be alone with Sabella now.
“Remember, five minutes,” she says before leaving us with a smile.
