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I gently caressed her hair and kissed her forehead before taking a chair and sitting by her side, holding her cold and scraped hand in mine. I couldn’t imagine the terror she might have felt while that son of a bitch drove his filthy hands all over her body.
It’s all my fault that we’re here now.
I should have never let him take her away from me. Be relaxed while he swirled her around the fucking dance floor. I saw the way he looked at her. I knew he wanted her, craved her.
How had I not seen the sick fucker behind the corporate façade? I was too fucking slow to understand that he had disappeared with her. I lost them in the middle of the crowd.
If there was a God above, I just hoped he had gotten me there in time to prevent the worst.
It’s my fucking fault we are here now!!!
The doctor finally arrived, checking her chart first before turning to us.
“Are you her husband, Mr. …?” He asked, again the same question as before, and I replied with the same confidence I did earlier as I stood up to shake his hand.
“Battaglia. Yes, I am.” I purposely used that name, knowing the man would recognize it.
“Can I speak to you in private out in the hall?” His expression was somber, making me fear what was coming. My heart immediately sank from his tone alone.
I nodded and followed him outside, leaving Alison to take my spot next to Jamie, holding her hand and caressing her arm in smooth, soothing motions.
“Mr. Battaglia, we ran some tests on Mrs. Harden, and she has a mild concussion from a head injury that needed stitches. The bruising on her body is superficial and will heal over time, and there are no broken bones. That’s all. There’s no indication of forced intercourse.” He paused, waiting for his words to sink in. I sighed in relief. That mother fucker didn’t get to do what he had set out to.
“So can we take her home when she wakes up?” I wanted nothing more than to have her in a safe space where I could take care of her and make sure nothing ever happened to her again.
“Not just yet.”
“But from what you just said, she has no major problem. Why keep her here?”
“Mr. Battaglia, we would like to keep her under observation. Your wife suffered a miscarriage, and we want to monitor her closely for a couple of days to watch for signs of excessive bleeding, and have her talk to a psychiatrist depending on her state when she wakes up.”
A miscarriage?
I just stood there. My mouth had fallen open as I looked at the doctor in disbelief before my body collapsed onto the chairs behind me as the realization sank in, my head buried in my hands.
She was pregnant.
Jamie was pregnant with my baby.
And now… nothing.
I had never thought about becoming a father. Not that I didn’t want to, but still, it was something that had never crossed my mind.
But thinking that the woman that I love was carrying my baby felt like the best thing in the world. And that fucker took it away from me. From us.
Did she know?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Battaglia, to break the news to you this way. She was very early on, it’s possible she hadn’t realized yet. It’s clear that you didn’t.”
He mumbled a few other things I didn’t quite register while I just sat there taking small, shallow breaths as grief filled me up to the brim. Grief that quickly turned into anger, closely followed by hate.
I knew exactly what I needed to do.
After dismissing the doctor, I called Mike and told him to meet me at the hospital and bring Jimmy with him. They would be guarding the door to Jamie’s room until she was out of here and safely at home.
When I found the strength to get up from those chairs, I walked back into her room. Alison was still sitting beside her, whispering encouragement into her thoughts.
I took in those bruises one by one, the pain that must have come with each one, the anguish of fighting, knowing there was no possibility to win.
