Forsaking All Others (From This Day Forward Book 2) (24 page)

I open my eyes and the sky is a light shade of grey. I’m still on oxygen and back in a room similar to the one I woke up in after the car accident.

I have this horrible fear that the doctor is going to come in and tell me that it was all a dream—David and our baby. Tears prick my eyes and I let them spill over.

What if it all was just a dream?

I’m in an empty hospital room. I glance down at my body through the top of the hospital gown.

My ribs are an explosion of black and purple bruises, proof that I lived through a nightmare. I gently push the blankets down and lift up my gown. My tummy is slightly rounded still, but soft to the touch. There’s a fresh horizontal scar and my eyes well up with tears again.

They had to cut him out of me.

I lower the gown and pull the covers back up, focusing on grey skies and falling snow beyond the window.

I try to get comfortable in the hospital chair. My entire body aches, but I refuse to leave her side. I pulled myself together long enough for the nurse to get me into the room with Beth.

Once I saw her, I fell apart again. Her face is so swollen, she’s almost unrecognizable. The doctor said her jaw was broken in two places and that he had to wire it shut so it has time to heal. She suffered a concussion, broken ribs, scalp lacerations, and a broken finger as well.

He pulled me outside the room and told me that she most likely suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen and that led to placental abruption—where the placenta is torn away from the uterus. Landon could have killed them both.

Had we not gotten there when we did…they both would’ve died.

Beth lost a lot of blood, but by some miracle, doesn’t need a transfusion.

“David?”

I jump up from the chair and rush over to her, “I’m here, baby.” She begins weeping and I take her gently into my arms, “Shhhh…I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Her hand shakily comes up to my face, “David, I’m sorry. I tried—I tried to fight for him.” Her voice breaks again and I realize that no one’s told her.

I turn her carefully so that she’s facing me, “Beth—baby, you did so good. You protected our little guy.”

“What do you mean?” I know he’s trying to soften the blow, but there’s no way to make this better. They took a piece of my heart when they cut my son from my womb.

He strokes the back of my hand gently, “He’s alive, baby. Our son made it.”

My chin quivers and I start crying again, “He’s okay?—but it’s too soon. We never even came up with a name.”

David looks away from me and focuses on the swirling snow, his voice is almost a whisper. “He has a name…Kaden John Greene.”

“Kaden? How did you come up with that?” I hope he can still clearly understand me as I’m talking through my teeth.

He looks back at me, “It means, ‘fighter.’ When they told me he made it, I knew he was going to need a name that was as strong as he was. Is it okay?”

I nod, too overcome to immediately speak.

I take a deep breath, my ribs protesting angrily. I push through the pain. “I heard him.”

David looks at me, confused. “Kaden? You heard him?”

I shake my head, “I heard your dad’s voice. In the helicopter. I wanted to give up—I was exhausted and my entire body hurt. I was ready to quit fighting when I heard him. He told me to be brave for his grandbaby. So, I fought until the nurses took over.”

David lowers his head against mine, his eyes bright with unshed tears, “He always had a knack for showing up when things were falling apart—I’m glad to know that dying couldn’t stop him from looking out for you and Kaden.”

I swallow hard, “He said something else too.”

David’s eyes hold mine.

I continue, “He said to tell you that he was always proud of you, David.”

He covers his eyes with his hands and sobs before wrapping me up in his arms.

4 Days Later…

It turns out Beth was right. We lived through the “storm of the century.” The snow started falling almost immediately after we arrived at the hospital and it didn’t let up for over twenty-four hours.

We’ve spent almost every waking minute in the NICU with our baby boy. They took him there right after delivery and intubated him. 

We were both emotional wrecks when we stepped foot into the NICU that first time. Beth got out of her wheelchair and stepped up to the incubator. “Hey Kaden, it’s your mama. I love—” Her voice cut off and I looked over to see she was weeping silently. I wrapped my arms around her and joined in. His tiny little body was glowing blue under the bili lights—something that was supposed to help prevent jaundice. It was fucking painful seeing the various tubes and wires running out of his little body, knowing he should still be in Beth’s tummy.

Once they were sure he was out of the woods, one of the nurses showed us how to do what’s called kangaroo care with Kaden. I volunteered to go first and I’ll admit, I was a nervous wreck that first time. It was just me and him, skin to skin, with the ventilator and wires surrounding us. I was so scared to move, afraid I was going to jar something loose. He was so incredibly small in my arms and I was worried sick that I could break him.

Beth and I have settled into a routine of waking up and going to see him around eight every morning. Around noon, I’ll beg her to go eat something and like clockwork every day, she refuses. She just wants to hold him, she wants him to know that she’s here for him. I would argue with her logic, but just this morning, he reached his little hand up and grabbed onto her finger. It was all the confirmation she needed.

So, we stay with our baby until the sun goes down and from six to eight every night we sit in comfortable silence together, eating. Then, we’ll go back to the NICU and stay until the wee hours of the morning. I’m exhausted, but I like knowing that they’re both safe. And I’d gladly give up sleep for the rest of my life to ensure they’re both okay.

It hurts her to talk. When she saw herself in the mirror that first time out of bed, I was worried sick that she’d fall apart. She touched the black and violet bruises on her face and neck, tears falling silently onto her cheeks.

I look over to where Lauren is sitting on the hospital bed, talking Beth’s ear off. She catches my eye and gives me a small smile—and I feel like I just won the fucking lottery.

Her smile fades and she stares at the television. They’ve filled the screen with Landon’s picture

“We’re back tonight with the latest on the search for Landon Scott, the man involved in the disappearance of Katya Egorichev and the kidnapping of Elizabeth Greene. Egorichev was found severely dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition. She is being treated at a local hospital tonight. Elizabeth Greene was twenty-eight weeks pregnant when she was taken—she was severely beaten and had to undergo an emergency cesarean section. Both mom and baby are recovering in the hospital tonight as well. Landon Scott was injured in an altercation with a police officer, but managed to flee the scene. His vehicle was found yesterday morning buried in a snow drift and blood inside the vehicle matched that found on scene. If you have any information on his whereabouts, you are urged to call Crimestoppers immediately…”

At least they left out the part about Katya having been beaten and raped daily since she went missing. I think the poor woman went through enough without the world knowing that. She told Mike when he went to visit her that she wanted to see Beth as soon as she was well enough. They share an unbreakable bond now.

“David? A little help please…”

I snap out of my thoughts to see Beth about to go into a full-blown panic attack while Lauren holds her arms.

Her chest heaves with each breath and I know that’s gotta be hell on her ribs. I jump up and go to her.

“Beth—deep breaths, baby. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

She takes another shallow breath and whispers, “He’s going to come back for me and Kaden—he’s going to hurt him. I can’t let him do that. David, you have to go warn the doctors and nurses.”

She never once asked what happened to him and I hoped to never have to tell her.

“Beth, look at me.” She turns with wide eyes. “He can’t hurt you anymore. He will never hurt you again.”

Lauren sucks in a breath and looks at me questioningly, “David?”

I shake my head, “He’ll never be found.”

Beth makes a small squeak of surprise, “You did something didn’t you?”

I stroke her hair gently, never taking my eyes off of hers, “I took care of my family. That’s all you need to know, baby.”

I expect her to argue, but she surprises me when she whispers, “Thank you.”

That’s it. She doesn’t ask me anything else—she just trusts me. I don’t know if she even remembers me leaving her right after Kaden was born. I waited until I knew they were going to pull through and then met Mike. He took me back to my truck, which was still sitting at Beth’s office and slipped me a piece of paper with the coordinates I needed.

Before I left, he grabbed me in a rough hug, “You call me once it’s done and we’ll take care of it together.”

I simply nodded and left.

I walked into yet another old farmhouse a few hours outside of town. The snow had finally stopped falling and as if it was a sign, the roads I needed were all clear.

Landon sat strapped to a chair in the middle of what was once a living room. I could see the blood stains on his shirt, where Beth and Katya managed to stab him. There was also a gunshot wound to his lower left leg. The bone jutted from the skin at an odd angle and blood had coagulated to the point that it looked almost like jelly. Mike never meant to kill him, reserving that right for me. His shot effectively maimed Landon to the point that he was no longer a threat.

His head was hanging down, but the minute he heard my footsteps that head shot up. He grinned when he saw it was me, Beth’s claw marks had left bright red gashes down his face and arms.

He spit out blood, I’d have to thank Mike for that later. “Well, well…look who we have here. Davey.”

Landon’s words are mocking, even though he’s the one bound to a chair. He nearly took everything from me—my entire world. He sat there with a smug look on his face, not realizing he wasn’t going to be leaving here alive. I grabbed my phone and cranked up Linkin Park.

I quietly got what I needed, walking from room to room as I did so, and he yelled after me, “What’s the matter? You pissed because I got rid of the kid? You should be thanking me, asshole! Now, there’s nothing tying you to her.”

I ground my teeth together, but refused to say a word. Not that it mattered, he didn’t wait for a response.

“Elizabeth shouldn’t have fought me. I was doing her a favor—but the bitch didn’t see it that way. You know, you were supposed to leave. She was mine—always mine.”

His voice changed as he got lost in thought and I bided my time in another room. I had to keep my anger under control. I turned the hammer over and over again in my hand, focusing on the music.

“You know, I never wanted to hurt her—but I’m gonna be honest with you, Davey. The feel of her delicate little throat underneath my arm that night, squeezing and feeling her fight against me—it was invigorating. I’m getting hard just thinking about it—God, listen to me, chattering away. What about you, Davey? Ever wanted to see fear in her eyes?—Cause I gotta tell ya, you are not doing her any favors. You let her get away with everything. Women need boundaries—I taught her a few the other night, you can thank me for that later—”

I didn’t let him finish this time. I calmly walked back in, swinging the hammer. I’d used it on countless jobs and never once considered what a perfect weapon it would make. The head of it connected with his right kneecap and the sound of his screams filled the room. I moved to the left one and poured all of my rage into the swing.

“C’mon man—” His voice had lost the confidence from a few moments ago and I smiled before putting him into a headlock. I didn’t stop smiling as he began struggling in my arms, needing air.

I waited until he began going limp before I released him. He sucked in ragged breaths and I knelt down beside him.

“You’re right, Landon. That was fucking invigorating!”

I drew back and swung the hammer into his ribs this time. Beth had three broken ribs on the right side, so I felt the need to inflict those same injuries onto him. He began coughing and his breaths turned shallow.
I may have collapsed his lung with that last swing.

He looked up at me and his eyes held fear. I swore six months ago that I’d put him in the ground if he laid a finger on her.

I got right up in his face, “Not that I should waste my breath telling you this, but my wife and son are both alive—and they’re going to stay that way. You wanna know why? Because only one of us is walking out that door today.”

His eyes widened with understanding and I took sick pleasure in the fact that he was in no condition to reply.

I watched him struggle for each breath for a few more minutes. Then, I calmly retrieved my gun from the other room and emptied it into his chest. His glassy eyes stared at nothing as I reached for my phone, blood pooling under the wooden chair. I felt nothing.

“Mike, it’s done.”