Page 38 of Van

I grab the phone, not sure who the hell I know, aside from my family, could be in the hospital. I pray none of my family is hurt.

“Yeah, this is Van.”

“I was asked to make this phone call. I don’t know how much time we have before he storms in here. Her name is Chyanne. Do you know her?”

“Where is she?” she rambles off the name of the hospital before she tells me Derrick is with her. My heart leaps into my throat when I tell the nurse not to let him know we’re coming. She agrees and I hang up, tossing the phone on the table as I yell for Mask.

“Mask!” I yell once more. He comes out of his office looking annoyed with me, but I don’t give a shit.

“She’s in the hospital. He’s there,” I tell him.

“What the fuck? She okay?”

“I don’t know anything. I need to go,” I tell him as I head for the door. My nerves are firing off one by one as I grab my keys and head for my bike. I notice the guys aren’t far behind me, and before I know it, we’re taking off toward the hospital.

It doesn’t take us long to get there before I storm inside. I look around for Derrick but I don’t see him anywhere when I ask the nurse for Chy’s room. She looks at the name on my cut and nods her head, leading me down the hallway. We enter another wing of the hospital and go up an elevator before she stops at one of the rooms. I hear women screaming in pain and babies crying. I assume this is the maternity ward when I walk into Chy’s room. I stop in my tracks when I see her lying on the bed hooked to machines. She turns her head, her eyes locking with mine as the air is sucked from my lungs.

“I’ll kill him.”

“The baby is coming early, Van.”

“What? What did he do?” I ask as I walk further into the room. I step up next to her bed and cup her cheek in my hand, running my thumb along the bruises.

“The baby is coming early, Van. He’s not ready,” she says, tears falling down her cheeks now. I lean down and press my lips to her forehead before whispering, “He’s gonna be fine. He’s a fighter like his mom.”

“I’m scared.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. The nurses made him go out when they checked me. He never came back after that,” she explains to me. I nod my head and press my forehead to hers.

“Everything is gonna be okay. I’m gonna take care of him,” I tell her.

“Please don’t get in trouble, Van. I need you.”

“I need you too, baby. Everything is gonna be fine,” I tell her once more. She has to know that. She has to believe nothing is going to happen to her now I’m here.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobs as she pulls me down to her. I hold her the best way I can as I soothe her. Her face is bruised, not severely, but I also don’t know what else he did to her.

“What else did he do to you?”

“He hit me a lot but never near my stomach. He wanted the baby, Van. Not me. He wants my son.”

“He isn’t touchin’ that baby. I’ll make sure of it,” I tell her.

“You can’t do that. How can you do that? He’s the father,” she cries harder.

“I got this, baby. Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then trust me when I say I got this. There’s nothin’ he can do,” I tell her. When I finally pull away from her, I see just how bad she looks. She looks tired and sad all at the same time. I just smile at her letting her know I’m here and I’m proud of her. She made it. She made it through whatever he did to her.

“I didn’t call the cops, but I still think I should,” the nurse says as she walks into the room. I turn to face her and shake my head.

“Cops don’t do shit, and we all know it. He won’t be comin’ near her again. I’m gonna have someone outside the door at all times, especially if I’m not here,” I tell the woman.

“What? Where are you going?” Chy asks, sounding panicked.

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