Page 21 of Reunited with the Soldier

Driving home is a blur, it's like auto pilot, something you do every day, it comes naturally. I drum my fingers on the steering wheel as I get closer to our street, the song playing in the background isn't something I recognize but it has a great beat to it.

I pull up to the house and realize that I'm whistling the tune to the song that was playing on the radio.

I get to the door and hear groaning, grunting, and crying. My brows furrow together. What the fuck is going on?

The front door is slightly ajar, using my foot I kick it open and shock hits me as I see some fucking man kneeling on the ground, punching Lauren over and over again.

"You're a slut and whore," he growls.

My feet come unstuck and I rush at him, my anger hitting boiling point as I push him off her and start pummeling the asshole myself. I have a feeling this bastard is Lo's step-father, the fucker who hurt her when she was a teenager and who tried to kill her and our unborn child when she was in labor.

Every inch of anger that I have felt since she told me what happens, flows through me and I beat the fucker, just as he has done to Lo.

I get to my feet, my chest rising and falling as I stare at Lauren. Her beautiful face is bloody and battered. I move to her, dropping to my knees. My heart racing as I reach for her pulse at her neck. "Lo, Lo?" I call out, needing her to open her beautiful eyes and talk to me, but there's nothing. Just a faint pulse.

I reach for my cell and call an ambulance, all the while begging Lo to open her eyes. The 911 operator tells me that there's an ambulance and police on en-route and they'll be with me shortly.

"Lo," I whisper. "Baby, come on, please, open your eyes."

Nothing. She doesn't move, doesn't blink. She just lies motionless on the floor.

The EMT's and Police officers rush into the house not long afterward, the cops ask me questions, her step-father is passed out on the floor from the beating he got. He's lucky that's all that happened to him. If I weren't worried about Lauren, I'd have continued to pound the shit out of him.

The police officers ask me lots of questions and I know that it's protocol but Christ, I need to focus on Lauren and ensure that she's okay.

The EMT's pull Lauren onto a gurney and start to treat her. My heart is beating wildly in my chest as she still doesn't move through all the poking and prodding they do.

"Sir," the cop says. "We're going to need to take your statement."

I nod. "I know, but I need to go to the hospital. My woman's unconscious and I'm following the rig to the hospital. I'll answer any questions you have from there. Okay?"

The guy gives me a sympathetic look. "You good to drive?"

I breathe a sigh of relief, he's not telling me to stay back and let her go ahead. "I'm good. As I said, I'm happy to answer any questions you have at the hospital. Am I free to go?"

He nods. "Go, I'll be right behind you."

I race out of the house, just as the EMT closes the back of the ambulance rig. I slide into my car and start the engine. I feel wetness on my cheeks and realize that tears have been falling down my face. I don't give a fuck. Lauren is everything. My absolute everything. I can't lose her.

I call Maddox on the way to the hospital. He tells me that they'll meet me there.

***

I'm pacing the floor, it's been hours and nothing. No one has updated me on Lauren's status. I'm losing my fucking mind.

Kayla and Maddox arrived with the kids, Elijah is sitting upright, his eyes red and puffy and he's watching the door, his gaze not wandering from it. My boy is terrified and he's not said a word since they arrived. Bailey is here, she arrived home and came to the hospital in floods of tears. I'm an ass, I completely forgot about her. I should have had someone call her, but I didn't think. I can't imagine the fear she felt pulling up outside the house and seeing all the cop cars.

"Just want to let you know," Maddox says low as he comes to stand beside me. "That asshole has been placed under arrest here at the hospital. From what my attorney has said, he'll be going down for a long fucking time. Of course that's after he's been released from hospital. He's got a broken eye socket, broken nose, and a couple of broken ribs."

I turn to him. "I don't give a fuck what injuries that asshole has. I should have killed him. Had I done, then when Lo wakes up, she knows she'll be free of him."

Instead, that bastard will serve his time in prison and then come out again and no doubt try to find her. Something that I'll be ensuring never happens again. He'll never touch Lauren again.

An hour later and the doors open and a doctor walks out, he searches around the waiting room, glancing at all the families that are here awaiting news of their loved ones.

"Family for Lauren Jacobs?" I hear the doctor ask and my feet move toward him. I turn to Bailey and see that she has her hand pressed tightly to Elijah's. They're waiting for me to find out the news and give it to them. I'm so grateful to Bailey for keeping him seated. I don't want him to hear bad news.

"Is she okay?" I ask and he nods. "Is she awake?"

---