Page 121 of My Vows Are Sealed

“Good luck with that,” the officer scoffed. “Let’s go.”

My father jerked around, kicked, and kept screaming about how he was going to sue everyone in this hospital for separating him from his victimized daughter, but between the two buff security guards and the police officer, they managed to get him out of the room. As soon as they were gone, the doctor went and pulled the sliding door shut and closed the curtain, and I burst into sobs again. The doctor pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re safe now, sweetheart,” she murmured. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay. It’ll never be okay,” I bawled. “He’s the one who did this to me, and he had my fiancé arrested for something he didn’t do. My fiancé was trying to protect me fromhim!”

“Okay. You’re going to be okay. Detectives are on the way to get a statement from you, and as long as your fiancé cooperates and tells the truth, I’m sure everything’s going to work out. Now, I’m going to have someone from radiology get you in for some x-rays so we can check out that arm and those ribs.”

“My baby,” I blubbered. “Please don’t kill my baby.”

She gave me a kind smile. “I’m going to make sure nothing else happens to you or your baby, Darla. I promise. I’ll get an order for an ultrasound to check on the baby too. I’ll see if they can come in before you go for the x-rays, but I can’t make any promises.”

Wait. X-rays. Weren’t those supposed to be bad for a pregnant woman?

“But…won’t the x-rays hurt the baby?” I asked.

“They’ll try to give you a little extra protection around your pelvic area, sweetheart, but I have to get a look at those broken bones. I know you want to save your baby, but right now,youare my first priority.”

I nodded and used my good hand to wipe away my tears as I tried to slow my breathing to normal. Dr. Leonardo squeezed my shoulder as she stood up and walked out of the room. For the first time, I was completely alone, and my chest squeezed and my heart rate kicked up. I quickly grabbed the bag they’d given me in case I threw up again. A knot was twisting so tight inside me that I thought for sure my stomach would explode.

“Darla?” I heard a familiar voice ask.

I looked at the door and saw Alex and Ethan standing there, looking beyond uncomfortable.

“Jesus Christ, Darla,” Ethan gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Do you fucking know who I am?!” I heard my father screaming from down the hall. “I’m the fucking pastor at First Baptist Church! I will have your fucking badge, you motherfucking moron!”

Ethan stiffened and his eyes went wide with fear as he listened to my father ranting and raving.

Oh, my God. This was probably the first time since he’d left town that he’d actually been anywhere remotely in the vicinity of my father.

“Can we come in?” Alex asked.

I nodded, breathing a sigh of relief thatsomeoneI knew was here. Neither of them was the person I really wanted with me, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

They walked into the room, and Alex pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down, while Ethan moved to stand in the far corner of the room, where the curtain that was in front of the door would hide him from view. I wished I could get up and give him a hug, but I couldn’t evensitup right now, let alone stand.

“My dad called me,” Alex said quietly. “He said Brendan insisted on it before he’d say a word about what happened because he wanted someone he trusted here with you. He’s working on getting Brendan released, but the officer who took him in jumped the gun and logged his arrest into the system, even though he was just supposed to be brought in for questioning, so it’s going to take a little time to get it all straightened out. I called Nay on the way over here. She’s on her way to the police station so she can give Brendan a ride when they let him go, and she’s calling Kate and Ash.”

“Why didn’t they listen to me?” I sniffled. “I kept telling them that he didn’t do anything and they just ignored me. The police are supposed to help people, not just believe the person who screams the loudest. This is why I never said anything before. Because no one ever listens. No one ever cares.”

He sighed. “The good ones do. They’ll arrest your dad before this is over. He’s not going home. Did you see that news story about the girl who was murdered by her boyfriend a few months ago?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“The officer who brought Brendan in is her father. He was on desk duty for a while, and he’s just getting back on the streets. I guess he saw this situation and projected what happened to his daughter on it. It’s not an excuse, but—”

“No, it is,” I cut him off, choking back more tears. “That’s horrible. I can see why he thought a father wouldn’t hurt his daughter. But…he has to have seen things like this before, right? Brendan wasn’t resisting him. He wasn’t refusing to be questioned. My dad was the one who was ranting and raving. Why couldn’t he see that Brendan was the calm one?”

“I don’t know,” he said, taking a breath. “I wish I had answers for you, but I don’t. All I can tell you is that they’re letting Brendan go, and he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

“This is all my fucking fault,” Ethan croaked. “If I’d just said something when he was hurting me…none of this would have happened.”

Alex’s eyes went wide as he looked over at Ethan. I guessed Ethan hadn’t shared that information with him yet. This was a hell of a way for him to find out.

My heart broke for Ethan. I couldn’t stand him thinking any of this was his fault. I hadn’t said anything about what my father did to me for all those years, either, so how could I expect him to do what I couldn’t? How could I have expected him to find the courage to speak out when I’d been silent?

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