Page 125 of My Vows Are Sealed

“It’s notyourfault,” I said, a little more harshly than I intended to, then sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t. I’d be upset too. Just do me a favor and let me know how Darla’s doing, okay?”

I breathed a sigh of relief that this ordeal was over as I nodded, then headed out of the interrogation room without another word. I was in the middle of dialing Kate’s number on my cell phone to ask for a ride to the hospital when I saw Naomi sitting in a chair right outside the squad room with mascara and foundation streaked down her face and looking like she was out of tears to cry.

“Brendan,” she gasped, shooting up and rushing over to give me a hug. “Oh, my God.”

“Alex called you?” I guessed.

She nodded. “And I called Kate and Ash. They’re already at the hospital. I got put on chauffeur duty.”

“Have you heard anything?” I asked her, desperate for any news at all.

“Kate texted me a few minutes ago. Darla’s with a detective right now. She’s still waiting to get x-rays, but they did an ultrasound already. The doctor hasn’t been back in, but the ultrasound tech said it looks like the baby’s okay.”

My knees buckled and I put a hand on the wall to steady myself so I didn’t collapse. I started crying all over again as a wave of sheer relief washed over me.

Thank You, Jesus,I prayed.Thank You for keeping them safe while I couldn’t.

Naomi looked me right in the eye. “Did you hear me, Brendan? Darla’s alive. And it seems like the baby is too.”

“I need to see her,” I managed to choke out.

“Okay. Then let’s go,” she murmured, wrapping an arm around me and leading me out of the building.

* * *

“Brendan!” I heard my future mother-in-law’s voice call as Naomi and I speed-walked toward the emergency room entrance.

I turned and found Peter and Marie walking toward me, accompanied by Gloria. Gloria broke into a run, and as soon as she was close enough, she pulled me into a hug.

“Please say she’s okay,” she sniffled. “Please.”

“I don’t know,” I choked out. “Abraham accused me of kidnapping and raping her and had me arrested. Mr. Gleason was on duty at the police station, and he’s the one who got me released.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” she murmured, pulling back to look at me with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry.”

I tried my best to smile at her, but I wasn’t entirely successful. None of this was in any way, shape, or form her fault, and I knew that, but I was still too worried about her daughter and about the possibility of what would happen if Abraham was released to calm down. I wouldn’t be calm until I had Darla in my arms again and her psycho father was safely behind bars.

“It’s not your fault,” I managed to say.

Peter put a hand on my shoulder, jolting me out of the thoughts that were running through my mind at a million miles an hour. “Come on. Let’s go find out how she’s doing.”

I nodded, and Marie put an arm around a crying Naomi’s shoulders as we started to walk inside. Kate had already told Naomi what room Darla was in, so we walked right past the front desk and back toward the rooms. I saw Kate, Ashton, and Alex congregated outside a room and headed in that direction, keeping my eyes straight ahead.

“That’s the boy! That’s the one who raped my daughter!” I heard Abraham yelling from behind a closed sliding glass door. “Why the fuck was he released? I want him fucking arrested!”

I looked into the room next to me and found Abraham handcuffed to a bed while a male police officer looked at him with an expression that told me he didn’t believe a word that was coming out of the lunatic’s mouth.

Gloria gasped and froze in place, her entire body trembling and her eyes going wide as she looked around the room like she was trying to find somewhere to hide. I moved to block his view of her and wrapped an arm around her.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” I whispered. “You’re safe. Come on.”

I gently guided her away from her husband’s room, and we walked the twenty yards to where our friends were standing. Naomi immediately rushed into Alex’s arms, and he caught her up in an embrace. Kate and Ashton both looked at me, and Kate pulled out of Ashton’s arms and barreled toward me at full speed, throwing her arms around my neck.

“She’s still in with the detective,” she told me. “We only got to see her for a minute before the police got here, but she seemed okay. Hurt, but okay.”

I choked back more tears as I pulled back to look at her. “Thanks for being here.”

---