Page 91 of Chosen By Swift

“Hang him!” Wendy hissed angrily. “I’m done letting that tyrant ruin our lives!”

Bonnie nodded in agreement. “I’m not letting him kill Mama.”

“Alys, I can’t promise anything,” Swift warned, not wanting to get her hopes up when it was clear her mother was very ill.

“I understand,” she assured him.

Swift walked to the window and keyed his shoulder mic. As he relayed a call for medical aid to the outpost, he watched the shouting match that continued down in the yard. They had all stopped hitting each other, but Jimmie and Alys’ father stood toe-to-toe, screaming in each other’s faces. Even from this distance, Swift could sense that Alys’ father was nearly apoplectic with rage. It seemed that years of pent-up anger had exploded between the two in-laws, and Swift had a sinking feeling it wouldn’t end well.

That feeling was proven correct only moments after he received confirmation of the incoming emergency medical response team. Alys’ father struck Jimmie, and one of her nephews hit him square in the jaw. The old man went down, and Swift could tell by the way he dropped something was seriously wrong.

“Stay here,” Swift ordered before running out of the bedroom and downstairs. The children remained exactly where he had left them, and he was glad they were so obedient. Out on the porch, he could hear Jack shouting for their father to wake up while Adam and Brandon pushed everyone back.

“Move!” Swift commanded, shoving Jimmie’s nephews out of the way. He knelt at Jack’s side and immediately reached out to check for a pulse on Alys’ father’s neck. He felt nothing and realized his father-in-law had no heartbeat. He immediately placed his hands into the correct position and began rapid chest compressions.

He ignored the crunch of bones beneath his hands, only too familiar with the way ribs often cracked when performing life-saving first aid. Concentrating on the compressions, he silently urged the EMR team to hurry.

Chapter Twenty-One

Cancer.

Not a pregnancy at all.

Wrung out and exhausted, Alys dropped into the empty chair next to Bonnie. They sat at their mother’s bedside in the outpost hospital and exchanged worried glances as the medical machines beeps continuously. Their mother had gone through a surgery to remove the tumor and other impacted organs and was now receiving a special medication that would eradicate all the cancer cells hiding in her body.

Alys shifted her in seat and winced at the twinge in her lower back. She unconsciously placed a hand on her belly, unwittingly telling Bonnie her secret.

“Alys, are you with child?” Bonnie asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

“I am.” Alys couldn’t help but smile. “Twins.”

“What! How do you know?”

“They have special scanning machines that can show you what your baby looks like inside of you. They drape this film on your belly, and it transmits some kind of invisible waves that create the images for the doctors to study and check for any signs of trouble.”

“That’s incredible, Alys.” Bonnie glanced at her belly. “And everything is okay?”

“So far,” Alys said.

“I’m sure Swift was excited to hear the news,” Bonnie remarked, her gaze moving to the doorway. Swift had remained out in the hallway and had been handling everything for the family. “He seems like a very nice man.”

“He is,” Alys assured her. “He’s a wonderful man.”

“Do you...? Do you love him?” She asked, lowering her voice.

“Yes. So much.” She still couldn’t believe the way he had stood up to her father and then tried to save his life.

“He must love you very much,” Bonnie insisted. “After what he did today?” She sighed tiredly. “Graham would never.”

It hadn’t gone unnoticed to Alys that her sister’s husband hadn’t made an appearance yet. “How is married life, Bonnie?” She didn’t want to bring up what had happened on Bonnie’s wedding day. “Are things...better?”

“Yes and no.” Bonnie rubbed her face and shook her head. “We haven’t...” She grimaced. “We haven’t had marital relations since that night. Just looking at him makes my skin crawl.”

“Bonnie,” Alys whispered, aching for her sister.

“His mother asked why we were sleeping in different rooms, and he told her the truth. She was furious and sent him out to the bunk house to sleep with the hired hands. She says he has to stay there until I decide I want him back.”

“Do you?” Alys tried not to make judgements on her sister’s situation. Life here was complicated, and even though she might have escaped, her sister hadn’t.

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