Page 40 of Abigail
“I know, baby. I am too, but we are going to be just fine. Tell Momma where it hurts.” Ellie is crying almost uncontrollably, looking out the broken window. Abi reaches up placing her hands on either side of the child’s face, forcing Ellie to focus on her.
“Ellie. Look. At. Me. We are ok. Now I need you to talk to Momma, okay?” The little girl nods her head as she continues to sniffle.
“My belt hurts me. I don’t like being side down up.” Ellie begins to cry softly this time. Big fat tears are falling into Abi’s face.
“Ok, baby. Momma will get you out. Just give me a moment to figure this out.” Abigail then turns to look at Straw. The look of fear on her face is apparent. She is uncertain how to get the child out of the car without hurting her. Straw begins to assess the situation. He sees Virus and Tank on the other side of the vehicle. The two men manage to force open Ellie’s door. Virus slides into the back seat, taking in the situation. Straw can smell gas and is fearful it will ignite. The men work together to hold the seat in place as they unbuckle the seatbelt to release it from the car.
Once Ellie is free, Straw takes control of the car seat and backs his way out the narrow opening. It takes some maneuvering, but he manages to get Ellie and her seat free. Tank is waiting to take the seat with the child still inside. As soon as he has passes off Ellie to Tank, Straw moves back toward the car to get Abigail. She is already scrambling to get out not caring that she is cutting up her hands and knees on the glass scattered on the pavement. The sirens are getting louder. Straw is hating the fact Todd got away, but he needs to make sure his girls are okay first, then he’ll deal with Todd.
Abi tries to stand but faulters. Straw catches her before she can hit the ground. He slides one hand under her knees and the other behind her shoulders and easily lifts her into his arms. He begins walking in the direction of the approaching ambulance.
“Hey, sweetheart. Are you all right? Where do you hurt?” Straw inquires. She stares up at him in wonder. How can he be here? How did he get here so fast?
“I-I need to see about Ellie. She’s scared.” Abigail has tears in her eyes, and she turns away from him to look for Ellie. The girl is in Tank’s arms while still in her car seat. Straw begins to carry her toward them. When they get to Tank, Abigail reaches out and takes the Ellie’s hand in her own. It’s a little awkward with Straw holding her, but he steps closer so she easily can touch the child.
“Hey, baby girl. Momma’s here. Are you okay? Is anything hurting?” She is rubbing her thumb over the back of the child’s hand.
“I want to go home, Momma,” Ellie wails. “Please can we just go home?” Ellie’s pitiful cries are breaking Straw’s heart. Abigail is trembling in his arms. She’s feeling it too.
“I know, baby,” Abigail coos to the child. “Everything will be just fine. We just have to make certain that you’re not hurt, then we’ll go home.” Ellie sniffs, her breath hitching, but she nods her head in understanding.
“You didn’t answer your Momma’s question. Are you hurting anywhere?” Tank demands of the child. Wallace, Hawk, and Ace have also arrived on scene.
“My belt hurted me when I was side down up,” Ellie replies quietly. “But I’m okay now.” The men are smiling broadly at the child. It’s quite clear the girl is as tough as her mother. Straw is so grateful they are both alive, and Todd didn’t take them. That fucker’s days are numbered. Straw determines as he holds his woman close.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
The paramedics arrive on scene and pile out of their vehicle as the police also pull up. Hawk and Ace move toward the officers exiting their cruisers. More vehicles are pulling up as well. The admiral and Major Olson exit their vehicle, making their way through the debris to reach Ellie and Abigail.
“Abigail!” the admiral calls. “My God! Are you both okay?” The fear and fury on the man’s face is plain to see. He cups Ellie’s face then checks her arms and legs for injuries. Once he’s satisfied that Ellie’s okay he turns to Abigail and Straw. His face contorts in anguish as he takes in Abigail’s battered appearance. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he’s done this. I…I just can’t fathom what he’s thinking.” Shaking his head, the man closes his eyes for a moment. Opening his eyes, he pins Straw and Abi in his gaze. “I promise you this is the absolute last time. I will deal with him. This I promise. He’s shown he can’t be trusted. He’s never going to change.” The admiral walks away to speak with the police, Hawk, and Major Olson.
“What’s going on? Who’s hurt?” The paramedic with a nametag that reads ‘Dave’ on it asks as he draws near. Tank steps toward the man.
“This little girl was in a rollover MVA. Her name is Ellie. She’s five years old. She isn’t complaining of any pain, but we didn’t want to remove her from her seat until she was assessed by the doctor.” The medic grunts in agreement.
“Hi, Ellie. My name is Dave. I’m a paramedic. I help people when they are hurt or sick. I’m going to make sure you didn’t get hurt when your car crashed.” He begins to look Ellie over quickly while his female partner moves to look after Abigail.
“Hello, I’m Marcie. What’s your name?” She looks toward Abigail.
“Um…Abigail Miller.” Abi looks around at all the activity going on around them. Marcie straps a hard white collar around her neck.
“What day is it?” Marcie asks as she shines a bright light into Abigail’s eyes, causing her to squint.
“What? The day? Um…Monday,” Abigail mumbles as she tries to answer the woman’s question. She is having a hard time focusing. Her head hurts; her stomach is throbbing. Hell most of her body hurts. She’s scared so badly for Ellie. She’d just known Todd would try to snatch her from the SUV before she could get to her. She’s so thankful he hadn’t managed to get his crazy-ass hands on her.
“Can you tell me what happened? Were you knocked out?” Marcie continues to fire questions at her as she motions for Straw to bring Abigail to the stretcher. Straw climbs into the back of the ambulance and lowers Abi onto the stretcher which has a very hard board lying on top of it. Abi shakes her head in response to the woman’s questions.
“I wasn’t knocked out,” Abigail answers. “As to what happened, my crazy-ass ex rammed me from behind causing me to wreck with my daughter in the vehicle. I think he was trying to take her from me, but Robert arrived, and he ran off.”
Marcie begins getting vital signs as she continues to ask questions. “Who was the driver?” Abigail looks at the woman in disbelief.Is she fucking kidding me?
“Who the hell do you think was driving? My five-year-old?” Abi snarks at the medic. The pain in her head and abdomen is getting worse. Abi just doesn’t have the patience for this woman’s endless stupid questions. The medic looks up in surprise at the harsh tone Abigail is using.
“Um…I suppose I should have asked who was in the vehicle when it crashed?” Marcie amended and to her credit she didn’t snark back. Abi looks guilty at the woman’s response.
“I’m sorry,” Abigail says softly. “I’ve just had a really, really bad day. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“It’s understandable. You’ve been through a traumatic event, and you’re scared for your child. The man holding you has scrapes and blood on him, so I assumed he had been in the car with you,” Marcie replies calmly, smiling at Abigail. Then she continues, “And we all know what happens when you assume.” She laughs softly to herself. Abigail manages to give her a weak smile.
