Page 88 of Fallen Legacy

“Is it his?” I ask her, devoid of any emotion. Was my dad right all along and the Alderman’s were nothing but manipulators, playing on people’s emotions?

“No,” Vee says, shaking her head and frowning. “Gods, no, Archer. It’s not like that between them. The baby’s yours.”

I stumble slightly as her words hit me. “We made a baby?”

“You did,” Vee says, smiling sadly at me, her eyes welling up with tears.

I watch as the ambulance crew and some of the fire crew roll her and get her onto a board and onto the stretcher. A guy who arrived in an ambulance car and seems to be in charge of the whole situation comes our way.

“Are you their friends?”

“She’s my fiancée,” I tell him, and he nods his head.

“We’re airlifting her to Meadow Hill trauma centre. She’s stable, but she has several injuries and we’re worried about internal bleeding.”

“And the baby?” I ask him, now realising that I have two people to think about.

“Time will tell. It’s too early to say. Right now, Eliza is our priority. Have you got someone who can drive you over to the hospital?”

I nod my head. Vee rubs at my back as we watch the heli-med crew disappear into the night with my girl. I feel so fucking helpless. It’s my job to protect her. Fuck, it’s my job to protect them both.

“Excuse me,” a police officer walks over to us, clearing his throat. “Did anyone witness the accident and know what happened here?”

I remember then that Georgie is with us. She stands by my car shivering and her eyes stained with tears, and suddenly I remember everything that led us to being here. “I’m Archer Savage and that girl they have just airlifted out of here is my fiancée. I don’t think I need to tell you I want every resource on this. I need Boyd to meet me up at the hospital now! He’s investigating my fiancée’s stalker, and this is all linked. She’s a key witness,” I inform him, pointing over to Georgie.

“I’ll call him,” the officer agrees. “I’ll take the girl to the station, and I’ll have my other two colleagues escort you up to the hospital, Mr. Savage.”

The police know who’s in charge in this Bay and they don’t question what we tell them.

“Arch, what’s going on?” Vee asks, watching as the police officer helps Georgie into his car.

I sigh, running a hand over my face. I’m strung out with everything that’s happened. “It’s a long story. Rafe will fill you in when we get to the hospital. You and Seb follow us there.” Vee nods her head and Seb surprises me when he pulls me into his arms and claps me on my back.

“She’ll be okay,” he assures me. “Our queen is made of strong stuff.”

I nod my head and smile at him. We all climb into our vehicles. Rafe and I get in with Tony in his car. I’m in no fit state of mind to drive. One perk of being a Savage is that the police escort puts on its blues and gets us over to the hospital in no time. I need to be with my girl and know that both she and our baby are going to be okay.

ARCHER

On the way to the hospital, I call Wilbur, who’s in London, and I let him know about the accident. I don’t mention the baby. Fucker doesn’t need to know right now. Next, I call Edith, getting her out of bed and I ask her to get Calvin to bring Kit up to the hospital. Edith assures me that all of them are coming. My last call is to my grandfather. That conversation is not an easy one as I relay to him what Georgie divulged to me. He doesn’t believe me, saying Georgie has made the whole thing up. I get it; it sounds so far-fetched. He checks my father’s room and tells me he isn’t there. No doubt the fucker is holed up somewhere with Georgie’s whore of a mother. I shake my head as I come to terms with the fact that my own flesh and blood has done this to us. My father has tried to end the life of the one person in this world that means everything to me. His own selfish greed and ambition led him to a crazed plan to marry me off to my half-sister and ensure his bloodline and legacy.

When we arrive at the hospital, we’re ushered into a family room. The nurse tries to tell our friends that they’ll have to wait in the main hospital reception. I coldly remind her that my grandfather funds a large amount of this hospitals research facilities and she soon backs down and leaves us all to file into the family room.

Seb has the burns on his hands treated and bandaged; then we all sit and wait for news. It’s agony. I need to know they’re both okay. Rafe fills Vee and Seb in as I quietly sit with my own thoughts and process everything. “I’m going to kill him,” I announce coldly. This causes all three of them to stop mid-conversation and look my way. I look at my two brothers. “I want you to find him before the police do, and then I want you to take him where no one will find him until I’m ready to deal with him.”

Both my brothers nod their heads. They don’t question my orders because that’s what brothers do. We have each other’s backs always. I’ll make sure that fucker rues the day he ever tried to take my girl and my unborn child away from me.

“Did she know if it was a girl or a boy?” I ask Vee, as my thoughts flit to the baby my fiancée is carrying inside of her.

Vee smiles softly and shakes her head. “No, she said that you could find out at the next scan, but she’d already decided she wanted it to be a surprise. She’s convinced it’s a girl, though.”

I smile. A girl. A mix of me and Scarlet. A product of our love. Hell knows I don’t feel ready to be a dad, but I want our baby to make it. I want to hold him or her in my arms and watch them grow and develop. I want to see Scarlet ripe and round with my child inside her and watch her blossom into a devoted mother. I want it all. I want my forever with her. I want to build a family and have a life of happy memories.

I haven’t noticed Vee take a seat beside me, too lost in my own thoughts. She takes my hand and holds it in hers. “They’re both going to make it, Archer. I know it.”

I nod my head. They have to, because I can’t exist in a world where they aren’t a part of it.

ELIZA

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