Chapter 21
Ginger
I braced myself for what I was going to see when I walked into Della’s hospital room. Rebel remained quietly at my side, clasping my hand as we took the elevator up to her floor. I was so thankful for his presence. Having him around made me feel safe, and it was nice to know that I had someone strong to lean on. I knew that I had Stevie and Vinny, too, but Rebel was able to comfort me in ways that they couldn’t. He was protective and possessive, and I had no doubt that the first chance that he had he would show me in a very physical way how he was going to take care of me.
Stevie was the first person that I saw when the elevator doors slid open, and she took me into her arms for a brief hug. “God, honey, it’s good to see that you’re okay.” Once she stepped away her gaze traveled over me, as if she were looking for injuries.
“Della?” I was anxious to know how she was doing.
“The nurse is in with her now, that’s why I stepped out here. Plus, they’re keeping her sedated.” She paused to take a deep breath, her gaze moving nervously between me and Rebel.
Her hesitation, and the look of regret in her eyes, warned me that there was bad news. Her earlier revelation that Daryl had done some damage to Della hung heavily on my mind. I could only imagine the internal injuries that she may have sustained. I swallowed hard, afraid of what she was going to say next.
“I guess I should just tell you what I know, honey.” She reached for my hand, pulling me away from Rebel. “Let’s go into the waiting room.”
Oh, God, this wasn't good. Once there, the three of us sat down. Stevie and I turned to face each other, Rebel sat on the other side of me, his hand on my knee. I needed that minor touch from him, it kept me calm and grounded in spite of the sickening turmoil that was churning inside me. “She’s going to be okay, right?” There was fear in my voice.
Stevie nodded, but it didn’t set my mind at ease, because I knew there was more. “Della had a miscarriage.”
I gasped, my hand flying up to cover my mouth. It was the last thing that I had expected to hear. I hadn’t even known that she was pregnant. I closed my eyes to the violent image of Daryl kicking her in the groin area, wondering if it had been the cause of the miscarriage. Had she known she was going to have a baby? She hadn’t said anything to me.
“He kicked her . . .”
“She didn’t know she was pregnant.” I opened my eyes, meeting the sadness in Stevie’s, wondering if Della not knowing was good news or not. “That pig raped her, sodomized her, broke two of her ribs, her fingers, dislocated her jaw, and broke her nose. He . . .” She stopped, unable to go on.
A chill traveled over me. I felt guilt for not having done enough to help Della. The kind of damage she had sustained took time to inflict. I wanted to kill Daryl myself!
Stevie was tough. She didn’t normally get emotional in the way that she was now, and I wondered how much of this was reminding her of her own rape. “What else?” I asked softly. I didn’t want to know, but I needed to know. The tightening of Rebel’s hand on my thigh revealed that he wasn’t immune to Stevie’s words. I was afraid to look at him, afraid that if I did I would fall apart in his arms, and I needed to remain strong for Della.
“There’s more.” For the first time tears filled Stevie’s eyes, her bottom lip quivering.
I immediately thought of the possibility of brain damage, or something else just as life altering. I was soon to find out that my worry hadn't been for nothing.
“His beating left Della unable to have children. She was hemorrhaging so bad when they brought her in, they had to do an emergency hysterectomy to save her.”
Oh, God, no! Rebel swore viciously beneath his breath, the hand on my thigh clenching into a fist. I buried my face into my hands, giving into the need to express the heartache of Della losing a baby she hadn’t even known she was going to have, and the unfairness of never being able to have a child in the future. My rage and hatred for Daryl grew until I felt as if I were going to explode. Strong arms closed around me, and I found myself being dragged onto Rebel’s lap.
“I hate him,” I wept against him. “I hate him so much!" I said passionately. "I want him dead, Rebel, for what he’s done to her.” I didn’t care if anyone overheard me, but when I glanced around I was relieved to see that we were the only ones in the room. I looked deeply into Rebel’s hard eyes.
He kissed my forehead and smoothed his thumbs beneath my wet eyes. “Working on it, babe. I promise. For what he did to Della and you.” He glanced at Stevie, and I noticed them exchange a meaningful look.
“I want to see her,” I said finally. I struggled off of Rebel’s lap, even though I wanted to remain there in his strong arms.
“The nurse should be gone by now,” Stevie said as she rose to her feet. “Just a warning, she looks bad.”
I had expected that. “Thank you for being here for her. It means a lot.”
“We’re family, honey,” she said, leading the way. “We may not show it often enough, and Vinny can be a real grouch most of the time, but we care for you girls.” I smiled at that. “When Vinny found out what was going on he lost it.”
I didn’t ask where Vinny was. He practically lived at Pirate’s Cove. We came to a stop outside of a closed door. I took deep breaths, preparing myself.
“Angel.” I turned toward Rebel’s low tone. “You go in with Stevie, I’ve got some shit to take care of. I’ll be back for you, so stay put until then, yeah?”
“Okay.” I pushed down the slight unease that I felt at his leaving.
He pulled me against him and planted a kiss on my lips. I expected it to be brief, but he surprised me by lingering, thrusting his tongue into my mouth with an aggressive growl and letting me feel his passion. It didn’t take much to spark the fire between us, but a hospital corridor was hardly the place to let go of our feelings.
He pulled back before I had a chance to protest, smiling down into my face as if he’d known what I’d been thinking.
“I’ll be back.”
He turned to leave, and it was then that a thought occurred to me that I knew Rebel needed to know. It might help him find Daryl, because I knew he wouldn't give up until he did. "Rebel, wait." He swung back to face me, an expectant look on his face. "What happened to Della, Daryl did that on his own. But later, after they came to my apartment, another man showed up. His name is Jack. He was involved in taking me."
I watched a tic appear in Rebel’s tight jaw. "Can you think of anything else?"
I shook my head.
By the time he disappeared around a corner, Stevie had opened the door to Della’s room. I sucked in a deep breath and walked inside with her. Della was asleep, or at least I thought she was, until we got nearer to her bed, and then her eyes fluttered open and the glimmer of a tiny smile spread across her bruised and swollen face. I reached up and grasped her hand.
"Oh, honey." Seeing her in that condition made me hurt for her. Fresh tears swelled in my eyes.
“How… do… you… like… the… new… me?” she asked in a broken, hoarse voice, trying to make light of her ordeal.
I smiled, because she was. “Well, I like the colors.” The bruises had left her in a rainbow of colors--yellows, blues, reds, and purples. “Not so sure I like you with one eye, though.” Her right eye was completely swollen shut. “I guess I don’t need to ask how you feel.”
“I’ve… felt… better,” she admitted in a low voice.
I had to strain to hear. “God, honey, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
She shook her head, closing her eyes. I could tell that she was fighting to stay awake. “Not your fault. Mine . . . for not breaking it off with him . . . a long time ago.” She had to stop every few words and take a breath. “I knew he’d gotten hooked . . . on drugs, I didn’t know how badly.” She squeezed my hand. “I was terrified . . . when he dragged you off.”
“I’m okay, honey. Now we just need to get you healed up and back on your feet.”
Her gaze darted to Stevie. “Yeah,” she said quietly, and I knew that she was thinking about the miscarriage she’d suffered and the damage to her body. There was a moment of awkward silence.
“I told her everything, honey,” Stevie said to Della after a while.
The relief was evident by the sound of Della’s tired sigh. Her broken face revealed nothing. I didn’t want to talk about it unless Della wanted to, but something told me that she needed time to come to terms with what had happened. She was still young and had many child-bearing years left. To know that there would never be children had to be weighing on her mind. She was so quiet that I thought that she was about to nod off, but then she continued.
“I didn’t know . . . I was pregnant,” Della said, ending her sentence in tears. “Lately Daryl hadn’t been interested . . . in sex.” She looked away, making a noticeable effort to pull herself together. “I would have wanted my baby, Ginger. But he took that away from me.”
“He’ll pay for hurting you, honey, I promise.” I reached down and hugged her carefully. “Vinny and Rebel will see to that.”
She nodded slowly, holding me tightly. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes before I realized that she’d finally dozed off. Carefully, I disentangled myself from her and straightened up, eyeing Stevie.
“Good. The sleep will do her good. Have they said how long she’ll be in the hospital? She’ll need help when she gets home.”
“At least a week. Vinny and I have already discussed her situation. She’ll have a live-in aide until she’s on her feet again. The hospital recommended someone. We’ll cover the cost.”
I was so glad to hear that they’d arranged for someone to stay with Della. The fact they were covering the cost was huge, considering that Vinny did not like to part with his money. The gesture showed what a big ol’ teddy bear he was. I teared up at the news, unable to talk, I was so overwhelmed. I’d been prepared to quit work to take care of her, and now I wouldn’t need to.
“Thank you, you two are so sweet to do that for her.”
Stevie brushed my comment aside and joked, “You know Vinny. He figured you’d quit to take care of her, and he didn’t want to lose two of his best girls at the same time.”
Her comment made me chuckle. “Yeah, that sounds like Vinny.” We both glanced down at Della. She looked peaceful. “I’m going to stay here until Rebel comes back for me. If you want to take off, go ahead, you’ve been here for a while.”
She nodded. “I think I will, honey. Vinny will need me at the restaurant. If you need anything don’t hesitate to call. And take the next few days off. You need to recoup from your ordeal, too.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that I was okay to return to work, but then thought better of it. I could use the extra time off to visit with Della, and there was my apartment to consider. I needed to clean up the blood that was splattered everywhere. I hadn’t been inside Della’s apartment, but I was sure it would need cleaning, too. There was no way I would let her return home to a visual reminder of what she’d gone through.
Once Stevie was gone, I settled into the chair next to Della’s bed. I stared at her for a while, thinking about all that she’d gone through. Losing a baby was huge. Some women didn’t get over something like that. She had a long road of healing ahead of her, both mentally and physically. She could even need therapy to get over the trauma.
I prayed that making Daryl pay for what he’d done would be a good start. Sometimes it took destroying the monster that had changed your life forever to be able to move forward. I should know. I’d run from Wildman long enough, but it had taken learning from Rebel that Wildman and the Red Devils were no more for me to relax and finally feel at peace with my life. Having Rebel back in my life was an added bonus, because I’d never really blamed him for what had happened.
The question was how long was he going to remain in my life now?