Reece
My muscles are bunched tight. The thought of any harm coming to my angel is so beyond my comprehension. Realistically, I know she could be hurt or, God forbid, worse. We parked a mile back and hiked the rest of the way to the cabin, not wanting to alert David we were here and give him time to do something even stupider. We didn’t know the situation we were walking into, so we prepared for all possibilities.
Looking through the window, it takes me less than a minute to assess the situation. As soon as he punches her, I lose all reason. The motherfucker is going to die. Die. I shoot the lock on the door until it opens. I toss the gun to the ground, and I’m hurtling myself at the monster on top of my sweet angel.
I take him to the ground. The only thing I know is that I need to make him bleed and hurt. The piece of shit is underneath me, trying to fight me off. After a couple of punches to his face, he stops fighting me, lying still with his limp dick still hanging out of his pants. I’m shaking with unspent fire, but I’m unwilling to fight an unresponsive man. I want to see the pain I inflict on him, hear the screams of pain come from his lips, but I won’t get that from him right now. I stand, needing to get to Maci, but the stupid fuck grabs onto my boot, tripping me. I kick him in the ribs until he’s holding his sides, crying out in pain.
I look up to see Anderson checking a still unconscious Maci’s pulse, and Cutter covering her bared bottom half after unlocking the handcuffs that held her captive to the bed. This fucker touched her; he abducted her and hurt her. I pray we got to her in time. From what I saw, he hadn’t started raping her, but he was close—seconds away from it.
I can’t stop myself from kicking him in the dick, the balls, anywhere, everywhere until eventually, blood is spraying from his face. My boot connects with him again. Spader pulls me back, telling me to stop before I do something I can’t talk my way out of. I brush him off, needing to get my pound of flesh for all that he’s done to my love, my angel, my everything.
“Reece,” Maci cries, and her fragile, broken words are the sweetest thing I have ever heard. I stop my attack on the piece of filth below me and lock eyes with her. “Reece, please. I need you.” My girl is a mess, but she’s alive, with tears streaming down her bruised and bloody face. I march over to her and sit beside her on the bed, pulling her onto my lap and her head to my chest. I hold her to me, letting her cry it all out with one arm around her waist pulling her into me with the other covering her head. I need her safe, secure, and alive.
I won’t do life without her. I refuse. I won’t live in this world if she’s not breathing in it. She’s the soothing balm to my battered heart, putting me back together, pulling me through when I can’t. God forbid someone ever tries to take her away from me again and succeeds. I’ll go to hell to bring her back, if need be. I’d give up my soul to get her back in my arms, loving me.
I sit and rock her, watching as the cabin fills with cops and paramedics. Jet walks in and stares down at the broken mess I left the unconscious bastard in. He looks at me, and runs his hands down his face. “Fuck,” he curses, then starts taking command of the situation around us. He orders another ambulance for David, and I don’t feel one ounce of regret for his current condition. He deserves so much more.
****
When we arrived at the hospital the nurses started in on me about not letting me go back with Maci. When Garret joined me, he put a stop to that real quick. While I waited with Maci, I called her folks and let them know I had her and where we were. I suggested that they should wait before bringing Bennett. I knew they needed to see her and wanted to assure themselves with their own eyes that she was safe, but she needed time to get through this without her son seeing her. I didn’t go into details when her father questioned me, not wanting to upset Maci any more than she already was. He wasn’t happy and made me promise to keep them updated through the night.
It’s now three-thirty in the morning, and in the quietness of the exam room, I sit next to her while she lays broken in a hospital bed. I hold Maci’s hand while she stares blankly at the wall. Her silence is scaring me. What I would give for her to show me any kind of emotion, but she doesn’t. Instead, she remains detached. Rubbing my thumb over her hand, I wait for her to release the poisonous thoughts tormenting her.
Eventually, she looks at me and frowns. She pulls her hand from mine, and as much as I want to snatch her hand right back, I don’t. She looks away from me, staring at the tiled floor below her. “You were right,” she finally whispers. I say nothing and wait, silently begging her to continue. “I never…” She clears her throat. “I never thought David would hurt me like that. He was a shitty husband, and an absent father, but he never put his hands on me or Bennett.
“When you asked if he was abusive, I thought you were overreacting. I keep thinking about my relationship with David, from start to finish, and I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. How was I so stupid?”
I lace my fingers through hers and squeeze her hand. “Don’t. You will not talk about yourself that way. You were stronger than you even know. When you’re in a relationship like that, you’re right in the middle of it. You don’t see it from the outside like everyone else. It becomes your reality. Sometimes, our brains can’t handle it. You probably made excuses for his behavior and didn’t even realize you were doing it. You get me?”
She nods hesitantly. I bring her hand up to my mouth and kiss it. “I love you, angel.” A tear falls from her eyes and I wipe it away.
“I love you too, Reece. Thank you for saving me.”
“You never have to thank me for that. It’s my honor to be your protector. I only regret that he got to you in the first place.”
Knock, knock.
The doctor walks in with what I can only assume is her chart. He reads over it a minute and then holds out his hand to my girl. “Maci, I’m Dr. Rashad.” He shakes her hand, then turns to me where I introduce myself to him as her fiancé. He nods and gets to business immediately. “I know you’ve been through a lot tonight. My nurse, Helen, has told me a little about what happened to you. You are a brave woman for surviving that. I’m going to take a quick look and get you on your way home as soon as I can. Is it okay if your fiancé remains in the room for the exam, or would you like him to leave?”
“Reece stays,” she states quietly, but firmly. I stand to the side and watch as he looks her over, checking her body over from the attack, all the while asking her questions.
“Maci, I need to ask you a couple of questions. I know this is going to be difficult to talk about, but I need you to be honest, to make sure you get the best care possible.”
My brave girl nods her head and answers his questions. She doesn’t elaborate much about what happened, only giving specific details when asked. I’m relieved to learn the attack was physical and didn’t quite escalate to being sexual, although we know she came very close.
“My initial assessment is that you need time to heal from this. I recommend you take a week off from work to rest. Your body needs time to recover. I’m going to have the nurse come in and give you a few butterfly stitches. Your wrist is red and swollen. I’m concerned you may have a fracture, so I’m ordering an x-ray to be sure. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Any questions?”
Maci shakes her head. I shake the doctor’s hand. “Thank you.” He gives me a knowing look, and I wonder if he’s been in a situation like this, or if he’s just seen it too many times with his patients.
The nurse cleans and applies the bandages to Maci’s face. She leaves and returns with a wheelchair to take her down to radiology. She looks between Maci and me. “Is there any chance you could be pregnant?” My eyes shoot to Maci’s, where hers have gotten huge. She covers her mouth and tears fill her eyes, unable to answer. “It’s possible. We haven’t been preventing it,” I answer for her.
Helen, Maci’s nurse, has Maci give her a urine sample and takes some blood so they can test that, too. I hold my brave angel while we wait for the results of the test. Maci falls asleep on my chest, but I can’t stop thinking that I could have lost more than Maci tonight. When Dr. Rashad comes back, a nurse is pushing in a large machine behind him. I shake Maci awake. “Angel, the doctor is back. Wake up so we can find out if we’ve been blessed with another child.” Her eyes flutter open, and a small smile graces her lips. I kiss those lovely lips, then sit us up, anticipating the news I hope is coming.
Doctor Rashad is blank-faced, not giving anything away. “Come on doc, give it to us.” He looks to Maci, and she nods her head, ready to accept the results. “Congratulations, you two. Helen is going to do an ultrasound to find out how far along you are.”
I watch the screen in wonder, looking at my baby growing in my angel’s body. I hold Maci’s hand while Helen takes measurements of the baby and we get to listen to its heartbeat. “You are eleven weeks and four days along. You’re due July seventeenth. I can’t see what the sex is right now. You’re going to need to follow up with your OBGYN. Congratulations, Maci and Reece.”
Helen walks out and gives us the privacy we need. I’m going to be a dad. Bennett gets to be a big brother. We get to grow our family, and it’s the best news after what happened last night. Fuck. Last night. I wonder how Maci is doing with this, after everything.
Grabbing her chin between my thumb and forefinger, I bring her eyes to mine. “Tell me how you’re feeling about this, Maci love. I know this is a weird time to find out, after everything that happened, but are you happy?” A single tear slips from her eye and a beaming smile appears across her face. “I already suspected I might be pregnant. I was beginning to feel how I did when I was pregnant with Bennett. I was going to get a test and talk to you about it last night, but then David…”
I hug her to me, and rub her back gently. “Shh. God, I’m so fucking sorry. There’s no way in hell he’ll be able to get to you again after what he did. I’m going to protect our family with my life. I love you so much, Maci. Everything is for you and our family,” I promise her.
She looks up at me with complete faith. “I know you will, Reece. I’m unbelievably happy. I want us to move on with our lives, move on from this. You, Bennett, and this little one are all that matter.” She says, touching her stomach where our baby is growing.
I kiss her deeply, needing our connection more than anything. “We’re getting married this week.” When she goes to argue, I kiss her quiet. “No. You and I are getting married this week. There’s no discussion needed.”
She smirks at me and snuggles back into my chest. “I love you, too, my crazy man.”