Chapter 13
“Mommy?”
Angela woke from her short nap. She’d been so afraid to nod off and to miss her son crying out in the night that she had pulled her head off the bed and forced herself to sit up in the chair, still only half alert. She moved closer to the bedside, and, in the dim light, she smiled down at her son.
He stared up at her, his eyes still not quite focused.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she whispered. “Am I ever glad to see you.”
His face lit up. “You came for me.”
She picked up his hand, brought it gently to her mouth and kissed his fingers. Every single little finger got its own kiss. When she figured she could speak without choking up, and when her tears were firmly held back, she said, “Of course I did. I told you that I would, didn’t I?”
He smiled as he nodded, but then he abruptly frowned. “Is Daddy here too?” he asked, fear sliding into his voice.
She squeezed his hand. “No, sweetie. Daddy’s not here. You’re in the hospital right now.”
“Am I hurt?”
“Not really. It’s just to check you over and make sure you’re all good. If you can go back to sleep, then do so. That’s what your body needs right now.”
He gave her a beautiful smile, rolled over and curled up. “You’re going to stay with me, Mommy?”
“Always, sweetheart. Mommy will always be here now.”
“Good. I don’t like being with Daddy all alone.” Then he yawned a great big yawn. And by the time he was done, he was back asleep again.
She sat there, tears coursing down her face.
“I need to tell the nurse he woke up,” Corey said from the other side of the bed.
She turned to look at him and nodded. “Thank you.”
He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder before he left.
She owed him and Warrick. They’d done so much—not just saving her son but her soul also. She didn’t want to think about life without her boy. All she’d ever wanted was to have a family. She’d been so delighted when Joshua was born. He’d been the light of her life.
Maybe it was her fault that her marriage had faltered. Once Joshua arrived, she’d been devoted to him, as he had filled a void in her life. A void she hadn’t even recognized before. When she fell in love with this little angel, she’d been his slave from the moment he took his first breath.
Her husband used to mock her for it, but she had ignored him. It didn’t cross her mind she was giving Greg the weapon that could hurt her the most. She wouldn’t focus on that now. She wasn’t alone anymore.
Although Greg might still have a lot of weapons at his disposal, she was no longer as terrified of her husband as she had been. That he would do something like this to a little boy, to their little boy, made him a monster. If he walked into this room right now, she’d likely kill him herself. She didn’t know if he’d ever killed anyone or had ever ordered anyone to be killed. She assumed he was somebody who didn’t get his hands dirty. But, for what he’d done to Joshua, she’d have no problem putting her hands around Greg’s throat and squeezing until the last breath ran out of his body.
Since it was best that she didn’t cross Greg’s path right now, she hoped he went to jail for a long, long time for what he did to those people in the photos.
Corey walked back into the room. She turned to look up at him. The nurse was with him. She walked over to Joshua and motioned for Angela to step back a little bit. She returned to her chair, watching as the nurse ran Joshua through several tests.
When she was done, she gave Angela a big smile and whispered, “He’s doing fine. I’ll let the doctor know he woke up for a few minutes, and he spoke. He appears to be in a deep sleep now. It’s the best thing for him.”
Angela cut back a sob in her throat. She wanted nothing more than to have her son wake up in the morning asking for cereal and milk. He’d always had a healthy appetite and had woken up hungry every morning. She wiped away her tears and wrapped her arms around Corey. She loved it when he drew her close.
She murmured, “I can never thank you enough.”
He squeezed her gently. “No thanks are required. I’m just glad we found him in time.”
She nodded. “I can’t even imagine what Greg was planning. And it’s that what that’ll bring me nightmares for the next twenty years.”
“Joshua’s doing fine. He’ll survive this. He’s a beautiful, bright, resilient little boy. He’ll have no trouble getting past this.”
“Only if he’s not forced to be with his father again. You heard him. He’s terrified of his father now.”
“Smart boy,” Corey said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I recorded that, so the judge can hear a six-year-old boy talk about his father in that tone.”
That Corey had had the presence of mind to do that made her even more aware of his training. She had been in a hundred percent mother mode. “Then maybe you should be here the next time he wakes up too,” she commented.
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I have no plans to go anywhere.”
It was all she could do to hold back the tears. “You’re being really wonderful.”
He chuckled, a warm sound that rippled up his chest and erupted out of him like gentle thunder. “I’m always really nice.”
She knew that. The problem in their relationship was never because of his personality. It was just that they’d been so young, and dealing with such a loss so fast had been difficult to recover from.
“Do you want to stay here all night?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said firmly. “I can’t be sure Greg won’t send somebody else after my son again.”
“We do have a guard standing outside,” he said gently. He tilted her chin up and her head back slightly. “You also have to consider whether you’ll be of any use to Joshua tomorrow if you’re exhausted.”
She frowned. “But what if he wakes up again?”
The nurse stepped in, bringing Joshua’s chart with her. “He’ll sleeping solidly now. The best thing for you is to head off and get a few hours sleep yourself.”
She frowned, not wanting to leave her son. She shook her head and finally said, “No. I can’t.”
The nurse looked at her, then at Corey and said, “I can bring one cot in, but I can’t bring in two.”
Angela brightened. “I’d love a cot. I just want to sleep beside my son.” She hated the anxious feeling twisting her gut at the thought of leaving him.
Corey brushed the hair off her face and said, “That’s a good solution.”
She sighed with relief. “I was afraid you’d get angry.”
“Why would I get angry that you want to stay with your son?” His eyebrows rose. “I’m not Greg, remember?”
She smiled brilliantly up at him. “No, you aren’t. And for that I’m so darn grateful.” She lifted her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Then she let him go and cried out in a soft voice, “I can’t believe I have Joshua back again.”
“Now what we have to do is make sure he stays safe.”
Another lady walked in after a few minutes, pushing a cot. There wasn’t much room, so they moved out one of the chairs so it could lay flat.
As soon as the lady was done, Corey motioned at it and said, “Lie down. A spare blanket is at the end of Joshua’s bed. Let me cover you up, and you try to sleep.”
She lay down. “I feel bad if I sleep, and you can’t get any rest.”
“I wouldn’t sleep anyway. Somebody has to be here to watch over him.”
“You said a guard was outside.”
“Yes, and I’m the guard inside.” His tone was firm, direct and unbending.
With a happy sigh, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift. She thought she’d fall asleep immediately, but it was hard. So many thoughts and questions and fears intertwined there and went nuts inside her brain. If she could just catch a little sleep, surely that would be helpful. Even if she power-napped for twenty minutes, it would make her feel better.
But every time Joshua gave a breath that was slightly heavier than the previous one, she sat up to look at him. Finally Corey sat down on the little cot beside her. “Sleep,” he said firmly. “I promise I’ll sit here between the two of you and make sure you’re both safe.”
She stared at him in wonder. “You are a gift.”
Thunderstruck, he didn’t know what to say.
She gave him a loving smile. “I mean it.” She let her hand drift down his to wrap her fingers around his fist, and then she closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and drifted to sleep.
*
Corey stared down at her. She was correct in one way; a gift was here, but it was her, not him. She’d always had a big heart, capable of forgiving so much, capable of letting others off the hook for bad behavior. When most other people would have had something negative to say, that wasn’t part of who she was. She’d always been happy and bubbly. She was the classy girl who stood out. Like a moth to a flame, everybody else would come running to her.
There was just something about her personality that brought others to her. He’d been no different. He’d been attracted to her right from the beginning. Even as a young man, he’d understood solid gold when he saw it. And that was definitely what she was.
With a happy sigh—and, God, wasn’t he sappy—he settled in for a long wait.