Surviving Love (Surviving #2) (9 page)

C
hapter 5

Louise

York, England

When I arrived at the hospital, Dominic, Mum, and Dad were all in the waiting room. Panic settled in my stomach.

“What’s happened? Why are you out here?”

Mum stood up and grabbed hold of me in a tight hug. Dad smiled and sipped at his drink. “They’re removing the breathing tubes and placing a back brace on her. Now she’s awake they don’t want to risk any movements that could damage her spine. They are also checking her responses in her lower legs to make sure. They asked us to step outside because it can be a little overwhelming. They did say in the next couple of days she may be transferred to a general ward so she can have more visitors.”

I smiled and a euphoric laugh bubbled out of my mouth. I turned to look at Dominic who had the most adorable grin on his bearded face.

“Dominic, I hope you’re going to go home and shave before you see your girl. You look like
Gandalf
, sans the white hair.”

Everyone laughed and he stood up, tugging me into a warm embrace. “Only you would worry about that.” He chuckled.

“Maybe you could...” I cleared my throat as nerves took hold “Go see your mum too. She’s in a bit of a state,” I said quietly.

He pulled away and looked down at me. “You’re right, I should go see her, I just didn’t want to spend too much time away from Eve.”

“Sweetie, that’s understandable, but you’re mum believes everyone blames
her
.”

Mum gasped and Dad came towards us. Dominic scowled at me.

“How is it her fault?” he asked.

“He was her son,” I said plainly. “She feels responsible.”

“I’m going to take her out tonight just her and me, I’ll try and re-enforce how we feel,” Dad said, coming to stand beside me. I could see the worry marring his features. Dad was incredibly close to his sister and I knew this had to be affecting him.

“What worries me is, she has just shut herself away. And whenever we go see her she kind of hides herself as if she’s expecting a huge blow-up.” I paused, watching as Mum wiped her eyes. “I don’t think she’s grieved for...Elliott properly and although
we
hate him, it’s her son and she needs our support. I don’t even know if she’s made funeral arrangements or if they’ve released his body from the police investigation. I’ve tried bringing it up but she shuts me down.” I turned to look at Dominic. “He was your brother it must be hard—”

“He was no brother to me,” he argued. “The moment he laid his hands on Eve he lost that connection.” Dominic shook his head and stepped back from me as if to compose himself.

“Look, let’s just get Eve through this, I’ll go see Jill tonight. I don’t want any more arguing over this, we need to be strong for them. My sister is going to be in hell right now, I can’t imagine...nearly losing Eve was bad enough. Going through what Jill is facing is a parent’s worst nightmare.”

“Dominic, you stay with Eve, me and Marie will—” Dad stopped abruptly and I turned to look over my shoulder. My chest did that stupid tightening thing again.

“Johan, son, I was wondering when I’d get to see you,” Dad said, walking towards him.

Johan stood in the doorway, his posture reflecting fight or flight. I was certain he was getting ready to run, but Dad reached him first. He patted him on the shoulder; it was clear in Dad’s face he wanted to grab him and hug him but
men
don’t do that. I smiled at how awkward the both of them appeared. Mum stood next and dashed across to him. Not having the same problem she put her arms around Johan and clung to him. She pulled him into one of her bone-crushing embraces and sobbed against his chest. I’d forgotten that Mum and Dad hadn’t seen him since Eve was admitted to hospital. With him being with me at their house every night, it felt like he was a part of our family. But thinking about it now I realised he was very meticulous about leaving before they returned.

“I wondered when I would get to thank you. We owe you so much.” Mum cupped his face in her hands. Johan just stared, never saying a word.

“Yeah, you little shit, you did good...for a change.” Dominic laughed. Finally Johan’s gorgeous dimples appeared as he smiled shyly. He looked straight at me and butterflies took flight in my stomach.

Hi,
he mouthed. I lifted my hand to offer a pathetic wave.

“How is my gorgeous girl?” Johan smiled at Dominic, who shook his head and laughed.

“
My
gorgeous girl is perfect. They’re just running some tests, then we can go back in and see her. They may move her in the next few days so she can have more visitors.”

“Awesome, I’m sure she’s missed me. She’ll be ready to spend some time with my gorgeousness.”

Dominic huffed, but the smile on his face said he wasn’t annoyed. The relief in him was palpable. He hummed with excitement to see my sister. I loved him for that, I adored him for the utter adoration he had for her.

The door to ICU opened and a man wearing a blue striped shirt and black trousers walked towards us. He paused to use the sanitising gel. A stethoscope hung around his neck so I assumed he was the doctor. These doctors all had the same generic look, no tie and baggy ill-fitting trousers; Darren had slowly transformed into the same clone. I was incredibly proud of Darren, his career path, his ambition, I’d just lost
him
along the way. Or maybe I had opened my eyes to see our love had limits.

“Evelyn Beaumont’s family?” We all turned in unison to face the doctor. “I'm Doctor Stevianson,” he said his thick Eastern Europe accent. “We have assessed Evelyn, and we are happy with her responses, her reflexes are sluggish but we be accounting this to the pain medication, and she be still sleepy. Right now, I am happy with our results. I will carry more tests later but for now I am happy with her vitals. I have sent for blood work, just routine, you understand?”

“Can we see her now?” Dominic asked.

“Only spouse and her parents, I'm afraid. Not all of you,” he said, taking in his avid audience.

I nodded. I felt a warm hand at the small of my back and turned to see Johan had stepped close to me. I offered a shy smile, feeling such a fool for what I had done earlier. I could only hope we’d be able to return to how we were before, because I had come to really enjoy his company. I was more than happy to have him in my life as a friend, even if I was starting to feel like I wanted more. But I suppose I should take a step back from relationships, as it was clear Darren and I needed to finish because he wasn’t going to accept the baby. And if he couldn't love our child, I couldn't love him.

The Monster Strikes

Chase Dermont Junior III

8 Years Old

Boston Massachusetts

“
FUCK!
What are we going to do?” Ryan’s panicked voice scared me.

“I’ve no idea, Mom just told me, they’ll be here after the Cooper’s place has been searched,” Will said, staring at Ryan. He shifted his feet and looked out the window up to his house.

“I need to get him out of here. How the fuck am I going to do it though? The place is crawling with cops.”

“What’s happening, Ryan?” I asked, pulling at his sweater.

“The
bastard
has demanded a search of all nearby properties, pool houses, boat houses, everything to try and find you. And what the
honourable district attorney
wants, the fucker gets.”

“Grandpa is going to find me?” I screeched in absolute panic.

“No! I’ll die before he gets to you again.” Ryan picked me up from the floor. “Will, we can’t let them find him.” Ryan looked around the room and through the windows frantically.

“Fuck!” Will called running towards us and pushing us out of sight. “Mom and Chase are coming down here with Deputy Grant. Fuck!”

“Ryan, I’m scared.” I clung to his neck, hiding my face.

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Ryan started walking towards the kitchen. He opened a drawer and took out the biggest knife in there.

“Fuck, Ry, you can’t...what the fuck are you planning to do with that shit?”

“Like I said, I will do
anything
to stop him taking him. You just have to swear to take care of him when I’m gone.”

“No! Fuck that...you can’t...” Will looked over his shoulder, craning his neck to see out of the window. The rear of the house that was facing the big house on the hill had less windows. To the front where the pool was overlooking the lake it was all glass. Will grabbed the hem of his sweater and pulled it over his head then threw it across the floor. Then he pulled a sneaker off and threw that near the table.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ryan asked, watching Will undress.

“Your dad is not going to want to continue searching a property if he finds his son on the couch making out with another dude.”

I frowned. Ryan walked backwards away from Will; I think we were thinking the same thing, that Will had gone crazy. Ryan didn’t like to kiss boys, he liked kissing girls. And I’d seen Will kissing a girl on the front porch of the big house.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Deadly. I’m not watching you dragged off in a police car for murder, and killing him isn’t worth becoming someone’s bitch.”

Ryan stood staring at his friend; I watched Ryan because I didn’t want the Sheriff to take Ryan away.

“Fuck!” Ryan whispered, placing me onto the floor and pulling his button-down over his head. He hopped on one leg while pulling his sneakers off. “Jo, buddy, I need you to go hide under the bed and no matter what you hear, stay there. Do not come out, okay? Promise me.”

I nodded.

“Say it, buddy. Promise you will
not
come out from under that bed. Because if you do, Dad will get you and take you to the boathouse.”

At the mention of that place I ran, ran as fast as I could and crawled under the bed. I wrapped the blanket around me and hid.

“Dude, that was harsh,” Will said angrily.

“Will, this shit is serious, he cannot go back there. Now, keep your dick in your pants. I don’t want to see that shit.”

“Yeah, more like you’d feel inferior.” Will laughed. “We’d better get on the couch. Don’t touch my junk.”

“Fuck you, dickhead.”

“It’s my dick I’m worried about right now.”

There were some weird noises, Ryan and Will arguing before I heard
his
voice.

“
What the hell are you doing
?” Grandpa shouted and I covered my ears.

There was a lot of banging and shouting, I stayed hidden like Ryan told me to. I kept hearing a lady calling out to Grandpa to ‘calm down’ but the shouting continued.

Another man said he would arrest Grandpa if he didn't calm down.

When it had been quiet for a long time, I peeked out from under the blanket to see that it was dark. I needed the bathroom but I promised Ryan I wouldn’t move so I stayed under the bed. I remained under the bed for so long that eventually I started to see the sun causing a little line of light under the sheet. There was still no sound downstairs but I didn’t dare come out from under the bed. I didn’t want Grandpa to get me.

My stomach groaned and hurt like it did when Grandpa locked me in the basement. I felt dirty too because I had peed my pants.

I smiled a little when I heard Will shouting. “Jo, little guy, it’s me. I’ve brought you something to eat. Sorry I took so—” He stopped talking and I heard the door open and close. “Ry, Jesus, what the hell happened?”

I crawled out from under the bed and peered over the balcony. I saw Will struggling to carry Ryan to the couch and when he laid down, Will moved. I gasped when I saw Ryan, and ran down the stairs to him.

“Ryan?”

“Hey, little buddy.” He coughed and made a noise, I knew he was hurting. He was covered in bruises and his shirt was all bloody.  He couldn't open his eye because it was all puffy and purple. He rested his head gently on the cushion.

“Did your dad do this?” Will asked.

Ryan grumbled a
yes.
He started coughing again and turned to the side as blood started coming out of his mouth.

“Ryan, Ryan –“ I cried. Will pulled me out of the way and held something under Ryan’s mouth.

“You need to go to hospital.”

“Can’t.” Ryan coughed again and more blood came out.

Will stood up and put his hands to his hair and pulled. He paced around the room muttering cusses. I knelt beside Ryan and touched his cheek.

Will cussed some more before storming out of the pool house. I whispered quietly to Ryan that I would help make him better. I didn’t know what to do to help him, he looked badly hurt. The door opened again and a woman with golden hair came running in. She paused when she saw me sitting beside Ryan. I wanted to run but I couldn't leave him like this. I held his hand tighter. His other arm came around me and pulled me to him. He must have seen the lady too.

“Chase?” She asked in a soft voice. She turned to look at Will, he shrugged his shoulders and looked to his feet.

She came towards us and I scrambled to get further away from her. Ryan grunted and cried out as I crawled across his chest.

“It’s okay, honey, I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to see Ryan.”

I shook my head and clambered behind Ryan. He moaned some more and she held out her hands.

“Ryan, you need to help me here,” she said quietly and smiled at me.

“Bud.” He coughed again and clutched at his sides. “Jo, Anesu isn’t going to hurt you I—” He coughed some more. “She’s Will’s mom. Let her help me.”

I looked down at Ryan and watched as he started to look sleepy. His body relaxed onto the couch, his arms went floppy.

The next thing I knew Will had me in his arms as his mom held her cell to her ear; she was telling the person on the other end about Ryan and how badly he was hurt. Ryan looked so pale. I turned my head and rested my cheek on Will’s shoulder and watched as his mom took care of Ryan. She was real gentle with him, she touched his face and whispered to him and kept calling out his name whenever his eyes closed.

The paramedics arrived. Just as they entered the room, Will raced up the stairs to the bedroom and instructed me to hide again. His mom called out to him but he ignored her.

“I swear he will be okay, just stay here for me. I will come back for you, I may need to move you somewhere else now. But I promise your grandpa won’t get you. Can you trust me, buddy?”

“Okay,” I whispered. I leaned forward and hugged Will. “Thank you.”