Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Help is coming,” I say, more to myself than him as his security comes in out of nowhere.
I watch on helplessly as he passes out from blood loss.
Is this something else that will be my fault?
I look back down to the ground and see all the blood.
Honestly, I’ve seen enough blood to last me a lifetime.
There’s just too much blood in my life, and I want away from it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Theadora
Help finally arrives. My hands stay on him, trying to slow the blood loss until I am told to remove them.
Atlas is taken away in an ambulance, and I am left sitting on his cement driveway, covered in blood. His blood. It takes me a bit to manage to move, and when I do, I drive straight home, even if every part of me wants to go to the hospital and to where I know both Lucy’s baby and Atlas will now be. But I can’t go there dressed in a shirt and covered in blood, so I head home and shower as fast as humanly possible, dress, and jump back into Atlas’s car.
I don’t even think about what could happen if I crash Atlas’s expensive car, which is saying a lot.
Parking, I get out and rush across the lot to the front of the hospital. I see Sydney’s already there, her heels clicking as she walks in ahead of me. She turns as if she knows I’m here, and her eyes narrow. “You,” she spits. She walks over to me, and her hand goes to hit me, but before it can, someone stops her.
Tina grips her hand and looks at her with wide eyes. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Tina says, pulling Sydney’s hand away.
Sydney looks at her with anger, hurt, and surprise. “You protect her, over me?”
“Yes. So do not raise your hand to her again.”
Hurt flashes over Sydney’s face before she looks back at me while pain radiates from her. She turns abruptly and starts walking into the hospital as I stand there with Tina.
“Sydney’s upset. She heard Atlas was shot and Lucy was involved,” Tina says.
“You don’t have to protect me from her,” I say to Tina. I feel bad that it happened.
She nudges my shoulder with her own as we start walking toward the doors of the hospital. “Someone has to protect you, and in doing so, not kidnap you.” She laughs.
“So, you know?”
“Yeah, Sydney told me. He has his way of looking out for you, I guess.”
“It’s insane.” We get to the elevator, and I press the children’s area.
“You aren’t going to visit him?” Tina asks.
“Sydney would most likely not want me there. Plus, I have bigger troubles. Lucy’s baby is premature, and he needs to know someone’s there to support him.”
“You… Theadora Fitzgerald… are too good for any of us.” She shakes her head as the elevator comes to a stop.
I step out and turn back to look at her. “I’ll be there later to see how it’s all going. Will you message me to tell me how he is?”
I hear, “Of course,” then the doors close.
I head to the area where I have to wash my hands and put on protective gear before I can walk into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The same nurse that was there yesterday is there again today. She spots me and comes over as I sit next to him.
“Your sister left, and she’s left you as the baby’s next of kin. Do you happen to have a name?”
“Benji,” I say with a smile. I may not have been fond of the man, but this is his child, and I’m sure if he were here he would want the best for this baby.
“If you could fill this in, please.” She hands me forms that I notice have already been signed by Lucy, giving me guardianship of the baby.
Everything is left to me.
How could she be so damn cruel?
Tina: He’s in surgery, it’s touch and go.
My heart jumps at Tina’s message. I keep the cell glued to my hand as I sit there next to Benji. The nurse puts his name on the crib, and I smile.
“You may be able to hold him tomorrow. He’s a fighter, and he’s doing well.” She places her hand on my shoulder, squeezing before she walks away to deal with another screaming baby elsewhere in the unit.
When I leave Benji, I text Tina to ask what floor they’re on and where. When I located them, I see Tina sitting in the waiting room, playing games on her cell. She puts it away when she sees me walk into the room.
“How is the baby?” she asks when I sit next to her.
“Good. He’s doing really well. They are happy with his progress.”
Tina wipes at her face—she’s been sitting here all day, as long as I’ve been here.