“Leah, baby, can you hear me? Are you okay? Please, baby.” I inhaled sharply as the scent of Chase filled my nose but my head was swimming, I couldn’t manage to form words to answer him back. I could hear him, but I knew I definitely wasn’t okay.
I thought for a brief second that I was in heaven since Chase was here, but I quickly shook that thought away. First of all, Chase wouldn’t be there with me, he had Caleb to protect. And second of all, I was guessing if I was in heaven, I wouldn’t still feel like I was dying a slow death. “Caleb.” I was finally able to murmur without opening my eyes.
My jaw was so swollen that I could barely move my lips but luckily Chase understood me. I felt his fingers lightly run over my cheekbone and the sharp intake of breath as he examined my body. “Don’t worry, just be quiet for now, baby. Caleb’s all right. You’re both safe, I made sure of that. The police are handling the situation now. An ambulance should be here soon, just hold tight.”
As soon as I heard Caleb was fine, I was able to relax and shut off my mind from the worry that had been racing through it. Caleb was okay, Chase was here to watch over him, and that was all I needed to know before I let go.
Chapter 28
Chase
Leah went unconscious again as soon as I told her Caleb was okay. I think that was the only reason she fought to respond to me. She had to be in so much pain. It looked like Shelia had been trying to destroy her whole body. Her head had been bashed in, what looked like repeatedly. Her left wrist was hanging limply at her side and I was no doctor, but I could instantly tell it was broken just by looking at it.
When I had seen Shelia aiming a gun right at Leah’s chest, I had instantly reacted, not even stopping to think. I jumped her from behind, taking her by surprise since she hadn’t heard me come in and somehow she landed right on top of the gun right as it went off.
Unfortunately, it didn’t kill her. I knew that was wrong of me to think, but after everything she had put my family through, I couldn’t help it. I heard the approaching sounds of sirens and knew help was coming. Two police officers busted through the door, yelling at me to put my hands in the air.
Luckily, Roy was right behind him and explained the situation quickly. Someone looked up the information that Roy had taken into the station about Shelia’s abuse of Caleb, and if she hadn’t been lying there with a bullet in her shoulder they would have immediately taken her into custody.
I quickly told Roy where Caleb was and he rushed to get him. I knew he had to be scared and upset right now, but I needed to be with Leah. Caleb was in capable hands when it came to Roy. I couldn’t blame him for anything that had happened here. I knew he just wanted what was best for Caleb and that was all that mattered.
The ambulance ride to the hospital was intense. Leah hadn’t woken up again since she had asked me about Caleb. I could understand why she fought through the pain with the need to know that Caleb was all right. After all that Shelia had put our family through, I think we finally deserved some happiness. Hopefully, Leah would pull through this easily and we could get on with our lives.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt a small squeeze on my hand where I had it tightly wound with Leah’s small one, and I looked down to see her eye lids slightly flicker.
“Chase,” she moaned out.
“I’m right here, baby. We’re on our way to the hospital. You shouldn’t be feeling too much pain now.” I watched as she winced and I knew that my words weren’t completely true. I was sure that no amount of medicine in the world could truly cover all of the pain that she was in right now.
I looked up at the EMT, who was checking her vitals and he glanced over at me with a remorseful look. “We’re giving her as much as we can right now. Once the doctor takes a look at her, he’ll be able to figure out what plan needs to be put into place to lessen the pain.”
I nodded in response and looked down at Leah. I hated that she was in so much pain; she looked so fragile and broken, pale against the stretcher. She looked like she was struggling to open her eyes, but her body wasn’t responding. I leaned down to whisper in her ear, smoothing back her matted hair as much as I could. “Shh, baby. Just relax, try to go to sleep. You need rest right now.”
“I can’t…I just keep. Will you sing to me?” I kissed her forehead, lightly laughing at the request. Of course, Leah was asking me to sing to her in the middle of an ambulance. It was such a random request.
I glanced back up at the EMT, who just shrugged his shoulders at me. “Go for it, bud. It might help, even if you have a horrible voice. I’ll just tune you out.”