Page 60 of She's Mine

David’s words of encouragement wereexactlywhat I needed to hear to push away any lingering doubts I had. Feeling like I could face anything the world had to throw at us, I shoved open the cabin door, and stepped out into the bright wilderness.

Even though it was the middle of the day, the searchlight of the helicopter shone down on me. I instantly recognized the bright orange coloring of the helicopter as the color used by the emergency services and was certain it was the rescue party searching for us.

I started jumping up and down, waving my arms, to get the helicopter’s attention, and a moment later, it landed on a bare patch of land nearby.

The helicopter’s feet had barely touched the ground when my father came running over the ridge, dressed in full body armor, and rushed towards me.

“Daddy!” I cried, throwing my arms around him.

My dad held me tightly in his arms, almost crushing me with the force of his embrace, and kissed all over my face and head.

“Oh God, Alyssa, thank heaven we found you,” he said finally. “I was so worried about you and my first grandchild.”

My eyes almost popped out of my head. “You know?”

“Joseph told me,” Dad replied. This caused a hundred questions to spring to mind, but before I could ask them, my father jerked his head in the direction of where David was standing in the doorway of the shack. “I assumehe’sthe father?”

I bowed my head. A moment ago, my father’s tone had been overjoyed at finding me, but as he said the last part, it was impossible to miss the disappointment in his voice.

“We’ll discuss everything once we get to the hospital, and the doctor confirms you’re okay,” Dad said, even as a team of paramedics rushed past me with a stretcher for David.

“Is he okay?” I asked, turning back towards the shack, but my dad took hold of my wrist, and started dragging me towards the helicopter.

Not wanting to cause a scene at a time like this, and knowing the paramedics were taking care of David anyway, I followed my dad into the waiting helicopter.

Dad helped me into a seat inside the helicopter, and then a moment later the paramedics carried in the stretcher, and I was shocked to see David was unconscious.

“What’s happened to him?” I asked the closest paramedic.

“His temperature is almost 100 degrees. We suspect his wound is infected and his body is temporarily shutting down.”

“But he’ll be okay? You can save him, right?” I asked desperately, tears rolling down my cheeks.

This couldn’t be happening. We were so close to rescue. I couldn’t lose David now.

Dad wrapped his arms around me, turning me away from David’s unconscious body, as the helicopter started to ascend.

Thankfully the journey to the hospital was quick, but the moment the helicopter landed, David and I were separated. David was whisked off to surgery, while I was given a wheelchair and taken to the maternity unit to be checked over.

Dad walked by my side as a nurse wheeled me to the maternity unit, and I looked up at him with tears in my eyes.

“What happened with the Bloodline? Is Joseph alive? Does Mom know what’s happening?”

“Your mother is on the way here. Your brother is in intensive care. They’re not sure if he will ever wake up,” Dad said in a flat, emotionless voice. “Hernández was killed by one of Jeffrey’s snipers. The rest of the Bloodline are in police custody.”

I was relieved to know Hernández was dead, and the Bloodline were in custody, but the news about my brother caused new questions to appear in my mind. What had happened to him?

I’d have to wait to find out more about Joseph, because right now, my focus was finding out if my baby was okay.

Once we reached the maternity unit, I was quickly taken to a private room, where I was given an ultrasound, and for the first time ever, I saw my baby.

“From the size of the fetus you’re about eight weeks pregnant,” the sonographer told me.

That lined up with the first time David and I had had sex, meaning the whole time we’d been together at the cabin, I was already pregnant with our child – only we hadn’t known.

In a weird sort of way, being forced into hiding had actually worked out well for me and David. It had given us time to get to know each other, grow close and eventually fall in love. Now, there was no doubt in my mind that we’d stay together to raise our child. But the outcome might have beenverydifferent if we’d never gone into hiding and I’d found out about the pregnancy earlier. Before going to the cabin, my life had still revolved around shopping and partying. If my priorities hadn’t changed, who knew if I’d have wanted to become a mother at twenty-five. And, if David hadn’t gotten to know therealme, who knew if he’d have wanted to raise a child with me.

But I supposed none of that really mattered now. We loved each other, and from what the sonographer was telling me, our baby was perfectly healthy and developing as it should. Soon, David would be out of surgery, and we could begin the rest of our lives together.

---