Page 29 of Until Waverly

The idea she was scared and isolated, pregnant while going to school and working for the hospital, sat wrong with me. She never had to be by herself. I’d have been there for her. I was in awe of her and wanted to paddle her behind for being so damn stubborn.

We stopped outside one of the medical building offices around the side of the hospital and away from media. The officer opened the door when Cobi flashed his badge. Inside, we were led to a room near to where the officers had been posted. Within the space, a woman stood at the front of the room, wearing a tactical uniform surrounded by three other men. In her hand was a hospital cup. Steam rose in white tendrils toward the ceiling. It looked more like a prop than it did something for her to drink. To relax the people she was about to talk to.

I stepped into the area and took a seat somewhere in the middle, not sure what was about to be said or if I wanted to hear it. All my family joined us. They gathered around me, putting me at their center. The resentful side of me didn’t want them to rally around me, while the exhausted part of my psyche needed them there. I stared straight ahead, not wanting to engage with anyone until I was sure what was about to happen and if Waverly and my daughter would be safe.

“Good evening, everyone,” the woman said, once the door was closed. “My name is Detective Ava St. James. I’m one of the negotiators for the Police Crisis Team. I’ll be running this operation until we have a resolution. We have eyes on the Labor and Delivery floor. Everyone is safe and accounted for. The next few hours will determine if our subject surrenders on his own or if we must use force. I prefer the first option. First, allow me to explain what has been happening since our arrival.”

The nervous roll of my stomach had me wrapping my arm around my middle. There was no telling what’d gone on in that hospital since the asshole stepped onto the Labor and Delivery floor. I grimaced, thinking about what it must have been like inside the hospital. Worry for Waverly and Alandria consumed me.

A baby girl. Fuck. I needed to focus on what the detective was saying.

“We know the suspect’s wife was in a severe accident yesterday evening during rush hour traffic. She was brought here via Med-Vac, and within minutes of touchdown, her son was born. The suspect of this lockdown arrived an hour later and a confrontation occurred. As of now, that’s all we can say, except that everyone is in good condition within the hospital. Those patients in the most critical of condition have been transported away from the scene. As of fifteen minutes ago, we are coming up on the twenty-four-hour mark of this hostage situation.”

“When will this operation be starting?” Mack asked the question I couldn’t push past my lips. I was numb and reeling from what had happened.

“As soon as this meeting is over. As of this moment, my team is moving into place. We have all night to complete the mission. However, I am hopeful once the suspect understands there isn’t anywhere for him to go and his demands, though reasonable for someone who is grieving, can’t be met, he’ll let the floor go.”

“You’re pretty confident,” I said, not even sure how I’d found my voice. “Some of us have family and children in that hospital. You’re leaving an awful lot up to chance.”

Detective St. James’s sable-colored eyes softened a fraction. “I understand your hesitation, Mr.—?”

“Banks. I’m Jackson Banks.”

“Mr. Banks,” she said. “From our original intel, the man only wants his son and his wife. One has passed, and the other is in a critical state. Neither can be seen. Also, he’s on the wrong floor, from what I’ve been told, to be with his son. He’s frantic, grieving, and lost. I believe we can talk him out without incident.”

Still there was so much they didn’t have answers for. “This is crazy.” I ran my fingers through my hair while my knee bounced.

“We are going to do the best to save your family members. Our teams drill for situations like these regularly. I went through training to become a hostage negotiator as well. I have ten years’ service within the Crisis Team division, and I have been a detective with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department for twenty years. All of us on this team are focused and dedicated to the reunification of family members.” She glanced around the room at those who’d been gathered by the side of the hospital like us. “If there aren’t any further questions, we’re going to end this meeting. The operation will begin in fifteen minutes. We ask you to refrain from using your cell phones or talking to the media for the foreseeable future. We will make contact again when the suspect has been apprehended.”

Cobi led us out of the building and to a different staging area, this time a suitable distance away from the hospital. My gut clenched and churned. The sense of being out of control washed over me. There was nothing I could do to help Waverly, and even if I tried—I was no John McClane—I’d end up causing more damage than good.

So, I paced.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I focused on the four-month-old baby inside the hospital. I wondered who she looked like, me or Waverly. Did she have my red hair and green eyes? Or did she have pretty, curly chestnut hair like her mother and blue eyes? I also thought about everything Waverly had been through since finding out she was pregnant. How afraid she must have been. How alone the pregnancy must have been for Waverly.

“Hey,” Ireland said, coming up beside me. “How are you doing?”

I grunted. “Feels like I’m being pulled inside out through my ass.” Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I exhaled. “I’m sorry for earlier.”

“Don’t even think about it,” she murmured. “I’m shocked, Jackson.”

“Makes two of us. Looks like we’re light-years ahead of Landon and Hunter.” My bottom lip was trembling as I tried to land the soft joke. “I didn’t know, Ire. I would have manned up. Married her. I would have been there.” I forced the lump of emotion down. “I’d already bought a ring. That’s how sure of us I was.”

“Jackson,” Ireland gasped. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I had this idea of how I wanted to do things.” I shrugged. “I got caught up in the whole aesthetic of being ‘romantic.’ She was it for me.”

“You keep talking in the past. Are you saying you don’t want to try again?”

Million-dollar question, wasn’t it? Did I want to put my heart on the line for Waverly? As much as I understood her reasoning, I also couldn’t. Contrary, right? She’d kept my child from me. From my daughter’s conception to four months old, I’d gone about my life, oblivious to what was going on with her. I wondered if something hadn’t happened at the hospital if Waverly would have ever told me the truth. Or would she allow her family to continue believing the worst about me? “I can’t say.”

“Being pregnant fucks with a woman’s brain,” Ireland said. “I understand her. I’m chemically altered, Jackson. Between growing a whole fucking human being to the hormonal changes, our DNA is forever messed up. I’m not condoning what Waverly did to you. I am furious with her too. She kept us all away from her. But I also understand her. She did what she thought was right.”

“For her. Not for me,” I stated, shocked by my sister’s answer.

“Can you honestly say you wouldn’t have pressured her into doing something she might not be ready for?” Ireland arched a brow. “Sounds like you had found your path and would have pushed for the finish line, even if Waverly was bruised and battered by the road along the way.”

My sister had a point. One I couldn’t deny. “Fuck.”

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