Page 120 of Malachi
My eyes scanned the room, taking in the group of us.
One by one, each of my siblings and their wives had made themselves comfortable in the living room. All except for Talia and Zeke. They were being kept overnight at the hospital in St. George for observation in the maternity ward. I grabbed my cell from my back pocket, having taken it back from Eden earlier.
Four missed calls from Zeke.
“Shit,” I muttered quietly, lifting the phone to my ear as I pressed play on the first of four voicemails.
What is it?” Levi asked. I held a finger up, listening intently to message after message.
“Is it Zeke?” Delilah asked quietly. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen her so withdrawn, but it was no wonder. Our women had been absolute beasts over the last few hours, and every one of us was still hanging on edge, worried for Talia and Zeke.
“Yeah, that was Zeke.
“Is Talia okay?” Ruth asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
The silence in the room was near deafening as I listened to the message.
“Thank fuck,” I groaned, physically slumping over in my seat with blessed relief. “She’s okay. The baby is okay. The doctors said that the stress of all of this caused bleeding, but she’s in the clear now. They are going to keep her overnight, like we all thought, and should release her in the morning, barring any complication.”
Gideon broke down into tears, sitting on the floor. Naomi pulled him into her body, holding him close as he wept. Healing was going to be an incredibly long and grueling journey, but it was one we could finally begin.
“I feel like I have a million questions, but I don’t know if tonight is the night to talk about them,” Delilah sighed, resting her head against Ollie’s shoulder.
“I’m exhausted, but I also feel like I won’t be able to sleep without doing at least some processing after all of this,” Ruth answered honestly. She had a point there. I needed to process a little if I was going to find enough peace to sleep. In truth, regardless of how exhausted I felt, sleep seemed a long way off.
“Where do we even begin?” Levi asked, his fingers interlocked with Ruth as the two used each other for not only emotional but physical support.
“I thought you were dead,” Ruth muttered through tears.
“Who? Levi?” Ollie asked.
“Not just him. All of you.” She pressed her lips together, attempting to stave off her tears, but it was a failing effort as the tears ran down her cheeks rapidly.
“Why would you think that, love?” Levi asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“Because that’s whathehad said. He told us we were all widows,” Eden admitted. Her tone of voice worried me, sounding distant and unemotional. She was still in shock.
“That’s not all he said,” Naomi added quietly. “He told us you were all dead, and that we would join you soon.” I knew my brothers were right there with me, feeling rage still bubbling under the surface. It didn’t matter that the motherfucker was dead. I wasn’t sure it would ever be enough.
“We are all okay, love. Just focus on that. Remember that,” Levi urged Ruth, rubbing his hand up and down the length of her arm.
“I thought you were all dead,” Eden muttered beside me.
“Yeah, that’s what Naomi just said,” I reminded her gently.
“No, not just you boys. All of you,” she breathed out, completely emotionless.
“Wait, what?” Delilah questioned in confusion.
“When I ran. And then he followed. And I was certain you were all dead. Every one of you.”
“Oh, Eden,” Ruth sighed with so much emotion.
“He shot at Ruth, and then I heard more shots, and I couldn’t think straight and so I ran and —” she began to ramble.
“Why did you run?” Naomi asked. There was no judgment or anger in her voice, only curiosity.
“All I could think of was that our husbands were dead, that you all were dead, and I couldn’t just let him win. I had to try to get help, even if it killed me. So I ran for the bunker because…” she trailed off, her words going quiet until they puttered out into pure silence.
