Page 100 of Psychotic Obsession
Ewan walks ahead to open the door for us, and I spot the stick figures of me, Jason, and Ewan tattooed on his calf, making me smile. "After you," he says with a hand gesture, smiling. They wheel me into the room, helping me up onto the chair as the midwife greets us and sits down, powering up her computer.
I'm nervous; although Gabriella said the baby wasn't harmed, I won't fully believe it until I hear those words from the midwife's mouth.
"Okay," she begins, clasping her hands. "First off, how are you feeling?" I shrug a little, giving her a tight smile. "The good thing is, the uterus wasn't punctured on impact, and when we scanned you, there were no issues. You were unconscious before, so we wanted to speak to you in person. Everything looked perfectly healthy." She pauses for a moment. “I do apologize, but in the previous scan you had, not everything was detected," she says, looking from us to the computer again. "You’re a little further along, so we were able to get a better look this time.”
Ewan and I look at each other, my heart racing, synchronized beats throbbing in our laced hands.
The doctor smiles. "You're having twins."
Chapter 43
Aria
Ifeel the sweat running down my back, the thump of my heart rattlingmy chest. My hands shake as I sign off on the statement for the investigators. Four hours of questioning, repeating myself, crying, and allowing them to talk down to me about my relationship with Tobias, I eventually ask to be excused, my lawyer agreeing as he locks his briefcase next to me.
Tobias is now being charged with assault against Ewan, theft, breach of prison, and not two murders, butthree. I disclosed the whereabouts of the worker’s body and sent the officers to the lodge that was burned to a crisp, the body along with it.
If not for the worker's dental records, they'd never have been able to identify him. Justin is being charged with attempted murder against me and my babies, but both of them are ghosts in the night, vanished from the streets, spotted rarely over the past few weeks.
My car was found near the shack, and a trail of footprints was traced to a nearby motorway, where it ends. All my wheels were punctured, my windows smashed, my phone, purse, and any money I had gone.
For apparently being rich, Tobias robbed me of everything. My bank was emptied, all my accounts at null. That's a separateissue being dealt with. A random man was seen at an ATM at the border of Scotland and England, lifting as much as possible from my bank. Justin, a day later, maxed out my credit card at the same bank machine.
I haven’t even bothered to get a new phone. I'm happy with using Ewan’s old one and having the people around me I need.
Ewan offered to pay my half of the rent, and to be honest, I couldn't refuse him. My parents would never help, so I wouldn't lower myself to even ask. He has been my saving grace, driving me to work when the police escorts forget, hiding me from news reporters, staying over when Gabriella has a late shift, chatting on the phone with me in the middle of the night when I can't sleep.
"We will be in contact, Aria," the investigator says, raising his eyebrows at me and folding up his paperwork. "We will have a patrol car outside your house. I know you get escorts to work and back, but we can't take any chances of them coming after you. I believe Tobias Mitchell will strike when we least expect him to."
I nod once, feeling the tingles run up my spine, my nerves still shattered from the way they spoke to me. I think I might burst out crying as soon as we walk out of this room. "Thank you," I reply, making my way down the narrow hallway and out of the police station to the busy main road.
"Oh, and congratulations on the news," my lawyer announces behind me, tilting his head down. "I'll let you know what happens next and just...be safe." He walks away, giving me a tight smile mirroring my own.
I'm still a bit sore, but the doctors were happy to discharge me the second week, giving me strict orders to rest but not stay in bed. After plenty of relaxing, I wanted to get back to normal and feel somewhat useful.
I see Ewan pull into the parking lot after ten minutes of waiting in the snow, and I feel all the butterflies replace thetwisting tension in my gut. It's ridiculous that I can even feel this way, considering I've been with him every day for the last three weeks.
He knows what happened.
And for some reason, he’s still here.
The four of us have been kind of inseparable. Gabs, Ewan, Jason, and I all binge movies and series while the school is off for their break. The dogs have loved sleeping in my bed, curling up at my feet every night.
I've not heard a single word from Tobias, and I'm ashamed to admit I intentionally didn't block him from my phone for a week so I can contact him if I need to. But my better judgement has finally kicked my ass and made me see sense: I have no reason to speak to him. I mean, he told Justin to kill me, which could have killed his own babies.
Our twins.
It took me nearly a week to even talk about the fact that I'm having twins, and Ewan had to speak to my parents for me because they went crazy, calling me irresponsible. My mom even went as far as calling me an idiot for wanting to keep them. She’s adamant I should abort them and move on with my life.
But they are my life. She can stay away from us.
To say Ewan lost his cool is an understatement, but whatever he said worked. I received a long apology message sent to Gabriella's phone, my mom asking for my forgiveness.
I haven’t replied.
My head is all over the place, but I know the way I feel as soon as I sit in the car, Ewan's hand in mine while he asks me how it went. It’s something I need. Wanting something the way I craved Tobias and his wicked ways somehow dominated what I actually needed, and I need myself more than anything. My babies need a healthy, safe, and above all, sane mother.
"Jason wants to stay with Francis tonight. Gabriella is off work, so do you still need me to come over?"
