Page 13 of Covering Her Six

“She has a broken wrist, a broken nose, and a fractured rib, and we’re doing everything we can to make her comfortable. I will send someone out as soon as she’s stable, and you can see her.” He spins on his heel and disappears back into the room where Luna is.

“Oh goodness,” Adaline cries, her shoulders racking with her sobs. “I only left for a few minutes, Les.”

“She’ll be all right, sweetheart.” Leslie kisses the top of her head. “She’s been through worse.” And that’s the sickening part. Shehasbeen through worse, but I refuse to consider herlucky. The bastard shouldn’t have laid his hands on her at all. I take a step away from Luna’s parents, pulling a shaky hand through my hair. I reach for my phone, and dial Jason’s number.

“Hey, Aid—”

“I need you to find someone for me,” I interrupt. “I don’t have time to explain but Luna was attacked in her parents’ house, and we’re at the hospital. I need you to find what you can on Brantley Montgomery,” I rattle on his address, “and search for anything that might be sealed. Him and Luna settled out of court when they got divorced, and I know it’s because he's a criminal defense attorney and didn’t want the press involved.”

“Got it,” Jason replies. “I’m going to call Devon; he’ll be able to help. How deep do you want me to go?”

I glance over at Leslie and Adaline, at how worried they look. “As deep as you can,” I reply. “I’ve done my own search, you’ll find the file in my office at the bar, on the locked drawer — you know where the key is — but I didn’t have a chance to go dig properly.” I didn’t want to have to dig, knowing Luna would have hated it, but my curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to put a face to the name of the man who so brutally beat my Luna. And it made me ill, reading what I was able to find.

“I’ll call you once we have something,” he says. “Keep me updated, yeah?”

“Thanks, Jas. I’ll check in later.” I say goodbye and walk back over to Leslie and Adaline. I share a look with Leslie, who scowls at me. I don’t know why until he growls, “She’s pregnant? That why you propose?”

“This is news to me too,” I reply, trying to stay calm. “We had no idea, if we did, we would have mentioned it sooner, don’t you think?”

“No fighting,” Adaline chastises us. “Not in the damn hospital, please. Just be grateful she’s okay, and that the babies are too.” She’s right of course, and Iamglad Luna will be okay, but fuck me, a baby? Wait, he saidbabies.As in plural. I blow out a harsh breath and wipe my hand down my face. “You need to call the police,” Adaline says quietly. “It could only have beenhim.” She shares a look with her husband, and he nods. He walks towards the waiting room, and makes a call while Adaline takes a seat outside Luna’s room. I drop into the seat beside her and lean forward. my head snaps to the side when I feel Adaline cool fingers touch my hand. She clasps her small hand around my much larger one and gives it a squeeze. “I swear I didn’t know,” I tell her. “Luna didn’t either. We wouldn’t keep something like that from you.”

She sighs. “I know, Aiden. Leslie’s just upset, we’ve been down this road too many times and just when we thought it was over for good…” she shakes her head. “I can’t believe he got to her. Again.”

“He’ll pay,” I reassure her. Shouting from the waiting area garners my attention, and I see Leslie losing his shit with a young beat cop. “I’ll be right back,” I tell Adaline. I stand and walk over to Leslie.

“Officer, what’s the problem?” I ask, looking between the young guy and Leslie.

“I was explaining to Mr. Jones that unless we get a statement from Miss Jones, we can’t apprehend Mr. Montgomery.” He’s not wrong, but the inflection in his voice when he says Brantley’s name gives me pause. I lean in close, making sure Leslie hears me too. “You’re on his fucking payroll, aren’t you?” The young cop’s eyes widen, and when he stutters, I invade his space. “You’d better do something, before I do. Tell your captain that he’d better get Brantley Montgomery in for interrogation or Master Chief West will be finding him, and if I lay my hands on him,” I grip the young cop’s shirt, “I will kill him.” I shove the young cop back, and he scrambles, running out of the hospital and straight to his squad car.

“Punk,” I mutter under my breath. I turn to Leslie, whose expression is still one of anger.

“They’ll find him, Leslie. But right now, you need to be there for your wife.”

He grunts, and I follow him back to where Adaline was sitting. Leslie pokes his head into Luna’s room and finds Adaline standing next to Luna’s bed. I give them some privacy and wait outside. Luna’s pregnant?

There’s no way she wouldn’t have told me if she knew. and now her father probably thinks we’re having a shotgun wedding, or that I only proposed because Luna’s expecting my child. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I hang my head and press my palms to my neck. Talk about a family trip gone wrong. And two days before Christmas too. I let out a breath, startled out of my thoughts when Adaline touches my arm. “She’s not awake yet.” Her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. “But maybe if she heard your voice…” She trails off, and all I can do is nod. I stand, take a deep breath, and pass Leslie and Adaline on the way into Luna’s room. With her wrist in a cast, resting across her abdomen, Luna’s still unconscious, and with a bit of time. More of her bruises have become visible. I clench my fist at the sight of her. At the audacity of that piece of shit ex-husband of hers who dared touch her. I take in a calming breath, and step beside Luna’s bed, dropping into the chair, and sliding it closer to her bed. I take her hand in mine and unfurl her fingers to place it against my cheek.

“Come on,” I whisper. “I know you can hear me, babe. Please, open your eyes.” The doctor couldn’t give us a timeline on when Luna may wake up, and that’s going to drive me crazy. I press my fingers to her wrist, sighing in relief when I feel her pulse. She’s still with us, thank God. I lift the blanket and slip my hand over her abdomen. We’ve spoken about kids, of course we have, but I was worried about what would happen if she fell pregnant too soon. We haven’t been using condoms for a while, and Luna is on the pill, but even I know it’s not fool-proof. I imagine a little girl with Luna’s wild hair, and my eyes, and a little boy who looks like me, but has Luna’s eyes, and my chest constricts. Twins. Jesus.

“You have to wake up, Luna,” I plead, hearing the crack in my voice. Maybe if I say it enough times, she’ll open those beautiful brown eyes, and give me that heart stopping smile. I rub her hand against my face, my eyes closed. I savor her warmth, her touch — my eyes fly open when her hand moves on its own, her fingers brushing my skin. I stand and lean over her without crowding her. “I’m here, baby. I’m right here.”

Chapter Eight: Bruises & Babies

Luna

I try and swallow, but it feels as though someone has shoved a wooly sock down my throat. I blink my eyes open, only to wince under the fluorescent lighting.

A quiet voice whispers, “Luna, honey. It’s Mom.”

I turn my head in the direction of the voice, and make a second attempt at opening my eyes, my mom’s slight frame a blurry sight.

“Where a-am I,” I croak out, my throat burning. My body hurts, and the bed I’m in is far from comfortable.

“You’re in the hospital, baby,” comes Dad’s deep voice. He’s standing next to Mom, his arm wrapped around her shoulder. I swallow, and mutter, “Water. Please.”

I hear the water being poured, and then feel a warm hand grip my neck. Aiden’s scent hits me, and I turn my head towards him. My warmth. My light. My eyes flick open, and Aiden’s smile is tentative. “There she is,” he murmurs. “I’m going to lift you a little so you can have some water, okay.” I nod. He holds my neck and brings the glass of water to my lips. Thankfully there’s a straw. I sip the water, the cool liquid a balm to my parched throat. He lays me back down, and I breathe out through my nose. “What happened?”

My vision is still a little blurry, but I can see Mom and Dad, and of course, Aiden.

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