AJ and Marcus flew through the hospital doors as fast as they could. AJ spotted his mother sitting in a chair with a somber look on her face, rocking Arianna. She looked like she had been crying. He ran over to her.
"Mom, what's going on? Is she okay? What happened?" He demanded, taking Arianna from her and kissing the baby on the forehead.
"I don't know. All I did was go to the store because Dawn was too tired to go, I told her to get some rest. When I came back I found her unconscious and bloody lying on the floor in the bedroom,” she began to cry.
"Why did you leave her alone, Mom??!" AJ raised his voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I really thought everything would be okay".
"Calm down,” Marcus said. "It's not her fault".
AJ let out a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry,” he said, turning to his mother. "I'm the one to blame. I should've made the house more secure".
He looked down at Arianna sleeping peacefully in his arms and thanked God she was too young to understand what was going on.
"You couldn't possibly have made the house more secure, Alex. You have a security system, locks on all the windows and doors.....the policemen said there was no sign of forced entry", Denise offered.
"That son of a bitch,” AJ said aloud. "Was Arianna in the house when this happened?"
"Yes, she was sleeping," Denise answered.
"I'm gonna kill him,” he growled.
"Has anyone said anything about how she is?" He asked, looking up at his mother.
"No, not yet, honey,” Denise replied, putting her arm around her son as he sat down next to her.
"Mom", he began, looking down at Arianna. "You said you couldn't find her pulse," his voice trailed off as tears started to fall down his face.
"I don't know if I was doing it right," she tried to comfort him. "I had so much going through my head at that moment. I had the 911 operator on the phone, Arianna was crying, Dawn was lying on the floor....."
"I can't lose her, Mom. She's my soul, my best friend...."
"I know", she whispered, kissing his forehead. "I know".
A doctor walked out of the doors and started towards them. AJ handed Arianna to his mother and jumped out of his chair, praying he had news on Dawn.
"Are you Ms. Simon's family?" The doctor asked him as he neared.
"Yes, I'm her fiance’,” AJ replied. "How is she? Please tell me she's okay".
"Why don't we sit down,” the doctor suggested.
"I don't want to sit down, I want you to tell me how my fiancee is!" AJ yelled at him.
"Okay,” he began. “When she was brought in, she was barely alive. Her pulse was very faint".
AJ looked at him with big eyes, he wished the doctor would just tell him that Dawn was okay.
"We were able to get her stabalized. She had severe internal bleeding. That's what took so long, we had a hard time getting it to stop. She has a couple broken ribs, her face is pretty tore up".
"But she's okay?" AJ cut him off.
"She's still unconscious, she hasn't woken up yet, but we do believe that she will make a full recovery."
"Why does that not sound as positive as it should?" AJ asked.
"Mr. McLean, like I said, she had severe internal bleeding. We found everything we possibly could, but sometimes, things can be missed. We’ll closely monitor her for the next few days".
"What do you mean, "things can be missed"...what the hell kind of hospital is this?? If you guys can't do your jobs, I want her transferred to a hospital that actually has competent doctors!" He yelled.
"Honey, they're doing all they can. Calm down,” Denise pleaded.
"There is one more thing you need to know," the doctor added.
"What's that?" They all looked at him.
"In doing the examination, we did discover that there were signs of recent sexual intercourse. We have reason to believe that she was also raped."
AJ looked at his mother, then at the doctor. He didn't know what to say.
"Oh my god," he said, putting his face in his hands and turning his back to them. "Can I see her?" He asked, turning back to the doctor.
“You can see her, but remember, she’s still unconscious”.
AJ wasted no time, he followed the doctor to Dawn’s room. He walked in quietly and saw her laying in the bed. He walked over and sat on the bed next to her. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Both of her eyes were swollen, her face was badly bruised, she had a split lip and there were bruises all over her arms.
“My god,” he said, under his breath. “What did he do to you?” He took her limp hand in his.
He moved closer and stroked her hair lightly, he leaned forward, gently kissing her on the cheek.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you,” he whispered in her ear.
Tears started to roll down his cheeks. He couldn’t help but feel that this was all his fault. Had he been there, Anthony would’ve never done this.
“I know he did this, and I’m gonna make sure he never hurts you again,” he promised, getting up and walking out of the room.
He didn’t go back to the waiting room, he couldn’t. He didn’t want his mother to know where he was going. He especially couldn’t tell Marcus. He headed out the back entrance towards his car.
He pulled onto Anthony’s street. He turned off his lights and parked in the street, far enough away so Anthony wouldn’t notice anything. Anthony’s car was in the driveway. He got out of the car and walked up to the door. He knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. No one came to the door, he knocked again. Just as he was about to walk around to the front door, Anthony answered the door. “What do you want,” he growled.
When AJ turned around and saw him, something snapped inside of him. He ran back up the steps and pushed Anthony as hard as he could into the house, he hit the floor. AJ closed the door behind him. Anthony got up off the floor.
“You son of a bitch!” AJ said, punching him as hard as he could. “What the hell did you do to her???” He yelled and punched him again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been here the whole night!”
“I didn’t say anything about tonight, did I?” AJ yelled, taking another swing at him, this time he missed. Anthony’s punch hit AJ in the mouth.
“Oh, and I thought you just liked beating up women, you wimp,” AJ continued.
“That tramp deserved everything she got,” Anthony shot back at him, wiping the blood from his lip.
AJ felt the rage take over his body. He couldn’t stop it. He turned and punched Anthony as hard as he possibly could. He fell against a mirror, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. After Anthony hit the floor, AJ got on top of him and continued to hit him. When Anthony stopped struggling, AJ got up.
“How does it feel??” He yelled, “Huh??! How does it feel, you bastard! Get up!!” He demanded. “Come on, take your shots at me now,” but Anthony didn’t get up. He just lay on the ground moaning.
AJ knelt down next to Anthony and picked his head up by his hair.
“If I EVER see you, hear you, or even so much as SMELL you anywhere near my house, my fiance’, my daughter, or anyone else that’s even REMOTELY associated with me, ever again. I will kill you myself. You got that?”
Anthony didn’t reply, he was barely conscious. AJ dropped Anthony’s head on the floor. He started to walk away, but he turned and kicked him in the stomach.
“That’s from Dawn,” he said as he walked out the door.


THE END

Read the sequel 'Put to the Test'
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