Six reviews for the last chapter. I am in shock. I also noticed thata few new readers have picked up on the story. That's great. The ideas are flowing faster than I can get them down and so here's another chapter for y'all. Enjoy.

Chapter 52

Testing the limits of her car Sky floored the gas and watched the speedometer race towards 120mph. Her thoughts were on the two precious little boys and their mother. Vince held on tight to the door as she zigzagged in and out of traffic. The laser radar detector and scanner told her the route was clear. The trip usually took around an hour, but she had made it in half the time.

They could hear Lois screaming as soon as they stepped out of the car. Vince wasted no time and kicked the door in. He was unprepared for the scene he rushed into. Leon's dad, Frank, stood in the middle of the room with knife in his hand covered in blood. At his feet, Lois lay with multiple stab wounds begging for her life. Vince rushed at Frank knocking him to the ground. Sky rushed to Lois's side and pulled her out of the house to safety. Seeing that Vince had Frank pinned to the floor she began to search for the boys, "Nicholas, Caleb where are you? Boys come out, it's ok." She began to panic when there was no answer from the boys.

An evil laugh came from Frank, "Them boys done met their maker. All you're gonna find is bodies."

"Shut the fuck up you sick freak." She ran back to the bedroom the boys shared hoping to find them alive. "Oh my God," she screamed upon entering the room. Caleb and Nicholas lie motionless on the floor; their bodies black and blue. Her hands shook as she reached out to touch the boys. She put her ear to Caleb's tiny face and heard the gentle sounds of his breath. He was alive. "Caleb baby open your eyes for Sky. No one is going to hurt you. Just please open your eyes." His eyelids parted slightly and the bright green eyes shown through the swelling and bruises. "Good boy. Now I need you to lie still until help gets here. It'll be real soon I promise."

She moved over to Nicholas and checked for breath. He was also breathing. "Hey Nicky can you hear me?"

"Daddy hit me."

"I know Nicky. Daddy isn't going to hurt you anymore. Everything's going to be ok." Sky took out her cellphone and dialed 911.

The operator answered the call, "911, what's your emergency?"

In that moment Sky knew what it must have been like for Leon to make the call the night her father shot her, "Yes I need an ambulance. A woman has been stabbed and her two sons beaten." Her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the boys. She had sworn to protect them and had failed. They laid before her battered and broken.

With Frank tied securely to a chair, Vince began to work on Lois. She was covered in blood, but able to breathe on her own. He applied pressure to as many on the wounds as he could. In the distance he heard the sirens approaching. Two ambulances and police sped into the driveway. A crew ran over to stabilize Lois and Vince directed the other crew to the boys' bedroom.

An EMS crew rushed in the room and went to work on the boys. When the crew began to work on them, the boys started screaming. It was all Sky could do to keep from rushing and pulling them into her arms. She wanted to take their pain from them. They were innocent victims caught in a situation that was beyond control. The crew loaded the boys onto stretchers and rushed them into waiting ambulances.

Vince grabbed Sky's keys and motioned her to the car, "Call Jess and have him go find Leon. He needs to know now."

"I should have told him sooner. Maybe things would've been different."

"We don't have time for you to second guess yourself. Make the call."

Sky nervously punched the keys on her phone. Within a few rings Jesse answered, "Hey."

"Jess this is Sky. Is Leon back at the house?"

"Nah, haven't seen him. What'd ya need?"

"A big huge favor, I need you to find him and tell him to get to Loma Linda Medical Center as soon as humanly possible."

"Medical center? Are you alright? Did you have an accident?"

"I'll explain it all to you later just please find him for me."

"I'm on it. I promise I won't let you down."

"Thanks Jesse." She hung up the phone and stared out into the dark night through the passenger window. The image of the boys lying on the floor burned in her mind. The lights of the hospital shown in the distance, the closer they got the faster her heart beat. Vince whipped the car into the lot and killed the engine. "V I need you to stay here in this emergency room and keep tabs on Lois's condition. I'm going to the Children's Hospital with boys. Page me over the intercom if there are any problems."

"Gotcha, now get going."

The boys were screaming and struggling with the doctors when she arrived in the Children's emergency room triage. The nurses asked her to help calm the boys so tests could be performed to discover the extent of their injuries. She took turns talking to the boys promising them everything from ice cream to a big TV if they'd lie still for the doctors. Once the tests were performed the doctor took her into a room in the back to discuss the boys' conditions.

"The younger boy Caleb sustained a skull fracture as well as a small fracture of his left cheek. Both will heal without much treatment, you will need to of course take extra precautions to avoid possible re-injury. Nicholas has a broken arm and concussion. The arm is being casted as we speak. I want to keep both boys overnight for observation and will release them in the morning if they continue to be stable."

"Do you expect this to affect them in any way in the future?"

"I believe they both will recover fully and not have any residual effects from the injuries."

"Thank you so much. Can I stay with them tonight?"

"By all means, they will be placed in the same room and we encourage at least one family member to stay with such young children. Those boys have been through a significant trauma and it would be in their best interest to have a consistent caregiver along with counseling."

"I will do my best to make sure they are kept out of harm's way."

The doctor led her to the casting room where Nicholas was in the process of getting his cast. A nurse brought Caleb to her so that they could all be together. Caleb snuggled up in her arms and played with the ends of her hair just as Leon would do.

Jess knew right where to look for Leon. There was a club on the Strip where Leon would go to listen to new bands. He knew there was no use calling him on the phone since the club was loud and Leon would never answer. Instead he parked the Jetta near the Skyline and went inside. In a dark corner he spotted Leon chatting with a few guys. "Leon," Jess yelled over the noise of the crowd and the shredding guitar.

"Get on over here." Leon waved Jess over.

"Look man I got a call from Sky and she was really upset."

Concern washed over his face, "What happened?"

"All she said was that you needed to get to Loma Linda Med Center right away."

"Is she hurt?"

"She wouldn't tell me what was going on."

"Damn it. Look go back to the house and let Dom know that something's up. I'll call the house once I get down there and figure what the hell's going on." Leon bolted out of the club and raced towards I-10.

The hospital lot was empty except for a few cars. He spotted Sky's blue 3000GT parked near the entrance. He parked his car next to it. The first thing to catch his attention was the blood on the door handle.Shock shot down his spine as the automatic doors to the ER opened. The cool air of the ER greeted him as he walked up to the counter, "Ma'am I'm looking for…" Leon was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find Vince standing in front of him covered in blood. "Where is Sky?"

"This isn't her blood, brother. Come over here and I'll fill you in." Vince motioned toward the waiting area. He followed Leon over to a set of chairs and took a seat. "Now before I tell you all of this you need to understand she had her reasons for doing what she did."

"I don't think I like where this is going?"

"Just listen and don't overreact. About a month ago Sky had a friend of hers find your mom." Vince paused to give Leon a chance to get over the shock then began to speak again. "Your mom was living under another name in Arizona with your dad."

"What? What the fuck? She took that motherfucker back after all that shit he did to her." Leon jumped from his seat and stomped around looking to punch something.

"Sit your ass down and let me finish."

"More good news I guess." Leon sat back down and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"They had two more boys together. Sky was trying to get your mom to leave your dad. Sky convinced her to move to San Bernardino, but your dad found her again and she let him move back in. Then tonight she called Sky and told her that your dad had beaten the boys. She wanted Sky to come get them and take them back to LA with her."

"Did she get them? Why are you here at the hospital covered in blood?"

"This is your mom's blood. He stabbed her before we got there. She's in surgery."

Nicholas fell fast asleep in the crib; Caleb on the other hand held a tight grip on Sky's hair and refused to let go. She sat in the rocking chair trying to soothe him to sleep. She ran her fingers through his wavy brown hair and softly sang him a lullaby. The door to the room crept open and Sky assumed it was the nurse coming to do her rounds, but instead Leon walked into the room.

She began to apologize immediately for keeping secrets from him, "I completely understand if you hate me. I should've told you."

Leon put his finger to her mouth to stop her from speaking, "You did the right thing this time. I'd be up for first degree murder if you had told me." He kissed her on the forehead and looked down at the baby lying in her arms holding onto her. "He likes your hair too. I don't know if I can share you with him." Leon looked into the barely open eyes of the Caleb, "You just remember that she's mine."

Caleb smiled wide, "she mine."