All familiar characters are Janet's. Only Olive and the mistakes are mine.
"It's okay, Babe," I whispered into Stephanie's ear fifteen minutes later, hoping not to disturb Olivia who my wife was curled around in our big bed.
Steph is wide awake, but her body remained completely still. Today Mama clearly needed Baby more than our Daughter required her Mommy's attention. If you look close enough, which I always do, you can see the barest hint of a smile twitching Olive's lips. The vibration from the almost-silent song-humming her Mama had been doing before I walked in, I suspect, put the sleep-grin there.
"Raphael just called the control room for a ride back to the building," I was relieved to inform Steph.
It's probably cruel to tell her that while our daughter is asleep beside her, but I don't want her worrying a second longer than necessary. If my ladies are in this bedroom, I'd guess it took extra effort from a worried Steph to get Olivia down for her nap despite our baby having a full morning of everyone - RangeUncle and Mama alike - taking her for walks with Gunner and Ammo when a canine latrine-visit was needed. Peek-a-Boo and stuffed-animal-relay became Olympic events, as a building full of people trained to prepare for and expect the worst, tried to remain positive ... not willing to think of a less-than-happy ending for one of their own no matter how unlikely we felt it was.
I'm the one in for the worst by giving Steph the news she's been counting on when she can't just jump up and hug me before racing for her keys to see for herself that Raphael's in one piece. Because I can control what my body gives away, when it'd been getting close to naptime, I'd offered to hold/walk Olive until she was asleep, but Stephanie was determined to be the one to do it. If she couldn't help or take care of one of her friends, she was for damn sure going to take excellent care of our baby.
My wife turned her head, brushing her chin comfortingly against the top of Olive's head before lightly pressing a kiss to it. "So he's safe? Did he say where he was calling from?" She asked me.
This is the part I was dreading.
"The hospital in Plainsboro. Easy, Steph," I told her, when I watched and felt her tense up enough to make Olive shift in her sleep and clench her tiny hands as if reaching out to hold one of us.
Steph tucked her face into our baby's neck and breathed in and out, letting our daughter know that we have her ... and have her back even in sleep.
"Mama and Daddy love you," she whispered, hoping a sleeping-Olive would understand just how much we do, before Steph got back to me. "He's alright?"
"Yes. He got jumped, disoriented, and then left stranded, but he was able to get himself to the hospital. He called the control room from there. He's already been given discharge papers … and his statement to the police."
"The police?" She asked.
"Yes, but I'll have this wrapped up before they even get started. Raphael stopped to get some water at a convenience store owned by someone his father knows. As he left the store, he was attacked the moment the door shut behind him. If the asshole would have waited one second longer, he would have been the one in the hospital, not one of my men."
"Oh God. How bad is Raphael?"
"A concussion is the result of one blow, plus five stitches through his brow from another. He's reporting a black and swollen-shut eye, split lip, and some decent bruising along his body … his midsection specifically."
"Why? Who would hurt him? Were they after money or something? Did he suspect someone was about to hold up the place so he stepped in? Those are the only things that make sense. I've seen him in the gym, so I know Raphael can hold his own in any fight, but he's not the type to be involved in one."
"He wasn't a willing participant."
Though she can't see my face, she knows how I'm feeling by my tone or the words I choose. I'm not happy ... and that scared her.
"Do me a favor, don't tell me anything else until Olive is awake, okay?" She said after a few more deep breaths. "As it is, I'm afraid I'm going to transfer nightmares to our baby just from the thoughts and images now running through my head."
