The Bad Boy is Mine

Chapter 5

The pic on the side is of Adam

Every time we stopped, he would demand if I was okay. I told him yes every time, but he still asked.

We walk into the hospital.

Mom stands up the second she sees us.

Charlotte comes running to me, tears gushing down her cheeks.

I squat down and pick her up into a tight embrace.

Mom hugs me.

"No word yet." She says.

"Have you tried?"

"No." she says.

"Mom, this is...uh..."

"Jace." He says.

"He drove me here because my car broke." I say.

"Nice to meet you, Jace." Mom says.

Mom sits back down and Jace sits on a loveseat.

I march right over to the counter.

"I would like information on my brother, please." I say.

"Who is your brother?" the lady asks.

"Adam Michael Dugby." I say.

She types into the computer.

"We don't have any information yet."

"Okay, thanks."

She nods.

"Rylee, is he lives, I want you to take Charlotte."

"What?" I ask.

"She calls you Mommy sometimes. He is not fit to be a parent, whether he stops with this or not. She wants you. Look at the way she's clinging to you."

"Mom...I'm not...I can't-"

"She can't keep living like this." Mom whispers. "This is what Nikki would've wanted."

"No, Nikki would've wanted her to be with her father!"

"Well she can't! Her father isn't right in the head! He can't be a father! Your fit to be a mother. If he couldn't be her parent, she'd have wanted you!"

"But she deserves a mother and a father." I whisper.

"Well she can't have both right now. She needs her mother. Like it or not, that's you. One day you'll get married and she can have a daddy. For now she just gets you."

"If he shapes up, he gets her back." I whisper.

"Sounds fair to me." She says.

****

We wait hours. I told Jace he doesn't have to stay nine times, and each time he told me he's staying.

I want him to leave.

A doctor comes downstairs at midnight. Charlotte is sleeping on my chest.

"Are you guys here for Adam Dugby?"

"Yes."

"He's awake. He wants to know if Rylee is here?"

Everyone looks at me. "He wants to talk to you." he says.

I hand Charlotte off to Mom and follow the doctor.

"He didn't die from blood loss, he died from the drugs. We pumped his stomach and he's awake and stone sober."

He holds a door open for me.

I walk in and he shuts it.

Adam looks at me.