Lover

Chapter Fourteen

Stefania

"Anything?" I asked as the cop walked up.
"Nothing yet. I'm sorry." He handed me a cup of coffee.
"Grazie." I sighed.
"If you don't mind me asking, was their divorce nasty?"
"Not at all. Which is surprising considering what kind of person he is. I read the papers. He just wanted the house. He didn't even want custody of Rory."
"Do you know where Y/N is? Do you know if he's tried to contact her."
"I don't think so. I'll go find her." I got up and walked inside the house.

"Bambina?" I walked into Rory's room, where she was sitting on her bed holding one of her stuffed animals.
"Y/N, hey." I kneeled down in front of her, and she jumped slightly.
"The cops want to know if Tyler has tried to call you." I said softly.
"N-No. I haven't heard anything from him since the incident at work." She wiped her face and held the stuffed animal closer.
"What do you need?" I pushed a strand of hair out of her face.
"Bring our baby home. Please, Stefania. Please make sure our daughter comes home." Y/N whispered, tears rolling down her face.
"I'll do everything I can. I'm gonna go looking for her. I'll leave Danielle here to stay with you." I stood up, and kissed her forehead.

I walked outside and up to Danielle.
"Stay here with y/n. I'll be back."
"Stef, I'm not letting you go out there." She followed me to my car.
"Good thing I'm not asking permission." I got in my car and shut the door.

"Stefania! Come on! Get out of the car!" Danielle yelled through my window.
"I'm going to find my bambina!" I shouted as I peeled out of the driveway.

Y/N

"Hey. How you holding up?"
I looked up and saw Danielle leaning in the doorway.
"Have you heard anything yet?"
"No. They're still looking." She came over to me and sat down on the bed.
"It's been six hours. Why haven't they found her yet?"
"They're looking. Everyone is looking. They're gonna find her." Danielle rubbed my back gently.
"Seventy-four percent of abducted children who are ultimately murdered are dead within three hours of the abduction." I whispered.
"Let's not think about that."
"The first twenty-four hours are critical. Every second, every minuet, every hour that we don't find her, is bringing us closer to the fact that I might not ever see my child again." I buried my head in my hands.

"Hey, something will give, okay? You said it yourself. He wouldn't hurt Rory."
"That was before. What if he hurts her to get back at me? What if I did this? I knew I should've just stayed with him. This is all my fault." I cried.

Three hours later

"Stef? What? Okay. We'll be right there." Danielle hung up her phone and grabbed my hand.
"They found Rory. She's okay."
"They found her? They found my baby?" I gasped.
"Stefania found her. They took them to the hospital. We need to go."
"Wait, what do you mean them?"

Stefania

"Let me see my child!" I was fighting the nurses and doctors, trying to get out of the hospital bed.
"Ma'am! Your child is fine! We need to examine you!" The nurse exclaimed.
"I'm fine damn it! Let me up!"
"We need to sedate her."
"I said no! God damn it do you people not know how to listen!"

The room started fading, then I saw black.

Y/N

"Rory! Oh my God!" I ran into the room and grabbed my baby, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Mom!" She cried into my chest.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" I pulled back and started looking her over.
"She's fine. Just a little dehydrated. But she received fluids for that on the way here." The nurse said as she filled out her chart.
"Mom, is Mamma okay?" Rory asked.
"Mamma?"
"Stef. Is Stef okay?"
"I-" I looked to Danielle.
"Go check on her. I'll stay with Rory."
"I love you. I'm gonna go check on Ste- your Mamma." I kissed my daughter's head and went to the nurses station.
"Hey, I need to find Stefania Spampinato."

"Room 622."
"Thank you." I walked down a few hallways over, and found her room.

I walked inside, gently pushing the curtain back.

"Oh, Stef..." I gasped.
Her arm was in a cast, and she had bruises all over the left side of her face. Her lip was busted open, and she had a nasty cut on her forehead.
"Bambina?" She croaked out.
"I'm here baby." I quickly walked over, and gently took her hand.
"I got her. I got Rory back." She rasped out.
"I know. You did so good." I kissed her good hand gently.
"Is she okay? They wouldn't let me get up and see her."
"She's good. She was just a little dehydrated. She was just worried about her Mamma."
"She-She called me Mamma?" Stefania's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes. She did." I smiled as tears ran down my face.

"Well, Miss Spampinato. You took quite a beating there didn't you?" The Doctor asked as he walked in.
"You should see the other guy." Stefania laughed slightly and winced.
"You have some bruised ribs, and your left arm is broken. You're gonna be sore for a while. But I must say. What you did was very brave. I spoke to your daughter. She's lucky she has such a brave Mom."
"She has two brave Mamma's." Stefania smiled at me.
"You should be able to go home tomorrow, I'll prescribe you some pain medication. We'll keep Aurora here as well, so the two of you can go home together. Any questions?"

We thanked the Doctor, and he left us alone.

"What happened?"
"I found them at a park. Rory was asleep on the bench, and he was pacing back and forth. I walked up to him, and demanded he give her back. He started hitting me, and Rory woke up screaming. I couldn't just give up like that. He thought I was out, but I got up and I just hit him. And I kept hitting him, and hitting him. Someone pulled me off, then I blacked out."
"I love you. So fucking much." I leaned in and kissed her.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" She whimpered out.
"Sorry! Sorry. I'm sorry." I pulled back and kissed her good hand gently.
"Mamma?" We heard a soft voice coming from the doorway.
"Bambina!" Stefania opened her arms and Rory ran over, crushing Stefania in a hug.
"Aurora-" I started to tell her to be gentle.
"I'm okay. I'm fine." Stefania whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Sorry! She got away from me. She's fast." Danielle said breathlessly as she ran into the room.
"It's okay. Thank you for staying with her Danielle." Stefania said sincerely.
"Are you okay? Do you hurt?" Rory asked Stefania.
"What? Me, hurt? Look at these muscles!" Stefania flexed her arms, hiding the pain in her face.
"You're a super hero Mamma." Rory giggled as she snuggled into Stefania's arms.
"She's our own personal super hero." I kissed the top of both of my girl's heads.
"Go get some sleep bella. I have our bambina." Stefania whispered as Rory's breathing evened out.
"I'll just go get some coffee. I'll be right back." I squeezed Stefania's good hand and walked out of the room with Danielle.

"You really should sleep." Danielle said as we got on the elevator.
"No way. I'm not taking my eyes off my girls ever again."