Shameful Hearts (BOOK 2)

Calling For Backup

Rebecca's POV

The drive back home took hours on end. I sat in the driver's seat and stared out the window. It felt so much longer than it had been, with all my thoughts racing around. I begged and prayed that my momma and Bella were doing okay. I needed to get back to them as soon as possible.

The moment I got that text message from Alyssa's dad, my heart dropped to my stomach. I'm sure they were just fine, but something about the tone of his message told me otherwise. My hands started shaking as I thought about how this had all happened.

Jacob took my hand and held on to it during the rest of our drive home. I'm sure he could tell how panicked I was, but he said nothing. He knew better than to try and comfort me with words when all I needed was his presence.

We arrived at the hospital a few hours later, got out of the car as quickly as possible, and didn't even bother picking up our things. I ran into the hospital, with Jacob, Ellie, and Ashton following close behind me. Alyssa seemed to have lost track of us on our way back. I assumed she'd get to the hospital in no time.

The first person we saw as we came in was Mr. Ramirez sitting right outside the ICU. He got up as soon as he saw us, and I could see the relief in his eyes. I was about to ask him what was going on, but he beat me to it.

My heart sunk into my stomach and I gasped for air, but it felt like there was a tight knot in my chest. I couldn't breathe. Mr. Ramirez put his hand on my shoulder and tried to console me, but there were just too many emotions building up.

"She's going to be just fine," he said, pulling me into a hug. "The doctors say that she's going to make a full recovery." I let out a sigh of relief and felt my body go limp in Mr. Ramirez's embrace. It was like all the tension I had been holding onto for the past few hours just evaporated into thin air.

"Where's Bella?" I asked, finally finding my voice. "I need to see her."

"She's doing a checkup with one of the nurses," Mr. Ramirez said, letting go of me. "Where's Alyssa?"

"Dad!" Alyssa called, running up to us. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

"It's okay," Mr. Ramirez said, patting her on the back. "She's going to be just fine." He turned to me and Jacob. "I stopped by this afternoon and found her passed out on the kitchen floor." I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe this had happened. Everything seemed to be going well before I left.

"Did Bella get hurt?" I asked, my voice trembling. If that attacker went anywhere near my sister, I swear I would kill him with my bare hands.

"No, she's fine," Mr. Ramirez said. "She was in her room when it happened." Alyssa let out a sigh of relief. "Why don't you go on in, I'm sure Janeen'll be happy to see you. We'll go check up on Bella." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I was about to go in, but Alyssa stopped me. She pulled me in for a big hug.

"I love you mi hija." She said, tears streaming down her face.

"I love you too," I said, tearing up. I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. The look of sorriness and pain just about killed me. I could only imagine what she was feeling when my momma has been nothing but a mother to her since we moved here. Alyssa was more of a daughter to her than I was. She was the daughter she had always dreamed of.

"This isn't your fault, you know that right?" She said, trying to sound convincing.

"I know," I said, nodding my head. "But I can't help but feel like it is."

"It's not," She said sternly. "None of this is your fault."

I nodded my head, trying to believe her words. But it was hard when I felt like I was responsible for taking care of the only family I had. If I had just stayed home, none of this would have happened. This was all my fault.