We Are Free

Safe Haven

I pull up the the house and everything seems quiet. I get a bad feeling. I hear a scream and it wasn't good. It was Halo! I get out and take my work shirt off. I run inside in just jeans and a white tank top. I turn the door handle and it was locked. It wouldn't budge. I hear Halo.
      "Don't hurt my baby!" She yells.  I break the door in and find Derek on top of her. He was pulling on her. She was in tears trying to cover her stomach to protect Rebel.
I go to him and pull him off her. I get on top him and punch him. Blood instantly comes from his nose.
      "How dare you touch my fiancé! How dare you try and hurt my daughter!" I yell. I may look scrawny but I can pack a punch considering I have to lift heavy stuff every day. He laughs and smiles at me wickedly.
      "That slut is carrying your baby? Hahahaha. It's a girl. Hahahaha. You might want a DNA test." He laughs harder and I punch him once more. Halo was in the corner covering our baby. She was having a break down. Derek shoves me. He starts chocking me.
I am much smaller than him by muscle mass but he don't scare me. I look into his eyes. They were cold and evil. They looked like my dad's the last time he hurt me before we moved. I see him in Derek. I see my dad as he is chocking me.
Like Emily and Andrew couldn't do anything Halo can't either. She risks putting Rebel in danger if she isn't already in danger. I hear Halo yelling.
      "Jace! Jace! JASON!" She screams.  I look at her my face red. Snapping out of my thoughts, I look back at Derek. I kick up and back kicking him off me. Anna shows up as Derek hits me in the head sending blood down the side of my face.
She tries to pull me off him. I am on top of him now.
      "No! Go to Halo, I am fine!" She gives up and goes to Halo. Derek gets on top of me but I knee him. He backs off and I wipe blood from my head as he lays there.
I kick him in his side until I hear a cracking sound. He cries out at every kick. I have had broken ribs. It is hard to recover and the cops will be here soon.
I go to Halo. The side of my shoulder, shirt, and face covered in blood. Mine and his blood.
      "Are you okay?" I ask her.
      "Yeah, he didn't hit Rebel."
      "Okay." I pick her up and take her outside. I set her on the porch swing. The cops pull up get out. I throw my hands up. My head is bleeding. My throat is red and my wrist is probably sprained from straining against him.
They see the marks and lead me to an ambulance. They see that Halo is pregnant and take her to the hospital. They take me to the hospital to and take Derek into custody. Anna meets us there.
Halo and I are set next to each other in a room where there is curtains to divide people. They clean my cuts. They check my neck and wrists.
      "Did you break the door down?" Anna asks me.
      "Yeah, I fended him off to."
      "I didn't know you were that strong."
      "He tried to hurt my girls." She hugs me. They check Halo and check Rebel. She was still happy and healthy. Halo was unharmed except a few bruises on her arms.
The doctor said if she wouldn't have blocked Derek from her stomach we would have lost the baby. She was so scared yet all she cared about was making sure Rebel was okay.
They put a splint on my wrist I did sprain it. They put three stitches in my temple. Zac shows up with the kids. They want to keep Halo just for extra measures and keep a close eye on Rebel.
Zac sees me and hugs me. He drops everything and hugs me. He hugs Halo. Emily sees if I am okay and runs her fingers over the forming bruises on my neck.
Andrew checks me next and they see Halo. I haven't been discharged yet.
      "I hate him. I hope his ass rots in jail." Zac says and I know he is ready for a fight.
      "Me to." Two officers come in. One talks to Halo and one talks to me. I tell them what happened. Halo tells them her version.
      "I had gone home, I just get home and ready to lay down. I went to take the dog out before I went to lay down. I was sitting on the chair out back. I didn't suspect anything.
Jace calls. He says I have to get out of the house. I get up and go into the house. The dog was on a leash out back. Derek appeared around the corner. He looked at me and saw I am pregnant.
He got mad and started yelling. He threatened me saying I wasn't going to have the baby. He tried to hit me in the stomach but I punched him.
That set him off. He cornered me and I sank to the ground to protect the baby. He grabbed my arm trying to pull me out and beat me. Jace broke the door down and pulled him off me. They started fighting."
      "Did he say any thing else?" The officer asks me.
      "Yeah, he said he has been planing this for 4 years. Now that I am pregnant that is one more thing to deal with. He was going to kill me and my baby." Hearing this made my blood boil. I go to get up and feel an intense pain in my neck that makes me cry out and brings tears to my eyes. Zac has me sit back down and calls the doctors in.
They look at my neck again and send me in for an emergency x-ray. I could care less about what is wrong with me the important part is Rebel and Halo are okay. They are, I have done my job.
They put me in a neck brace. The whole side of my neck was swollen. I lay still even though I want to stay close to Halo. They come back with my x-ray results in 30 minutes.
      "You have a small neck fracture. You will be staying here as well." The doctor tells me.
      "I have one request." I tell the doctor. 
      "Sure."
      "Halo and I are put in the same room."
      "We can do that." He leaves the room to get us ready to go to our new room. Both of the kids sit on my bed.
      "You guys will be staying with Zac and Anna for a little bit okay." I tell them. They nod their heads. "We can't go back home for a while. They will let you get their belongings."
     "Okay, I will get yours and Halo's stuff to." Zac tells me.
     "Okay, okay." He leaves the hospital. Halo is quiet.
     "You okay?" I ask her.
     "She isn't moving."
     "Is she scared? There could be many things."
     "Could be, she is fine."
     "Yeah." We are both put on fluids and in gowns. We are close enough to hold each other's hands. We hang on to each other for a little bit.
We talk quietly not wanting to think about what happened. We talk about our wedding. For the first time in 3 years we talk about our wedding.
*Next Day*
Halo is getting discharged today. They want me a little longer. She is fine and so is the baby. I am allowed without my brace but I have to be careful. She is dressed and ready to leave.
The police have gotten done with the house. It is a mess though. The kids will stay at Zac's and Anna's until we get done with the cleaning. It won't be easy the next month.
We will be okay though. Derek is going to jail and we all have to testify. I don't want to but I won't let him hurt my family. He will go away or I will go to jail. Either way I'm getting rid of him.
She gets up and starts putting her bag together. Half way through she takes a deep breath before hunching over in pain. I get up and check on her.
      "You okay?" I ask her.
      "No!"