Wedding Bell Hell

Chapter 7: Battered

Chapter Seven: Battered

When we arrived at the hospital, we found Molly waiting for us outside the emergency room doors. Her face was red and splotchy from crying--understandable, of course. Beside her was a man not much older than Ben, with dark brown hair that was almost black and his arm wrapped around Molly's shoulder.

He wasn't bad looking, I suppose. He was average height, average build, with an angular jaw. His lips were thicker than Ben's and his shoulders were a little narrower than his. What got me were his eyes; they were icy blue that took your breath away.

"Where is she?" Ben demanded.

"She's seeing the doctor right now." She sniffled. "They wanted to see her without us in the room."

Ben looked at--I assume to be--Molly's boyfriend, and extended his hand toward him. "I'm Ben."

The boyfriend took Ben's hand and said, "I'm Nathan." He then looked over at me and said, "and you are...?"

I smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Remi. Ben's girlfriend."

Ben returned his attention back to Molly. "How long has she been with the doctor?"

"About ten minutes, I think." She sniffled again. "I don't know what happened, Ben." Her lip trembled as she moved out of Nathan's reach and hugged Ben. "One hour I'm tucking her in, Nate and I are watching a movie, and all of a sudden she's screaming for you and I." Ben hugged her back. "Her fever was high so they took her in right away. I called you as soon as we got here."

Ben nodded and let go of her embrace. "Thank you, Moll."

He reached for my hand and squeezed. I didn't know how he felt, but I could only imagine the pain both of them must be going through. Their six year old daughter was in the hospital and in pain and there was absolutely nothing that they could do to help her.

The emergency room doors opened and the doctor stepped out. He looked at the four of us and said, "who's the father?"

"I am," Ben cleared his throat.

The doctor motioned for Molly and Ben to follow him, and when the doors closed, Nathan collapsed into the nearest chair.

I closed my arms and leaned against the wall. Just like that, the two of us were banned to the waiting room, all because we weren't the biological parents. We were quiet while Molly and Ben were in the emergency room.

When they came out, Ben was holding Kim in his arms, hugging her close to his body. Kim had tears in her eyes as her little arms were wrapped around her father's neck. Ben brought a hand up to her hair and kissed the side of her head.

He walked over to me and leaned down to kiss me. "She wants to spend the night with us, if that's alright."

I smiled and rubbed Kim's back. "Of course it is."

Molly wiped a hand underneath her eyes as Nathan hugged her from the side. I was a little bit perturbed by how handsy he was being with her. Maybe she liked that sort of thing, but I would not be okay with someone hugging me while I was wanting to say goodnight to my little girl.

Molly rubbed Kim's arm and kissed her cheek. "Sleep well, baby, okay? Daddy will drop you off whenever you want him to, okay?"

She nodded her head against Ben's shoulder. He rubbed her back as she snuggled into his chest.

We walked out to the car, hand in hand. He had a piece of paper sticking out of his back pocket. When we reached the car, Ben opened the back door and put her into her car seat that was set up. He buckled her in and kissed her forehead.