Sephie McKay never expected to fall in love, let alone with the likes of underground fighter, Dominic 'Demon' Hayes. That all changes when her mother gets on the bad side of a local motorcycle club. Forced under his protection, she grapples with her...
I wake up with a throbbing head and dry mouth. I try to pry my eyes open but the bright white lights force them close. I do this a couple of times before my eyes adjust. I'm laying in a hospital bed in a hospital gown. I lift my hand to see where the throbbing in my temple is coming from but the IV connected to my arm stops me.
"Sephie? You're awake!" Dominic's voice comforts me and I calm down. He brings his chair to my bedside and sits next to me, hand intertwining with mine.
"I'm fine. Just a little thirsty," Dominic jumps up immediately at my words, filling a styrofoam cup with the water pitcher and coming back to hand it to me.
I sit up in the bed and sip at the cold water, welcoming the cold drink in my parched throat. I down it in a few gulps and Dominic takes it and feels it up for me again.
"Do you have any pain? Do I need to get the nurse to give you some more pain medicine?" Dominic asks after he hands me the cup.
"No, I'm alright," I tell him, even though my head is throbbing. I shift in the bed and a sharp pain shoots from my lower stomach, making me wince. Without question, Dominic buzzes for a nurse. She comes in moments later and Dominic tells her I need more medicine. She gives me two white pills, which I happily take with my water, wanting the throbbing in my head to stop.
"What happened?" I ask Dominic once the nurse leaves. " I remember being kidnapped outside the hospital...and some man attacking me on a couch. After that it gets fuzzy."
"A man was attacking you when I got there. I got him off of you and when I asked if you were okay you fainted," Dominic's face gets grim as he says the next part. "The Doctor said you have a minor concussion. He also said that you were...pregnant. I'm sorry Sephie, but you had a miscarriage."
I'm stock still as I absorb this information. I was pregnant with Dominic's child. The thought of a little Dominic growing inside me sends a fleeting feeling of joy in me followed by sorrow. I lost the baby. The baby I didn't even know I had.
"Samuel...he hit me in the stomach. I should've fought harder. If I had just gotten him off of me-"
"None of this is your fault," Dominic says cutting me off. "This is their fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop this, Sephie."
"I can't believe I was pregnant," I tell him. And then I burst into tears, not just at this loss but everything I've been through these past few months. Dominic pulls me into his arms, at an awkward angle because of the IV in my arm.
"One day we'll try again, Sephie. I promise," Dominic words calm me and the sobs die down.
"Are we interrupting something?" Mia's voice comes from the door. She and Silas are standing at the door awkwardly.
"No! Come in," I say hurriedly, wiping the tears from my cheeks. Mia comes over and stands by my side at the bed.
"I'm so sorry, Sephie. After having Mila I can't even imagine what you're going through right now," Mia says, squeezing my hand.
"Thank you for being here. How's the baby?" I ask her and her face lights up.
"She sleeps all day. I've only gotten to see her eyes open a handful of times and she has Silas's eyes."
Mia tells me all about her baby and how the nursery back home is going. I welcome the distraction from my own problems, but soon I feel my eyelids getting heavy.
"The pain medicine must be kicking in. I'll leave you be and let you rest," Mia leans down and places a kiss on my cheek before leaving with Silas.
Dominic's hand intertwines with mine again as I let the drowsiness take over. My eyes drift closed and Dominic stays by my side as I fall asleep.
***
When I wake up Dominic is gone and I'm alone in the hospital room. There is a note by my bedside by Dominic, saying he went out to handle some business.
My head is throbbing again and the ache in my lower abdomen reminds me of my miscarriage. I call in a nurse for more pain medicine, happily gulping down those white pills. When the nurse leaves, Mia comes in with her baby.
"I heard you were awake and thought a visit from your niece would cheer you up," Mia says, placing the little bundle in my arms. Mila is awake now, looking up at me with her wide greyish blue eyes. Mia was right, she doesn't have the light brown ones passed onto us by our mom. I coo at the little baby and like all newborns, she just stares up in awe at the new face.
"I can't believe I'm an aunt," I tell her, looking up from Mila's adorable face.
"I still can't believe I'm a mom," Mia says, sitting in the chair next to my bed. "I'm really scared. You know how our mom is so we both know what having a bad mom is like. I don't want Mila to go through that."
"You are nothing like our mom!" I tell her, sitting up in my bed. "You're going to be a wonderful mom and Mila is going to be lucky to have you in her life."
"Speaking of our mom," Sephie says, looking apprehensive. "You probably already know she passed away. Her side of the family holding a funeral for her a week from now. You don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I don't know. I still haven't come to terms with this. How do you grieve someone who hurt you so much?" I tell her. Most of my life I had to deal with her neglect and alcohol abuse. I feel a sting of guilt that I'm not sad at her death.
"Like I said, you don't have to come. I don't know if I'm going either," Mia admits to me.
Mila falls asleep again so Mia takes her back up to her hospital room and I'm alone again. Being cramped up in the hospital room is making me claustrophobic and I want to go home. I'm anxiously tapping my fingers against the rail of the hospital bed when Dominic comes in. My face lights up at his presence but then he gets closer and I notice the split lip he's sporting.
"Dominic! What happened?" I ask him, brows furrowed with worry.
"I had to take care of something," He says, not elaborating further.
"Did you..." I trail off, knowing the answer.
"You won't have to worry about them again," Dominic promises fiercely.
"You didn't have to do that, Dominic! You could've gotten hurt or worse!"
"I'm fine, Sephie. What's done is done and nothing like this will ever happen again. If you want to press charges on them, go ahead, but either way, you won't be hearing from them ever again."
"Dominic..." I whisper, not knowing how to feel about this. "I don't want you to put yourself in harm's way over me."
"I know and I'll do it anyway. You have to know, Sephie, that's what you're going to get with me. I'm not the kind of man to sit back and let his woman get hurt," I'm silent for a second, absorbing his words. There is little flurry going on in my stomach at Dominic calling me 'his woman'. At the same time I know he's right. In the back of my head, I always knew that Dominic wouldn't let them get away with this.
"Okay," I give in finally. "I won't be pressing charges. I trust that you...handled things."
At my words, Dominic leans down and places a kiss on my forehead.
"My sephie," He whispers, breath fanning over my face.
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