Controlling Vulnerable

Chapter 28

Eric turned to the lawyer next to him realising he actually had tears in his eyes and said firmly, "Hang on to something, we're moving in." When they jumped out of the back, Will saw multiple cars and a first responder screeching alongside. Joe was carrying a completely limp Lara in his arms, laying her gently on a gurney pushed towards him by a couple of sprinting paramedics. Will grabbed his friend and pulled him backwards as Joe yelled desperately, "Please, help her. She's pregnant." Eric shouted another officer over and said to them, "They'll take care of her." Joe was wretched, watching them cutting her clothes, inserting a needle in her arm and strapping an oxygen mask on her. Will let go of his friend and gulped, noticing for the first time Joe's white shirt was covered in blood. The gurney was slammed into the back of the ambulance and driven off with the sirens blaring. Eric shoved Joe and Will towards an unmarked dark car. He pushed them into the back, and jumped into the passenger seat as they sped off towards the hospital. He glanced at the driver and turned to the two men in the back, "We got 'em. We've also picked up Scott Griffin. Got him in for possession, but we'll get what he knows about this out of him." Joe looked at Will and spat out, "Don't bring him anywhere near me. He might not have used his own fists to hurt Lara, but he did this." Eric nodded in sympathy, "I'm so sorry Joe. We heard her speak to you though. That's gotta be a good sign." Will looked at the car's ceiling trying to compose himself for Joe's sake but his voice shook with emotion and he had to ask, "Joe, you're covered in blood. Did they cut her?" Joe looked down and gave a wail of anguish, "I don't know. Jesus Will I can't lose her."

When they reached the hospital Eric spoke to reception and they were ushered into a small relative's room. Leaving them with the driver of the unmarked car, he went outside to phone Ale who was still in Joe's office with Linda and Mark. Eric sighed, "It's over. We've picked them up and recovered the cash. Joe's fine, but Ale, you'd better get them down here to the hospital. It looked pretty bad. Joe's covered in her blood and she was unconscious by the time we got there. Don't say anything, but Joe just told the paramedics she's pregnant. From the look on the lawyer's face, no-one else knew." Ale glanced anxiously at Linda who was gripping her husband's shirt in anticipation of the news. He said, "Yeah, okay, on it." Dialling off he turned and grabbed his keys, "They got the guys. Joe's fine and he's at the hospital with Lara. She's being looked at, but we don't know how badly injured she is. I'll take you down there now. Will's with Joe so he's not on his own."

When Ale led Linda and Mark into the hospital the receptionist took them to the relative's room. Joe was sitting with his head in his hands, red-eyed with Will rubbing the back of his neck. The first thing Mark noticed was the blood on Joe's shirt as Will moved to let Linda take over. Mark sat the other side, watching as his wife took Joe into her arms and his body heaved with sobs. Will shook his head at Mark, and Joe sat up and wiped his face. Sighing he said, "Lara's pregnant. We only found out a week or so ago. She's about ten weeks. Mark took advantage of his wife's shock to pull Joe into his own arms, "Joe whatever happens we're all here for you. We'll get through it." After what seemed like hours Mark said to Ale, "Could you maybe go ask them what's happening? See if they'll come and tell us something. He nodded in sympathy and left returning a few minutes later saying the doctor was just finishing looking at Lara's scan results.

Ten or fifteen minutes later a doctor arrived and said, "Hi, sorry for the wait. I'm Doctor Davis, Andy. I'm in charge of Lara's care in the ER today. Ale said, "This is Lara's partner Joe and her friends Will, Linda and Mark. The doctor nodded and said in a gentle tone, "Joe, are you happy for me to talk about Lara's care with your friends here, or would you rather go somewhere private?" Joe looked desperate, "No, you can tell me, these guys are Lara's family over here." The doctor nodded, "We were just waiting for the results of Lara's scans to come through. I have them now. She's taken one hell of a beating, but thankfully the scans show there's no significant internal damage, just some minor bleeding around one kidney. She's sustained a couple of cracked ribs, a concussion from some nasty blows to the head and she had a fairly large gash on the back of her head. We've stitched it, but she'd lost quite a lot of blood so we're giving her a transfusion. Joe looked at him desperately, "She's going to be okay though?" Andy nodded carefully, "Yeah." He paused before adding gently, "Joe, I'm afraid Lara lost the baby. She's got bruising all over her abdomen. She was kicked." Linda gasped and Mark pulled her close as she said, "Oh my god Joe. I'm so sorry." Will gripped the chair and held on tight to his composure. Joe nodded, not trusting himself to say anything to Linda. He turned back to Andy and said, "Can I see her?" Andy smiled, "Yeah, sure. I'll take you to her." Joe got up and turned back to Eric and Ale, "Hey, thanks for everything today." Linda got up and grabbed Joe's hand, "Tell her we love her." Joe nodded and followed Andy out of the room.