Chapter 22
Darren
We've been here for a few hours, waiting to get transferred to the pediatric floor. I'm beyond exhausted, but Macie just clocked out, and texted me that she’ll be here to sit with me soon. My mom has been in and out, waiting for dad to get off-shift to come and get her.
“Thanks, we’ll see.” I don’t really want to leave her. Behind the nurse, I see Macie walking over. “I’m glad you’re here,” I tell her, bending down to drop a kiss on her lips.
“I’m glad to be here too, I’ve been wondering what’s going on in here.” She walks over and pushes Nicole’s hair back from her forehead. “I have clothes out in my car, and I’d love to get these scrubs off. I’m gonna run out there, but I’ll be right back.”
“No,” I say, reaching out to grab her hand. “You’re not going out there by yourself, not with Gerald still on the loose. I’ll come with you, it’ll do me good to get some air.”
"You sure you don't just wanna stay here?" Macie asks as we head down the hallway toward the entrance, my hand at the small of her back the same way it's been every time we walk anywhere together since the night I found her apartment torn apart.
"I'm sure. Nicole's stable, and I'd rather keep an eye on you than sit in that room staring at the ceiling for ten more minutes.
" I hit the button for the entrance door to open, leaving us alone for the first time in what feels like days even though it's only been a few hours since everything with Nicole started.
"Besides, some fresh air's gonna do us both some good. "
"I just need my bag out of the trunk, and then we're heading right back up." She leans into my side while we wait for the doors to open, exhaustion evident in the way her shoulders sag, the same exhaustion I feel pulling at every muscle in my own body.
The parking lot's mostly empty this time of evening, streetlights flickering on overhead as the last bit of daylight fades out behind the tree line at the edge of the property.
Macie's car sits toward the back of the lot, farther than I'd like given everything going on, and I keep my eyes moving across the rows of parked cars out of habit, scanning shadows the same way I do on every shift.
"It's just up here." She points toward her sedan, keys already jingling in her hand, and we're maybe twenty feet away when a shape steps out from between two parked trucks, close enough now that the streetlight catches his face.
Gerald.
"Remember me, bitch?" His voice comes out low, almost gentle, like he thinks that's going to soften whatever reaction he's about to get.
She freezes beside me, breath catching hard enough I hear it, and every instinct in my body shifts into something sharp and immediate, adrenaline slamming through my system as I step in front of her without even thinking about it.
"Get back." I don't take my eyes off him, hand instinctively going toward my hip out of habit before I remember I stowed my gun in my truck because unless I’m on official business I can’t have the gun in the hospital.
"I just want to talk to her." Gerald holds his hands up, though there's nothing about his posture that reads as harmless, something coiled and wrong sitting behind his eyes that I recognize from every domestic call I've ever answered. "This doesn't have to involve you, Officer."
"It involves me the second you show up anywhere near her." My voice comes out low, controlled, though everything underneath it is anything but. "You need to walk away right now."
"Or what?" He takes a step closer, and Macie's grip tightens on my arm behind me, her whole body trembling.
"Or today's the day you find out exactly what happens when you don't listen.
" I step forward, closing the distance between us before he can react, and I've got him shoved back against the side of a parked truck before he even fully registers what's happening, my forearm pressed hard across his chest. "You want a fight?
You're gonna get one, but it's not gonna go the way you think it is. "
"Darren, stop!" Macie's voice cuts through behind me, panic edging every word. "This isn't worth it, please, just let him go, let me call Laurel Springs PD and let them handle it properly."
I hear her, but rage has got its hooks too deep into me right now, thinking about every single thing this man's done to her, the bruises on her face the night she showed up at my door, her apartment torn apart, her clothes shredded, weeks of looking over her shoulder every time she steps outside.
Gerald's got a mean sneer pulling at his mouth despite being pinned, like he thinks this is somehow going his way.
"You gonna hit me, cop?" His voice comes out mocking, daring me. "Go ahead. Do it. Then we'll see who really goes to jail tonight."
"Darren." Macie's hand lands on my back, and I feel her shaking even through my shirt. "Please. Don't give him what he wants."
Headlights swing into the lot behind us, and I catch the flash of them out of the corner of my eye, hear a car door slam shut a second later.
"What in the hell is going on here?"
My dad's voice cuts across the parking lot, and I glance back to see him striding toward us, still in half his uniform from just getting off shift, badge catching the streetlight.
"Dad, this is Gerald Simmons." I keep my forearm pressed firm against Gerald's chest, not loosening my grip even with backup here now. "The guy who attacked Macie."
My dad's expression shifts instantly, decades of law enforcement instinct kicking in as he assesses the scene in front of him, Gerald pinned against the truck, Macie shaking behind me, me clearly one wrong word away from doing something I can't take back.
"Step back, son." His voice carries the same steady authority it's carried my entire life, the kind that made me want to become a cop in the first place. "Let me handle this from here."
I don't want to step back. Every part of me wants to keep this bastard pinned right here until every ounce of fear he's put Macie through gets paid back somehow, but I hear the warning underneath my dad's calm tone, the reminder that doing this the wrong way could cost us everything we need to actually put Gerald away for good.
"Darren." Macie's voice again, softer this time, pleading. "Please."
I ease back, releasing my hold on Gerald, though every muscle in my body stays coiled tight, ready to move again the second he does anything stupid.
"Gerald Simmons, you're under arrest for violation of a protective order, and I'd bet money we're gonna find a few more charges once we sort through everything else.
" Dad already has his cuffs out, moving with the same efficiency I've watched him use for as long as I can remember, spinning Gerald around and pressing him face-first against the truck before he can even process what's happening. "You have the right to remain silent."
"This is bullshit." Gerald struggles for half a second before Dad's grip tightens, cuffs clicking into place.
"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." Dad continues through the Miranda warning, steady and unbothered by Gerald's protests, years of doing exactly this making every word count.
"I just wanted to talk to you, tell you how much it hurt me when you told me that I couldn’t see my child." Gerald twists his head, trying to catch her eyes, and I step in front of her again, blocking his line of sight completely.
"You don't get to talk to her. Not now, not ever again." I keep my voice level, though there's nothing level about what's churning underneath it. "You're done."
Dad pulls out his radio, calling for a unit to come collect Gerald and transport him to the station, and within a few minutes another cruiser pulls into the lot, lights flashing, two officers climbing out to help walk him toward the back seat.
"Bitch." Gerald calls out one more time as they're loading him in, voice desperate now instead of cocky. "This isn't over."
"Yes, it is." I say it loud enough for him to hear clearly, standing there with my arm wrapped around Macie's shoulders as the cruiser door slams shut behind him. "It's over."
We stand there in the parking lot, watching the cruiser pull away, taillights disappearing around the corner of the building, and I feel Macie's whole body sag against mine the second he's actually gone, adrenaline finally draining out of her all at once.
"Oh my God." Her voice comes out shaky, tears finally spilling over now that the immediate danger's passed. "He's actually gone. They actually got him."
"They got him." I pull her fully into my arms, holding her tight while she shakes against my chest, months of fear finally breaking loose now that the threat's actually contained. "It's over, Mace. He can't hurt you anymore."
Dad walks back over to us, radio still crackling at his hip, expression softening now that the immediate danger's handled. "You alright, son?"
"Yeah." I run a hand down my face, adrenaline still working its way out of my system. "Thank you for showing up when you did."
"Good thing I was heading in to get your mother." He claps a hand on my shoulder, then looks at Macie, voice gentling considerably. "You doing okay?"
"I think so." She wipes at her face, laughing a little through the tears. "I think I actually am, now."
"We'll get him processed tonight, and given the restraining order violation plus whatever else turns up once we search his truck and residence, I don't expect he's walking free again anytime soon.
" Dad's voice carries the same reassurance he's given me my whole life, the kind that makes you believe things are actually going to be okay.
"You did good not letting my son here do something he'd regret, by the way. "
"Barely." Macie laughs again, leaning into my side.
"I'm gonna go find your mother, let her know what happened out here, and then we'll head up together to check on Nicole." Dad squeezes my shoulder once more before heading toward the entrance, leaving Macie and me alone in the parking lot.
"I really thought that was gonna go a different way," Macie admits quietly, still tucked against my side.
"I know. I'm sorry I let it get that far before backing off." I press a kiss to the top of her head, finally feeling my own heart rate settle back toward normal. "I just saw him near you, and everything else went out the window."
"I get it. I really do." She tips her head back to look at me, eyes still glassy but her voice steadier now. "But it's over. He's actually gone, Darren. I can breathe again."
"You can breathe again," I confirm, pulling her in for a proper kiss, slow and grounding, both of us needing the reassurance of it after everything the last hour just put us through. "Let's go get your bag, and then let's get back up to our girl."
"Yeah." She wipes at her face one more time, steadier now, the fear that's been living in her eyes for weeks finally starting to loosen its grip. "Let's go see Nicole."
We grab her bag from the trunk, and this time when we walk back across the parking lot toward the hospital entrance, her steps come easier, lighter, like something that's been anchoring her down for weeks just got cut loose.
I keep my arm around her the whole way, watching the entrance doors get closer, ready to get back upstairs to our daughter, ready to finally start building the life we talked about in the rain without Gerald Simmons hanging over every single day of it.
For the first time since this whole thing started, I actually believe we're going to be okay.