Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
SERENA
“ A re you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Marie asks as I ditch my Brewed Awakening apron and grab my purse out of the small cabinet we have in the back to store our personal belongings. It’s the day of my IUD insertion, and Marie is hovering around me like a mother hen.
“I’m a big girl, M. I can take myself to the doctor.”
“You should at least have Dom go with you so he can drive you home in case you’re in pain after.”
I actually haven’t mentioned my IUD appointment to Dominick, but I don’t tell her that, afraid of the can of worms it might open. He and I haven’t spoken any more about the night of the pregnancy scare, but with the fervent way he’s been making love to me every chance he gets, I’ve been hesitant to bring up using a more effective form of birth control, worried about the fight it might trigger between us. I know he’s eager to start a family, but I’m hoping he will be fine just practicing while I finish getting my degree. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
“Oh, he couldn’t get off today. I promise, it’s no big deal. I took some Tylenol, and I’m heading home after, so I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, if you say so. I’ll see you next week. Text me if you need anything!”
Sitting in the doctor’s office waiting room, my phone buzzes in my pocket with a text notification.
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: Hey, Kitten, I stopped by the coffee shop to see if you wanted to grab lunch, but you weren’t there. Where are you?
Me: Sorry, I have an appointment. Must’ve forgot to tell you. Raincheck?
Tall, Dark and Pumpkin Spiced: What kind of appointment?
I bite my lower lip, debating on what to tell Dom. This isn’t something I planned on getting into with him over text.
Me: You know, girl stuff. I’ll be home in a couple of hours. Love you.
I add on a few hearts and a kissing emoji to make my text seem less evasive. Just then a heavy-set woman with fiery red hair, in a set of navy scrubs, pokes her head into the waiting room to call my name.
“Malcolm?”
“That’s me.” I close out of the texting app and tuck my phone back into my pocket so I can follow the nurse back to the exam room before I can let my nerves get the best of me. She leads me through a set of maze-like corridors with doors that all look the same before stopping in front of an open one with a yellow flag flipped out next to it. There’s a scale she has me step on before handing me a little plastic specimen cup.
“Hi, sweetie, I’m Angela. I’ll be the nurse during your exam. First, I’ll need you to pee in the cup so we can do a quick pregnancy test. There are wipes to use in the bathroom; leave the cup in there once you’re done. When you’re finished, you’ll come in here, strip down and put on the gown. It will open to the back. I’ll be back with Dr. Torres, and she will do a quick pelvic exam before inserting the IUD. Do you have any questions?” I shake my head, and Angela leaves me to my business.
Sitting on the exam table, wearing the stiff patient gown, I can hear my phone buzzing in the pocket of my jeans like there is an incoming call. After two seconds of quiet, the buzzing starts up again. “What the hell?” I slide off the table and fish my phone out of my jeans pocket to see an incoming call from Dom, and a notification for a missed call from him. Before I get the chance to answer it, a soft knock at the door lets me know the doctor is here. This time I shut my phone off completely before putting it away and climb back onto the exam table.
“Hi there, I’m Dr. Torres. You must be Serena?” I reach out to shake the young doctor’s hand. She looks like she could be in her late twenties, tops, with her gorgeous tawny skin, warm honey-colored eyes and a kind smile that must put so many patients at ease, but she carries herself with the confidence of a woman who’s been in her line of work a long time.
“Nice to meet you, Doctor. You came highly recommended by my friend, Marie.”
“Ah, yes, Marie, pregnant with the baby yeti. She told me she was sending a friend of hers my way.” I laugh at Dr. Torres’ completely accurate description of my friend and find myself immediately at ease in her presence. “Alright, so I’m going to do a quick pelvic exam before we get started. This will likely be pretty uncomfortable for you since you haven’t gone through childbirth yet, so feel free to take some ibuprofen after to help with the pain. You’ll feel a slight pinch and maybe some cramping afterward. You may also experience some spotting or light bleeding for a few weeks after the IUD has been inserted, but that is completely normal.”
Once Angela the nurse joins us, we get started. The whole procedure takes ten minutes tops and winds up being exactly how Dr. Torres described it. A slight pinch with some cramping afterward.
“Alright, so this will be good for the next five years. If you experience any sharp pelvic pain or uncontrolled bleeding, contact my office, okay? You don’t have to stop and check out—you’re free to go.” I nod my agreement, and she leaves me to get dressed.
On my way out of the clinic, I’m busy looking over the discharge instructions given to me, so I don’t see who is standing by my car in the parking lot. It’s not until I’m in his shadow that I look up and see Dom leaning against my driver’s side door, his face wearing a thunderous expression.
“Is there something you need to tell me, Serena?” His voice is cold and sends a chill of fear down my spine. Shock doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel, finding him standing by my car waiting for me outside of the clinic.
“What are you doing here, Dom?”
“I asked you first, Kitten. Is there something you need to tell me?” He steps forward, looming over me, forcing my back against the car, caging me in with his body. He’s so close to me, his belt with his holster presses into the soft, tender flesh of my now cramping belly. I can feel the heat of his anger radiating from him.
“I told you—I had an appointment. I just got done. Why are you here?” Dom ignores my question, zeroing in on the paper in my hand with my appointment summary. He snatches it from my grasp and begins to read it.
“Hey! That’s mine!” I try to grab it, but he captures my hands in one of his while he holds onto the paper and continues reading.
“What. The. Fuck.” The fury that flashes in his eyes when he looks at me sends me cowering, pressing my back further into the cool metal of my car. “Why did you have an appointment for an IUD insertion without telling me about it? Don’t you think this is something we should have discussed together first?” His grip on my wrists tightens to the point of being painful, and I let out a whimper in response.
“Dom, you’re hurting me.” My eyes burn with unshed tears. I try to pull out of his hold but his grip is vise-like. The more I try to squirm free, the tighter it becomes.
“I asked you a question. Don’t you think this is a decision we needed to make together?” This time Dom asks his question against my ear, speaking in a tone that can only be described as a growl. Before I can respond, he pulls me away from the car, only to open the door to the back seat and toss me in unceremoniously. By the time I get myself upright, he’s in the driver’s seat, pulling out of the parking lot, steering my car back towards home.
“What the fuck, Dom? What are you doing?” My fear gives way to righteous indignation, but Dom ignores my question. He doesn’t say another word to me on the drive back to his house, and by the time we pull into the driveway, it feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest. I move to get out of the car before Dom can reach me, but I find myself trapped by the childproof lock. Dominick yanks the door open, grabs me by my arm and jerks me out of the car. I flop out of the vehicle like a rag doll and do my best to stay on my feet as he marches me up the stairs of the front porch.
“Dom, you’re hurting me! Let go!” I try my best to wrench out of his hold, but it is useless.
“I’m hurting you? I’m hurting YOU? I’M HURTING YOU?” Dom’s voice gets louder and scarier as he drags me by the arm, nearly jerking my shoulder out of its socket. “I’m not the one who started this battle, Serena. Maybe you should’ve had an adult conversation with me before you unilaterally made a decision that affects both of us!” In a fluid movement, Dominick yanks open the front door and throws me through it. I land on the floor in a heap, my knees slamming into the hardwood. I barely catch myself before my face meets the same fate.
I scramble back, trying to escape his wrath. He looks like a dark god in his all-black police uniform as he stalks toward me. I don’t make it far before he pulls me up by my hair, tearing a pained yelp from my throat. “Dom, stop! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t think you’d mind!” My vision is blurred with tears, my words gasping sobs as I scratch at his hands, trying to make him let go.
“You didn’t think I’d care?! After everything I’ve done for you? After everything I’ve done for your mom?! This is how you repay me? Go behind my back and take away my choice to have a child with you? I thought we were starting our lives together, Serena?! How could you do this to me?” With my hair wrapped around his fist like a leash, Dominick leads me up the stairs, leaving me no choice but to follow along unless I want him to rip it out by the root.
“Dom, it’s an IUD! It’s not permanent!” I scream at the top of my voice, trying to talk reason into him. When we make it to the bedroom, he tosses me onto the bed, and I scramble back, pressing my back against the headboard, trying to put distance between us.
“You saw how devastated I was when you found out you weren’t pregnant. Then you decided to turn around and make extra sure it can’t happen? Are you just using me to escape your mom but have no real intention to make a life with me? Are you fucking playing me, Serena? I KILLED A MAN FOR YOU. I SAVED YOU. Is having my child really that fucking awful of a fate to you?” He is in my face now, his large hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air while holding me in place, forcing me to look him in the eye. “I love you. How can you betray me like this?”
I can’t respond while he chokes me, so I do the only thing I can think of to try to calm him down. I cup his face in both of my hands and pull him to me, pressing a wet, salty kiss against his lips. I pray he feels the apology in my kiss and accepts it. The punishing grip he has on my airway lessens. I open my mouth to gasp in some air, and he takes the opportunity to dive in, shoving his tongue into my mouth, taking control of the kiss, devouring me with his intensity. Just when I think his anger has begun to ebb away, his hold on my throat tightens again, cutting off my air. My eyes fly open in surprise when he pulls away, and the look he gives me is both wicked and terrifying.
“Oh, Kitten. If you think you’re going to avoid a punishment by distracting me with your mouth, you don’t know me very well at all. You lied to me. You betrayed me. You’re going to have to do better than a kiss if you want to earn my forgiveness.”
Black spots dance in my vision, and my lungs begin to burn from lack of oxygen. Weakly, I slap at his arm—trying to get him to let go—but he doesn’t even react. With his free hand, Dominick undoes the button on my jeans and starts yanking them off. I dig my nails into his arm holding me in place, tears and snot making my face a mess. My head begins to pound from lack of oxygen, and I’m terrified he won’t let up before he chokes me out completely. I don’t want to know what he will do to me if I’m not awake to stop him.
Just as he gets my jeans down to my ankles, his work phone comes to life, its obnoxiously loud ring bringing him out of his rage-induced fog. I lie there, held in place, trembling like a lamb cornered by a wolf, waiting to see what he will do. Just when I think I’m going to lose the battle to stay conscious, Dominick lets go of my throat, allowing cool air to rush into my lungs. I begin gasping and choking, afraid I’m going to vomit. I do my best to swallow back the bile, afraid to anger him even more by losing my lunch all over his bed.
While Dominick answers his phone, I lie there, shivering from the adrenaline crash, trying my best to calm my racing heart. I listen in on Dominick’s call, wondering what would be so important that he would interrupt his assault for a phone call.
“Hey, man, sorry I ditched you.” He goes quiet, listening to whomever is on the other end of the call. “Yeah, I found her. I had to give her a ride back home after a doctor’s appointment. Can you come pick me up?” More silence while he listens to the caller. “Nah, she’ll be fine. She isn’t going anywhere else today.” Dominick levels a look at me when he says the words, the dead look in his eyes sending another wave of terror crashing over me. “Yeah, I’ll see you in ten.”
Dominick hangs up the phone and begins tucking in his uniform shirt back into his pants. It must’ve come undone during our fight. I remain still, afraid if I move, I will reawaken the monster that resides under his skin.
“I am needed back at the station. Eric is coming to pick me up. You’re going to stay here until I get back. This conversation is not over.”
I’m too stunned by the sudden change in his demeanor to speak, so I nod dumbly. I don’t move from my spot on the bed until I hear the front door open and close with Dom’s departure. Then I rush to the bathroom to vomit up all of the terror I experienced in the last half hour.