Page 132 of My Fault

Noah’s father took off the safety and pressed the barrel hard into Noah’s temple. She closed her eyes, and the sound of a police officer’s shot filled the entire space.

Noah’s father turned toward us. I knew he was looking at Raffaella when she started to cry desperately. Red blood stained his shirt, and he fell to the ground, badly wounded. Noah looked at him with surprise, then up at me, stunned…and then she started to run.

I pushed aside the cop holding me back and ran to meet her.

Only when I felt her in my arms could I breathe easily again. Only when I felt her body against mine was I sure she was alive.

“God!” I shouted, lifting her off the ground and squeezing her tightly. Her sobs intensified as I did so, trying to cover her with my body, protect her with my life.

I set her down and frantically searched every inch of her body. I looked at her face. They’d beaten her… Dammit! They’d beaten her!

I started to shake all over. I’d let someone hurt her. I’d promised her nothing bad would ever happen to her, and now I saw with my own eyes that I’d failed her.

“Noah” I said, trying to control my voice. I wanted to ask her to forgive me, to apologize for letting that happen. I didn’t think I’d ever felt so guilty for something or as profoundly wounded as I did when I saw the girl I loved with bruises and cuts on her face.

She wrapped her hands around my neck and pulled me close enough to press her lips against mine. I wanted to kiss her more than anything in the world, but I worried I would hurt her if I did it too hard.

I pushed her back softly.

“There’ll be time for that, babe,” I said, cupping her face. “I love you, Noah. So, so much.”

Two more tears fell from her eyes, but she smiled. Then Raffaella came over and took her daughter in her arms. I watched them hug desperately. My father looked at me a moment and then joined them, and I knew nothing like this would ever happen again. I could see in my father’s face the promise that no one would ever,evertouch our family again.

When Noah’s mother let her go, she turned to watch them load her father into the ambulance. I didn’t know how to describe what I saw on her face then, but I did see the fear return when the police guided a handcuffed Ronnie out the door.

“Look at me,” I told her. I didn’t want her to be scared again. I wanted to kill that bastard, but more violence was the last thing Noah needed now. “It’s okay. You’re with me now.”

Her hands touched my cheeks and slid down to my shoulders, and I saw her eyes lose focus.

“Noah?” I said, holding her up as she went slack in my arms. “Get a doctor!” I shouted when she didn’t come to. I picked her up, and terror invaded me. Had she been shot? Did she have some internal wound no one knew about?

“Wake up, Noah,” I said, holding her tightly against me until I reached another ambulance.

“Let me,” a paramedic said. Police sirens began to wail, and Raffaella and my father came up behind me.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked. They took her from my arms and laid her on a stretcher, and paramedics gathered around and lifted her into the ambulance.

“We’re taking her to the hospital. Are you her mother?” they asked Raffaella, and she nodded, climbing into the ambulance.

“I’m going, too,” I said, not leaving room for discussion.

“I’ll follow you all in my car,” my father said.

The ambulance ride lasted an eternity. Noah was still unconscious, but after looking her over quickly, one of the paramedics said there was nothing to be concerned about.

I leaned over her and carefully ran a hand through her hair.

“I’m sorry, Noah. I’m sorry.”

49

Noah

When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital bed. My head and face hurt, but my mind was relaxed once I saw who was there with me.

“At last, you’re awake!” Nicholas exclaimed, kissing my hand, which he was holding.

“What happened?” I asked, with no idea how I’d gotten there.