My Maddie (Hades Hangmen #8) - Tillie Cole Page 0,52
with drugs that stole his voice, which was crying out so desperately for aid.
No one cared that he was different in the way he thought and felt. Dismissed the notion that he was capable of love and kindness. They failed to discover the hidden path to his heart. Instead, it became overgrown, smothered in blackened thorns and weeds—the manifest horrors of his past. Those horrors flourished until they were all he could see. Until, in his mind, it was all he was. All he could ever be. I felt myself sinking into a pit of despair, into a black hole of misery and wretchedness. Panic and worry cloyed so thick I believed I could feel it swelling the walls of my veins. Suddenly, a fluttering feeling swirled in my stomach, instantly banishing the darkness of taking hold of my heart.
My hands dropped to the rounded bump and I gasped. “Maddie?” Bella questioned, concern lacing her voice.
Rider was by my side in an instant. “Maddie? What is wrong? Are you okay?” His hand took hold of my wrist and he began checking my pulse. I knew it was racing, but not through illness.
The ceiling lights glimmered against the torrent of tears that filled my eyes. My vision became awash with glittering fluorescent stars until I wiped them away. I moved to the side of the bed, legs dangling off the side. I cradled my bump and was instantly rewarded with the fluttering feeling. The word feeling inadequately described the sensation. Our baby was moving. Our baby was moving inside me. Joy flooded my heart and spread like rushing water through my body. A laugh escaped my mouth. “Our baby moved,” I exclaimed, looking up to Bella who had laid her hand on my shoulder in concern. “Our baby… moved. Our baby is moving…”
“Maddie,” Bella whispered affectionately, kissing my head in relief. I closed my eyes and felt our baby moving again under my hands. Every prayer I had ever made was being answered. A veritable miracle under my spread out and earnestly seeking palms. My eyes opened and drifted to the empty chair beside the bed. My mind immediately went to the man who too should be beside me feeling our baby move, sharing in this moment of indescribable joy.
A flash of pain burst in my chest when I imagined the fear that would have sparked in his eyes as I held out my hand for him to take. As I guided his palm over my stomach and watched him witness the embodiment of our love seeking his warmth. A father’s love.
The baby moved again. I took a deep breath and felt my heart fill with realization. The baby moved when I thought of Flame, when I thought of its father. As though the baby already loved him as much as I. As though the baby was asking me to find Flame. To bring him back to us where he was always meant to be. Purpose filled me with the upmost of strength. Strength that would guide me and fuel my bringing Flame back to our side, back from the abyss he was falling into. From the clutches of the demons he believed within him.
“I have heard you,” I whispered down to my stomach. “He will know of our love. Of yours, I promise. Wherever he has gone, we will find him and remind him that he is ours. We are his. He is our deepest love.”
The door opened and I quickly held my breath, praying to God that it was Flame. But the nurse from earlier walked into the room and I felt my hopeful heart deflate. “Just a few signatures for you, darling, then y’all can be on your way.”
I forced a nod. Leaning on the table that hovered over the bed, I signed my name—Maddie Cade. I stared down at that surname. Cade. That shared name was my home. “I’ll go and get these processed and bring up a wheelchair—hospital policy, I’m afraid,” she apologized when I opened my mouth to protest. I closed my mouth and the nurse vacated the room.
Rider gathered my things, preparing for us to depart. Bella came and held my hand to help me from the bed. My legs felt strong as I stood on the linoleum floor. I clutched Bella’s hand and stared at my sister. “We must find him.”
“We will,” she promised. But I registered the quick glance she directed to Rider, which betrayed her concern.