Chapter 15 - Dominic Finds Her
The nearest hospital was twenty-three minutes away.
Dominic reached it in sixteen.
Norah sat beside him gripping the door handle.
“Slow down.”
“You said something is wrong.”
“I’d prefer we arrive alive.”
Dominic eased off the accelerator by approximately three miles per hour.
Norah almost laughed.
Then another cramp came.
Her hand tightened around his.
Dominic looked at her.
“Talk to me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“No, I’m really scared.”
His fingers closed around hers.
“So am I.”
That admission steadied her more than false reassurance could have.
At the emergency department, nurses took Norah immediately.
Dominic followed until a nurse stopped him.
“Family?”
Dominic hesitated.
Norah answered.
“He’s the father.”
The words struck him unexpectedly.
The father.
Not employer.
Not Don.
Not protector.
Father.
He waited outside the examination room.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Forty.
Dominic Russo had survived shootings, raids, indictments, betrayals.
Nothing had ever felt as unbearable as sitting beneath fluorescent lights waiting for someone to tell him whether his unborn daughter was safe.
Finally a doctor emerged.
“Mr. Russo?”
Dominic stood.
“Is she okay?”
“Both mother and baby are stable.”
His knees almost weakened.
“What happened?”
“Likely uterine irritability triggered by stress and dehydration. We’re monitoring her. No evidence of active preterm labor.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“She’s okay?”
“For now, yes.”
He entered the room.
Norah lay beneath a thin blanket with monitors around her.
“You look terrible,” she said.
Dominic laughed shakily.
“You’re hilarious.”
“Doctor says the baby’s okay.”
“I heard.”
“Apparently stress is bad.”
“Who knew?”
Norah looked at him.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
His expression changed.
“For leaving.”
“No.”
“No?”
“You were afraid.”
“I should have told you about the letter.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you would overreact.”
“I absolutely would have.”
She smiled.
“That was the problem.”
Dominic sat beside her.
“I’m learning.”
“You’re surprisingly teachable.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
They fell quiet.
The fetal monitor produced a steady rhythm.
Dominic watched it.
Norah watched him.
“You love her already.”
He looked at Norah.
“Of course.”
“You’ve never met her.”
“I didn’t need to.”
The answer brought tears to her eyes.
Dominic panicked slightly.
“Why are you crying?”
“Hormones.”
“Is that always the explanation?”
“No.”
“What’s the other explanation?”
“You.”
Dominic stared.
“That seems unfair.”
Norah laughed softly.
Then she became serious.
“I love you.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
Norah looked almost annoyed with herself.
“I wasn’t planning to say that.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“You don’t have to say anything back.”
“I love you too.”
Her eyes widened.
Dominic continued before courage failed him.
“I think I have for longer than I understood.”
Norah whispered, “Since when?”
“The safe room.”
“That was five months ago.”
“I’m emotionally inefficient.”
She laughed through tears.
Dominic lifted her hand and kissed it.
“But love doesn’t fix everything,” Norah said.
“I know.”
“It doesn’t make your past disappear.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t mean I’m ready to move back.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
“You really are learning.”
“I had a brutal teacher.”
Norah squeezed his hand.
She remained in the hospital overnight.
Dominic slept in a chair beside her.
Or pretended to.
At three in the morning, Norah woke and saw him watching the fetal monitor.
“You know that machine doesn’t require supervision.”
“I don’t trust machines.”
“Very healthy.”
He smiled.
The next morning, doctors discharged her with instructions to rest.
Dominic drove her back to the Vermont cottage.
Not the estate.
Norah noticed.
“You remembered.”
“I said I would respect your choice.”
Inside, he stocked the refrigerator.
Checked the heater.
Inspected the locks.
Norah watched.
“You can stop being security now.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“Some habits survive reform.”
She smiled.
Before leaving, he stopped at the door.
“When do you want me to visit?”
The question mattered.
He was asking.
Not deciding.
Norah looked at him.
“Tomorrow.”
His face softened.
“What time?”
“Lunch.”
“I’ll bring food.”
“Not from one of your fancy restaurants.”
“I own normal restaurants too.”
“Pizza.”
“Done.”
“And Lily.”
Dominic smiled.
“She’ll insist.”
The following afternoon, Lily arrived carrying three stuffed animals and a notebook containing baby names.
Most were terrible.
“Moonbeam,” she announced.
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
“Ruby?”
“Possible.”
“Dragon?”
“No.”
Norah laughed.
For two weeks, Dominic visited rather than stayed.
Sometimes for lunch.
Sometimes dinner.
He helped Thomas repair a porch step.
He took Lily fishing.
He attended Norah’s doctor appointment and looked stunned when the ultrasound technician confirmed the baby was indeed a girl.
Norah watched him slowly become a man outside his own fortress.
Then one evening, Dominic handed her a folder.
“What’s this?”
“Estate documents.”
Norah stiffened.
“Don’t panic.”
“That phrase never works.”
He sat across from her.
“I’m selling the mansion.”
She stared.
“What?”
“The estate.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want my daughters growing up inside a bunker.”
Norah’s throat tightened.
“Dominic, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do.”
“For me?”
“For me.”
That distinction mattered.
“What will you buy?”
“A house.”
“You already have a house.”
“A normal house.”
Norah raised an eyebrow.
“How normal?”
“Security gate.”
“Dominic.”
“Small security gate.”
She laughed.
He reached across the table.
“I can’t erase who I was.”
“No.”
“But I can decide who lives in the house our daughter comes home to.”
Norah placed her hand in his.
For the first time, she began wondering whether leaving Dominic had been necessary.
May you like
And whether choosing to return might finally be different from being trapped.
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