She locked the doors as soon as she managed to get in the car and with shaking hands she started the engine and took off. The tires slid on the road as she tried to go, making the back of the car turn left before it stabled. Tears began to run down her face, blurring her view. A hand gripped on the steering wheel while the other tried to clean her eyes. She ran her hand over it time and time again, but the tears wouldn't stop. Her eyes looked at the rear mirror for a few seconds, she wasn't being followed and still her chest was coming up and down franticly.
She heaved as she thought she wasn't able to breathe anymore and then she realized that she just wanted to sob. Rafaela knew it was safer to pull the car over and cry. Besides her tears, also the rain that began to fall, was making her drive more difficult. Despite all that she continued, she was afraid Kelly was following her and would catch her somewhere in the middle of the road while she cried. The sobs were violent, her shoulders shook, and she cried loud as if she wanted to yell. She wasn't crying because of fear, maybe a little bit, but because of her confession, she had confessed she had hurt her son on purpose and that injured more than anything in the world. Not that she didn't know that by then but hearing it made everything more horrible and hurtful.
Rafaela was feeling her whole body shaking. The cell ringing in her purse made her jump and made her heart beat faster. With a hand she managed to grab it but dropped it fast as if it burned when she saw the number was anonymous. Just like a maniac, Kelly called and called making it all more insane for an already disturbed Rafaela. Her lower belly began to hurt, she was feeling cramps to make it all worse. She knew she needed to calm down, the doctor had said so.
The pain didn't subside, and she winced while driving though she knew she wasn't far from the hotel. As she stumbled out of the car the doorman came to help her. Though he insisted to call an ambulance, she insisted she just needed to rest and was left in her suite. Rafaela climbed to the bed and tossed her body there, sobbing violently and crying at the top of her lungs. Letting all her pain and rage out. She didn't care others could hear her, she couldn't care less, that day she had the confirmation her son had been murdered and the murder had been talking to her on the phone, had been by her side all the time. As she cried she took deep breaths, expecting the pain in her belly to disappear, but it was strong and the more she worried with that too, the stronger the pain became. Her baby couldn't be born just yet, it would be too soon. She forced herself to calm down and took deep breaths whenever the pain became stronger.
The door of the suite slammed, and she heard heavy steps entering the suite, making her raise her head of her pillow.
"Rafi!" She heard James yelling; he must have been informed at the reception of her condition.
He sounded a bit in panic and worried. Dragging herself out of the bed she was able to get up but curved and with a hand holding her lower belly.
"James..." She called him sobbing and he entered the bedroom in a rampant, catching her in time as she had lost strength in her legs.
"Baby, look at you." He said concerned. "Maybe we should go to the hospital." He said.
"There's no blood and no waters broke. This will go away." She said shaking her head.
She was not sure of what she was telling him, but she was sure these things had to appear if she was in labor for real. She had been in labor once, so she knew it.
"What the hell happened for you to be like this?" James watched her with a concerned look and at the same time his hand pulled her hair back and the other cleaned the tears off her eyes.
Still, her shoulders shook, and a violent sob escaped her lips, making him pull her to him in an embrace, wrapping his arms around her strongly in silence. He let her cry, though his heart was about to jump off his mouth.
Her sobs became muffled against the fabric of his sweater. His hand patted her hair and his lips placed kiss after kiss on the top of her head waiting for her to calm down. His arms squeezed her tight and she felt so protected that moment. The pain began to subside, and her body also began to stop shaking after a while. He was her healing power. James was feeling her calming down and when finally just hiccups were heard, after what it seemed like a good half an hour, he pulled her away and looked in her swollen and irritated eyes.
"What happened?" He asked low. "Babe tell me what happened..." he asked caressing her face with his hands. His eyes showing concern.
James knew something terrible must have happened and he was sure she had disobeyed his orders from going to her mother and straight to the hotel, still he wouldn't give her a lecture. She didn't need that at the moment.
"I went to visit Liam." She said and she saw James's chest come up and down strongly as he sighed. James closed his eyes knowingly, of course, she had disobeyed him.
"Sweetie... if things are hitting you stronger maybe..." James said but her hand covered his mouth and he stopped talking. He took her hand away so he could speak. "If things are hitting you stronger, Rafi, then maybe you shouldn't go there for a while." He told her worried she was falling back on her treatment.
"It's not that..." She said shaking her head.
"No?" He asked looking in her eyes just to be sure. Rafaela shook her head again.
"My cell rang when I was in there..." She said and he saw her eyes filling with tears.
His did too. His love and passion were partners like that, he'd cried when she'd cry, when she'd cry because of something that was causing her so much pain. He anticipated what it was. He knew what was coming. On one hand he wanted to yell at her for putting herself in danger like that, but on the other hand he wanted to caress her again for something horrible must have happened.
"It was her?" He asked with his voice shaking a bit. "Rafi is it still hurting?" He asked then running a hand over her belly. Nothing could happen to that baby and she shook her head. "Are you sure? Maybe it's better if we go to the hospital and see if everything is alright."
"Let me tell you." She said and James motioned his head for her to continue. "It was her and it was horrible." Rafaela started to cry again. "She confessed it James..." Her voice stuttering as she cried, and a knot formed in his throat.
"What?" He said feeling his tears coming down his face. That hurt, that hurt more than he could ever imagine.
"She said it. She said she did it to hurt us, so she'd take something we loved from us. So, she took him away from us..." Rafaela couldn't finish for she began to cry hard again, and her arms wrapped around his neck.
His arms held her too and they cried together, sharing this immense and immeasurable pain. That moment he wanted to yell, and he knew he could kill Kelly coldly without regret if she had appeared in front of his eyes that very second. The truth, just like the lawyer and Tony had always told him, was more hurtful than ever. More intense than they could take.
"There's more..." Rafaela said pulling away. "She was there, she was watching me, for she knew what I was wearing." James turned pale hearing her words. Rafaela could never be left alone.
"I told you to come straight to the hotel!" He reprimanded her that moment.
He could not hold that inside anymore. He felt this need to yell at her and rage and even hurt her that moment for putting herself into so much danger.
"You can yell at me if you want..." Rafaela breathed putting her eyes down on the mattress.
He opened his mouth to do so but then eyed her and felt like smiling. She knew him so well; she knew that moment he wanted to vent and yell at her. He didn't do it. He stepped back from that.
"I should." He said instead pulling her chin up so she could look at him. "I hate it when you do not do what I tell you. I mean... this is for your safety Rafi! I cannot take it if anything happens to you, can you understand that? Nothing can happen to you! Please... we have been through so much...."
"I know... I am sorry." She told him. "I won't put myself in danger anymore."
"So it's even worse than I thought. She's after us, she's following us." He said and Rafaela nodded.
"I had to run back to the car. I don't know if it was me, but I am sure I heard steps after me. I don't know... I can't run very fast with this belly, maybe she just wanted to scare me. I didn't see a car following me here." But James remembered the yellow car in the morning. She was following them, she was preparing something, and her target was, for sure, Rafaela.
"We need to tell this to the detective." James said getting up. "And after we're going to the hospital."
"There's no need James. I am fine now." She said. "I swear!" She affirmed when she saw that intense gaze of his as if asking her "For sure?" Rafaela nodded while he still stared. "I promise I am fine. She's even kicking..." Rafaela grabbed his hand and put it on her belly. His lips opened a smile when he felt his daughter kicking against his hand.
"Ok but stay in bed." He said adjusting a pillow against the headboard and then leaning her there.
"Ok." She agreed.
After all that was the doctor's advice if anything like that happened, if it hadn't been any blood or waters broken involved.
He turned the TV on and gave her the remote control, leaving her to choose what she wanted to watch. James went to the living room and paced around while talking on the phone, she then turned the sound mute to listen to what he was saying but James was talking low and then he appeared on the door of the bedroom noticing she had no sound on the TV.
"It's an ugly thing to eavesdrop." He smiled and crawled on the bed, kissing her lips, then sat by her side and kicked his shoes off.
"I was trying to listen to what you and the detective were talking about." She said. James adjusted the pillow on his back and then looked at her.
"Well, you'll find out because he's coming here. He wants to talk to you." He informed her.
"We could have talked on the phone." Rafaela complained a little.
James understood she wanted to be left alone. She looked tired because of all the emotions and even physical pain that she felt that afternoon. It occurred him that maybe they he should call Tony, but then he just calmed himself down and waited for her reaction later. She seemed calmer and so he stayed quiet.
"I know babe." He kissed the top of her head. "He insisted to come here."
They waited for a while and finally the detective arrived. Rafaela got out of the bed to receive him, but James made her sit on the couch. The fear something would happen to her was much and at the same time she felt so loved with his tenderness. James was incredibly caring and devoted.
"So, did you see her?" Hawk asked her as she told the whole story. Rafaela shook her head.
"No, I didn't see her. I started running. I heard steps, I don't know if it was her or another person in the cemetery, but I was scared so I didn't stop until I was safe inside my car." She explained. Hawk nodded.
"No, you did good." He told her, then he stayed silent and both James and Rafaela watched him attentively, then his head rose, and he faced them. "I don't know how she's able to go around unnoticed. She must have changed herself by now. I am quite sure of that. We're looking for a blond person with long hair, bet she's none of that by now which make things harder for us. That's the only way for her to be around."
"Which means we don't know what to expect." James said. "We're not safe with her around."
Hawk shook his head. "You can come back to your house if you want. Our investigation there was fruitless, there was nothing, but two policemen will stay at your front gate."
"Do you think it's safe?" James asked. "I mean, I want Rafi to be safe. I can handle myself, but I want her to be 100% safe. My only concern here is her." James emphasized.
"With the officers on your gate I think it will be safe." Hawk said. James nodded and then looked at Rafaela, she shrugged.
"Do you want to go home?" He asked then and Hawk got up.
"Well, I better let you two discuss that." He said shaking their both hands.
After the detective left, James guided her back to the bed.
"I am fine!" She argued but James was stubborn.
"No, you stay here and rest. I'll order dinner now and I'll order a movie too so we can watch it snuggling in bed." He smiled and she smiled back at him enjoying his suggestion. James bent over her and pecked her lips sweetly. Rafaela rested a hand over his cheek and looked in his eyes when he pulled away.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me." She said.
"You're my priority." He breathed.
"And you're mine," She said back.
"Want a nice chicken salad for dinner?" He asked and Rafaela nodded.
"I want an orange juice and mango." She added and James cracked a laughter.
"Mango? Is that a special request?"
"I don't know..." She shrugged. "But I felt like eating it the whole day and there was none in my mother's."
"Anything else?" He smiled and kissed her again.
"Ask for Feta cheese and chestnuts in the salad, please." She said and he nodded pecking her lips again. "James..." She whispered and he looked in her eyes from the distance of noses touching. "You're not really preparing for dinner are you?" She smiled and his lips opened in another one instantly.
"I am starving but then, you do look irresistible." He pecked her neck.
"I am starving, and Ava is too, we leave that for later, I promise I won't fall asleep."
"Right..." He rolled his eyes pretending to be annoyed but she knew he was not. "You didn't answer me, do you want to go home? What do you think?"
"I am afraid." She said and her face showed fear. "You should have heard her laughter; it was so malefic. I am afraid of her, seriously."
"Police officers will be there." James stated.
"For how long?" He shrugged and shook his head.
"I don't know..." He admitted.
"Do you want to go home James?" Rafaela asked it back at him.
He ran a hand over his hair and took a deep breath. "I am afraid too." Then they looked in each other's eyes and stayed silent. After a few seconds James spoke again. "Look at what the bitch is doing to us..." He shook his head and smiled bitterly. "...she's making us so afraid, not even enjoying our life. Making us be locked up in a hotel room... I hate her so much. I never thought I could hate someone so much the way I hate her."
"You're so right." Rafaela agreed. "She's entrapping us."
"We can't let her win Rafi."
"We go home." She said decided and James nodded but his heart was not sure if they were making the right decision.