Page 99 of Griffin
“Fuck,” I grit out, running to meet her.
“Call the sheriff!” Hudson yells to his staff and follows me.
“Who the fuck are you?” My shoulders are tight as I stand to full height and feel ready to rumble with them. One guy is older, tall, skinny, pale-looking. Sports or fitness is obviously not his hobby. The other guy is younger, late twenties, maybe early thirties, his shirt done up right to his collar, his hair brushed so precisely I’d think he sold insurance.
“We’re here for the baby.”
My stomach twists. Not again. Not this nightmare. Savannah deserves better than this.
“It’s not your baby, Dad. It’s mine.” Savannah’s voice is stern, but I see a flicker of self-loathing in her eyes. That flicker guts me.
“Give me that baby. It’s my baby!” The young guy steps up to me, getting right in my face. I spot two women walking towards us with purpose, one looking familiar. Eden. Savannah’s sister. I assume the older woman is her mother.
“Are you Savannah’s father?” I look to the older man, completely ignoring this fucking idiot in front of me who thinks he has a chance getting past me to grab Tommy. No one is getting past me.
“The Lord commands obedience, and she has chosen nothing but rebellion and sin. That’s not something I can accept.” He strides toward me, thinking I’ll let him past because he’s spouting words from the Bible, but I step in front of him, halting his path. Savannah deserves better than a father who spits scripture like poison, better than a mother who cuts her down with every word.
I step forward, fury boiling. “You’re not going near my wife.” My voice is low, dangerous. He falters, shocked that I’d claim her so openly.
“We don’t want her! We want our baby!” Eden screams, taking my attention. “Douglas, get him!”
The younger man lunges. I yank his collar, slam him back, forcing him to stumble, almost falling to the ground. My knuckles itch to break bone.
“Do not touch my son!” I shout at her, turning back in time to see Douglas reaching out to snatch Tommy from Savannah again. This asshole clearly didn’t learn the first time. Hudson’s next to her in a heartbeat, but I reach out and pull his collar again so hard he falls backward, this time stumbling on the ground.
“That baby is ours.” He’s angry now. Not because he loves Tommy. But because probably for the first time in his miserable life, they aren’t getting what they want. What they feel entitled to. They probably prayed on it, thought that God would deliver whatever they wanted immediately regardless of who they step on to get it. Ignorant fools. Even I know God doesn’t work that way.
“You need to get out of my way!” The young buck stands and takes a swing, hitting me in my gut. I hear Savannah gasp from behind me, but it barely registers. My body is stiff, so his hand practically bounces right off before I throw a punch, my fist landing on his cheek so solidly that it knocks him from his feet and he staggers back even farther.
“The sheriff is on his way. You need to leave,” Hudson tells them, but the air of authority standing there in his white doctor’s coat isn’t something these people seem to care about.
“Faith. Please, please, give me my baby…” Eden’s crying now, almost screeching, completely losing it, and the use of Savannah’s real name trips me up a little.
“Oh, you horrible, horrible girl. You selfish, disgusting, sinful girl. How could you do this to your sister? How could you do this to your family?” Her mother starts to rant, and I see Savannah flinch, the light dimming in her eyes. Tommy wails in her arms, sensing her fear. My chest aches with anger, disgust, and heartbreak all at once. She deserves better than this. We both do. We both had parents who failed us. But we will not fail our child.
“Hudson, get them inside,” I tell my friend. He grabs some nurses who all wrap around Savannah and the baby and pull them back into the hospital. They’re safe, secure as Hudson falls in line next to me.
I turn back to face them, rage burning. “This stops now. Tommy isn’t yours. He will never be yours. If you come near my wife or child again, you’ll rot in a cell.”
Douglas snarls and lunges at me again, his fist slamming into my ribs once more. Pain flashes hot across my side, but I barely flinch. I’ve taken worse. My own father used to whip me with a belt some days, so I can take anything this bastard gives me. Instead of a punch, I drive him back with a shove to his chest that rattles his teeth.
Savannah’s father moves to stride past me, his eyes wild, word vomiting more scripture, as the women continue with their tantrum, screaming into the air.
“The Lord will strike down the wicked! The child is ours by divine right!” He spouts a twisted sermon, his steps determined, but I plant myself in his path, chest to chest, refusing to yield. I don’t want to hit him. I don’t want to hit the man who is my father-in-law. But I will if I have to.
Behind him, the women shriek. “The wages of sin is death!” Eden screams.
“The Lord will destroy the unfaithful!” Savannah’s mother wails, sounding more out of control with every breath, their voices pitched in desperation and anger.
Douglas steps forward and swings again, wild and desperate. He’s determined; I’ll give him that. I catch his wrist midair, twist hard, and he yelps as I slam him back against the pavement.
I’m trying hard not to completely lose it with them. If I took a swing, I would knock teeth out. An assault charge is not something that’s going to help in this situation even though they have now thrown multiple punches my way. Self-defense is one thing, but deliberate assault is another. Something I learned at a young age.
Then I hear it. Sirens. Blue and red lights flash across the white hospital exterior, and the sheriff and Sawyer stride towards us, voices cutting through the madness.
“Enough!” the sheriff bellows, and he and his team take stock of the situation.
Sawyer looks at me. “I was in his office when he got the call.”
