Read Redemption (The Bet) for Free Online Page B

mute. Gabe dropped a small kiss on her forehead before taking Sophie to the solitary chair in the room. He sat with her on his lap and watched the images flashing across the television screen.
    The hours ticked away at a snail’s pace, Ronnie awoke and they distracted themselves with a game of thumb wars, which Sophie got a kick out of it. News finally came in the wee hours of morning.
    "We've managed to stop the bleeding and she is now in the process of receiving blood transfusions. While we've done all we can, there were serious complications and we fear that Ellie may no longer be able to bear children. This delivery put a great amount of stress on her body, and it's a miracle she's come out of it relatively unscathed."
    Relatively unscathed? Ellie would be devastated to hear that she could no longer bear children.
    "But she's okay? Can we see her?"
    "Yes, she'll be all right. She just needs a few more hours to recuperate. Like I said, she's lost a great amount of blood and so we need to give her time to rest so that her body can replenish all the blood lost. Nancy, the night nurse on duty will come and get you when she is ready for visitors." He left once he was assured that they had no further questions for him.
    ~ *~*~*~
    Dina and Phillip arrived around ten that morning, both looking haggard. Although Phillip hid it far better than his wife, who appeared as though she'd shed buckets of tears in their long journey. Her navy blue pea-coat was open enough that Gabe saw the black cardigan she had on over the knee length skirt. She'd gathered her dark hair into a tight bun, the severity of it making her appear far older than she was.
    There were age lines that hadn't been there before, mostly around her almond shaped eyes and her pale pink mouth. When she attempted a smile, the deep lines stood out more and as she approached Gabe was gripped with the strong urge to gather in her in his arms and comfort her as best as he could. It'd been close to five years since he'd laid eyes on her. Seeing her now, Gabe wished he’d done more in keeping contact with them.
    Dina and Phillip had been his best friends in high school, but more than that, they'd been the closest thing Gabe had to family. His mom had been a drunk who did just about anything for a pack of smokes and his dad walked out on them even before the Doctor cut the umbilical cord. There'd been nothing steady, loving or remotely homey in the trailer park he'd grown up in. Dina and Phillip had been Gabe's escape from his harsh reality.
    Phillip had been their moral divining rod being raised in a family of Mormons and all and Dina, well Dina had been the buffer between them when the testosterone ran a little too high. Over all they'd been great together and even when Dina and Phillip started seeing each other, the dynamics of their relationship hadn't changed that much.
    High school had been the best time of Gabe's life as well as the first two years of college. He'd dated Ronnie off and on in those two years, breaking it off truly when life had interfered and he'd been unable to pay for school. Gabe had dropped out, falling in with a bad crowd soon after that. When Phillip first told Gabe about going on a mission, Gabe had been boosting cars to sell their parts. Their relationship suffered a blow after that and while Phillip and Dina moved on to greener pastures, graduating college, getting married and having a baby of who Phillip named Gabe Godfather. Gabe had been busy avoiding the law, graduating from misdemeanor to felony and finally getting caught in a burglary/murder attempt that had put him away for almost ten years.
    During those years in the Pen, he'd managed to keep in touch with Dina, and Gabe had welcomed every care package she'd sent him. The pictures of Ellie had been the best, always keeping a smile on his face. Those pictures, along with the letters they'd exchanged he'd kept close to his heart. They'd continued on much in the same way with their friendship